Little old man

A little old man, 77 years old, prepares to photograph the passing train with his cannon (telephoto)-on-tripod. (Photo by John Rucosky.)

—In the middle of February Yr Fthfl Srvnt and his brother traveled to Altoona PA to chase and photograph trains in the snow.
On Wednesday my brother drives out from where he lives near Boston. It takes him nine hours.
If the light is still good when he gets there, he’ll take photographs.
I drive down on Thursday (five hours), and my brother takes photographs himself while I drive down.
The light is usually still okay when I get there, so we’ll join up to chase and photograph trains together.
Then we’ll chase and photograph trains all day Friday. We both go home Saturday.
Thursday afternoon, after meeting up, we drove down to South Fork to photograph trains coming around a curve.
While there, a photographer/reporter for the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat newspaper, stopped to talk with us. His name was John Rucosky.
“Up-and-down this corridor I been, interviewing owners of railfan-oriented businesses, but I’ve yet to meet any railfans.”
Who knows if Rucosky knew what he called the “Route-53 Corridor,” is what we railfans call the West Slope (of Allegheny Mountain).
PA State Route 53 parallels the old Pennsylvania Railroad mainline south from Allegheny summit to South Fork. Maybe 17-20 miles.
That railroad, which is now Norfolk Southern, is extremely busy. It’s one of the two west/east railroads from the midwest to the East-Coast megalopolis. The other railroad is CSX.
As such, the West Slope sees many trains, and they are dealing with a mountain = assaulting the heavens climbing, and maximum braking to avoid runaway trains going back down.
Both sides of the mountain are railfan paradise, and there are many locations where it’s possible to get fabulous train photographs.
The railroad splits many small towns, most of which have a newish road bridge over the railroad.
The railroad has few grade-crossings — I can only think of a couple. Those bridges make great photo locations, and they usually have sidewalks, which separate you from traffic.
You’re above the train, plus there are other locations from where you can watch or photograph trains.
I been chasing trains since age-2; my brother became a railfan himself a while ago.

Me at left; my brother Jack at right. (From video by John Rucosky.)

Rucosky began interviewing us, shooting video with his Smartphone.
“Because this is where the trains are,” my brother and I shouted.
“Every railfan should be required, BY LAW, to visit Horseshoe Curve,” I said, pointing.
That interview became part of Rucosky’s story, which includes the video, plus a photo gallery.
Rucosky’s story got picked up by Associated-Press, and was circulated nationwide.
My DE nephew found it in his Facebook feed, apparently published in some GA newspaper.
“That’s Uncle Bobby!” he exclaimed. (Lede picture published above. Rucosky used that photo as his lede — that picture sells the story!)
I fired up the GA story on this laptop, and it included the video of me and my brother.
“Who’s that geezer on the left? I look and sound ancient!”
My reaction was “how do I attract so many fabulous lady friends when I when I’m so way over the hill — although I don’t remember a hill.”
There’s *****, my pretty lifeguard friend at Canandaigua’s YMCA swimming-pool, who I goofed up so many times, yet she still seems to wanna talk to me.
She’s not gorgeous, but for age 65 she’s impressive. How do I ever remain friends with somebody like her?
Then there’s *****, my pharmacist in Honeoye Falls; also not gorgeous, but pretty enough to be intimidating six years ago.
“I can’t leave here without saying hello to *****.” BOINK! She springs from her workstation so we can talk.
And ****** in Wegmans produce. Every time I say hello to her she smiles at me. No longer is she a big sturdy girl, she became a pretty little thing.
And ****** (Long Tall Sally), and *** at Thompson Physical-Therapy, the college-age PT trainee I befriended, all because I struck up a conversation with her.
“I recognize you, and you recognize me” = let’s talk. It makes her happy, and she makes me happy.
And pretty ******, one of the vaunted “temperature-ladies” in the lobby outside Thompson Physical-Therapy.
****** is astonishingly pretty; so pretty I goofed her up royally perhaps a month ago.
But then: “Hey! Where ya goin’? You can’t go anywhere! Who’m I supposed to talk to?”
“Don’t worry,” she said. “I’ll be back” = if we can talk all is forgiven.
So now every time I see her we talk = enjoy each other’s company. And ****** is extremely pretty.
Plus all the nameless smilers, and blushers, and ladies who say I’m cute, and “you are so sweet!”
Plus the pretty young jogger I met on Lehigh Valley RailTrail THRILLED I struck up a conversation with her without hitting on her: “YIPPEE! A guy wants to talk to me, and he’s not trying to collect a trophy-girl.”
“Cute” isn’t “geezer.”
My cousin in NC tells me what women like most is talking.” The fact I encourage talk makes me irresistible. Creakiness becomes irrelevant when I encourage women to talk. Let ‘em, and I attract ‘em like flies.
“YIPPEE!” A guy they can talk to without fear.
Every time I walk outta the toilet-stalls in the Canandaigua YMCA locker-room, and see myself in the mirror, I see the same person I see in Rucosky’s video. “Why in the world would ***** ever wanna be friends with me?”
***** and I talked a little the other day, and I said “if I am the least bit hesitant or tentative about meeting you, you’ll pick it up.
In order for us to enjoy each other’s company, I hafta be happy to see you. And I am (I can’t be scared).
If I’m happy to see you, you’ll be happy to see me. That’s how it works, and it always works.”
“Happy to see ya!” saved my butt from who knows how many foulups.
Hundreds of fabulous lady friends, and I make more left and right.
As my deceased sister would say, regarding the Rucosky video, “fuggedaboudid!”
And for pretty ****** in the Canandaigua Weggers produce-department: “GUILTY-AS-CHARGED! ‘No pretty girl will smile at you!’ And there you are smiling at me.”

• The “temperature-ladies” in the lobby outside Thompson Physical-Therapy are there per COVID-19. ****** takes your temperature. (Her sidekick has prettier eyes.)