Western Railroad Discussion > A Little Wave From The Littlest Fan

I always see this gentleman with his daughter at the Lawrence Caltrain station in Sunnyvale, so while waiting to be passesd by the express train (after properly securing my equipment) I got down with camera in hand to inquire if he could pose with his daughter so I could get a shot of them waving at the passing train, he happily agreed and though the passing train is shadowed the emphasis was on this man and his daughter. He said he likes to bring his daughter down to the station because she likes to see the trains, I thought that was great and thanked him and his daughter for their time, I told him if the shot came out satisfactory I'll make a print for them.

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It's nice to see that Dad's still bring the kids trackside in the computer age. Also nice to see FJC carrying on the tradition of friendly railroader's...I'm sure that's a "Kodak moment" that Dad and daughter will remember fondly. Shortly after I hired out, I got counselled by a hogger because I was so busy watching signals, filling out signal awawreness form, watching our train, etc., that I was distracted from waving to the kids along the tracks...!

Nice photo capture of a future railfan in train-ing.

BTW, note the 925 is named for Jackie Spier. Are other engines so named, or just 925? (Not counting the ones named for Peninsula cities.)

You're such a nice guy, Frank. As was pointed out in a previous post, many folks who sit up front, especially in the left-hand seat, forget that one of their primary functions is to wave back to the folks waving at the train. Very refreshing post in light of everything going on in today's world. Thanks for sharing the moment.

Bullringer

Bullringer Wrote:
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> You're such a nice guy, Frank. As was pointed out
> in a previous post, many folks who sit up front,
> especially in the left-hand seat, forget that one
> of their primary functions is to wave back to the
> folks waving at the train.


Reminds me of the old Santa Fe 5th Local in El Cerrito when Engr. Art Pipes would have his head brakeman wave at the folks on the left side of the train. Inside Art's cab that was part of the job description. Railfan-Amtrak Engr. Phil Gosney can reminisce with stories of the 5th Local in his Santa Fe days.

There's an Asian gentleman with a son about that girl's age who I often see at Santa Clara. They get on a southbound train and take it to San Jose, then take the next one back to Santa Clara and the kid is happy as can be. For those not from these parts, that's basically one station stop, since I don't count College Park.

I am firefighter on our small town department ... strictly vol. When returning from a call, I try and return a wave from a youngster ... just as the same as so many rails do. After all, we were young once!

Regards,
Burlington John

When I ran the Rent-A-Loco program at the GGRM, we'd have visitors on the ground who would wave at us as we went by. I would always tell our visitors in the cab that one of the unwritten rules of railroading was to always wave back at the kids. It usually got smiles in the cab and on the ground. When you're a volunteer, smiles from your visitors go a long way.

DaveE

Frank you sure made one young railfan real happy last night on the way to the Giants game. She will never be satifised riding in the "cheap seats" again.

Very nice Frank!