What railroad(s) did we grow up by?

[Anonymous]

Hey ziggy! I post on the Indiana Bull Session forum.We discuss the old C&EI Mt Vernon/Ft Branch line in detail.I realize this post is almost 3 years old,but feel free to add photos of the line or any input you have.I see you are a member there as well.

The Evansville Western Railway rebuilt the crossing of this line at Bellefountaine as they are building a yard there since being crowded out of Howell Yards.Even better,Im sure you have heard that the old PD&E line (Illiniois Central) is being rebuilt from Browns to Grayville (and eventually) Poseyville,as thats the name of the line. 

Needless to say,Im having a blast reading news and watching the rebuilding of Posey County rail lines.

See ya round here or there.

ah 

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by PASMITH

Harrington Park, NJ on the tracks of the NYC West Shore division. Where Herb Chaudierre first stared recording the sounds of steam locomotives , Fred Icken had his custom built locomotive shop a block from my house and Richard Stoving was president of our high school model RR club. How could you not become a model railroader ?

Peter Smith, Memphis

It is way too small a world to ignore this. I also grew up in Harrington Park and lived there from 1956 to 1979. Lived on Harriot Ave. two houses east of the West Shore and saw it go from NYC to PC to CR. My dad rode the commuter trains to Weehawken until they were taken off, my first two train rides were commuter trains behind lightning striped RS2's and I've had cab rides from Weehawken to Selkirk on both PC & CR. I distinctly remember seeing the DRGW Krause-Maffei diesel-hydraulics that NYC tested (that was my show-and-tell item in school that morning!) and my brother and I would always get up early to watch NYC E8's on the group of passenger trains taking cadets from West Point to Philadelphia for the Army-Navy football game.

Bill Wilcox
St. Louis, Missouri

[Anonymous]

Me well I didn't live right beside a railway line and the closet line is about a 15min dive but CP and CN lines are still a big part of my life.

[Anonymous]

[:p] I grew up in Cayce, Kentucky where "Casey" Jones got his nickname and his first train ride, but it wasn't on the IC. I grew up waving at GM&O engineers as they whizzed past our one little store.
On Saturday's we "went to town", Fulton, KY, where we watched the City of New Orleans rumble through town about 4:15 in the afternoon. On the northwest corner of town there was a huge ice packing plant where 100 car IC banana trains used to stop to be iced down and broken up for delivery all over the U.S. At one time every banana that came to the U.S. thorugh New Orleans came through Fulton to be iced prior to dispersal. That's why Fulton calls itself "The Banana Capital of the U.S..". The Illinois Central had a huge facility there as well. The IC tracks are still there, but the yard was abandoned in the late 1970's
Thanks for the chacne to "go home" again!

Larry Pursell

[Blind Bruce]

i WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO HAVE MY CHOICE OF FOUR ROADS TO WATCH. mY FAVORITE WAS THE ELECTRIC "cHICAGO, mILWAUKEE & sT. pAUL. tHIS WAS A COMMUTER TRAIN THAT RAN BETWEEN cHICAGO AND mILWAUKEE, WITH A SIDE LINE TO mUNDELEIN iLLINOIS. tHE c&nw HAD A ROUNDHOUSE AND YARDS IN wAUKEGAN AND WAS A FAVORITE SPOT TO GET KICKED OUT OF. Sorry, Caps lock was on. The Milwaukee road also passed by once in a while.

[e6s460]

Lived in Altoona. PRR. There are other railroads???

[Anonymous]

I grew up a Stones throw from the DM&IR main yard in Proctor which is a suberb of Duluth. I also spent several years in Duluth.Now in the 60's and early 70's Duluth was a hot spot for Rail action . Road names included
DM&IR, Great Northern, Northern Pacific, Soo Line, Chicago Northwestern, Milwaukee Road, Canadian National, Canadian Pacific, Dul-Sup Terminal RR, Duluth and Northeastern.Hmmm I wonder if i missed any [:)]

[BRJN]

My dad worked for Penn Central, and we lived just a bit too far away to bicycle over and watch. We could hear the train whistles at night, though. Norfolk & Western was the other railroad I remember as a kid. PC owned the ex-PRR main line through town, N&W ran ex-NKP and ex-Waba***rackage.

I grew up and eventually moved into a house just 1/2 block from Norfolk Southern's Cincinnati-Chicago line. Not only can I hear the trains, if one is working hard to get up speed, I can FEEL them go by. [:)] (This is a bit hard on mirrors and light bulbs, though.)

[mcouvillion]

I was 50' from SP's Sunset Line for 10 years as a pre-teen/teenager. My mom and dad still live there. I could sleep through the noisiest train coming through, but always asked guests how many trains came through during the night. They always knew!!! Now, the crossing has crossing arms and bells and starts ringing way too early and when I am there, that thing wakes me up. When I was about a year old, my parents lived in a rental house by the tracks in Deridder, Louisiana. The window sills were very low and my mom took a picture of me on my toes watching the activity in the steam engine service facility behind the house!!! She never took a picture of what I was watching. Apparently I would stand there all day watching the trains - at age one. I've been hooked for so long!

Mark C.

[Anonymous]

Until 1956 - the IRT and BMT subways in Queens (NYC) as well as the Long Island RR, and nearby - PRR (and the Sunnyside Yards).

1956-1966 - New York, Ontario & Western, and the NYCentral in the Mohawk Valley in upstate NY. The NYCentral included the Adirondack Division around Utica, NY as well as the four tracked main from NYC thru Buffalo to Chicago.

1966 - 1971- SAL and ACL in Orlando and Tampa area (becoming SCL during that time), plus a brief time along the ex-Florida East Coast while I partied in Daytona Beach for six months.

1970 - Conrail (ex New Haven) in Connecticut along the shore.

1971 - 1972 Morristown & Erie, and the Boonton Division of the Erie Lackawanna in north Central New Jersey

1973 - til I 'grew up' - Southern Pacific, Western Pacific, Felton & Big Trees RR, and BART in the San Francisco Bay area. (I moved alot within the Bay Area !)

1978 - 1994 Santa Fe (w/ UPand SP close by) in Orange County, CA. Santa Fe line was the route from LA to San Diego.

1994 - 2004 Norfolk Southern and CSX in and around Raleigh, NC (ex Southern, SAL and the 'original' Norfolk Southern tracks) Former ACL was thirty miles away, and a branch of the Norfolk & Western was in closeby Durham.

2004 - Georgia Northeastern RR - a succesful shortline using the ex Louisville & Nashville's former 'Hook & Eye Line' - also known as the Atlanta-Knoxville Division Old Line, which was overshadowed and relegated to a branch status when the L&N gained trackage rights on the NC&StL's more direct route from Knoxville to Atlanta on trackage leased from the State of Georgia. This was the route of the Civil War 'Great Locomotive Chase'. Nearby are both the CSX and NS mains, and in and around nearby Atlanta, there are remnants of the Central of Georgia, SAL, Southern, L&N, etc. Just north of me is the Blue Ridge Scenic RR on former L&N tracks and now part of the GNRR. I am but a mile from some really twisty and hilly bits of the 'Hook & Eye Line' which is the subject of my new layout. That line's worth a look by some other modelers. . .Neat stuff.
BILL

[WilmJunc]

The Milford spur of the old Boston & Albany ran about 1/2 mile from where I grew up. Owned by NYC by the time I was born. Now it's abandon.

Currently live near the old Boston & Maine tracks now owned by Guilford. Old Wilmington Junction (origin of screen name) was about 1/2 mile away.

[simon1966]

The Great Western Railway near Maidenhead in the UK. I would watch the trains go flying through Maidenhead on their way to Bristol and the South West of the UK. My grandparents used to live in Bedfordshire in Leighton Buzzard. I remember as a kid going up the hill by their house to watch the trains come thru the Linslade tunnel on the way from London to Edinburgh. I have vague memories of seeing steam trains here in the very early 60's. Now I live near the N and S heading into St. Louis, MO

[dwRavenstar]

Lived in Huntingdon, Pa (30 miles east of Altoona and the Horseshoe Curve) along the mainline between Pittsburgh and Philly.

Turning 50 this May. Conjugate the changes from the old Pennsy thru and including the Norfolk Southern buyout of Conrail. (I can still hear the local battle cry "Let Conrail be Conrail")

Spent many an hour up around the Juniata loco shops in Altoona.

