I chase trains.
Railfanning is one of those things in life that you either understand, or you don't understand at all. The attraction has elements of anticipation (waiting several hours trackside in the snow), thrill (the thunderous low bass tones of the engines and the rumble of the wheels) and romance (railroads are both a part of the past and future of America). Tom Wolfe once wrote of the train as the ultimate evidence of man's creative ability -- moving a 20,000 ton train at 70 mph though river gorges and underneath mountains.
I started watching trains with my Dad and older brother when I was 12. One year later, I started taking pictures and chasing trains all over Minnesota. School pressures forced me to give up the hobby, but you never forget the anticipation and thrill. Finally, In 1997, after a gap of 15 years, I returned to railfanning and photography.
Like most fans, I have a favorite railroad, the Great Northern, which became the Burlington Northern in 1970 and is now the Burlington Northern Santa Fe. I'm a member of the Great Northern Railway Historical Society, and I volunteer on the Niles Canyon Railway as the Assistant General Manager. My primary interest has always been photography of trains (I'm a lousy modeler), and so this section of my site deals mostly with pictures taken both recently and in the past.
Mesabi Iron Range, Minnesota [1977-1980][August 1998][August 2002]
Aurora, Illinois [September 1986][June 2001]
Chicago, Illinois [June 2002]
Fargo, North Dakota [August 1998][July 1999][December 1999][August 2000][December 2001]
Grand Forks, North Dakota [July 1999]
Crookston, Minnesota [December 2001]
Marias Pass, Montana
Haskell Pass, Montana [May 2002][October 2002]
Pacific Northwest
BNSF Stockton Subdivision, California
Madera [September 2000]
Antioch [October 2000]
Pittsburg [October 2000]
Martinez [October 2000]
Franklin Canyon
North Bay [1998-1999][March 2002]
Richmond [December 1998]
Caltrain, San Francisco Peninsula, California
Museum Operations
Aboard Amtrak