Railfanning relationships.

[chad thomas]

Hey all,

I posted this on another forum, but I thought I would share it you all too. It is about railfanning with family members. Perhaps some of you will share some of your railfanning relationships………………..



For the first 10 years of my life (born in 71’) I lived right next to the Ventura co. railroad. That was my first exposure to trains. This was a interesting RR to be next to because they did a lot of movie filming on it. It was normal for there loco to show up with a new paintjob that would only last a week or two. But my real interest in trains started with a model. When I was 4 I got a Tyco model kit. It was a Chattenooga kit with a GP20, a couple boxcars, a tanker and caboose. Of course it came with a basic loop with a siding and all the electrical gear. I thought that was the coolest thing ever. It wasn’t long before I had a 4x8 simple layout. That sufficed for a while. Then one day my dad came home from a run (he was a long distance trucker) with a big surprise. Somewhere on his trip he had came across a hobby store that was going belly up and purchased all there remaining rolling stock and track. Most of it was cheap Tyco like toys, but at the time I didn’t know any better. All of the sudden that 4x8 was too small. So over the next year or two he built a layout that consumed most of our two car garage. This was our first layout. It was fun to work on but it was poorly designed and left a lot to be desired. Never the less, we spent hours working on it and for a few years, even with all its bugs, I enjoyed it. Then when I was ten my family decided to move to the bay area. What were we going to do with the layout was a big question.

We thought about our options. Wreck it out (gulp) and waste all that long hard work, or try to move it (gulp again). We figured that if we turned it sideways it would fit in the U-Haul truck. But could we pull it off ? well we were gunna try ! It took a bunch of people and was a monumental effort but we managed to get it into the truck and moved. The same kind of effort was made at the other end. When the move was over and after we got settled in we surveyed the damage. At the time it seemed like a lot but looking back it really wasn’t much. And for a couple more years it remained our layout.

A couple things changed for me at our new location. The first thing was now I lived right next to a busy mainline. We now lived in Belmont right next to the busy San Francisco – San Jose double track commuter line. I spent hours trackside watching all the commuter trains, the local freight and occasional road freight (Bayshore yard was still there then). The second thing was my exposure to my uncle, also a railfan, and his model train stuff. What he had looked like the real thing. What I had looked like toy trains. And I wanted my trains to look real too. I used to love it when he would bring his rolling stock over and run it on out layout (he didn’t have one).

Two years later my family moved again. This time my dad convinced me to give up on the layout. For one thing it had already made it through one move and that did its damage. It might not have survived another move. The lessons learned in the first move, and the tremendous effort, made the decision easier. Another thing was we learned so much about modeling that we wanted to start over and avoid the many mistakes that were made on the first layout. So we striped off everything that was salvageable and some stuff that wasn’t (like track that was glued down, that don’t work). All of everything went into boxes for a few years. The last task was to take a sledgehammer to the framework (snivel snivel).

I would say that was the first chapter in my railfan life, but certainly not the last. Although my modeling went on hiatus there was good news. We moved to a small town called Alturas on the SP Modoc line. And guess what, there was a branch line (Lakeview branch) and the tracks went right through our property !!! That was cool. Every night the local to Lakeview went right through our yard on its way back. I usually missed its departure because I was in school. Then after a while the novelty wore off and I got involved in other things and railroads and modeling took a back seat for a while. During this time my parents started planning to build there own house. The model railroad room was a big part of those plans but it took several years before we could start on any layout. So during that time planning was about all I did.

Eventually the time came when I could start a new layout. The layout was going to be in the basement, and so was my room. Although it would be many years before the main part of the layout would be built, I could start on the portion that was at the time in my bedroom. My bed was hung from the ceiling to allow more space for the layout. We built the bench work together but the rest was pretty much left to me with the idea that it would eventually be intergraded into my dads much bigger portion. I spent a lot of time building track and scenery, then buildings. It evolved a bit over time and I made changes from time to time. That occupied my spare time. It wasn’t the greatest but I enjoyed it. A few years later I moved away from home.

During those years we started to do some railfanning, but it wasn’t quite real railfanning. That’s mainly due to the fact that the trains always took second place to other things. Those trips were always family affairs where we had some more important agenda and trains were only an afterthought. On those trips and vacations I did get to see some train stuff but it was usually visiting the tourist traps. It wasn’t till after I left home that I became a railfan.

During my teens and after I left home I did not have a good relationship with my father.
That happens a lot but was particularly bad between me and my dad. There were many years where we barley spoke to each other. The strange thing is we are so much alike you would think we would have got along great. That wasn’t the case. We couldn’t see eye to eye on anything. Whatever I did was wrong. You know how it goes. Then one day when our relationship was about at its worst, something happened. I don’t remember what it was but it brought us together that day and we talked for the first time in a long time.

I had been reading and re-reading a lot of old (and new) railroad magazines. That gave me an itch to go out and see and photograph some real trains. I asked if he would be interested in going on a railfanning trip, and he was. So we talked about where to go and when and decided to go to Gerlach and check out the UP. We left early one morning with our cameras and a scanner and set out for Gerlach. We first drove along the Modoc line (from Alturas) to Wendel. Wendel is a neat place. It’s like a throwback to another time. Every house there has some sort of old railcar on the property either as a shed or a house add-on. Anyway we took some pictures and moved on. We joined the UP at Flannigan where the Modoc ends and SP trackage rights on the former WP began. We traveled many miles across the Smoke Creek desert to get to Gerlach. Only one train went by us during this part of the trip. Once in Gerlach we were able to see five or six trains (I later learned this was the normal morning westbound fleet). The morning seemed to fly by with all that action. We then decided to continue on across the Black Rock desert to Winnemucca. This proved to be a big undertaking as this road is just a two rut trail. We bagged a few more along the way. Eventually we got to Winnemucca and decided to stake ourselves out at the end of the paired track at Weso. There we saw a few SP trains and one last UP before we decided to head home. By now it was dark and we had a couple hundred miles to go to get back home. We took the highway back. All in all it was a good day. We put about 400 miles on the odometer. This was our first real railfanning trip together.

That was defiantly a turning point in our relationship. In the years to come we would take countless trips. I’m glad we came together on that day. Even now when things get rocky between us we still have trains and railfanning. And it’s not just us all the time. Not too long after that first trip we started meeting up with my uncle on our journeys. Yes the same uncle that had all those real looking models, and an avid SP fan. We would go all over California on our adventures. Later we expanded out horizons and have science made many weeklong trips all over the west coast. Now I don’t even consider it a serious trip unless the odometer rolls over a couple thousand miles. Over the last few years even my aunt, who is not as big a railfan as us, has been joining us on our adventures too. Let me tell you railfanning on those kind of trips with that many people leads to some wild situations.

The trips are planned as to time frame and general idea of where we want to go. But the plans rarely go unchanged. It might go something like this. “hey, I’ve got some time off , do you want to take a trip?” and the other would agree if possible. If not we would work on making it so. Then we would pick a place, or at least a direction to head. Word would be put out for my uncle or aunt to join us and sometimes they do and sometimes they can’t. Then once the time is secured there’s nothing left bet the waiting and anticipating. Then the day would come and we would be off. Then we would railfan away, free to do whatever we want. Some trips would take us several thousand miles and we would burn dozens of rolls of film over a week or two. And some trips would be relatively short. In the twenty or so years we have been doing this there were more trips than I could recall without help. And there will be many more.

So I guess I can say yes, I do “keep it in the family” so to speak. We do a lot of our own separate railfanning ( I live 900 miles from my parents). But the bigger trips we do together. As the matter of fact, next month (or is it a couple weeks?) we are going to meet up at Cajon pass. I don’t know if we will log the kind of miles we usually do because I just started a new job, but I’m shure it will be enjoyable as usual. And our next big adventure, whenever it happens, we have already talked about going up to Vancouver B.C. and across the Canadian Rockies.


P.S. After I left home my dad took over my old layout and as planned has built his layout throughout his basement. Just last year he has basically completed it. But you know how that goes, they are never really done. I have built a couple small “get me by” layouts science but because of job changes and moves I don’t have one now and will not in the foreseeable future. But when I do, boy do I have rolling stock covered!!!!