On a side note: On page 114 of the MR Feb/05 issue there's a picture of a well done model of the East Broad Top. Says it's representing the Mt. Union interchange. Mt. Union is 12 miles from Huntingdon and the EBT is located in Orbisonia. Does anyone know if the EBT ever actually ran the whole way down to MU?

Dave (dwRavenstar)

[Anonymous]

I grew up a block south of the Missouri Pacific main line through Maplewood, MO. I guess I'm older than a lot of you guys on this forum. I grew up watching F3s, FA2s, GP7s, etc. on freight, PA1s and/or E units on the Eagle; and dirty black switchers shoving cars around by Manchester Iron Works. Within an easy bicycle ride there was Frisco's Lindenwood Yard. Black and yellow FA1s and other such goodies. Ah, the good ol' days!

[Anonymous]

The Southern, and I miss those hi-short hood diesels in the tuxedo black, white and gold, running long hood forward.

[Anonymous]

The MA&PA

[Anonymous]

About 100 yard in front of the old farm house I grew up in was an abandoned narrow guage track. Just this week I have been reading David McNeil's "Railroad with 3 Gauges" and learned that it was the Felicity & Bethel RR a short (9 mile) branch off of the standard guage Cincinnati, Georgetown & Portsmouth RR. The F & B died on July 1 1933, the CG&P followed 3 years later. I am considering building a layout based on them.

[Anonymous]

In Columbus Ga it was the Man of War , Central of Ga as I recall. One day in the late 60"s when picking up my mother, who had missed the train it came in with a US minute man missile unit ( two cars, luncher and control) just behind the engines and me with no camera.

[Anonymous]

bnsf / atsf
and up

I now live next to the UP container / switching yard in Fontana

oh yeah can't foget about the narrow guage steamers about 45mi away.... Disneyland RXR

nearly forgot about Metrolnk and Amtrak

[jim h]

I GREW UP AND STILL LIVE IN PERU INDIANA. GROWING UP I SPENT MANY HOURS AT THE WABASH ROUNDHOUSE AMOUNG THE STEAMERS. THERE WAS THE NICKLE PLATE AND ALSO THE C&O TO WATCH . THE THING I REMEMBER THE MOST WAS THE RIDE ON THE WABASH CANONBALL. MY WIFE'S GRANDFATHER WAS THE CONDUCTOR. I STILL MISS THE STEAM WHISTLE IN THE NIGHT AIR.
JIM H. [e-mail]

[Anonymous]

I grew up about 17 miles northwest of Evansville,In. next to the IC/ICG Browns,IL.to Evansville line.
I remember most green diamond geeps and later Paducah rebuilds. later vists included gp38-2s before
Indiana hi-rail took over the line.
-
Ralph Cheaney, Evansville

[PASMITH]

Harrington Park, NJ on the tracks of the NYC West Shore division. Where Herb Chaudierre first stared recording the sounds of steam locomotives , Fred Icken had his custom built locomotive shop a block from my house and Richard Stoving was president of our high school model RR club. How could you not become a model railroader ?

Peter Smith, Memphis

[jextra]

I live and grew up in Delavan, WI where a Milwaukee Road line came thru. A few times a week big long freights mostly eastbound would come thru, and just about every M-W-F afternoon a short freight would serve some businesses in the area. In the summer all the time I would ride my bike to the tracks and just hang around and wait for it. Some people must of thought I was crazy. One time when they were switching cars they let me come up for a ride in the engine. It was a GP-30. The swItch guy even gave me a Milw Rd hat pin. It was the biggest thrill by far that any kid could have. The train crew guys were always the same ones and always recognized me and knew I was train crazy. I tried to collect everything I could when I could afford it, of the Milw Rd, for my model train collection. The tracks eventually deteriorated after the RR went out of bus. A few years back the Wisconsin and Southern RR refurbished them and they come thru a couple of times a week, and now me and my son rush up to the tracks whenever we can when we here one coming, and even drive to the nearby towns on nice days to watch them shuffle lumber and grain cars. Now he is a WSOR fanatic! My dad told me he did the same thing when he was a kid. He remembers and likes steam of course. So I guess you could say its in our blood!

[PennsyHoosier]

As a kid, I used to ride the Chicago and Northwestern from Geneva into downtown Chicago to go to the hobby and guitar shops. Best times of my life.

[Sunset Limited]

I live in El Paso, Texas. Grew up watchin the Southern Pacific. The neat thing at the time was seeing Mopac/Texas & Pacific screaming eagles going through the freight yard. Further downtown you would see Santa Fe and their freight yard. In Northeast El Paso, I used to see Southern Pacific-Rock Island lash ups! Rock island engines made SP engines look 'Brand new'. (Unless it was painted in 'The Rock' colors).

[Anonymous]

As a boy in the early 50's we lived about a mile from the Florida East Coast mainline in Biscayne Park, Florida. A buddy of mine and I would hang out by the track, placing pennies in the rail, and so forth. The only steam we'd see would be an occasional 2-8-2 or 4-8-2 pulling a work train, although there were still 0-8-0's in the Miami Buena Vista yard. In the summer of '55 I visited the boneyard in New Smyrna Beach, Florida- long lines of 4-8-2's and 0-8-0's. Very sad sight! They were all scrapped shortly thereafter.

[BRVRR]

I grew up in Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan.
The first road I remember is the Milwaukee Road. I had an uncle who was an auditor for them. I remember seeing the steam powered Hiawatha's when I was about 6. Then came the NYC, IC, MC, IHB and other NYC subsidiaries. Now it is NS, CONRAIL(CSX&NS) CSX here in Northeast Ohio.
I remember seeing the Santa Fe Chief ( or at least a red & silver liveried diesel) when traveling with my dad as a kid.
I'm sure there were many others that I saw, since I traveled the lower 48 States with my father from age 4 to about 13.

[Anonymous]

C&O (former PM) just west of Detroit, MI. My family used to go to the cider mill in Northville, sit in the parking lot eating candy apples while watching 4-unit GP9 consists thundering by (THOSE were the days![:p]).

Moved to suburban Washington DC (actually Rockville, MD) in winter of 1968, had a birds-eye view of the B&O's Metro Branch. Lotsa F- and E-units. I remember being totally amazed when I saw a C&O geep pulling a work train (at 13 yrs old, I didn't know much about mergers and acquisitions). 6 months later, moved to Annapolis --- ZERO trains[:(].

After getting my drivers license, did lots of railfanning on the B&O and Western MD in Baltimore, Brunswick and (occasionally) Cumberland.

[johncolley]

I grew up in Oakland, CA with the SP and the wobbly (WP). My stepdad was a 22 year conductor on SP til he passed away in '48. Then I rode pass until I was 18. I worked on SP oiling freights at night my last year of HS, then went apprentice car knocker for 2 1/2 years. tried firing until we were eliminated. Got into the food industry in plant engineering and retired from that in '98. Now live in Port Townsend, WA and model GN in '47/'48. I might entertain the possibility of modelling the WP-GN interchange at Beiber,CA. Go figure?

[Anonymous]

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway!! Well i'm am growing up and this is what i usually see when i see a train http://railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=86415 and http://railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=75601 .

[camarokid]

CB&Q in Nebraska. Two blocks away and in the 50's. Mom now lives by the double track CNW-UP in lllinois. I never get tired of hearing those freights roll by every 20 minutes or so.

[Anonymous]

Well when I was growing up Chessie System ran right by the house. now its CSX and
the occasional NS train. the N&W also ran by my grandmothers house.

FAdkins
Route of the Rockets

[rfross]

Pre and post merger Pacific Northwest (Seattle area) BN including GN, NP, SP&S. Also a little Milwaukee thrown in.....

[douginut]

Grew up in Chicago, on Buena Ave.
Walking distance from the Buena Interchange from the Milwaukee Road to the CNS&M and the yards of the CTA.
Could walk to the CNW commuter station at Wilson Ave.
Rode all of the L's and subways after was permitted at 12 and larger than my dad by a bunch.
Rode the Burlington on the annual Cub Scout treat day to Starved Rock State Park.

Since moving to Utah have regualrly ridden the Traxx LRV downtown and watched the landslide in the canyon on the last runs of the California Zephyr.

