If you’re a freighter fan, folks refer to you as a “boatnerd”, so if you’re a train fan, are you a “trainnerd”? I looked online to see what you call a train fan and found this: A railfan, rail buff or train buff (American English); railway enthusiast or railway buff (Australian/British English); trainspotter or ferroequinologist, is a person interested, recreationally, in rail transport. Railfans of many ages can be found worldwide.

I’m pretty sure Nancy Haun classifies as any one of these terms, as she loves anything trains. She shares a few of her recent photos of several of the CN trains that visit L’Anse to pick up product from the CertainTeed Ceilings plant there.

There is something magical about trains, the clickety-clack of the wheels on the rails, the haunting sound of the whistle, it’s all fascinating for sure, since here in the North Country there aren’t any trains running north of these in L’Anse.

Nancy also made a neat video recently and shares it with us here today. Her description on the video says: “A beautiful warm morning in the hills. A little further down the line with it's beautiful rock cuts and flowing marshes with some weird looking fish! The day became warmer waiting for the CN to make an appearance and I got to search for an older track plate then my current 1930-I found one-1925! This was the original Ontonagon /Houghton Line built around 1882. Now the Canadian National-the only train coming to L'Anse at this time. Excuse my mistake we are at milemarkers 206 and 207 not 106 and 107.

I had visitors today! Who are these masked visitors? (Uncle Chuck, his wife Vicki and my husband are ineligible for this contest).

Nice picture, Mary. Nice ones of the trains
too. I prefer boats but trains are neat too.

I spent my 8th grade year, 1958-59, in England. People regularly rode trains for both commuting and medium or long distance travel. In many instances, taking the train was quicker than driving.

The various regional railroad companies had been nationalized into British Railways in 1948, but their original names were used to designate divisions within BR.

Unlike in the U.S., passenger travel constituted the largest revenue stream for BR, whereas U.S. railroads increasingly relied on freight traffic at the time.

Steam locomotives were still in widespread use, and there were thousands of railfans who were keenly interested in them. They were especially proud of a London & North Eastern Railway A4 class 4-6-2 locomotive, named Mallard.

The LNER A4 class Pacifics were streamlined, and in 1938 Mallard set a world speed record for steam powered travel, 126 mph on the London-Edinburgh run, a record that stands to this day.

A lot of people were trainspotters, particularly young boys, but also many adults who had the same interest. You could buy inexpensive paperback pamphlets at newstands, containing the numbers of every locomotive in every class that was in use on the various divisions.

Dedicated trainspotters carried pocket sized notebooks, in which they recorded the number of each locomotive they had seen. Schoolboys might spend their Saturdays chasing trains, even taking a train to another city to record locomotives used on different routes.

Although I was not really a wholehearted trainspotter, I did my share when the opportunity presented itself. My single greatest memory came in a small town station where my parents and I waited for a connecting local train.

We were sitting on the platform in the early evening, when we heard the warning shriek of a steam whistle approaching. An ex-Great Western Railway King class 4-6-0 locomotive pulling a London bound express thundered through at 90 mph, literally shaking the rafters of the small station.

Awesome is a word that is often overused these days, but the speed, power, noise, and vibration of the locomotive were truly awesome.

Nice video...thanks, Nancy, Is that really UC I see? I personally would have insisted on finger prints for verification.

Great day today in the Keweenaw! Especially seeing Mary & Jim!

Back in Marquette tonight and off to Manistique to see the big Spring tomorrow.

Alex, they just finished putting down new asphalt from Copper Harbor to Eagle Harbor on M 26, I was thinking of you and the wing!