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What's the story of your fleet?
One of the things I have always taken great pride in with my model train fleet is that a significant percentage of what I collect has very special personal meaning to me. Many who are familiar with me may already know that I am heavily invested in modeling my home territory of Chicago’s South Side and Calumet Region, including the continuous acquisition of a fleet of trains from railroads that serve my native turf, including but not limited to, my favorites – the Gen Z streamlined elegance of the MP36 locomotives on Metra. Within the past 5 years I have also been acquiring Mexican roadnames including Ferromex, Ferrosur, Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México, Ferrocarril del Pacifico, etc in honor of my Mexican heritage/culture/ethnicity. Very recently, about a month and a half ago or so, I have discovered that through my Mexican bloodline, I also have Japanese blood. A few months ago I imported a Kato HO-Scale JNR D51 Steam Locomotive from Japan because in addition to the fact that I thought it was really neat, in addition to my Mexican culture I’ve always had this deep resonance with the East Asian cultures that I just couldn’t explain, probably because the East Asian community has always been extremely accepting of me, but then after learning that I have Japanese ancestry, this locomotive became even more special to me. Many people have always thought I was Japanese, and all along I’ve been telling them “No actually. I am Mexican.” It turns out I am both of those things and I am proud of it. My Mexican and Japanese blood are from my mom’s side, so now I need to get some trains to represent the blood on my dad’s side, Italian, Irish, German, and Swedish. One of the things that a lot of people don’t really think about that is truly special about the railroad hobby is that it can be a beautiful bridge connecting multiple different cultures from all over the world, leading us to meet some of the most amazing people.
Hububba, Thaisen and 12 others6 Comments-
Nice post! Great to tie your heritage to the hobby and motive power. I too grew up on the south side of Chicago (and just over the boarder in NW Indiana). I’ve spent a fair amount of time in Japan (many years ago now) for work and always loved the country, it’s culture, people and food. I road the Shinkansen many a time. My motive power is all based on what my father and his friends modeled while I was growing up. I have some of his pieces in my collection now. Great Northern, Northern Pacific, Spokane Portland and Seattle, DM&IR and Milwaukee Road.. then many years in Colorado narrow gauge (Denver and Rio Grande Western 3′ gauge (On3)) Thanks for sharing your story!
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@zak98 That’s really cool! I’ve unfortunately never yet had the pleasure of traveling outside of the country. The closest to that I’ve gotten was cross country travel for work as an onboard attendant for Amtrak. Qualified in coaches, sleeper, and diner on the California Zephyr, Empire Builder, and Texas Eagle. OK, so which South Side neighborhood are you from and where in NWI do you live now if I may ask? I grew up on the Southeast Side, specifically in Hegewisch and am currently living in Northwest Indiana myself, specifically the North Side of Valparaiso, really close to Chesterton. I started in Chicago Public Schools and graduated from Chesterton. Just turned 25, still living at home but have a strong desire to move back into the city when I get my own place, specifically Pullman. Both sets of my great grandparents on my mom’s side came here from Mexico, my grandfather’s side settling in South Chicago and my grandmother’s side settling in Blue Island. It’s through my grandmother’s side I recently discovered that I have Japanese blood, here all along for generations we thought she was entirely Mexican. She was a railroad worker too, she worked as a secretary for the Rock Island. Same with many on my grandfather’s side working in the railroad/rapid transit industry, my grandfather worked for the CTA as an electrician, one of my great uncles (one of his brothers) was a switchman for Illinois Central and from what I understand, the first Mexican American to work for the IC, one of his other brothers also a switchman but for the CB&Q, and my two immediate uncles (both my mom’s brothers) were also electricians for CTA. I’m the first railfan in my family history, but not the first railroader. After recently learning about my Japanese blood through my Mexican bloodline, I am now very eager to dive deep and explore that ancestry. It’ll give me another excuse to finally visit Mexico and Japan, hopefully sooner than later.
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@Metra407 Harvey and Chicago Heights. Remaining family is in NWI but I live in Tennessee. I have for 28 years, moved down from Wisconsin (where I was working at the time) for same company (Allen-Bradley – Rockwell Automation) I was just in Valpo and Merrillville prior to Thanksgiving, visiting family and friends.
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Most of my train fleet is the same for me, has to hold some special significance.
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@casey-jones That’s awesome! What are some of your sentimentally special pieces in your fleet?
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air force, alaska railroad, fdny/ ns first responders, NYC MTA.
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