BY DEAN FREIMUND/PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR
I SAT IN THE U.S. NAVY RECRUITER’S office in Minneapolis that spring morn- ing in 1987 with my life before me and a big choice to make. I had already de- cided to leave college after my third year to see the world. I was short on money and life experiences. Now I had to choose which city to make my home port. I selected Norfolk, Virginia, as be- ing on a ship based out of this huge port increased my chances of seeing Europe. I also chose Norfolk due to the variety
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RAILFAN.COM
of rail action in the area known as Hampton Roads. Its two major rail- roads, Norfolk Southern and CSX, were both undergoing major metamor- phoses, as both carriers were less than five years old and were still combining the operations and painting the loco- motives of their various entities. Railfans have relocated to new areas
for generations, and part of the joy of the move is discovering the rail action in their new environs. Notably, David
P. Morgan left his beloved Louisville & Nashville in Kentucky to write for Trains in Milwaukee, and drank in all the Milwaukee Road and Chicago & North Western and other area rail- roads had to offer. Jim Boyd departed from his sacred northern Illinois and attendant Illinois Central to find a swarm of new rail lines around north- ern New Jersey when he joined the staff of Carstens Publications. Decades of men who love trains have joined the
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