nicked from without his permission, inspired by . I hope neither one minds...

How did your train addiction begin? What made you interest in this kind of transport?

I was born in Chicago, and until the age of three, lived in St. Charles, just outside Chicago. my old man was a big fan of the crab orchard & egyptian (COER), which ran steam on their shortline in Illinois until the mid 80s. a couple great uncles on my father's side were railfans. I think a bit of it rubbed off on me, and I vaguely recall dressing up as an engineer, complete with cardboard-box steam train for halloween when I was four or five. I had a small 8'x4' HO layout with a red/yellow rock island F7 and later a southern pacific GP40.

trains lay dormant at the back of my mind until a few years ago, when Portland & Western (PNWR) tore up the siding (as seen in [link]) near work, and I started asking questions like "where does this go?" and "how does this network connect to the rest of the continent?" the answers led me to start playing freight yard manager [link] , reading books about regional players in the pacific northwest, and tracking a few mailing lists.

I found out a few of my old friends from college were also railfans, one of whom is on the crew of the SPS700, and it went from there.

Ok. So how does your interest in trains manifest itself?

I look forward to getting stopped at crossings, get antsy when I hear train horns and whistles, and have been known to spend time tracing out ROW with google earth. I also wear a hickory-striped cap, even though the reason I started wearing it had nothing to do with trains.

What is your all-time favorite locomotive(s)/train(s) of your country's railways?

I like cowl units. I think the baldwin sharknoses look really badass. the krauss-maffei hydraulic cab units have a nice bezel to the body, which (perhaps not intentionally) is echoed in the GE P42s that amtrak presently uses. I completely understand why they aren't suitable for freight, but I think they're very stylish.

Do you have an all-time favorite foreign engine?

the imported Chinese steam locomotives based on Soviet design are pretty amusing.

Do you ride a train often or at least regularly?

unfortunately not. in order for me to ride a train to work, I would have to take the bus to light rail (MAX), take that to the 'burbs, then transfer to commuter rail (WES). it would take an hour and a half. I can drive to work in 20 minutes.

When was the last time you went somewhere by train? What kind of train was it?

I rode on a test run of the portland west-side express (WES) earlier this year.

This is where the harder part begins. Is your train addiction just at admiration level or you're also deeply interested in technical details and stuff?

the technical details are interesting, but realistically I'll never be a diesel mechanic, conductor, or even an embedded developer doing firmware for locomotive systems. what interests me about trains is the infrastructure necessary to support them, the rail network itself, and the logistics involved in moving such massive quantities of matter around. trains are the most efficient method of surface transportation, and I believe increased transport by rail is in this country's future.

I see a lot of parallels between rail networks and packet-switched networks. heck, a lot of internet links literally run right next to rail lines.

What do you find the most interesting/knowledge-enriching fact you've learned about trains?

it's been very interesting to read various histories about how the american rail network came to be. the current heavily regulated patchwork of private regional monopolies is much like the baby bells, or even the highway system before the interstate system was built. I can't help but think our country would be kicking more economic ass if the rail system were nationalized.

Do you think you know enough about railways to consider yourself a "train expert" now?

hardly.

Now that you look back at the times you didn't know as much as now do you feel you made a train-knowledge progress?

it's a constant process, and I feel like there's still a lot for me to learn.

Enough with the philosophy stuff. Do you have a train related dream that you want to come true although you don't find it probable?

I'd like to build a steam-powered brewery into a boxcar, workcar, or galley that could be pulled around by steam locomotives (or steam-equipped diesels), although it would probably be impossible to get licensed.

I'd also settle for a fixed location brewery that was large enough to receive ingredients by rail: hops via boxcar from hopmere in oregon, or yakima in washington; yeast from wyeast, who is only blocks away from mt hood railroad (MHRR) in odell; grain from great western maltings in vancouver WA, one of the maltsters in canada, or from europe via an east-coast port.

Have you ever thought about your hobby becoming your job? (being a train driver or so..) Did you do something for it? Confess..

my logistics hobby? sure. I just don't know how to get there from where I am now.

Oh... How do you feel about it now?

I feel like I'm a bit late to the party.

Now is there something about your country's railways that annoys the hell out of you?

the US rail network is a bunch of regional fiefdoms and a lot of bass-ackwards logistics handling. UPS can move and track my 2lb box across the country in a matter of days, but some class Is can't even manage this for a complete boxcar or unit of rolling stock. why can FedEx and UPS handle LTL, but railroad companies can't? I should be able to hire an engine and crew to run my train coast-to-coast across a national network just like I can hire a trucking crew to do the same. amtrak is an embarrassment. wtf america?

Something more about what do you like? Are you more into older and classic trains or do you like the modern ones better?

the trains themselves are secondary... for me it's running the infrastructure and managing the logistics that are interesting. I'm always looking to learn more about how railroads have managed these through history.

Steam engines are a particular category. How much attention do you pay to them?

seeing a fully steamed locomotive in person is awe-inspiring. these are some of the largest land vehicles on earth, and I can't help get an itching to watch SPS700 or SP4449 when they're on excursion. however, from an economic standpoint, steam is a complete loser, and while the idea of computer-controlled wood-burning steam engines in an apocalyptic post-industrial agrarian society tickles me, I'm not holding my breath.

Are there some trains/engines you changed your opinion about?

reading the technical descriptions of the GE U-series made me think they were technically advanced, but anecdotal evidence from engineers who actually worked on them makes me think perhaps the technologies weren't ready for prime time. obviously GE was able to get things together, because they're now out-selling EMD.

