A non railfan father’s influence in the making of a young railway enthusiast

I think most people become railfans because their father or some other close relative or friend is a fan or works in the railroad business. But my father was not a railfan, and I didn’t know anyone who was or who worked in the business either.

Father did have some fascination for steam machinery, however. This interest probably dated back to his youth when Grandfather owned and operated a steam traction engine used for fall thrashing on his and his neighbor’s farms. Grandfather actually had two successive engines; I believe the first was a Nichols and Shepard and the second was a Russell compound. My father remembered sneaking out and blowing the whistle after the engine was shut down for the night.