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Railfanning, train crews, and you...
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I've been a railfan for 45 of my 50 years, and a railroad employee for 31 of those, an Engineer since 1979. <br />My best memories of railfanning are of a few dacades ago, in a more informal atmosphere, when it was easier to make friends with train crews, and get invited to partake in "unofficial" cab rides. Those days, the train crews were like sports characters, they UNDERSTOOD why they had fans, and enjoyed the limelight. On occasision, when an enginehouse foreman or yardmaster would catch you "trespassing", if you were lucky, the ensuing conversation my evolve into a lasting friendship which included: "from now on, when you want to come here, check in with me first". <br />I remember a story from steam days, when a photographer would post a plywood sign in advance of his location, it would read: "PHOTOGRAPHER - ONE MILE AHEAD". As often than not, the engineeer would thus make extra smoke, resulting in a more dramatic photograph. <br />Things have changed drasticly since those days. Maybe the railroads are hiring the wrong people. <br />Could you imagine a veterinary hospital that hired only people who HATED animals?
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