(The following story by Patrick Ferrell appeared on the Chicago Sun-Times website on April 7.)
CHICAGO — Frank Skrzecz considers himself an urban version of a tornado chaser.
But instead of chasing funnel clouds across rural scenery, he chases freight trains. The high school senior films the trains, then puts the tape on YouTube.
Scanners that tap into conversations between engineers and dispatchers are to rail fans what radar is to storm chasers. Rare finds breed excitement.
“It’s like, pack up your equipment and drive over there as fast as you can without breaking the law,” Skrzecz said. “Then, you’ll see it in the distance, here’s the headlight coming. It’s, ‘Oh! Get the camera.'”
Unlike storm chasers, rail fans rarely have movies or TV shows made about them. In fact, to many who don’t understand the hobby, watching videos of trains go by can be downright boring.
Skrzecz acknowledges his hobby is misunderstood by many.
“I want people to lose the whole notion that rail fans are the kind of loner guy that hangs around the train station,” he said. “Just going on YouTube, I can see a whole lot of videos from people, including kids my age.”
After he graduates from Lincoln-Way Central in June, Skrzecz plans to study music and education at Monmouth College near Galesburg. Ultimately, he wants to be a special-education teacher.
“If you take a job on the railroad, you’ll start to hate it, because it’ll become work,” he said.