(The following story by Heather Vogell appeared on the Charlotte Observer website on January 10.)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Christopher Seeling was living his childhood dream. He rode the rails all day and got paid for it.
“Ever since he’s been small, that’s all he ever wanted to be — as he put it, a train driver,” said Joe Teague, a friend.
Seeling, 28, of West Columbia, S.C., died Thursday after the Norfolk Southern engine he was driving crashed into a parked train. Investigators Friday blamed a misdirected switch that sent his train off the main line.
As an engineer, Seeling saw a different South Carolina. He passed the backs of buildings, shot through remote woodlands and crossed pristine rivers and lakes.
He’d tell friends about the freight-car stowaways he’d startled, or call them from his cell phone to say he’d just blown his whistle to scare deer from the tracks. He’d dial Teague when his train trundled past an undiscovered duck-hunting spot.
The job suited him well, friends said.
“Chris was outdoorsy,” said Christopher Bober, a friend who lived across the street. “He liked seeing the places.”
Seeling’s faith brought him to West Columbia, Teague said.
The two met when Seeling was a college student living in Kansas City who volunteered to help Teague’s church build an annex. Though Teague didn’t know Seeling well, the younger man called looking for somewhere to live after graduation.
Teague said he and his family took Seeling in for a year.
“We pretty much treated him just like our son,” he said. “He was a good boy.”
About three years ago, Teague, a developer and builder, built Seeling a three-bedroom house in his new subdivision. He was single and lived alone there except for a black Labrador retriever named Bo.
Seeling returned to Kansas City each year to catch a Chiefs football game with his father, Teague said. He also stayed in close contact with his mother, who lived in North Carolina and planned to move closer to her son, friends said.
They described him as friendly and enthusiastic about whatever caught his interest — be it trains, duck or deer hunting, or Christmas decorations.
Neighbors said he decked out his yard with glowing, movable deer and moose, and adorned his house with lights for the holidays. Last Saturday, he greeted Dawn and Stephen Williams as the neighborhood took down their holiday lights together.
“Just a really nice guy,” she said.
Seeling received his official certification as an engineer in December 2001. He usually made runs to Augusta, Ga., or the Charlotte area, friends said.
“He lived and breathed Norfolk Southern,” Teague said. “He was going to be a lifer.”