Why Trains?

[Anonymous]

My father (born 1914) was fond of telling me how he used to hop freights on the Lackawanna railroad. That got me started. The Lionel train set put Santa Fe and New York Central into my vocabulary. A TT trainset from England introduced me to a more international outlook. N gauge Alco diesels in Pennsy Tuscan red pulled a Broadway Limited. By junior high school, I was a regular (pain in the butt, probably) at the local depot and went into mourning when PC took over the NY,NH,&H RR. I've seen trains from ACELA to local scrap runs. They all fascinate me. Why? Because being a locomotive engineer seemed to me to be the coolest thing on earth (next to being an astronaut or pilot.) They controlled thousands of tons of hurtling metal which stopped or started at their command.

I still think trains are one of the most awesome sights in the world... also one of the largest moving objects mankind has built. And they are still controlled by guys and gals who still have (I think) the coolest job on earth.

Erik
(A cop)

[oltmannd]

QUOTE: Originally posted by eolafan

QUOTE: Originally posted by oltmannd

They're big. They're powerful. They move. They're fast. They make noise. You can get near them. They're historically and economically relevant. Nothing else I can think of is all of this.

And they're not as messy as fish. (apologies to fishermen....)

Good explanation as to "WHY TRAINS?". I could not have put it any better myself. Thanks

I think I stole some of it from a Don Phillips column from some years back. He had the "big things that move" theory.

I was raised on trains. My dad has always been a model RRer and railfan. But same approach has not rubbed off on my son much. Maybe its genetically recessive?

[locomutt]

QUOTE: Originally posted by talbanese

Better then taking drugs. Why baseball? Why gardening? Don't know, its who I am.

Why not Trains ? Exactly what Tom said. (especially the first)
My dad would take me to the station when I was very young,
and in later years,when I got my first 'train set' (electric),he told
me that when he was my age,he asked for one and his dad
got him a 'wind-up' one.

My first 'major' job was in the railrod industry.

[Anonymous]

I also do not understand this train thing either. Its really a hard to cure sickness that we dont want to get over.

[espeefoamer]

Maybe we need a 12 step program of some kind.
" Hi my name is espeefoamer and I am a railfan"[;)].

[cherokee woman]

Who said we want to get over it? And btw, I don't consider it a
sickness to get over!!

[coborn35]

To put it simply "You can't put it in them, you can't take it out of them"[:D][:D]

[FThunder11]

Thsi hobby also keeps youngins like me out of troubel. Its nopt something my parents are in love with like me, but they like that I have a healthy hobby

[locomutt]

QUOTE: Originally posted by espeefoamer

Maybe we need a 12 step program of some kind.
" Hi my name is espeefoamer and I am a railfan"[;)].

Only a 12 step program ?
I'm thinking more,and longer than that,if even possible.[:D]

[CSXrules4eva]

WOH !!!!!!! This question is a little tought for me to answer but here it goes. . . .. . . . . I've been around trains all my life since I was 1yr old however, I really didn't start getting really involved until I was 10 yrs old. I saw my first train when I was 7 yrs old and since then they have always fascinated me. The very first train I saw was a SEPTA (R7 line) Silverliner II. My mom for the longest time live right in back of Septa's R7 line Chestnut Hill East to Trenton N.J. I head trains every day and I would sit outside up in my favorit tree to get a good view of the trains. Then when I got older I started going up to the Stenton Station 24/7 on my spare time which was only 1 block from my mom's house. Then before you know it I was riding Septa's reagional rails 24/7 then I got to know lots of Septa engineers, conductors, track workers, and forman. Now just about evey time I get on Septa's regional rails I get free rides or I deadhead, they know me as the RailQueen on Septa.

Well becides this I also love trains becasue I like big and strong machines. Too me railroads represent that strengh and power, which can be mainly seen in the locomotives. This is also how I became very interested in diesel engines and is one of the main reasons why I am majoring in Diesel Technology. I also admire the environment and the relationship many railraod employees have with one another. This is part of the reason why I want to work for the railroad.

[jeaton]

It's genetic. My Mother's note at the two year mark in the baby book said I liked riding on street cars, trains and the "L". At 90 she wants to take her umptenth ride on the Builder from Wisconsin to Oregon this summer. Where else would it come from?

Jay

[Anonymous]

Trains ( and art ) have been with me all my 54 years. It started with the IC Electric suburban service, and the fabulous junction known as Grand Crossing on Chicago's south side. My father, a commercial artist, had the IC as a client. He would teach me to draw by having me render IC electrics in perspective. I was good at it by the time I started kindergarten. In fact, on my first day in school the teacher had us sing, "My Country Tis of Thee," with the next line being,"Sweet land of liberty," with the next being, and I thought it was,"Of the IC." Well...There it was. So important we sing about it. By age 10 I had discovered the mysteries of the North and South Shore Lines. By age 14 I was well into main-line railroading. But not just the trains. It was the culture of railroading. Everything was heavy, and had a sense of permanance and stability about it. Railroad men were my heroes. Old men that would tell a kid a dirty joke, and then tell you who was in trouble with the trainmaster. The railroads uniforms always got me. Such tradition in a 3-piece suit, with a gold watch chain on the vest. In 1965 that was a true statement of tradition that seemed impervious to change. My first 2 years in high school I wore a conductor's uniform every day. It caused a problem with my rabbi who advised, "Jewish boys don't work for railroads." To which I replied,"Then who runs the trains in Israel?" "They don't come down there with a truck full of goyem for the day ya know." And that was it. My grandma bought me my first railroad watch, and the die was cast. I made trips to Rock Island as a "student conductor" with one of my friend's father who was a conductor on the Rock. I learned the whole business of being a trainman first hand, at age 16. I learned that girls on the train like to flirt with the trainmen. So after a year at art school, I went railroading.
It was the classic age and culture of railroading, and the great trains, of the '50s and '60s that pulled me in. I still sit here in the studio looking at my Hamilton rr watch every so often. It's the memory of the culture that propels my paintings of "The Trains."

