The Making of a Railfan: One Man’s Journey

A life-long rail enthusiast, author, and active contributor to the Train Simulator community, Gary Dolzall reflects on his railfan journey.

It began with a locomotive cab ride. On a snowy morning decades ago, when I was about three-and-one-half years old, I was lifted by my older brother into the hands of a Milwaukee Road fireman and then snuggled into the cab and fireman’s seat of Milwaukee Road EMD F7 69-C. The train was Milwaukee Road’s morning freight which made its way from Terre Haute, Indiana, to my hometown of Bedford, Indiana. The ride, aboard what to me surely seemed a steel behemoth, lasted only a short distance, from one grade crossing to another. But the die was cast. I would forever be a railfan.

In a fuzzy image from the family’s box camera, the author is hoisted aboard Milwaukee Road F7 69-C in Bedford, Indiana, for his first cab ride. A life-long love of trains was thus assured. Photo: Gary Dolzall collection.

The genesis of becoming a train enthusiast is no doubt different for each of us and as often as not born not of a single event or experience, but many. With all due respect to Milwaukee Road 69-C and the friendly engine crew that snowy Indiana morning, my love of trains was also fostered by a father and brother who admired trains before me, a mother who patiently supported my interests, and yes, as with so many of my era – a Lionel train layout in the basement of our house.

For many railfans, the “hometown” railroads of their youth hold a special place in memory. For the author, the Monon – nicknamed “The Hoosier Line” – was just such a railroad, and Gary Dolzall photographed a quartet of Monon’s Alco C420 diesels toting new automobiles at Bloomington, Indiana, in 1969.

Bedford, where I was born and lived until age six, was home to two railroads, the Milwaukee Road and “Indiana’s own railroad” – the Monon. It was the latter that gave me my first train ride as a passenger, on a journey with my family aboard Monon’s red-and-gray Thoroughbred from Chicago to Bedford. Shortly thereafter, we moved 25 miles north to Bloomington, Indiana, which also hosted two railroads – the Monon and the Illinois Central. Early impressions are lasting ones, and the Monon, Milwaukee Road, and Illinois Central would forever be among my favorite railroads, along with another – the magical Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe.

The author’s first train ride as a passenger was aboard the Monon’s red-and-gray clad Thoroughbred. En route from Chicago to Louisville, Kentucky, the train is making its stop in the author’s hometown of Bedford, Indiana. Photo: Gary Dolzall collection.

Train watching in Bedford was made all the more fascinating by the fact the trains used “street-running” to pass right through the town square! Years after the author had his first cab ride compliments of the Milwaukee Road, he was on hand with a camera to capture the passage of a Milwaukee Road freight with rebuilt Geeps making their way northbound.

The Illinois Central joined the author’s “hometown” railroads when he moved to Bloomington, Indiana. Amid lovely fall foliage, an Illinois Central freight crosses Shuffle Creek Viaduct near Bloomington in October 1974. Photo by Gary Dolzall.

If we fast-forward to the end of the 1960s, shortly before the advent of Amtrak, the time takes me to the experiences of riding Santa Fe’s fabled flagship, the Super Chief, on several occasions between Chicago and Los Angeles, including a memorable Christmas day aboard what was without question one of America’s greatest and most famous passenger trains.

The magical Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe! Several trips aboard the Santa Fe’s legendary Super Chief assured that the AT&SF would forever be a favorite of the author. On a July day in 1968, Gary was on hand at famed Raton Pass to photograph the luxurious Super Chief and its elegant “warbonnet”-dressed EMD FP45s.

Thanks to my father’s and older brother’s interest in railroading, one could always find tattered old copies of Trains Magazine about the house, which I leafed through until the copies were ragged. Railroad photography, in particular, captivated and energized me, and before I reached my teens I was carting around an old, heavy, cantankerous, second-hand 4x5 “press camera” and on trips with my family developing the B&W negatives taken that day in our motel room’s bathroom at night. And indeed, it was my budding, then avid interest in railroad writing and photography that led me toward an eventual career in journalism and publishing.

My interests in railroading were also holistic … history, photography, writing, modeling, collecting. And so, of course, it followed that the day a product called “Microsoft Train Simulator” arrived in the stores, I was on hand at the counter. Few were the add-on routes for MSTS that did not find their way into my computer, and then another product arrived and captured my attention – Railworks (the predecessor of today’s Train Simulator).

For the railfan, for me, train simulation (whatever the brand) brings together and makes accessible much of railroading’s appeal … one can be everything from an engineer to a lineside photographer, and the limitations and realities of distance, weather, and even era that restrict one’s real-life experiences suddenly are easily overcome.

Once a railfan, always a railfan, and the author finds contemporary railroading entirely captivating. At San Diego’s “Santa Fe” station now served by Amtrak’s flashy Surfliner trains, Gary captured Amtrak EMD F59PHI 454 and its Surfliner consist awaiting its next duty.

Whatever form one’s personal railfan hobby takes – photography, history, restoration, collecting memorabilia, modeling, train simulation – it is a remarkably captivating and fulfilling endeavor, and one worth sharing. So please, join us here at We Are Rail Fans and share with us your railfan experiences, memories, and interests!