It hurts me to ask this but are there some trains/engines you don't like??

I think UP's continued use of armour yellow is uninteresting, perhaps a bit gaudy, and reminds me of giant twinkies. I miss the forest green BNSF paint scheme.

as far as industrial design goes, I think the classic EMD units are fairly unimaginative, but make up for it in utility -- iconically so.

Do you think there is some train stuff other trainiacs should definitely see/hear?

I think a lot of railfans get distracted by counting rivets and forget that locomotives are just one piece of an immense business process. railroads wouldn't exist without a context.

How do you get along with train drivers. Do you use to talk to them if an opportunity shows up?

of course I would. but I'd really love to do is talk to a dispatcher, manager, or yard master.

Oh yeah .. now that I mentioned it ... have you ever rode in a train cab?

nope. maybe someday I'll learn to be a fireman.

Are there some special railway events in your country? Do you go on those?

when SPS700 or SP4449 runs on OPR, I try to be there. I keep an eye out for "interesting" movements on PNWR and UP in my area, but I can't justify the time to camp out for hours for trainspotting.

What's your most treasured train experience?

riding the shay at sugar pine and big tree railroad near Yosemite in my early teens.

What train station have you seen the most interesting trains at?

brooklyn yard, portland, OR.

Is there some train-related website(s) you visit regularly or find some useful information at?

I do a lot of lookups on [link] . BNSF actually has rate sheets through their website. the maps from [link] have also been helpful, even if they are incomplete.

The meme is almost over. Any last comments you want to say before it ends?

have you ever seen a squonk's tears? well, look at mine.

I have at least six rolls of film to develop, some over a year old. tomorrow we'll see if my XTOL is still good. then we have to scan them. it's no wonder I don't post anything here anymore. it's not the effortless digital sneeze that so many are accustomed to these days. "I shot > 1000 photos last month". not here.

Kris is in Dallas for the annual Audiology Now! conference, so I'm left to my own devices which consist of staying up a little too late, drinking a little too much beer, and ruminating.

Ben passed away four years ago (plus a few days) and around this time of year I tend to get a little moody. my departed mother's birthday was on the 12th, my birthday is on the 20th, and Ben's passing was on the 30th.

in a fit of nostalgia earlier this week, I was reminded of my great-uncle, and a glo-worm knock-off plush toy he gave my little brother for Christmas when I was still a kid. it glowed when you gave it a squeeze, and I adopted it for myself, as my brother didn't really know what to make of it. I think the weak glowing light somehow signified my great-uncle's love; it comforted me, as if the light was a tangible representation of love. maybe love-as-radiation isn't too far off from the truth.

wherever you are, Ben, may my radiation reach you.

I'm still here, barely.

mccann is never on IRC anymore, so the only thing that reminds me of dA is Ben's passing and birthday, both which got me to drop in, but honestly the dA UI becomes a little stranger every time I'm forced to use it. I tried to resubscribe tonight but was told to wait five minutes for system maintenance or somesuch. I'm more than happy putting a stack of bills in mccann's pocket every year.

Kris is out of town to Australia for roughly the next week, so it's time for heavy introspection and possibly some photography, so long as I don't succumb to WoW, which is her fault too, for getting me a hot laptop for my birthday. because heaven knows I could never buy any piece of novel technology new. hell, I just put some 3-in-1 in my chipset fan to keep it going for the next few months while I scrounge for a replacement.

this system was from Ben, and I still feel a little obliged to keep it going, and thus begins the introspection.

my homebrewing club lost a good member last weekend. Bob Farrell passed away due to cancer. I don't recall what kind, but that's not terribly important. I saw him last at Fred Eckhardt's birthday party, and really wanted to talk to him about bigger things, but it hardly seemed the place to. what do you say to a dying man? thank you for living? thanks for the kick-ass mead? tell me what really matters?

I like to think that Bob is in Valhalla with Ben, drinking mead and chatting up Valkyries.

or... moron usability?

I'd like to be able to browse deviantwatch without using forward/back and without clicking so much. getting a larger view from inside the deviations page would be a start; the technology for in-place zooming has already been written. it should apply here as well.

setting delete marks and traveling forward/back loses state. (this has always been a problem and seems to be common in a lot of javascript apps.)

my ideal use case:

1) go to [link]

2) click on first picture

3) on same page as that first picture, give me options to zoom, favorite, etc, and (the important part) "remove from list and go to next picture in my devwatch" and "go to next picture (leave picture in devwatch)"

4) when at the last picture on the favorites list, the "next" button turns into "return to deviantwatch"

5) replace built-in editor with vim

OK, maybe not the last one, as it would scare off 99.999% of dA users, but the first four would go a long way into making dA a lot more usable.

did the groups ever take off? (it would be nice to have shared galleries instead of setting up separate user accounts. yes, I'm talking to you, ~toy-camera.

no sir, I didn't like it.

increasingly heavy on the client-side javascript, with little/no increase in utility. I could zoom in on a picture before, why the hell do I need the rollover expansion? items still change location between screens. I can't update my journals from viewing my own journal entry pages. etc...

and perhaps my biggest peeve, BOUNDING BOXES ARE STILL IMPROPERLY SIZED. yeah, sure, maybe it looks fine if you're using version x of browser y, but if the boxes had been sized in ems instead of pixels or %, I would have my friends box half chopped off to the point where I can't see when people last logged in. let the CSS do its thing, PLEASE.

but I'm just a cranky old coot.

GET OFF MY LAWN YOU YOUNG WHIPPERSNAPPERS!