Have taken the Amtrack Zephyr to Sparks Nevada. (then awful, but delightful now).

Doug, in Utah

[Anonymous]

My back yard ended at the Right of Way of the NKP and Wabash Joint Line out of Toledo to the split south of Maumee. Saw lots of Alco RS-11's EMD GP-7 & 9's in NKP paint and the Fabulous Bluebird F-7's and Passenger GP-7's in Wabash. Along with various visitors the Toledo Terminal and C&O.

After the N&W takeover we were visited by relettered NKP-WAB units and new NW units along with occasional WM F-7's.

Rick

[SpaceMouse]

Maybe it is a coincidence amybe not. When I was 5 I lived right on the tracks. My back yard ended at the bedding. When I picture the trains I seem to remember E7 freights Southern Pacific.

My first locomotive that I purchased for myself is an E7. The line I'm modeling is Southern Pacific.

[GerFust]

I grew up near the Chesapeake and Ohio running through Mid-Michigan. I remember when the B&O merged/acquired C&O. It was stange seeing the Chessie kitten on a B&O engine!

-Jer

[wesleyl849]

I watch the MoPac in Austin, TX. I remember those big beautiful blue engines pulling through town. What a great site.

[Ibflattop]

I started railfanning at the age of 4 yrs old. My Grandmother and I would drive out to the NKP yard at New Haven Indiana and go thru it to see all the railcars. This was 1966, and by this time the NKP and Wabash was sucked into the N&W. We use to pick Grandpa up from where he worked at along the NKP mainline. I would go ovet to the fence and wave at the train as it passed by. My cousins grew up along the PRR mainline to Chicago west fo Ft.Wayne. We would hike back to the line and wave at the Engines as they went by and when they got like 4 or 5 cars away from us we would chuck rocks at the passing freight cars. Then as the Caboose got close to us the rocks would go behind our bodies and we would wave to the Conductor and the rear brakeman. That was cool, the roads still had Cabooses!!!!!! :-)
Then PC came into the picture,
So I seen NKP,Wabash, N&W, the GR&I (Pennsy), NYC, PC, Conrail and NS in my time. Heck, I even hired out on NS for a couple of years running to Chicago. That is when Model Railroading took a backseat to the real stuff!!!!!!!
Kevin

[Anonymous]

Mine is the UP's 'Yelowstone Branch' . The UP ran north from Idaho Falls, Idaho to West Yellowstone and had a few branch lines serving the agricultural areas of the upper Snake River Valley. This was single track mainline, built before most of the communities were there so the towns grew around them. Daily trains in the 60's and early 70's were hauling beets, potatoes, cattle, and lumber. This line is now the Eastern Idaho Railroad.

Dane

[rogerhensley]

In Anderson Indiana, I grew up by the NYC, PRR, PC, CR, CSX and NS and also the CI, CIW. Same rail lines, just different owners. :-(

See more of this on my Railroads of Madison County at: http://madisonrails.railfan.net/

[Anonymous]

I live in rural Saskatchewan beside a CN line. There is around one train every two hours. The VIA train goes by every four months or about that . It's always empty heading into the saskatoon passenger station, but nevertheless the whole family runs to the window!

[CPPedler]

The London and North Eastern Railway ,latterly British Railways between 1946 and 1969 here in Cambridge U.K. In the days of steam . Remember the British use buffers between each rail vehicle and the sound of clanking buffers and three link couplings as stock was shunted (switched) at 2'o clock in the morning is forever etched on my memory. But I woundn't have missed it for all the world, I believe that kids today have missed an important part of railway history. ... Here I go , get the violins out .. PLS

[Robert Langford]

Union Pacific, Denver & Rio Grand, I grew up in Park City Utah, there was two trains a day one U.P. from Ogden, and one D&RG from Salt Lake. As a kid my dad would drive us to Weber Canyon and watch the BIG BOYS pull a hundred cars up the hill.What a site! A ride to Ogden and watch S.P. switch and turn on turntable and roundhouse. If I had only had a camera.
BOB

[GDRMCo]

Queensland Rail

[Train1725]

Grew up a few blocks from Pennsylvania's Sunnyside yards, closer still to the #7 Train El. As a New Yorker my main fascination was with subway trains, I remember as a kid riding in the first car with my dad. Now that i moved i wish i spent more time than i di railfaning Sunnyside yards. Moved to Mansfield, MA...Boston to Providence main line runs through town, along with a few industry branches and some railroad history, so still a good railroad town!. I plan to model Sunnyside Yard and Hell Gate Bridge (NYCRR) on a future layout.

[trolleyboy]

I grew up in St Catharines ontario which was and still is a auto manufacturing town and therfore remember fondly being stopped by CN locos pulling auto parts down the middle of my street right in front of my house as a matter of fact! Also being in the niagara peninsula a ten min drive to Niagara falls brought you CP rail and some Conrail and before the CP take over the high hood geeps of the TH&B. TB

[Anonymous]

It started out Santa Fe, then became BNSF, now it's the Timber Rock RR. The tracks, which are about 50 ft. behind my house, are still owned by BNSF, but, it's leased to WATCO as the TIBR (Timber Rock).[:D][8D][:)]

Robert

[challenger3802]

The ex-LCDR, then ex-SR, then ex-BR, now South Eastern line runs through Gillingham. The carriage sheds still stand but the large locomotive depot has long since gone (my apartment is built on the site!) The station approach is through a deep cutting to the west, the station is a 3 platform affair handling fast and semi-fast expresses to London and the Kent Coast (Ramsgate and Dover). It's also the terminus for trains from the North Kent line via Gravesend. Up until 1984 it also provided the link to the royal naval dockyard (to the North of Gillingham), hence the need for a large locomotive depot. The dockyard may have closed and the volume of traffic decreased but the line is still in heavy use to this day with excursions adding to the passneger and occasional freight movement.

LCDR = London, Chatham and Dover Railway (c.1890 - c 1930's)
SR = Southern Railway (c. 1930's - 1948)
BR = British Railways (1948 - 1998)

Ian

[jspinner]

Grew up in Bedfrod, Virginia area, NW steam, mid 1950s.

jspinner

[halifaxcn]

Grew up in Arlington, MA. next to the Bedford branch of the then Boston & Maine. The line saw two RDC passenger trains, in bound to Boston at 7:45 AM and out bound at 5:45PM. The freight was a local that did some switching at some locations along the way. It was a monday through friday job.

On some weekends my parents would take me to South Station to watch the trains of the then New Haven, some NYC and the REA next door was always great to watch.

Now live in Attleboro, MA about 1/2 mile from Amtrak's NEC and about 7 miles from P&W small yard in Cumberland RI.

Regards

[Anonymous]

CPR tracks were running in my backyard.

[jwr_1986]

Nearest Rail Road is thirty minutes away. It is the NS. I don't know what line but it is the one that goes through Callicoon and Narrowsburgh NY. There are a few nice places to watch it. The only problem is that the odds of seeing a train are worse than winning the lottery.

[passengerfan]

Grew up in Seattle not far from from the Seattle Portland line that carried the GN-NP-UP pool trains plus the Milwaukee Road mainline. Besides these mainline railrodas one also had a choice to Vancouver B.C. of taking the CPR Princess liners on a day trip to Victoria or overnight trip to Vancouver before the night boats were discontinued. Pretty good choice of logging railroads were stiil operating not far away such as Rayonier on Olympic Peninsula and Weyerhouser at Enumclaw.

[Todd McWilliam]

I lived in a town that had 2 railroads run through it. The Chicago & North Western and the Milwaukee Road. My town had 2 eat depots and a cool interlocking tower. All of them are still standing and are currently being restored.

[Anonymous]

Like Chris (Torino GT390) I grew up not too far from SP's Taylor Yard, although I was about ten or twelve miles north (maybe a little more). I used to see quite a few freights roll by on their way north towards Tehachapi, since all that was between my house and the tracks was a usually empty schoolyard (it's full of temporary classrooms now). The other line about two miles south headed west towards the coast, and when I saw trains on that line they would be either SP freights or Amtrak's coastal train. I vaguely recall seeing the freedom train going past in 1976, but can't remember much about it. I've moved from the area now, and am about 40 miles from the nearest tracks, except those on the models!

[ericsp]

I grew up mainly by Southern Pacific and to a slightly lesser extend the Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe. In my teenage years San Joaquin Valley Railroad came along, ATSF and BN merger, and UP swallowed SP.

[locomutt]

I 'grew up' in eastern Ky. almost all C & O.(some L & N )
Now I live in the Louisville area(30+yrs) and it's basicly
all CSX,NS, P&L,L&I.

[SP4449]

[bow] SP Coast Line [:D] San Luis Obispo, CA, last three years of high school and a couple of years college. Even got to ride the old FM switcher in the flat yard after school some days. The Noon Daylight made appearances both north and south bound every day. And the Lark at Midnight, both directions. The engine facility had a turntable to turn the helpers for Questa Grade and a roundhouse. I was fired from my first real job because I could see the mainline out one of the plants windows. I thought I was really sneeky but the boss could tell I was watching the trains instead of stuffing the boxes. [|)]

[Anonymous]

I grew up about a mile from Taylor yard in Los Angeles used to watch all the SP movement there. Even saw the Daylight run thru sometime in the late 80's. To bad it's all gone now.

Chris

[Anonymous]

I live in Norwich, CT and the Maine Central comes thru here I saw once. And The Providence and Worcester. I see that all the time. I think They have U23B units come thru.

[grayfox1119]

The old Boston and Albany line ran through our town, the Rochdale section of Leicester, Ma. This line later merged with the NYC, and now Amtrak and CSX run through the line.
My grandfather's house was one town south of us, Oxford, Ma, and the New Haven ran through that town. Now the line belongs to the Providence and Worcester Railroad.

***

[bikerraypa]

QUOTE: Originally posted by mapep

Delaware, Lackawanna & Western-Peapack, Gladstone branch till Kindergarten then Central Railroad of New Jersey, High Bridge Railroad branch. Even commuted from Raritan, NJ to Elizabeth, NJ of the CNJ in my 30's. Now live accross the Allegheny River from the Buffalo & Pittsburgh, a division of the Gennessee & Wyoming!

I get home from work late on a pretty regular basis because I stop to watch the B&P working the refineries in Petrolia.

I grew up with the Western Allegheny in my backyard, across the creek.

[Anonymous]

Grew up south of Chicago, just old enough to remember NYC geeps on the Joliet branch, EJ&E Baldwin centercabs, C&EI freight trains zipping by downtown Chicago Heights as I ate fries in the old Kresges lunch counter while mom shopped. And mom had a sister in California, so visits would start at Joliet and i can still see that mars light on the lead Santa Fe F-7 on the Grand Canyon comin' round the bend.

[Anonymous]

In 1960s it was the Santa Fe in Wichita, KS I remember psgr trains such asTX Chief, San Fran Chief, Kansas Cityan/Chicagon plus aset of mail trains. The old switchers, painted in black & white, looked nice. In the 1970s/80s it was the SF and the Missouri Pacific in Newton, KS The Mopac operated a daytime local turn that I watched for several yrs. SF trains and yard switchers provided action. One block from the house was a large flour mill that SF switched twice a day everyday. This job would also work the MP transfer also. SW12 and high nosed gp7/9's were power used during this time.

[jockellis]

Three blocks away from my house on Connecticut Ave. in Atlanta was the Pullman plant at the beginning of the Georgia Railroad yards alongside DeKalb Ave. In 1950 or '51 and I was about two years old, my Mom and I were walking to a store when I saw a steam locomotive on a side track. Three diseasels were also in view, but of course I don't remember them. When I was 21 and in college, I climbed into the cab of a dead steam locomotive and was seen by a GA road worker who yelled at me: "Get the hell off there!"
Jock Ellis

[boomer5344]

Missouri Pacific, Rock Island, Cotton Belt w/ Frisco, KCS, MKT nearby.

[Anonymous]

Erie & Lackawanna, There where two railroad stations in Mountain View NJ. I still can see the steam locomotives entering and leaving the stations. Standing within a few feet of the drive wheels as they would do their initial slip on the rails as the engine would start to move. Also the burned grass on the sides of the rails from the hot cinders. Flying my Kites on the route 23 over pass as the locomotives passed underneath with all the smoke and steam. this was during the late 1940's early 1950's.
Now that we are retired we see the BNFS in Sourthern Missouri.
Rich Buttler

[Anonymous]

I grew up in Watertown, Connecticut and remember in my earlier days watching trains run up thru town along the old Naugatuck Valley Line that ran north next to the Naugatuck River. The last train to come thru town was on February 7th, 1974. I was 7 yrs old and remember it like it was yesterday. It was a local freight pulled by Penn Central #9354 (I found out detail info later in life when I began researching the road). It was a cold snowy day and we had the day off from school due to the snow. Me and a few friends were sled riding near one of the 3 tressles in town and I remember seeing the snow flying off the tracks as the engine plowed its way through. I still to this day remember the engineer waving to us, he was an older man with a full beard, kinda looked like Santa Claus. Later that year, they ripped out the 3 tressles. A bunch of years after, when I was in my teens, I was into chasing the local fire department to calls and taking pictures before I was old enough to join. One night, they got a call for a structure fire in the old train depot in town. I remember standing there, watching the building burn to the ground. The building was standing on property that was bought by a local contractor to build a strip mall on. The story about the fire that was circulating at the time was that the contractor could not tear down the old depot because it was a registered historic landmark. He had repeatedly tried to get the building condemmed for demolition but was stpped by the local historic society. Very mysteriously one night, the depot building, which was in poor shape to begin with, caught fire, along with another old building almost 75 feet away on the property that was a feed and grain store (also protected as a historic landmark). Rumor had it that the contractor figured if he couldn't tear them down, then he'sd burn em. Supposedly, he hired a few local punks to do the deed (this info is from actual fire dept. records) but it was never proven, and to this day, no arrests were made, but the strip mall was built. I am currently building an HO scale layout of the old line that went through Watertown. Much of the land along the old tracks hasn't changed much in 30 yrs, and what isn't there anymore is pretty much in my head from memories of walking the tracks as a kid and watching the old trains coming in and out of the depot. I do have a few old pics of the depot and the last train if anyone wants to see them. Thinking back now about that rail line and the old depot and grain store saddens me to know that my children will never get to see them, all because of something called "progress".

[johncolley]

I grew up with SP and WP "The Wobbly" in Oakland, CA. My stepdad was a 22 year SP conductor when he passed away in '48. Now I am retired to the northwest and I model GN in the Cascades...go figure!

[chaya]

NP, GN, and Milwaukee Road. My first train ride was aboard a train headed up by an NP E-unit. As we drove across the Cascade Pass in the dark, I remember seeing the lights of Great Northerns winding slowly across the pass. I saw a lot of Frisco and Western Pacific freight cars as well. I was pretty sad when BN came into being and sucked up the old railroads. Once I'd moved to Santa Fe, however, I was delighted when BNSF showed up: an excuse to combine all my favorite railroads, including the AT&SF, into one! [:D]

[andrechapelon]

Moved around a lot as a kid.

D&RGW in Denver for a year.

SP, UP, ATSF Pomona, CA.

SP, ATSF in Mojave (last year of steam in Tehachapi)

SP in Tucson.

SP in the Bay Area.

Andre

[SP9811]

Southern Pacific, in California, from day one.
Thom

[trcarson]

C&O with red, then yellow, then blue, and then back to yellow Cabooses. Didn't like the B&O engines showinfg up...thought that the B&O was taking over. Didn't learn 'til later that it was the other way around.
Now I live near the joint line. Enjoyed railfanning before theose ugly yellow and gray things showed up.

[Anonymous]

DM&E until I moved, then BN a hair before the merger to BNSF.

[Anonymous]

I have always seen CONRAIL, NS, and THE EAST BROAD TOP

[CBQ_Guy]

Chicago, 1960's...

B&O, C&O, Pennsy, C&OCT in the old house. IC/GM&O in the new house. ATSF "near" my first apartment after marriage (Corwith Yard, no less!)

Currently BN (just sold off to Illinois Railnet) and CSX/IAIS (Ex RI).

I've been in "Train"ing my whole life! [:D]

[Anonymous]

Delaware, Lackawanna & Western-Peapack, Gladstone branch till Kindergarten then Central Railroad of New Jersey, High Bridge Railroad branch. Even commuted from Raritan, NJ to Elizabeth, NJ of the CNJ in my 30's. Now live accross the Allegheny River from the Buffalo & Pittsburgh, a division of the Gennessee & Wyoming!

[cpcolin]

I still live by CNW (now UP) and Soo Line (now CP) by Mayfair Junction. Lots of METRA trains and the local for the Weber Industrial lead (UP). Amtrak runs by along the CP with the Hiawatha to Milwaukee and the Empire Builder. We still get a few freights for CP mostly cofc and tofc. When Soo line was operating there would be more general merchandise trains.

[Anonymous]

I grew up with the DM&IR, DWP, Soo and BN all within a very short distance of my house. My father was a DM&IR fireman on the steam and an Engineer later on. I and my friends use to hop the DWP freights to get to various places in town. Wasn't the brightest thing to do but it was fun.

[Green Bay Paddlers]

BN along the "racetrack" from Aurora to Chicago. Triple-Tracking! Metra & AMTRAK run as well as a variety of mixed freight inbound/outbound to the Cicero yard and points east...

[cisco1]

Lived two miles from the CB&Q, watched red and white Geeps and F units (and the occasional U-boats) turn to BN green after the brief riot of color during the merger in '70. Later on in the early '80s, had the good fortune to see a few of the FRISCOs fine machines before the green tide covered them. Oh yeah, almost forgot, the Rock Island ran through my Grandmas backyard until its demise in the late '70s. All these and Grandmas house too are gone now but what memories!

[Fergmiester]

CN The double main line ran east/west through Ricmond Hill North of Toronto. I lived just about a mile South of Steeles Ave. I can still hear the Diesels rumbling up the gade as the train passed under Young St. working a freight towards the Yard in Concord. Use to go to the tracks with a friend and take pictures with an old Kodak Bellows Camera. Someday I will dig up those old photos.

[ozzy01]

Growing up in Dayton,Ohio it was the B&O,EL,PRR and NYC. Then Chessie System,EL and PC. Mid 70's Chessie and CR and DT&I via trackage rights on CR. After GT bought the DT&I it was Chessie,CR and GT/DT&I. Now , where I live it's CSX

[darth9x9]

Why Chessie of coarse!

[jpmorrison]

in 1960-1970 i grew up along milwaukee road what a great time

jeff

[egmurphy]

I grew up in southern Connecticut, in the heart of NY, NH, & H country, although there were no tracks very near our house. My uncle, who was a car inspector for the New Haven, lived out in East Haven, with a house that backed up on the mainline. I used to spend time at their house in the summer, and did see a lot of trains. Unfortunately, I wasn't a diehard railfan at the time and didn't pay close attention to what I was looking at. I don't remember seeing any steam, although it's possible that I saw some of the last remnants. This would have been in the 50's.

We'd go to "The City" (New York) once or twice a year and would always take the train.

It's a little known fact, but the main waiting room in Grand Central Station is really the center of the universe! [:D]


Regards

Ed

[Anonymous]

Southern Pacific, then Union Pacific after the take over. A line with filthy bloody nose units flying by every few mintutes. Lots of activity left an impression that led to my creation as a railroader.

[Anonymous]

1950s--Western Pacific a mile to the west, Southern Pacific 2 miles to the east. I'm only sorry that I didn't take more pictures.
By the way, guess where?
Angus Macdonald
Petaluma Valley RR

[dharmon]

Some more than once.

at what point do I stop growing?

New Haven / PC
MoPac / SP / MKT
ATSF / BN / HBT
CR / NJ Transit
CSX / NS
GRS / MCL / Safe Handling / SLR
BNSF
and the italian National Railway....

[dphusman]

A few blocks from the Milwaukee Road in SE Minnesota.

[Anonymous]

I was raised near the Illinois Central and Pennsylvania crossing in Effingham Illinois.

[Anonymous]

The first 14 years of my life was arround the Southern Pacific in Eugene Oregon, After that time was around the Union Pacific in Portland, OR and Nampa/Boise Idaho.

[Anonymous]

Erie/Erie-Lackawanna on the Pascack Valley line in New York State. When I got older, I could bike out to Nyack to watch NYC & Penn-Central trains on the West Shore Line.

Wayne

[Anonymous]

Grew up with the main line of the Soo Line and the "Valley" main of the CNW, with a branch of the Milw. Rd. The MILW branch went first about '82, then the CNW was downgraded and the Clyman Sub was abandoned in the mid 80's. The CNW "Valley " main was sold to the Fox River Valley RR in '87, and the Soo Line sold their main to the Wisconsin Central the same year. Then WC absorbed FRVR in the early '90's, and we all know what happened to the WC....[banghead][censored]

[Anonymous]

I grew up (and am growing up) along CSX, CP, NS, and the local shortlines, Grand Rapids Eastern and Mid Michigan.

[NevinW]

I grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada and spent my time watching the Union Pacific. Each year my parents would put me on a "City" streamliner to Evanston, Wyoming to visit my grandparents. I still have thing for UP E units and small EMD switchers. - Nevin

[BRAKIE]

For me it was PRR.NYC,N&W,C&O and B&O in the Columbus Ohio area.

[Anonymous]

Soo Line and Green Bay & Western in town. CNW and Milwaukee road nearby. I still recall how excited I was seing for the first time the new GP-30's in the red/white decoration crossing the Wisconsin River Bridge here! What a bold change from the old Soo maroon and gold.

[Anonymous]

The Long Island Railroad.

[TDouglasH]

I grew up in Toronto and the CN & CP were all around. Remember the large yard in the north end and the larger yard near the water front ( large roundhouse) and lots of steam. I also remember when steam was going downhill lots were stored at the north end. Things sure have changed now, hardly the same place it seems.
Douglas

[Vampire]

The Conrail mainline was closest to my childhood home. I'd hear the locomotive horn and pedal down to trackside to watch the trains roll by. One day I kept hearing horns but could find no trains in either direction. I followed the sounds eastward and wound up near the Amtrak station. That's when I discovered the Chessie System and the diamonds where it crossed the Conrail tracks. That became my new favorite train-watching spot for many summers! I luved those colorful Chessie diesels... so much more exciting than "Conrail Blue" (to me anyway... no snipe intended for Conrail fans!).

The DT&I also went through town farther to the east... too far for my bike riding. I do remember once walking through a DT&I diesel painted in Bicentennial colors in 1976. My first up close and personal look at a diesel locomotive.

[jrbernier]

I grew up in the 50's in Minnesota. My grandfather worked of the Chicago Great Western, and my first train ride was on the Burlington 'Morning Zephyr'. As a teenager, I hung around the St Paul Union Depot and watched the streamliners/locals from many midwestern roads. I later worked for both the 'Q' and the Milwaukee for summer jobs.
My modeling is centered around Milwaukee branchlines in SW Wisconsin. But I do have things like a CGW RS-2, a GN E7A,and a CRI&P E8A in my display case. I love to look at that Rock Island E8A with it's classy paint scheme(just as God & EMD meant a passenger engine to look like..).
I tend to feel that many of us tend to model what we saw when we really got serious about scale railroading. For me, that is the late 50's and early 60's. I have a friend who started modeling in the late 80's - All of his models are SD60/dash 9/etc with current paint schemes.

Jim Bernier

[AltonFan]

The first trains I ever watched were Milwaukee Road trains that ran by a playground where my Dad used to take me when I was very, very, young.

When we moved to the suburbs, the Soo Line was about a mile to the east, and the Chicago and North Western New Line (which was shared at this point with the Milwaukee Road) was about a mile to the west. By the time I was in high school, the Regional Transit Authority took over the C&NW commuter trains, and before long, RTA gave way to Metra.

