Rail fanning and why for me it is fun....
Everyone on the planet has some hobby they enjoy indulging in and I am no different. I have a few hobbies I enjoy but the one I enjoy most involves getting out there and photographing local railroads as well as old abandoned tracks or right of way's. The interest of watching trains started when I was really young but I really didn't start photographing them until 2008. I wasn't even aware before 2008 rail fanning was a hobby with alot of people doing it. I live in a small town away from everything so you don't see people taking pictures of trains here or if they were I didn't pay any attention to it at the time. I have always loved trains as long as I remember but I have only been told how young it started so all I really know it was around two or three of age. In 1988 we moved to the south end of Canton off south first and was 3 houses down from the tracks so when the TP&W would pull through I would run down to the tracks and watch. I also rode my bike down there or kind of try to race the train off railroad street for fun. The neighborhood kids and I also sometimes gathered to watch the TP&W put cars on a siding or take some off once in a while so it provided a small social gathering to stare at them doing so. I also remember a few coal trains around 1993 coming off the TP&W heading south for the coal plant off the old CB&Q/BN line which has since been abandoned and tracks removed in 2017 from Canton to Yates City. In 1994 I raced a locomotive on my bike which was heading south of town. That was the last train i remember on that line but I was thirteen so if there were more it was while I was in school. I also remember a few images of a train heading north probably around the old CB&Q depot and dad was driving along next to it on the street that ran along. I was very little and was pressed up against the window watching it. The engineer waved but that is all i remember. The locomotive was green and in the early 1980's it was Burlington Northern but I cant remember the type of locomotive. This is how it really all began. My father was a coal miner at a mine near Trivoli that was served by Chicago & North western and I do know I was taken up there for a visit atleast once so I could have seen something that sparked my liking there for all i know.
As the years passed and I got older i kept my interest to myself and before being able to drive would have mom follow trains from time to time or stop so I can see one. Once I started driving would stop for incoming trains or look for them once in a blue moon. My first photograph i took was in 2002 when i was waiting on a coal train near Bushnell. I thought wouldn't this be cool if i took a picture of it not knowing so many people do it as a hobby and have since trains were invented. After that around 2002 or 2003 there was an Old f unit sitting on a siding off second avenue some guy was photographing. I don't remember the number on the locomotive but it would later become property of KJRY. The guy was photographing it and I was walking by and asked how old that locomotive was because it looked old probably from the 50's or 60's era. He told me the 1950's which later on i found out to be true. He also mentioned it ran in Canada which was why there was a bear on the side of it. I don't remember what else was said but i went about my business shortly after. That was my first encounter with a railfan but I didn't think much about it at the time. In 2000 I did genealogy on my family here and read up on area history to discover the Fulton County Narrow Gauge which sparked my curiosity on it and read up about it in the local history books at Parlin Library. In 2008 after dad passed i got interested in his coal mine and started asking around then it built into me asking around online about the Railroad tracks at Farmington and the ones that ran north from Canton. Some nice people told me they were M&STL/C&NW and the other line was CB&Q/BN/BNSF. I remembered Dad used to call the one by the depot CB&Q and the Q even after it was BN and BNSF. He grew up with the Q so to him it was that i guess. I discovered a friend's David Jordan's blog around that time too and asked questions once in a blue moon but only about the Railroads local to me when it was brought up. Also around that time my father n law let me use his camera to film and take pictures of various stuff including trains. So over the years have been doing that but that past few years been trying to expand further to other counties since my area isnt the most active areas to railfan. I also want to learn more about others history on top of it so I have kind have been slowly going into that when time and budget will allow as well as health.
Some might wonder why i do it and have even been given weird looks or poked fun at for it. For me it's a way to relieve stress and to have fun. I use it to cope with life and to just plum relax. My favorite line is the Keokuk Junction Railway with their old F units which thier line up the past few months have been A-B-A which is always a sight to see. They also have an awesome paint scheme to add to those units. I suppose my other favorites are BNSF and CN but once in a while will catch TZPR, I&M and TP&W in various areas if i get lucky. I have my favorite hot spots and recommend Galesburg and Chillicothe, Illinois. I really don't care if people think my hobby is crazy or eccentric it makes me happy and I enjoy it. I've since become aware so does many others. As long as people are enjoying it while remaining safe and not doing anything stupid like I have heard of some of the community the industry calls "Foamers" then have at it. Embrace this great hobby!
As the years passed and I got older i kept my interest to myself and before being able to drive would have mom follow trains from time to time or stop so I can see one. Once I started driving would stop for incoming trains or look for them once in a blue moon. My first photograph i took was in 2002 when i was waiting on a coal train near Bushnell. I thought wouldn't this be cool if i took a picture of it not knowing so many people do it as a hobby and have since trains were invented. After that around 2002 or 2003 there was an Old f unit sitting on a siding off second avenue some guy was photographing. I don't remember the number on the locomotive but it would later become property of KJRY. The guy was photographing it and I was walking by and asked how old that locomotive was because it looked old probably from the 50's or 60's era. He told me the 1950's which later on i found out to be true. He also mentioned it ran in Canada which was why there was a bear on the side of it. I don't remember what else was said but i went about my business shortly after. That was my first encounter with a railfan but I didn't think much about it at the time. In 2000 I did genealogy on my family here and read up on area history to discover the Fulton County Narrow Gauge which sparked my curiosity on it and read up about it in the local history books at Parlin Library. In 2008 after dad passed i got interested in his coal mine and started asking around then it built into me asking around online about the Railroad tracks at Farmington and the ones that ran north from Canton. Some nice people told me they were M&STL/C&NW and the other line was CB&Q/BN/BNSF. I remembered Dad used to call the one by the depot CB&Q and the Q even after it was BN and BNSF. He grew up with the Q so to him it was that i guess. I discovered a friend's David Jordan's blog around that time too and asked questions once in a blue moon but only about the Railroads local to me when it was brought up. Also around that time my father n law let me use his camera to film and take pictures of various stuff including trains. So over the years have been doing that but that past few years been trying to expand further to other counties since my area isnt the most active areas to railfan. I also want to learn more about others history on top of it so I have kind have been slowly going into that when time and budget will allow as well as health.
Some might wonder why i do it and have even been given weird looks or poked fun at for it. For me it's a way to relieve stress and to have fun. I use it to cope with life and to just plum relax. My favorite line is the Keokuk Junction Railway with their old F units which thier line up the past few months have been A-B-A which is always a sight to see. They also have an awesome paint scheme to add to those units. I suppose my other favorites are BNSF and CN but once in a while will catch TZPR, I&M and TP&W in various areas if i get lucky. I have my favorite hot spots and recommend Galesburg and Chillicothe, Illinois. I really don't care if people think my hobby is crazy or eccentric it makes me happy and I enjoy it. I've since become aware so does many others. As long as people are enjoying it while remaining safe and not doing anything stupid like I have heard of some of the community the industry calls "Foamers" then have at it. Embrace this great hobby!
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