Trains and railroading have always been a part of my life. Multiple members of my family have worked for the railroad, I grew up with a model railroad, and my Dad and Uncle used trains as a bonding tool for me as a kid since I wasn’t much of a sports guy. Needless to say, trains are a major part of my life and always will be. If I had to guess, 90% of my most memorable experiences have been trackside, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

One of my favorite memories was when Norfolk Southern brought the recently painted 4610 to Meridian, Mississippi. They parked it at Union Station for the annual Railfest event and lots of folks came down to look at it. A few days later after the event, the unit was still parked at the station and my Dad brought the whole family down to get a family photo of us next to it. Another favorite was going to 11^th avenue and watching trains leave out of town. When school was out, my dad would take my sister and me down there and we’d watch train after train roll through. I especially enjoyed going in the evenings to see the KCS action. Back then, KCS still had the GyraLight’s in the nose of most of their units and it was fun to watch the light bounce back and forth on either side of the tracks.

At around age six, I was with my Grandfather one Saturday making our weekend rounds through the yards to see what trains were moving, and we stopped by the KCS yard and was watching the yard crew go about their tasks. After a few minutes went by, a pair of light MidSouth units pulled up in front of my grandfather’s truck and a gentleman named Chester hopped off the engine and asked my grandfather if I wanted to ride the engine. Naturally he said yes, and I got my first cab ride that day. MidSouth #1076 was an old IC Paducah rebuild and even by this time, its days were numbered. It rattled, blew oil out of the stacks, and none of the engine doors would stay shut for long, but it was a neat old engine. Chester and I remained friends long after this cab ride. Anytime he saw me, he would let me ride the engine or let me help the crew line switches in the yard.

As I grew older and began to drive, I found myself railfanning solo a lot more. By doing this I was able to meet a lot of the crews that would come through. They got used to me being trackside and would often stop to chat when they could get away with it. If not, they would pose for the camera and make the shot a little less generic. One engineer that I got to know through my Aunt’s church was Lynn Latham. Lynn worked for NS and found out I liked trains, and one day at church he brought me an NS hat. He told me that whenever he was working the yard again, he’d let me ride. Shortly after that, he held to his word and on a cold winter night, he let me ride the yard job with him for a little bit. It was in an ex Conrail GP38-2 that had recently been rebuilt. Fresh paint, new cab interior, etc. I remember this night because Lynn was upset that the last crew left a bag of trash in such a clean engine! After that, any time Lynn was on a train and saw me trackside, he made it a point to stop or at least slow down and open up the door to speak to me. He recently retired from NS and is happy as can be.

As Facebook became an integral part of railfanning, I found myself making new friends, both railroaders and railfans. Although social media has gone downhill in recent times, if it wasn’t for that I’d probably still be a loner in this hobby. One railroader I met on Facebook was NS engineer David Light. David is good as gold and always puts on a good show when he sees a railfan. He also isn’t afraid of posing for the camera either. For a couple of years, David and I always worked on Thanksgiving, so I always made it a point when I was able to get a shot of him leaving town. He’s another railroader that always made it a point to talk to the railfans when he could.

A few years ago, I met a group of guys via Facebook and we all became friends. Most of them lived in Birmingham, Alabama, one lived in Tennessee, and one now lives in Arkansas, but we all keep up with each other and try to have a yearly “summit” so we can catch up in person. In 2021, we all met up at the Northport Depot and got to hang out for a few hours. We got to run some model trains, watch Watco run a train or two by the depot, but most importantly, we got to fellowship and talk trains. This is one blessing of the hobby that I enjoy most. Being able to meet up and we all put the business of our daily lives to the side for a few hours just to enjoy the hobby together.

As railfans, it is a natural dream of ours to become railroaders. Recently, I had the opportunity to do that. In March, I went to NS’ training school in McDonough, Georgia to become a conductor. After a very short time, I decided that I needed to keep trains as a hobby. The current climate within the railroads is rough, to say the least. The thing that lead me to the decision to leave was the people. Most of them were unhappy with the current climate, and this wasn’t with just NS. It’s all of the Class 1’s in general. Major change needs to occur, and hopefully it happens. I accomplished my dream and I can say that I worked for the railroad. Although it was brief, I can say I did it. Has the dream gone away? Of course not. I’d love to do it again, but I am waiting to see what the future holds for America’s railroads. There is a lot of changes happening. CSX acquiring Pan-Am, the CP/KCS Merger, BNSF’s attendance policy, 1 person crews, and the list goes on. There is a lot of uncertainties in today’s railroads, and time will tell if it will get better. I certainly hope it does.

As I look through old photos and talk about old memories, I wouldn’t trade any of them for anything in the world.

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Looking back, I have made some great accomplishments in my twenty-nine years on planet Earth. I’ve had photos published in the railroad press, railroads have purchase my photos, I worked for the railroad, and I’ve met some very important railroaders in my life like Mike Haverty and Wick Moorman. My most recent accomplishment has been becoming the Vice President of the Meridian Railroad Museum, a place where I have spent many a day volunteering and watching trains for many years. As I look through old photos and talk about old memories, I wouldn’t trade any of them for anything in the world. I have had a blast being a railfan all of these years and I look forward to doing it for many more.

Dylan Jones – Photographs and text Copyright 2022