I was bummed when the Milwaukee Road was absorbed first by Soo Line, then by Canadian Pacific. I liked having three railroads run through town. But I was cheered when Wisconsin Central started running on the former Soo Line tracks. I was even happier when WC began allowing steam excursions. I was able to watch Frisco 1522 and CMStP&P 261.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in a town who had very little service by the Reading that was then on it's deathbed. About 15 Miles away Reading still had passenger service up until the mid 70's to Pottsville, PA with an RDC.
The best part was my Aunt lived in St Clair PA and right across the street was the Readings M<ill Creek Yard. It was massive and had all of the old buildings such as a Roundhouse and Coaling tower still in it. Today it the home of an industrial park and one track to Service Yuengling Beer Americas Oldest Brewery. Dave

[Anonymous]

I could watch the 1950s Missouri Pacific from my front porch. A bicycle took me to Frisco's Lindenwood Yard(Frisco freight was still black and yellow then), and a short walk took me to some T.R.R.A. (Terminal Railroad Association)trackage. In the late 60s my wife and I lived by the UP main in Kansas. Now it's BNSF, UP, KCS and Amtrack.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jabrown1971

I grew up in Edwardsville, Il......along the N & W (NKP) line and the CNW (L & M). In my young days I remember long NW freights moving through town, meeting other freights, and 4 or more CNW trains a day. The Illinois Terminal would also put in an appearance via trackage rights from nearby LeClaire tower. Long gone was the traction line to Peoria, but the T & E Belt still had action. In the early 80's the NW through freights moved to the ex Wabash main across town, the NW bought the IT and closed the T & E and LeClaire tower, then NS abandoned the NKP line through town followed by the UP taking out the CNW. My parents still live in that house, but the trains no longer go by it.

Yeah, Edwardsville's railroads just kind of got butchered up...You used to have the NYC, NKP, maybe the C&EI, and Wabash lines all coming into town from the Northeast. Then almost all of the tracks heading into town from the NE got abandoned.

I should also note that before the KCS, there used to be a regional around here named the Gateway Western until 1997 when the KCS bought them out, I don't really remember anything about them but every once in a while I still see a car with Gateway Western painted across it.

[Ziggy]

Grew up a couple miles from the L&N Evansville Howell yards, till I was about 5. My grandfather was engineer with the L&N, running mostly Evansville to St. Louis runs... frieght and passenger. He would take me down to the yard sometimes and would get to climb all over the engines and cars. I got a few pictures doing that. Rode in the cab with him on the last passenger train service on that line between Mt. Vernon and Evansville.
Moved to Mt. Vernon in '75, barely used old C&EI line was about 1/4 mile behind our house (country) across the fields. My aunt and cousins lived in town with their backyard connected to the right of way through town for the L&N, and the depot was right on the other side of the tracks from there.

Ahhh... the good ol' days.

[Anonymous]

In my home town of Langenburg, Saskatchewan, CP runs right through town, so as I kid I grew up watching CP. I also have a lot of exposure to CN, too, though, as they're pretty prominent here as well.

[Anonymous]

Nothing near my childhood home. But for ten years (1950 - 1959) my parents took us on family vacations to a cottage on Rock Lake near Lake Mills WI. CNW's Madison - Milwaukee line was located directly behind our cottage. I can still vividly recall the daily three- car passenger train - E unit and heavy weight mail storage car, RPO, and coach. Local freights were powered by Alco RS-2s or 3s with huge mars lights on top of the nose at each end. Occasionally extra trains were operated over the line including some steam powered freights, and a diverted Dakota "400". We used to fish off the huge crossbeams of the CNW trestle near the lake. My parents would warn us to keep our heads down and don't panic if a train ever came. Well, one day a train came, and their advice paid off. Needles to say my CNW experience at Lake Mills WI played a very big role in developing my interest in trains.

[JPowell]

Well, I was brought up watching Conrail doing action in and around the DeWitt NY hump yard that they had. Now, I live even closer to the yard...about a 5 minute trip from my current houseand it's all CSX w/ the occasional NS, CN, and very rare BNSF's and UP's. My great grandfather was a conductor w/ NYC working out of either here in Syracuse NY or Auburn NY. The hump is no longer a part of the CSX mix, but the DeWitt Yard is very busy now as a Intermodal yard.
I have a spur that serves a local beer distrobutor across the street from my house that I get to see CSX GP38-2's on atleast 2x a week. I'm thinking of modeling my block w/ the beer distro @ the end of it on my layout.
Since the local UAW unions here voted last week to accept the contract to become New Process Gear, Inc, I'm wondering if the new parent company, Magna, Int. (a Canadian co) is thinking of having CSX start serving the facility again, since they (Magna) want to make it the headquarters for their drivetrain unit?

[Anonymous]

I grew up near the Maine Central / Portland Terminal and the eastern end of the B&M. My grand father and dad both worked for Maine Central in Portland. I spent many weekends with my dad at Rigby Yard in So. Portland. Now I live on Guilford's NH mainline.

NHGUY21

[Anonymous]

Guilford Transportation during the late 80's, early 90's.

[Morpar]

I have 3 in my hometown (Frankfort, IN.). The main (and still operating) was N&W (former NKP) going right through town. I watched a lot of work getting done at the then still operating turntable and roundhouse. Next closest to my house was the Penn Central (former Pennsy), this was the line we hiked out of town for about 2 miles on our hunting trips. Last was the L&N (former Monon), this line ran alongside PC on the north side of town and had a field full of rabbits between them! We usually followed the L&N north from town, almost to where I live now. I have a lot of old (and not very good!) photos of the different trains that we saw on these various trips. The best were the winter shots, watching the trains plow through some rather deep snow.
Today, NS runs trough town, bringing locos from all over the country. I remember that a Union Pacific loco was a very strange sight back then, now I can see UP, BNSF, WC, SP, pretty much you name it going by the yards now. The old Monon has long been abandoned, I actually saw the last train ran on this part of the line from my current home. The old Pennsy still has trackage intact just north of town, but I rarely see any CSX trains on it. I do believe that Frankfort's days as a "railroad town" are pretty much gone, but at least there is still some activity. I really wish someone could persuade NS to reawaken it's steam program again. I got to see 611 the first time it came through town, plus 759 and 587 a time or two. My kids deserve to see the same!!

[bcammack]

Alaska Railroad. 1956-1972

[Anonymous]

I grew up in the early '70's. The Milwaukee Road came right through the middle of the entire town and had two sidings where grain could be loaded from two elevators. Then the Milwaukee pulled up tracks around 1981 and that was it. The Burlington Northern ran a very busy track 7 miles from my hometown and right through my Grandparents town. I spent alot of time by Gpa & Gma and the BN line was one block from there house so I remember running to meet the passing trains with my cousins alot.

Today, that BN line is now a very busy BNSF line and I live one mile from it. My son and I still chase after trains! A farily busy UP line is about 15 miles from me and I pass it nearly everyday at work so I get my "fix" of UP's there.

[Anonymous]

I think I had the best of both worlds. One block east of my home was the PRR, and best of all the PRR yard. One block west of me was the great WMRY. I used to watch both alot. At the PRR yard I could watch the turntable running, engines in the roundhouse and see what was going on in the train shops, and when I walked to school I could watch the WMRY switching on major sidings in my town. Thirteen miles north was where Reading track began and 24 miles south was the Hagerstown MD yard. Although I never went to Hagerstown to watch as I couldn't drive : ) . Also though I don't remember (lol no I am not THAT old) there was the Cumberland VAlley Railroad. So I have to say I enjoyed myself alot and have MANY nice memories.

[Anonymous]

The B & O and the Pennsylvania RR. The Reading was not to far away. I love the Pennsy because of its 4 tracks and track running all day long.

[jabrown1971]

I grew up in Edwardsville, Il......along the N & W (NKP) line and the CNW (L & M). In my young days I remember long NW freights moving through town, meeting other freights, and 4 or more CNW trains a day. The Illinois Terminal would also put in an appearance via trackage rights from nearby LeClaire tower. Long gone was the traction line to Peoria, but the T & E Belt still had action. In the early 80's the NW through freights moved to the ex Wabash main across town, the NW bought the IT and closed the T & E and LeClaire tower, then NS abandoned the NKP line through town followed by the UP taking out the CNW. My parents still live in that house, but the trains no longer go by it.

[espeefoamer]

From birth to age 15 months,PRR. From age 2 to 4,SP main line. After age 4 UP main line with SP freights operating on trackage rights.

[garr]

I grew up along the Georgia Railroad in Thomson, GA. I was a teenager in the late '70's and used to ride the Georgia Railroad's mixed trains frequently. An 11 mile ride in a dusty, make that a very dusty, Budd coach at the caboose end of a 125 car freight cost 36 cents. The railroad would only bring the train to a slow crawl and the conductor or flagman would grab my arm and pull me aboard. Usually after the running boarding, the train would stop anyway since it was fighting a grade when going west towards Camak. Imagine this procedure today in our litigious society!

The mixed trains stopped running in 1983 when CSX was formed. I was away at college and did not get to ride the last run. However CSX took them out in style.

Jay

[Anonymous]

Mostly Conrail and BN. Moved to Chattanooga TN in 98, which of course is the home of a NS Debutts yard, so lots of those. Live in Southern Ohio now, where there's mostly CSX and NS, but you see the occasional UP or BNSF going by while in Huntington, WV, just across the river.

[Anonymous]

Virginian,

That ferry to Little Creek always fasinated me when I was stationed there. I always hoped we get underway so that we would pass close to one . . . but never happened.

[retsignalmtr]

i grew up in the bronx ny across the street from the NYC'S harlem line in the 50's and 60's.. it was also three blocks from the railroads mott haven yard where the 20th century was brought for service. the line was also shared by the new haven. i saw many passenger and freight trains and i also watched a freight train as it was derailing. my grandfather worked for the nyc, my father worked for the nyc, pc and conrail. my younger brother worked for the pc and conrail. i was the black sheep of the family that went to work for the nyc subway.

[Anonymous]

I live next to the "Heart of Wales line" - it's been dubbed this by the enthusiasts though it's part of the normal British Rail (now some private operator, think it's Arriva at the moment) network. There's a load of photos of the line back in the '80s here www.railcar.co.uk/Gallery/Heart.htm though we don't get those old railcars now - pity really, the units from that era had decent seats and a good view out - now you're folded up like a deckchair and unable to see ahead (the old railcars were set up so you could see the line ahead over the driver's shoulder)!

[Anonymous]

Wow... Where I grew up in eastern VA, it was N & W and the Southern. There was an N & W branch line a couple of tenths of a mile from where I lived, with a siding at a sand pit. We used to climb all over the hopper cars several times a week. I think it was the Southern that ran the train ferry across the Chesapeake Bay to the Eastern Shore; the south point being at Little Creek, very close to where I lived. Traveling on the northern side of Hampton Roads, one would see C & O. During the summer, we almost always went to West Virginia, and I remember seeing Virginian coal trains winding through the Appalachians.... Yea... I'm old, don't say it....

[Anonymous]

I grew up a few blocks from the Milwaukee Roads, Milwaukee to Chicago Main, and if you took a short walk you could see the CNW's Chicago to Milwaukee Main.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in Harrington Park, NJ, two houses east of the NYC West Shore line. Double track and commuter trains were the norm until 1959. Lightning striped RS3's on the commuter trains are a vivid memory, other NYC power is a little vague, but FM C-liners with their big headlights were a little spooky to me as a first grader walking to school. And I did see the Krauss-Maffei DRGW hydraulic demo set....that was my show-and-tell contribution that morning.

Three Erie lines were within short driving distance. Closest was the Northern Branch in Closter, NJ. A little farther in the other direction was the Pascack Valley Branch (or the New Jersey & New York). The Erie main line was a little farther away...my first intercity train ride started in Ridgewood, NJ in the spring of 1961 with my grandmother to visit relatives in Horseheads, NY.

[n2mopac]

I grew up in West-Central Missouri along the origional Missouri Pacific line between St. Louis and Kansas City. I was a teenager when MoPac merged with UP, so I watched the flaming chickens turn to Canaries and eventually blend into pure UP colors/schemes. I have since lived in two other towns along that some line, including my present home. For several years we would see quite a bit of CSX equipment/locos along this line, but those days are obviously gone. This is also the line that carries the Missouri Mule, Amtrak's versions of MoPac's old twice daily round trip between St. L. and KC.

I lived for 4 years in a town in North West Missouri which had mains for BNSF (this was just post merger, so we saw lots of Santa Fe, BN, and early merger paint schemes) and Norlolk Southern (former Wabash line).

Ron

[johngraser]

A Southern Pacific branch in Huntington Beach, CA

John

[Anonymous]

I grew up near a Chrysler assembly plant serviced by the CNW with car carriers and huge 89' high cube box cars.

---jps

[Anonymous]

Growing up in Lincroft/Middletown New Jersey the railroad was the New York and Long Branch. Got to see CNJ freights and passenger trains. I particularly remember the multi colored trains when either CNJ or NJDOT picked up a bunch of Great Northern/Burlington Northern etc passenger cars. Also there were always PRR/PC E units. When my dad and I would take the train to NYC the coolest was when the engines were switched at Amboy to GG1's. Way cool railroading!

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by kog1027

For the first 11 years of my life it was 4 unit sets of Frisco Red & White GP-7's on the Ardmore - Arkinda sub-division ( Now the Kiamichi RR. ) in Durant, Oklahoma.

That was 30+ years ago, I still miss the sights and sounds of the Frisco.

Mark Gosdin

Hi Mark [:)]

I too grew up along the Frisco near a small Missouri town called, Bois D' Arc. As a VERY small child I bearly remember seeing Frisco passenger trains and riding a few. Unfortunately I was not into photography them and never snapped any shots of my own of Frisco equipment. Warning--DON'T LET THAT HAPPEN TO YOU, TAKE PHOTOS NOW WHILE YOU CAN.

Like Mark I always thought Frisco's last color scheme was red and white. When the engines were new they definately looked red. Only after Frisco was gone did I even learn that Frisco's official color scheme was Mandarin Orange and White. The engines only looked orange when they were faded.

Frisco may be gone, but it is not forgotten.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in Mundelein, Illinois just a couple blocks from downtown where the SOO Line station was in the 1950's. Spent a lot of time playing by the tracks and sidings and in some of the abandoned line shacks before they were torn down in the early '60s.

I did get to see a few SOO Line steam locos go thru, but it was mostly GP's and F's. I do remember one occasion that a Santa Fe Warbonnet Streamliner came thru, but I do not have any idea why, since Mundelein was nowhere near one of their routes. All I know is that it was an ABBA with at least 25 or more passenger cars, (couple of domes) and it sure was flying thru compared with any of the SOO consists I had ever seen.

We used to get lots of shipping boxes and crates from the freight house crew to use for building our "forts" and to play in. And before the steam engine water tower was removed, we used to climb up on top and watch the trains go by.

[cwclark]

I got to see the trains very close-up where I grew up...The SP hopper and cattle car train on the Kerrville branch of the East Yard ran right past my back yard in San Antonio, Tx...I remember a lot of "Black Widow" RS-3's and RS-11's, and F-7 A & B units in my younger days... As I grew a few GP-7's and later GP-9's started showing up and about the time I left home the GP -28's, 30's, and 35's were on the scene...I went to visit a friend's parents that lived on the same block not long ago, and I realized how much the diesels have changed in the past 40 years...The train went by their house on my visit and there were (UP) Mac 70's and AC4400's pulling those same old SP hoppers...(The cattle cars stopped running in the early 70's).....Chuck[:D]

[jdolan]

I grew up on a farm on the mainline of the ATSFbetween Joliet,ILand Streator,IL
THe ATSF formed the South boundery of the farm, so I model the ATSF.

[mikebonellisr]

nycentral,new haven, penn central,conrail, metro north.The 'PUT' division of NYC, & NYC west side freight line.Barge operations on the hudson & east rivers.
I grew up in manhattan [washington heights] where the island is narrow. It was a easy walk to the polo grounds or yankee stadium.There was a lot of RR action on the east or west of me.We use to ride the freights to midtown and save the 10 cent (?) fare.I also commuted for 20 yrs. behind penn central @ conrail FL9's

[orsonroy]

Let's see...

Growing up in Chicago between 1970-1982, I basically grew up alongside a lot of railroads. My parents commuted on the Rock Island and the CTA, my uncle worked for the C&NW, my dad's mom lived a block from the Penn Central, and my mom's mom lived across the street from the N&W. My dad was a bigtime railfan, and dragged me all over the place to chase steam, the Milwaukee Road, and the D&RGW.

Once we moved to the 'burbs, the picture changed. We lived a mile or so from the EJ&E, and the Soo Line was about 2 blocks away from my high school. Later, the Soo became the Wisconsin Central, and switched the lumberyard that I worked in for most of HS. I went to college in Williamsport, PA, only a couple of blocks away from Conrail.

I don't model any of these roads......

