You gotta know the (home) territory

Rapid City, Pierre & Eastern SD40-2 No. 6454 leads an eastbound Canadian Pacific freight through Pewaukee, Wis., on June 12. Early in the summer, I made an effort to spend more time around Pewaukee than previous years. Photo by Brian Schmidt

I was a bad railfan this summer.

We all have our home territory. For me that was once northern Ohio and Indiana. I knew when all the locals went on duty, I knew all the shortline radio frequencies, and I knew when all the special moves were coming. When I moved to Wisconsin four years ago, I had to start from scratch, but I eventually got there. I could identify regular freights without a scanner, I knew the Wisconsin & Southern's operating pattern through town without second thought, and I ferreted out all the best photo spots with nothing more than perseverance and a sense of adventure.

But, this summer, I blew it.

A new camera got me out trackside in Waukesha in early August for one train, but before that the last train I shot in my home territory was June 13. This summer I was shooting an excursion in Maryland, chasing a short line in Ohio, and volunteering at a museum in New York. It was a busy summer, for sure, but was I really too busy to look for a train before work? Probably not.

Much of the railfan hobby is built on personal knowledge. We rely on it when we do get out to watch trains. From experience and exploration we learn just where the defect detector is located that we can pick up on the scanner at our favorite spots, or what the regular operating patterns in that home territory are. When we travel we often rely on that local knowledge provided by others.

My travels this summer were a lot of fun, and I'm certainly grateful for the ability to travel. But, I contend this afternoon, that without a solid base of local knowledge this hobby would not be what it is. Finding trains for ourselves becomes more difficult, and likely impossible outside that home territory, without that personal knowledge. The people I spent time with in my travels had deep knowledge about the territory we were in, because of their previous railfan pursuits.

Therefore, this hobby can only get better the more time you (yes, you!) spend by the tracks. In doing so you're learning more about your home territory, which can only help you in your future railfan endeavors. And, somewhere down the line, it may also help a visiting railfan as well.