[canazar]

Chad,

What a great story. I think you are right, it is better if you have someone to share it with. Also, as it ha shappened to you, ti can build your life with lif elong expeirences that you will carry with you unitl your time..

We with me, I have become a railfan only in the last year or so. When I moved in with my finacee 2 years ago, I had a problem trying to bond with her 3 year old son. It was just akward age and I had no expierence tryingto be parent. In one of the best moves I have ever made,I went back to my storage unit and dug out my old trains. I didnt have much but a couple of engines and maybe 2 dozen cars. But I brought it home amd he asked what was in the boxes..... Well, long story short, with an hour we had some track up and a loop around the chair, cat was going bonkers and we were bonding. Mom came out and just smiled. her boys were playing. Well, 2 years later, we have a huge layout in the garage (Became a great hobby for me) with over 200 feet of track. And we also have taken up "trainhunting" We go and check out the rail trains all over Pheonix. It has been great for us, and hopefully, it will continue unitl maybe he has his own kids. and we all can go out. ;)

Best Regards...

Johnk

[chad thomas]

John,
Sounds like a the beginning of a beautifull relationship........

But seriously thats great. I have a few hobbies but none compare to trains. There are so many aspects to the hobby it seems there is never enough time to persue them all. I hope you and your step son get many years of enjoyment from it.

[chad thomas]

John,

What kind of action is there around Phoenix these days? I havn't been there science the SP mothballed west end to Yuma. Did you go out and check out the A & C ?

[CSXrules4eva]

Yes I agree with this topic. Sharing your railfaning experiencs with someone else who likes the hobby as much as you do is special. I personally, don't have any members of my family that will do this with me. I also don't have a friend who's a railfan who would want to come out with me . :( The closest friend I have who is a railfan and a railroader is in Lombard, Illinois and I'm here in Philadelphia, PA.

[Anonymous]

I acutually got started in watching trains late in life. I grew up in probably one of the best places to do this also, chicago. I took trains for granted and never thought twice about them the way I do now. For me it started with my son, when he was 2 or 3 we were in a doctors waiting office and on the tv was the famous Thomas the Train. Only thing was he hated watching it. This due to the fact all the trains in the cartoon were derailing and crashing in the scenes he watched. He was screaming to turn it off, going wheres the remote.

Well I as a dad I freaked hated to see him afraid of this Thomas the Train thing. So I went out and bought a video of it and sat him thru it and explained that is only a cartoon thing. Well with this I created a monster and the obsession with trains started. Thomas this Thomas that. Well in the process I gained an intrest no so much in the cartoon but real trains. Started buying magazines and browsing the web with my son gaining any info we could. Well now when its nice out he wants to go to his favorite Train spotting place and so do I. We keep a journal of trains sighted and keep them in hopes of mabey seeing them at another time. Now that he is 5 we enjoy this hobby together I am not sure how long this interest will last for him but the train fever sure has bitten me. I will enjoy these times with him as long as he wants to do this with his old man. We have a few local trips planned this spring one being the Rochelle train park. Also will be going back to the Illinois Rail Muesum which is a great place. Well just wanted to tell a little bout my favorite family member to enjoy this hobby with.

[CShaveRR]

My immediate family members have learned enough about my hobby/job that they can explain to others what I do, and at least pick up a little knowledge from a discussion among either fans or workers. I would say that (thanks to my transportation habits) my wife visits the yard more often than any of the other railroaders' spouses who aren't employees.

But these people aren't really railfans. So for real railfanning relationships, I've tried to make friends with some of the folks on the forum. As an employee, I try to mentor them a bit, and definitely not lead them astray. We kid around about it, saying that Mookie's my little sister and Sarah (see above) is my daughter, but these relationships are extremely meaningful to me. And yes, I'll be visiting Sarah and her family next month, and we hope to have them over for some time in Chicagoland during August.

[spbed]

Since my mom & pop divorce when I was a wee baby I attribute my love of trains to the NYC subway system which are the 1st trains that fasinated me. Then my business career gave me the opportunity to work with the RRs on a 1 on 1 bases which sealed the deal [:o)][:D][:p]

Originally posted by chad thomas

Living nearby to MP 186 of the UPRR  Austin TX Sub

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