I've just come back from working in East Glacier, Montana. East Glacier is right next to the High Line of the BNSF, which is former Great Northern trackage, and there is an old Great Northern Station, now run by Amtrak. Anyway, all I had to do was walk a little way over to the station, and I could watch trains quite easily. Unfortunately, now that I am back home in Vancouver, Washington, it's more difficult to get to the tracks. It usually involves a short drive, or perhaps a bike ride.
Hey, I'm looking forward to cheap gas over the next few weeks whilst I'm on holiday - it's currently the equivalent of $9.75/gall in the UK!!
I've made only one fan trip this year and doubt if I'll do any next year. My wife Pat and I visited the Illinois Railway Museum northwest of Chicago while driving to the city to visit our son and family. This museum requires a full day to really see and examine everything, including more than 800 engines and rolling stock. A lot of the locomotives are not in running order because they're being restored. However, we did enjoy two trolley rides to exhibits I couldn't have walked to because of disability (I can walk very short distances). The only drawback was the diner: lousy fast food (didn't even have ice cream). I want to return to see exhibits we had to miss on our first visit. The entry price is affordable. I haven't been able to railfan by walking for several years but I can still drive the car to locations that don't require a lot of travel by foot. There are roadside views. To see anything really interesting/exciting, I must leave my area (Cedar Rapids); the only prime railroad is the Union Pacific, of which I don't have much interest in. The UP doesn't have trackage rights on the N scale model railroad I'm building. In fact, you won't see a UP car. I'm not a fan of the UP, obviously
The heck with gas prices, the stock market just pretty much wiped me out. I plan to drive 600 miles and have a last fling at railfanning this year. It's only money and soon there will be none left. :tb-sad:
