What railroads did you grow up near?

I lived less than 2 miles from the mainline of the Long Island Rail Road in Floral Park. We moved to Floral Park in 1946, and I still have memories of steam engines whistling for the Tulip Avenue crossing. It was sad when steam went away.

Within earshot of Rock Island's St. Louis subdivision.  At the sound of the horn we would run to the car and try to catch the train somewhere. It was SP then. 

 

SP snatched UP's contract to deliver western coal to the Labadie power plant west of St. Louis.  I think they had trackage rights over UP to St. Louis and then brought the coal back west on the Rock Island line.   I grew up watching SP and Rio Grande engines pull coal going west through Missouri! 

 

Nathan

I guess I should have added .... I spent many weeks of many summers in Robertsdale, Pa., where my mother is from and where my grandparents lived. Robertsdale was a mining company town, out of which the East Broad Top RR dragged coal.

 

I spent a lot of time exploring and climbing on the deserted mining and railroading equipment there ... hence, my OGR call name.

 

The railroad was narrow gauge, but I fudged it, decaling standard O Mikados and undecorated Weaver hoppers, etc.

 

Jim

TP Fan's tale of recurrent bathroom trips to see IC steam and trains, brought to mind another "school tale" from my boyhood railroad, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy. Was in 6th grade in 1956, and had just started attending the Jr High School in hometown Hinsdale, IL. The Burlington was enjoying unusually good business that Fall and had fired up a batch of steam locomotives to augment their diesels. Sitting in Mr. Wagner's math class, on the 3rd floor, with open windows that looked out on the roof tops of the down town, a huge, booming steam locomotive exhaust suddenly appeared, heading through town. No doubt, one of the Q's O5 4-8-4's, known for their loud, sharp exhaust. The commotion did not go unnoticed by the other students.......in fact, the entire class jumped up and ran to the windows to see what the heck was going on! Finally the train, the locomotive, and all the fireworks cleared town, and the kids drifted back to their seats. The exasperted Mr. Wagner commented, "What's the big deal, it's just an old steam engine".   Yes, and perhaps amoung the last this group of youths would ever see!

I grew up in northeastern PA about a hundred feet or so from a branch line of the CNJ.  I was very young at the time, so my CNJ memories are a bit vague. 

Then in 1972, the CNJ's PA lines were taken over by the Lehigh Valley.  I have much better memory of the "Valley's" ALCo RS and EMD SW units powering local freights by my house.

We moved a few miles away in 1975 very close to the D&H's mainline.

I grew up in Middletown PA.  The Pennsy 4 track main came thru town.  I spent many times on the platform of the passenger station watching trains go by and, (don't tell my mom), putting pennies on the track.  The Reading also had tracks that came into town.

 

I remember the first time I was riding in a car and came over the rise as you enter Enola PA from the south and caught my first glimpse of the Enola Yards - what a sight for a young fella to see for the first time.

 

Jack

Chicago and Northwestern -- 3 blocks away was the main thru town -- horns blowing every night.  

It's interesting when we have visitors from the Midwest.  They hear the freight trains on a stormy night and think there's a tornado coming.

I was born and raised in Rexburg, Idaho, where my house was about 300 feet from Union Pacific's Yellowstone Branch, which ran from Salt Lake City, Utah to West Yellowstone, Montana.

 

So I grew up watching daily mixed UP trains and the summer only Yellowstone Special, a ten-car passenger train pulled by a pair of GP-7s, then later by F-3 AB sets. This train took passengers to and from Yellowstone Park, but was discontinued in 1960.

I grew up near the Mainlne Norfolk southern, old PA line. monroeville PA.  we had a sideline that was recently closed up called the turtle creek railroad or TKRR.  they used 2 diesel switchers to move a few cars.  I got to ride in a caboose on that train, it derailed alot!  now going to be a railtrail

Chessie System (ex B&O), Erie Lackawanna (ex Erie), Penn Central (ex PRR and NYC of course) were the closest to me, but there were plenty more close by as well. A benefit of growing up in northeast Ohio.

I grew up in the 60s-70s in the San José areas, watching SP. Still have a soft spot in my heart for SP GPs, Hydracushion boxcars (SP or Cotton Belt), and the odd PFE. 

 

I got started in O scale a few years ago when an GP-38 in SP markings came up on auction. All I knew about 0 was my Dad's old Marx and Lionel, but I couldn't resist it.

