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www.railfan.com FOUNDING PUBLISHER


HAROLD H. CARSTENS (1925-2009)


PRESIDENT AND PUBLISHER HENRY R. CARSTENS


VICE PRESIDENT JOHN A. EARLEY EDITOR


E. STEVEN BARRY


ASSOCIATE EDITORS WALTER C. LANKENAU OTTO M. VONDRAK


CONTRIBUTING EDITOR JAMES D. PORTERFIELD


COLUMNISTS


ALEXANDER B. CRAGHEAD THOMAS KELCEC GREG MONROE GEORGE M. SMERK JEFFREY D. TERRY WES VERNON


BEING A HISTORY GEEK ALSO MEANS FIELD EXPLORATION. HERE, A SHORT REMNANT OF INDUSTRIAL TRACK SURVIVES IN THE COBBLED SURFACE OF NW 15TH AVENUE IN PORTLAND, OREGON, IN 2008. PHOTO BY ALEXANDER B. CRAGHEAD


I Am a Railroad History Geek


SOMETIMES THE BEST KIND OF RAILFANNING oc- curs inside. No, I’m not talking about arm- chair railfanning in magazine pages or on- line, but the kind that takes place in attics, basements, libraries, and archives: the won- derful world of history geekery. While other, more conventional railfans might travel to various railroad hotspots to see busy main lines, the history geek travels to distant universities, public libraries, gov- ernment institutions, and private homes to spend the day getting dusty and wearing awkward white cotton


gloves. Certainly


some of us don’t see the sun as often as we ought, but there is excitement still. On more than one occasion — and especially when getting to delve into old original records — I’ve felt a kind of kinship with movie screen adventurers like Indiana Jones. You never know what you will find buried deep in the recesses of little-accessed materials while seeking your own Holy Grail.


The history geek is a very specialized sort


of railfan. For a truly successful history geek, the first and most important attribute is memory. Facts, dates, and names can be absorbed and repeated at rates that aston- ish. Who built the first common carrier rail- road in the United States? (It wasn’t the Baltimore & Ohio!)1 Where was the North American railroad land-speed record set? (Not on the Northeast Corridor!)2 What col- or were New York Central president Al Perl- man’s eyes? (If you answer Perlman Green, it’s a cute joke but it’s wrong.)3 This talent is perhaps no surprise: After all, history is about collective memory, so an individual talent for memory is a major resource. Another aspect, however, is serendipity. I can testify to the accuracy of the long-held belief that the greatest discoveries from out of the depths of archival holdings are never that which you seek, but rather that which you stumble upon. I can recall, for example, searching for traces of a now largely forgot-


4 JULY 2012 • RAILFAN.COM


ten minor transportation tycoon, and find- ing instead another man’s diary, complete with broad passages describing the persona and skills of Henry Villard, arguably the most important leader of the Northern Pa- cific. Lateral discoveries like these mean that, while you don’t always find what you aim for, you often find something just as good if not better.


Still, when you read this, it will be sum- mer. Outside it will likely be warm, the sun shining, and the idea of spending a day in- side perhaps less appealing than it would be in, say, mid-November. Yet even in the sum- mer there are many history geek activities. On a recent visit to Chicago, a half day of photography along Metra’s commuter oper- ations led me to encounter the remains of a Baltimore & Ohio line through South Chica- go, the right-of-way visible only in the shapes of the buildings along its former path. Summer means time to go explore, to find the last traces of forgotten rail lines, the converted depots, the old industrial sites, the clues to where the railroads once ran or what they once did.


To those whose interest in railroads leans towards big loud locomotives charging about on the high iron, such trips to dead and for- gotten railroad places likely seem odd. Yet I never tire of it, and in a world where the trains seem more and more alike, I find it ever more fascinating. I admit it: I am a his- tory geek, and I hope that never changes.


Alexander B. Craghead is a writer, photog- rapher,


watercolorist, and self-described “transportation geek” from Portland, Ore. You can reach out to Alex on our web site at www.railfan.com/departures.


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RAILFAN & RAILROAD (ISSN 0163-7266) is published monthly by Carstens Publications, Inc., 108 Phil Hardin Road, Newton, New Jersey 07860. Phone 973/383-3355. Henry R. Carstens, Publisher; Phyllis M. Carstens, Secretary-Treasurer. Periodical Postage paid at Newton, NJ 07860 and additional mailing offices.


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Answers: 1. The Granite Railway, April 3, 1826, Milton, Mass- achusetts. 2. July 26, 1966, Bryan, Ohio: 183.85 mph by NYC M-497, a record as yet unsurpassed. 3. Blue.


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