If there is a "million dollar question" in my life, this might be it. Even my closest friends are puzzled about this, although most are pretty used to it by now. My interest in trains has pretty much existed since I can remember. It seems like my earliest memories occurred when I was 3 years old, and three stick out: (1) my granny babysitting me at my parents house and a severe thunderstorm blew through, (2) me playing with an HO-scale Santa Fe F-7 locomotive (that almost assuredly came from a garage sale) on the kitchen floor, and (3) watching trains pass by on the tracks less than 100 yards across the highway from our house. So most of my early memories involved something train-related. In addition, I had two uncles that were interested in trains as well that influenced me later on.
Outside of my earliest memories, I also began to acquire a lot of toy trains at an early age. Although I don't recall from memory, I have photos at Christmas time when I must have been four years old with me and a mixture of some Lionel items and what appears to be a non-powered Scandinavian wooden train set that looked to be about G-scale in size. I'm not sure if my interest in the passing trains steered my parents that way, or if it was just random, or influence from my uncles, or what.
Even as a four-year-old I have pretty specific memories that I can recall. We lived about a quarter-mile from my grandparents just south of Bowie, Texas near the community of "Fruitland". The railroad that ran by our house was the Fort Worth and Denver Railway, then a subsidiary of the Burlington Northern. The FW&D had a siding at Fruitland where trains met each other, which meant often slow moving trains entering sidings giving a great view of the trains. In the late 70's the FW&D was an integral part of BN's newfound sacred cow....the movement of low-sulfur coal from the coal fields of Wyoming's Powder River Basin to power plants in south Texas. So, lots of trains, and lots of BIG locomotives. Green ones, no less! And there were others...I recall seeing some of the red and yellow Rock Island diesels and even one of the Frisco mandarin orange (red-orange) and white diesels. And I know there were BN "Fallen Flag" schemes and MKT as well. A lot of action. A lot of color. A lot of horsepower. The earth-pounding rumble of the diesels as they swept past. I often describe railfanning (trainspotting, train watching, etc.) as "bird watching meets NASCAR" and I think--as much as anything--that premise is what got me hooked at a very early age.
When I was five we moved to "the city", living first in a house near the high school track in Bowie. About a year later we moved to the house I grew up in, some four blocks from the FW&D mainline and less than a mile (as the crow flies) to the at-grade crossing of the Fort Worth & Denver and the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific railroads on the northwest side of town. So between my close proximity to the rails in town, my grandparents still living in Fruitland, my uncles, my parents, and many other influences, the die was cast. It was also about this time that I was, well, a five-year-old that still believed in Santa Claus of course and I got TRAINS!!!
So I think by now you're starting to see the perfect storm building. I mentioned my two uncles and that is very important to me. One, Lloyd, grew up quite literally across the street from the tracks in Bowie and was more of a railfan although he also maintained a quite large collection of HO scale model trains including many highly collectible brass locomotives. He introduced me to radio scanners and took me on many railfanning excursions, or sometimes we just hung out at my grandparents and watched trains along with my cousins. My other uncle, Jim, was only seven years older than me and was like a big brother in a lot of ways. I was an only child and he and I shared an interest in model trains so over the years we spent a lot of time building layouts together. He also received Model Railroading, Trains, and Model Railroad Craftsman, three very good magazines about the hobby. I attribute these magazines (to which I eventually subscribed) to giving me the desire to read, even if it wasn't a novel, and also for giving me the ability to write in a somewhat intelligible manner. Oh, and it was more fuel to the fire.
So by the time I hit grade school trains were just part of my being, and my parents encouraged it since--quite frankly--there were all kinds of less attractive things I could have spent my time doing, in their minds. I mean, I was learning about the history of the railroads, the history of the region and of the entire U.S.A., I was active, creative, and kept myself busy. So they would always include trains as part of vacations, and took me to train shows, and were always very supportive of my hobby and interest in trains.
I developed photography skills, bought a scanner to listen to train movements and learned a lot about radio communications, the aforementioned writing skills.....and that is just on the railfanning side of things. Model railroading is a great hobby that has many facets and I learned basic electronics, use of power tools, woodworking, painting, model building, and many many other skills that I think helped me as I grew up and began to stand on my own. So in a way, while I enjoy the hobby still to this day, there is also a sense of loyalty in that I've gotten so much out of this hobby. I want to stay active with it not only because it is enjoyable and an escape and generally "fun", but also to give back, and try and promote "the world's greatest hobby".
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