Lifelong Railfans

Chuck has been a railfan all his life. As a teen he spent a great deal of time on the 35th Street viaduct taking photos of the Milwaukee Road yard in the Menomonee Valley.

The yard is all gone now except for two roundhouse chimneys which are being preserved as a reminder of what once was. Train schedules were well known to Chuck even then and he was able use that knowledge to be there when things were happening.

None of his old, 1969-1970 images are great compared to other more serious photographers of the time, but these images mean a great deal to Chuck. They remind him of how different his life was back then and how much things have changed in Milwaukee and elsewhere. He is the invisible element in every photo; the young man behind the camera. They are part of his personal history and lifelong railroad appreciation. (See The Last Hiawatha for examples.)

Railroading touched his life initially through his grandfather, George Trabert, who worked for the Milwaukee Road some 34 years; but that's another story for a later date. Historically, Grandpa George's claim to fame is that he was the guard on duty when the first carloads of beer reached the Milwaukee Road yard after prohibition was lifted. That was a pretty big deal back then because many people were ready to celebrate the new legislation that revived formerly outlawed beer and liquor train schedules in and around Milwaukee.

Railfans Follow Train Schedules

Today railfans come in all shapes, sizes, ages, and sexes. Some carry portable scanners with them to listen to the railroad chatter so they know when the next train is expected. They will drive out of their way to watch trains and go great distances to ride them or photograph them. Excursions are usually a luxury few diehard railfans can afford, but watching the trains fly by or chasing them along a bit of highway can be just as thrilling as actually being on the train. Or so I've heard...

I've seen grown men sitting in their cars with scanners blaring, track maps, and books of numbers and names to help decipher what the trainmen are saying to each other. They go from one resource to another as they figure out what the trains are doing or what the problem is that has delayed the train. For them, it's all about railroad operations.

They actually sit and discuss what the railroad employees are doing as if their awareness made a difference to the operation of the railroad. These are serious railfans who probably should just get a job with the railroad to satisfy their curiosity and their desire to talk trains. Railroad employment is still a good way to make a living but it takes a lot of hard work, dedication, and a willingness to get down and dirty. You can't just talk about what the trains are doing - you have to follow the train schedules and make the trains go on time as much as possible.

Other railfans I personally know have travelled to far away places to photograph where trains used to run. The tracks are usually no longer around but finding a bit of rail left intact here and there is a reminder of what used to be. The ghosts of many trains still run screaming through the dark northern nights down bits of track going nowhere. The ties and iron rails are often the only remaining witnesses to the many trains now gone.

From what I can tell, there is a relatively even split between railfans who enjoy watching trains and those who enjoy seeking them out to go for a ride. In a growing number of forward thinking cities, mass transit has once again incorporated the use of light rail. Many railfans have migrated to those hubs to take part in these well functioning commuter services. So being a railfan is not always about a nostalgic nod to a time when more people rode trains.

Train Travel Still Exists, Such as it is...

For those people who are interested in traveling by passenger rail, it is still possible although Amtrak operations seem intent on making it just about as difficult as possible for any service level less than first class. It was my great pleasure for years to ride Amtrak from Milwaukee to Chicago and then catch a connection to Alliance, OH which is sort of near my folks.

Train travel to Chicago from Milwaukee only takes about an hour and there are several trains available daily. Train travel to northwestern Ohio from Chicago has a very limited schedule in comparison.

While the train station in Chicago is very nice and always seems packed with travelers, the wait to catch the one train that heads to my destination on any given day is very long. The cost to ride in a roomette or bedroom is incredibly expensive for a casual visit to the family, so I've always suffered through the huge crowds in the coach waiting rooms, uncomfortable coach seating, crabby coach service personnel, and the ungodly hour of arrival at my travel destination because, even after all that, it still beats driving alone for ten hours. But just barely.

It is unfortunate that Amtrak passenger service continues to degrade at a time when a great deal of interest has resurfaced in train travel. With the cost and just about unreasonable hassle of flying anywhere today, combined with the need to minimize the use of fossil fuels as much as possible, railroads have become a potentially viable option once more.

If enough railfans and/or interested potential riders could get together and develop an advance ridership committee, maybe some 21st century railway company will be in a position to figure out if such a system would work in a given vicinity. There are many variables to consider so there is no way to tell at a glance where such train travel would improve local mass transit. But there are places where it makes sense to do a feasibility study at least.

An example of a system already working beautifully exists in Minneapolis, MN. They have developed a very successful light rail system combined with a functional bus service that is well planned and executed. It's easy to use, low cost, clean, and provides a real alternative to driving. When train schedules work and practical train travel becomes available to more people in more areas, the economy of rebuilding the railroads in America may dramatically improve.

Author Credit:
Pauline and Chuck Trabert are serious railfans living in southeastern Wisconsin. Their articles include topics of interest to railfans such as railfans and train schedules.

Copyright 2006 © Pauline Trabert Railfan Train Schedules

Railfan Resources

Illinois Railway Museum
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Milwaukee Road Historical Association
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Railroad Images Free to View Online
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Railfan Forums and Discussion Groups
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