And now I must face the easel and work on my next poster. It's for the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum in North Judson.
Mitch

[spbed]

They are thrilling especially when you see them moving along on those steel rails at hi speed.

[Anonymous]

One thing about trains, theyre addicting, and usually in your blood. Like a drug eh ?

[chad thomas]

Stand next to the tracks on Donner while a heavy drag grinds past in run-8
Or at Dagget while a hot doublestack slams past you at 70+MPH
Then ask that question.....[:p][:D][8D]

[agentatascadero]

My dad was an SP agent-telegrapher on the coast line, so, growing up around railroading, I still don't exactly understand how anybody would not love and be facinated by railroading. Growing up in the 40's-50's, I witnessed the steam to diesel transition. Also most of the streamliner era,though, as pass-riders we were restricted to the secondary trains, such as The Owl, klamath, Gold Coast, Argonaut. To this day I travel by train when I can, and for many years have been a happy paying customer. While I will always prefer the steam era, big time railroading will always be just that, big time.

[selector]

I stood right at track-side in the late Fifties, as a child of about 8, in the Peruvian Andes at 10,000 feet and felt (as only a child could) the earth shudder and air shake as the 2-8-0s thundered past pulling freight up to higher elevations. I had to cover my tender ears, but my heart pounded in synchrony with the chuffing and hissing, and though I feared for my life, I willed myself to stay put.

If only I could experience that feeling just one more time.

[rich747us]

What does it for me is the unmistakeable turbo-diesel whine! I'll never forget my first ride I ever took on Amtrak. Sept. 8th, 2001; the place: Grand Forks, North Dakota; the time: 1:00 am. As I stood there on the platform watching the Empire Builder be lead in from the West behind 3 GE Genesis units, that "whine" sounded just that much sweeter. It was a sight to behold watching those gargantuan beasts parade past me on the platform. I'll probably never know why, but I just always get a kick out of stuff like that!

[Modelcar]

...Mitch, I loved that railroad and art discription.....My interest in railroads starts in early childhood and it just happens to be I love architectual art too, even studied it a bit many years ago but went no farther with it.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Modelcar

...Mitch, I loved that railroad and art discription.....My interest in railroads starts in early childhood and it just happens to be I love architectual art too, even studied it a bit many years ago but went no farther with it.

Quentin,
Thanks for your kind words. I almost became an architectural renderer myself.

It's the great rail crossroads of Hoosierland that were the mainstay of my trainwatching. Porter was a great spot. The tower, and the afternoon towerman were host to many saturday afternoons of trains. I used to like to see the Twighlight Limited swing off the NYC main and head up the MC. Two slightly abused E units, an old baggage rpo, a sprinkling of coaches of various manufacturer, a full lounge, the diner, and the famous "Sleeper as parlor car."

Mitch

[Anonymous]

My answer to the question that started this thread is this: Why is your wife asking the question ("what is it about trans, etc?") in the first place.
A undemental aspect about human nature is that we're different and like different things.
Why does HARRY think MARY is pretty and SALLY is homely, while TOM thinks SALLY is the living end and can't stomach looking at MARY? Why is one person a NASCAR devotee while his twin brother couldn't care less about racing cars but would give up two months rent to get to the Super bowl? WE ALL LIKE DIFFERENT THINGS. Imagine how boring it would be if everybody was passionate about the same things equally! Super Bowl tickets would cost $100,000.oo apiece, and there might be no such thing as TRAINS Magazine!
An old friend used to quote me a saying, first in Yiddish, then in English:
" If I be like YOU, Who will be like ME?"
Once again, DIFFERENT PEOPLE like DIFFERENT THINGS. What's so incomprehensible about that?

[Anonymous]

My wife knew full well what she was getting into when we met. She was a commuter, and I was a trainman on her train. The gold watch chain was the first tip-off. When I worked as an engineer, the overalls and white cap were the second clue. Now both our daughter and son like trains. She just shakes her head.

Mitch

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by snakespol

[^]This is what me wife often asks me,'I don't get it with this TRAIN sttuff'!

Whenever they ask stuff like that, just counter with; I don't get it with this "shoe stuff" either.

That usually ends the discussion :-)

Dave
-DPD Productions - Home of the TrainTenna RR Monitoring Antenna-
http://eje.railfan.net/dpdp/