[RMax1]

The KATY ran right out side my back door. in Dallas. We moved a little west and close to the Rock Island line and the Frisco. I would go by the GM plant in Arlington and see strings and strings or cars when I was a kid.

RMax

[Anonymous]

Growing up in Bloomington Minnesota (South of Minneapolis) in the 50s-60s we had a shortline run through near my home. It was called the Minneaplis, Northfield and Southern. Driving through differant locations in the state, you would come across many roads: CB&Q, C&NW, CMStP &P (Road on the Hiawatha when I was real young) Soo Line, Northern Pacific, Great Northern and Missabi Road all had lines through or in the state. There are likely many more, which I just can't remember. My favorite roads ended up being in order of preferance: Northern Pacific, DM&IR, Great Northern and Soo Line.

[rogerhensley]

Anderson was criss-crossed with rail lines. There was the Pennsy and the New York Central and the Central Indiana Ry. Not too far away I could find the NKP, the N&W and the B&O. I liked the Pennsy and the Central though. They were MY roads. Those were the roads that had people going places and doing things and then I was in the Navy and riding to Chicago and back. Suddenly, I was one of those people going places in those passenger cars that moved back and forth through town.(excerpt from "A Remembrance - PRR" from the Memories Pages of the Railroads of Madison County.)

In Anderson Indiana
1950s
NYC
PRR
CI
1960s
PC
CI
1970s
CR
CI
1990s
CR
CIW
Today
CSX
NS
CIW

[Anonymous]

I grew up along Conrail and New Jersey Transit.

[Anonymous]

I grew up on 8th street in Jersey City about 4 blocks from the Hudson River. On tenth street(adjacent to my school yard) ran the ERIE later to be the E-L. On 6th st. ran the Pennsylvania later to become the Penn Central. A few blocks away was the Hudson Tubes later to become PATH. Also remeber taking the ferry from the ERIE terminal to NY not too long before they stopped that service.
Great question!!
Mark
http://webusers.warwick.net/~u1015590/

[Anonymous]

In my VERY early years it was the Grand Trunk which turned a daily sand train in Muskegon Michigan. Later it was the Manistee & Noreastern (known by the locals as the Manistee and Nowhere Else) which ran by my grandfathers fruit farm in Manistee and Onekama, Michigan. During my high school years, my (later) father-in-law operated the Ludington & Northern, a wholly owned subsidary of the Sergeant Sand Company. They hauled sand over a five mile route from the sand dunes of Lake Michigan to an interchange with the C7O in Ludington. The sand ended up at the Ford River Rouge plant in Detroit or at a Libby Owens Ford glass plant.
Then of course there were the C&O carferries which operated out of Ludington to Milwaukee, Manitowoc & Kewanee Wisconsin. They ran 7 boats, 'round the clock 24-7 for a lot of years. One boat the SS Badger still operates from May - October hauling cross lake auto and truck traffic from Ludington to Manitowoc.

[Anonymous]

By CN in south paris ME.

[Anonymous]

Bessemer & Lake Erie, Conrail, and Chessie System/CSX/Buffalo & Pittsburgh all served the nearest town. Now its just B&P and CN-Bessemer Division.

[Anonymous]

Having moved around alot as a child, I've lived by Penn Central, Milwaukee Road, BN, SP, ATSF, Mopac, and KCS. It was quite a thrill to get a cab ride in a KCS GP40!! Nearly 20 years ago--I hope I'm getting better and not just older!

[jimrice4449]

I couldn't have custom ordered a better growing up from a railfan's perspective! I was born and raised on the south side of Chicago Circa WWII and we lived about four blocks from the embankment shared by the four track mains of the NYC & PRR a reasonably short hike from Grand Crossing where the NYC/PRR crossed over the 8 track mainline of the IC (with trackage rights for the Big Four, Mich. Central and South Shore. The MC was NYC cars with NYC engines while the Big Four was NYC cars and IC engines. About 3 months short of my 16th birthday my family moved to LA (on the Golden State) where I could watch SP:s Valley frieghts leaving town with three cab forwards(1 on the point, one mid-train and one about 12 cars ahead of the caboose). An afternoon trip to the Balboa Blvd crossing of the Coast Line to watch the Daylight go by with 20 cars and a GS-4. Throw in some trips my father (who travelled a lot on business) treated me to like a ride to St. Louis on the IC transitional Green Diamond's open platform observation car, and a round trip to minneapolis one weekend out on the Hiawatha and back on the 400 at better that 100 MPH on each and it's little wonder that I'm an obsesive train freak.

[Javern]

Milwaukee Road, I vividly recall stock cars with live cows. As a kid I always thought the f type engines were sorta scary, not sure why .

[Anonymous]

I grew up with GN, NP and Milwaukee. Also had Butte Anaconda & Pacific as a shortline. I have read a description of my city as "it looks like a model railroad with all of the train track all over the place."


John

[rexhea]

As a boy in Providence, Kentucky, it was the L&N and the Illinois Central
In high school, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, it was Southern, L&N, and GM&O
Now in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, it is Norfolk Southern, KCS, and AmTrak

[twhite]

The first three years of my life was spent growing up by the Nevada County Narrow Gauge RR here in Northern California. And I mean BY! Our house was right across the street from the terminal in Nevada City. Later, I grew up with SP's Donner Pass route in Truckee, CA. In fact, I didn't see my first WP until I was about eight, didn't see my first ATSF until I was about nine and visiting Tehachapi and heard the rat-tat-tat sound of an ATSF 2-10-2 for about three miles before I even saw it. Didn't see any other railroads until I was in college and traveling the west. Didn't see my first Rio Grande trains until I got out of the Air Force and traveled home via the original "California Zephyr." Being a native Californian, you'd think I model either WP, ATSF or primarily SP, right? Or even that ol' debbil' UP? Nope, being a native Californian, I quite naturally model Rio Grande. Is there a problem?

[bruce22]

grew up in Hamilton Ont. Bay View Junction was a great spot for trainspotting. Returned there a few years ago after an absence of more than 50 yrs, what a disappointment . Oh well I guess nothing is ever what it seems with our " selective " memory. Do remember steam tho of the CNR, CPR, TH&B, and NYC. in the area. Very fond memories.

[Anonymous]

the NS introduced me to railroading but here in Oklahoma City, I am influiced by BNSF. the Red Rock sub is awsome !

[Jetrock]

The ones I remember the most were Southern Pacific, during the era of filthy Geeps and SD's in bloody-nose gray and red (and rust and oil and grime and dust.) I sort of dimly remember seeing green and orange locomotives from time to time in the Seventies and early Eighties which, as it turns out, were Western Pacific and/or Sacramento Northern engines.

[Anonymous]

First trains I remember paying attention to were Erie-Lackawanna; I remember seeing what I now know are F-units pulling a passenger train into the station in the center of Passaic, NJ. Next was Conrail.

When we moved to VA, we lived very near the big RF&P yard just below Washington DC, and I remember seeing RF&P, CSX and NS engines there. We still live in the same area (actually a couple of blocks closer to the tracks now), but both the yard and the RF&P are long gone. So now its mainly NS, with the occasional CSX going through.

Funny thing is, I've always been fond of the Santa Fe, and that's what I've always modeled far back as I can remember -- and I never even saw an actual ATSF train until I was well into my 30's, on our first trip to L.A.. I don't know what prompted my fondness for Santa Fe, but there ya go.

[kog1027]

For the first 11 years of my life it was 4 unit sets of Frisco Red & White GP-7's on the Ardmore - Arkinda sub-division ( Now the Kiamichi RR. ) in Durant, Oklahoma.

That was 30+ years ago, I still miss the sights and sounds of the Frisco.

Mark Gosdin

[CP5415]

The Canadian Pacific Railway was the railroad of choice for me.
I didn't have to walk very far to railfan it.
Still don't

Gordon

[willy6]

my childhood was all GG-1's, PRR in Edison ,NJ

[AntonioFP45]

1960s:
New Haven (Penn Central)
New York Central (Penn Central)

1970s:
Seaboard Coast Line
Amtrak

Time goes by too fast!

[mustanggt]

I grew up mainly surrounded by the MBTA and guilford, Its a wonder I know what I know about trains because I never saw one up close until I was 6 or 7. The fitchburg branch of the T commuter rail ran by my elementary school. I probably saw one Guilford train in my whole 2 years there. then I moved to a trainless town[:(]