 

Fred

Hmmm, growing up. While I didn't know it then, Scranton PA was a big railroad town with the Delaware & Hudson running past our South Side Shopping Center, and the Erie Lackawanna, which I could see out the windows of Nativity School. I swear I saw the EL running on East Mountain while walking to the little league field, but you can't see the tracks from there now. That was my little world in the 70s.

My childhood was filled with trains. My Dad worked for the espee as a conductor. I think about my childhood every evening. Back then I spent many days at my grandparents. This was because my Dad was gone for what seemed like weeks on end. My grandparents lived less than 100 yards from the espee tracks in the town of Salida, CA. At grandma & grandpa's house my bed would shake as the espee consists rumbled by. I remember thinking that my Dad was in the caboose of each train. Each day was filled with hours on end in my grandparents basement running trains with my grandpa. The same trains I inherited years later.

Our home in Modesto, CA was one block away from the M&ET ROW. I enjoyed watching those little GE 70-ton switchers labor away every day. My home today is near the M&ET tracks. The GE 70-ton switchers have been replaced with a fleet of new Gensets.

I believe it was the Pennsylvania Reading Seashore Line which operated from Camden, NJ and served South Jersey. Became Conrail and is now Norfolk Southern. My uncle was a conductor when they still had cabeese. I had a few rides on some runs in the caboose and the old diesel engines on the way back to the yard. My forum name came from one of the railroad characters that worked with him. It was his nickname and what a character. Scary for a young lad.

C&FW

 

 

 

PRR Middle Division. Grew up at the west end of the Denholm coal wharf. The wharf was closed by the time I was old enough to remember it. Born 1958 and steam was already gone. The mainline was cut back to 3 tracks but there was still plenty of action. It was nothing to see 3 trains at once.

 

I grew up in Stratford CT until age 11 then moved to Reading PA. So I was near the New Haven RR, and they had electric passenger trains, I remember hearing the brakes come on as the train stopped and the whirl of electric motors as they took off.

In Reading PA they had a large rail yard in the 1970's and a four track line going north towards Leesport PA, but before Leesport the tracks went down to two tracks to Hamburg PA.

Also seen some Pennsylvania RR trains as they had a two track main going out of Reading on the north side.

 

Lee Fritz

I was fortunate to live on Burlington Ave., Western Springs, Il. which ran parallel to the infamous CB&Q 3 track main line that ran through Chicago's western suburbs. The line was also known as the Burlington "Race Track".

 

Holy Cow Billpas!!!!!!     I grew up in Naperville Ill which I think, is quite nearby.  We also called the 3 track mainline.."the racetrack".  In fact if you look around the 'net somebody had posted pictures of the horrendous rear end train crash in 1946 right near the Kroehler furniture plant.   That crash was a result of several factors including a Zephyr racing at 80 mph.  Anyways ..yes my favorite road name and close by RR is the CB&Q.     

 

I grew up in lower Westchester County, New York, a suburb of New York City. Running through Westchester were the electrified lines of the New York Central and the New Haven Railroads, New York Central 3^rd rail and New Haven overhead catenary.  During most of my early years I lived just north of the location where the New Haven and New York Central Harlem Division converged and headed down to Grand Central Terminal. We would ride our bikes to that location in Woodlawn, the Bronx and watch the trains merge were the south bound New Haven crossed over the NYC tracks on a “flyover bridge”. What a sight to see for a 10 year old train fan.

The New York Central commuter line was within eyesight of my home and I would watch trains go by, always counting the number of cars. They were mostly multiple unit cars and express heavyweights pulled by S1, T3, and P motors. Uncle Charlie, who had been a NYC brakeman told me that they were motors not engines. Occasionally a work train pulled by a steamer came by.

 

All during my growing up years I lived near the New York Central Harlem Division. This is probably why I am such a model train nut, New York Central fan and favor electric models. Also the fact that my grandfather’s gift of a Marx train outfit when I was very young started me on that path.   

I moved around growing up and then as a young adult.  In no particular order:

Gulf Mobile & Ohio, Louisville & Nashville, Southern, Washington & Old Dominion, Richmond Fredricksburg & Potomac, Chesapeake & Ohio, Norfolk Southern and finally CSX.  Never lived too close to the Seaboard but ended up taking their trains on several occasions.

Some really great stories on this thread!

Don

Alaska Railroad.

