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It was a milestone day in my railfanning life. My father had just purchased a new Pentax 35mm SLR camera, and so his trusty Yashica 35mm camera was handed down to me. I was 14 years old and had never used a 35mm before, and now I had one of my own! Plus, Dad had not finished the roll of film he had been shooting when he bought the new camera so, with 5 or 6 exposures left on the roll, I could start shooting immediately.

On October 22, as I recall, I had to go downtown to visit the library for a school project – looking up articles on the upcoming Reagan vs. Mondale Presidential election for my 9th Grade Civics class (This was long before the internet, kids!), and since Butler Street Interlocking was only two blocks from the library, I packed my camera for some extra-curricular action while I was in the neighborhood.

I could have taken the city bus each way for a whopping $0.65 a ride, but it was only about two miles to the library, so I walked instead. After about an hour at the library, I walked down to the tracks and waited…

It wasn’t long before I heard a horn in the distance. Excitedly, I set up for my first-ever railfan photos. The first subject was a northbound led by two GP-38’s. Click! Click Click! In the middle of the train, a B&O bay window caboose indicated that the train had been pre-blocked for setoffs in Dayton. Click! At the end of the train was another caboose, but I held my fire this time. After all, I only had a few exposures to work with and I didn’t want to “waste” film on “just” another caboose!

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The northbound had cleared, and only a few minutes passed before I heard a new horn, a southbound, approaching. I again chose my location and set up my shot, then waited.

This time, I was greeted by a grimy C&O SD-40 and a B&O GP40-2. Since SD’s were unusual on the Toledo Division and GP40-2’s were extremely common, I concentrated my attention on the six-axle beast. A few passing shots and…..I was out of film.

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Still, I could call my first railfan photography expedition a success, and I had to be headed home to complete my Civics project anyway. I bid goodbye to Butler Street with a smile. I would return many times, but perhaps none of my returns would be as special as the first time on October 22, 1984.



Now, go watch some trains!

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