Railfan Stories

I have always been a “lone wolf” railfan.

When does one actually become “old”, anyway? I’m almost 56 and I don’t feel old. I guess I’m not “there” yet, although it’s quite a stretch to call me middle-aged.

I was in the Kitchener-Waterloo area recently, spending a few days with my son and his wife. I had hoped to take the train to Kitchener when I arrived at Pearson, but Air Canada made sure we landed too late for that to work. Fortunately the return Kitchener-to-Pearson trip was successful.

I woke up at 5 AM one morning, laid in bed for a while, and decided to get up. It was a gorgeous morning outside but I didn’t feel like going to shoot trains. I rarely do, these days. Instead, I chose to reframe it as walking in the wilderness, near train tracks. That appealed … Read more

I wasn’t feeling great mentally on Canada Day morning. I woke up feeling anxious and sad, for no particular reason. Life with depression.

I don’t sleep well. I can get to sleep just fine. I just don’t sleep long enough.

Local switchers – the unheralded but vital part of railroading.The main line trains get all the glory, but someone has to gather all the cars for those trains and sort them. Sometimes they’re called “yard jobs” or “local trains” or “transfers”, but whatever the name is, they usually have one or two locomotives and whatever … Read more

I didn’t mean to see trains. Sure, I admit I keep a watchful eye out for them, but I was just running errands. Honest.

Recently my wife texted me that on the way to work, she saw a train carrying windmill blades. That was unusual enough for me to get off the couch to go look for it.

“Wanna race?”

That was the last thing I expected a railway conductor to say, but there it was.