 

Grew up in Whittier, Alaska - where the ARR has it's barge operations to connect to Canada & Washington.  Got to run a GP38 - had cab rides - caboose rides - baggage car rides.  Before 2000 the only way in & out of Whittier was to drive your car on the flat car for a 13 mile piggyback ride out.  Fool around in the car to become a Klickty Klack member.  I was a volunteer HiRail Ambulance driver for about 8 years, opening of the tunnel to car traffic in 2000 ended that.  Crawled in pipe for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline.  Whittier Yard was a staging area for pipe.  It was coated and transported to Valdez to be installed.

Hi grew up in Central New Jersey, and my favorite railroad was the Jersey Central Railroad. The Reading and the B&O both joined the Jersey Central at Bound Brook junction and the three railroads operated on the four track mainline into Jersey City. Steam was still operating on all three railroads but those brand new clean first generation diesels were really special. What made the diesels so interesting to me was the fact that there were so many different types and styles and also different paint schemes.

B&O, PRR, RDG ,and some CRJ and the PRSL. No Shortage of trains to look over in parts of Philly.

The NWO&W, and also the DL&W, which morphed into the EL, then into CR and finally the NYS&W.

 

Chris

LVHR

I grew up in Wausau, Wisconsin, home of the world famous Milwaukee Road station. I used to ride the passenger train to Milwaukee every so often with my Mom. The C & NW was also in our town and they had a nice looking station also. I model the Milwaukee Road mid 50's to mid 60's. That was pretty close to the time that I lived and rode the Milwaukee Road.

Directions from parents house,EJ&E and NYC(Joliet Line) one block North,CHTT two blocks North, Milwaukee Road two blocks West and finally C&EI seven blocks West. 

Grew up in Chicago Heights,IL., time period 1955-1967.

South Shore, Monon, NYC, Nickel Plate, Norfolk & Western in Michigan City, Indiana.

Pennsy & Jersey Central on the New York & Long Branch! The stretch from Point Pleasant to Bay Head ran past my 7th & 8th grade grammar school and I was enthralled by K4s, Camelbacks, RS3s, F3s, Sharknoses, and many others I can't remember. I managed to get a couple of K4 cab rides from Point and down around the loop at Bay Head. Great times! My little homework assignment notebook became a logbook where I recorded engine & caboose numbers and anything unusual that came along.

 

Gary F.

I grew up in Chiswick (a suburb of London, England) and the British Rail Southern Region Line from Clapham Junction had a passenger station and small freight depot at the end of our garden. Most of the traffic was electric commuter trains but a 2-6-0 stopped there every Sunday night at 6pm while the driver (Engineer) and fireman took a break - they often left me in charge. Came close to hijacking the train a couple times but stayed on the straight and narrow.

I was born in Gary Indiana and grew up in a city called Portage which was a few miles east of Gary.  We lived about a quarter mile from U.S. 20 where it passed over the PRR and NYC ( I think that is correct..?).  I remember seeing the PRR trains and especially the passenger trains.  I also remember the South Shore which was not too far from the house....

 

Alan

right on the Reading at Melrose Park

I grew up on the southwest side of Detroit, Mi. about 3 blocks from the very large Livernois Yard. The Michigan Central then New York Central then PC and finally Conrail operated from this yard.There was a YMCA on the the corner of Livernois and Southern/John Kronk where the train crews stayed on their overnighters. Further down Southern/John Kronk street was the large hunp yards where they were always setting up or breaking down freight loads. I remember that on Sundays my father would take me on a drive through the yards to look at the round house and cattle area (a much different time than today) It was steam in the late 40s and I so enjoyed watching these engines and operators doing their jobs.

NYC'S   Boston & Albany in Ashland, Mass beside Framingham,  where the New Haven and NYC had yards.   My house was about 150 yards across from the double arch bridge over the Sudbury River.    Very busy double track.

C&NW Chicago,IL

Grew up in Butler, WI. (actually still live here!) Right outside Milwaukee.

The CNW built a huge railroad yard here, 100 years ago, Butler Yards!

Spent many days on the bridge, that went over the yard, watching trains.

 

Also in the area we had the Milwaukee Road and the Soo Line!

My grandfather, John Price, was a conductor on the Cotton Belt.  I remember visiting with my grandparents in Jonesboro, AR, and my grandfather being on call.  When the call came, he was out the door with his lantern and Cotton Belt cap.  He always wanted me to work for the railroad, but I went another route.  I fondly remember those days and collect Cotton Belt in his honor.