To most people, waiting at a crossroads for a train to rumble by is a waste of time and a nuisance. We have places to go, people to see. We don't want to sit and count 235 boxcars as a freight train slowly rolls past with a clickety-clack.
Then there are people like Richard Meyer, one of 20 Utahns who belong to the Golden Spike American Flyer Club. Richard and his friends go out of their way to sit at crossing gates and watch trains — the longer, the better.
When the last car is counted, they then head home to run their own miniature railroads, complete with black engines that blow real steam and red cabooses instead of those boring electronic boxes that are attached to the end of trains these days.
"What kid doesn't love trains?" asks Richard, a tall, gregarious man who appears to be in his late 40s, although he claims to be 12. "People who love trains never grow up. There's something magical about a train that nothing else can touch."
Hoping to share a bit of that magic, Richard and a dozen other members of his train club invited me for a Free Lunch chat at last week's Great American Train Show at the Utah State Fairgrounds.
The club's classic American Flyer trains were among the most popular at the show, which attracted thousands of people who wonder what it would be like to climb into an engineer's seat and blow a train's whistle for real.
"The sound of a train appeals to everybody," says club president Eddie Strong, who also claims to be 12. "Ever since I was a boy and watched the California Zephyr come by my house, I've been fascinated by how powerful trains are and how much product they can move."
"It's a nostalgia thing," adds Richard, hooking together a line of coal cars for a run around the track. "People are in such a hurry today — they'd rather fly everywhere. But then they come to a show like this and they're reminded of what a delight a train can be. They're forced to slow down and smile."
Members of the American Flyer Club meet once a month at each other's homes to plan train shows and exchange tips on new track designs. Most of their time, though, is spent hunched over the same train sets they played with as youngsters on Christmas morning.
"Doing this is like having Santa Claus show up every day," says Chris Crnich, a veterinarian who is envied by neighbors because he spends most of his time playing with dogs and trains.
"Look at the faces of the people here," he says, motioning to the crowds gathered around the miniature railroad. "Two-year-olds, teenagers, people with gray hair, it doesn't matter. Their eyes sparkle when they see these little trains."
Of the club members, only Orvil White, who describes himself as "73 going on 11," has railroad experience. As a teenager, he was a gandy dancer for Union Pacific and later worked on a signal crew. Now his bedroom is full of American Flyer trains, and they're slowly taking over his living room, too.
"It helps to have a wife who doesn't think I'm nuts," he says, pointing to Elaine, who is busy setting up signals and bridges. "It also helps that I'm retired and have all the time in the world to sit and watch trains go by."
When the lunch hour is over, I accidentally brush against a freight train pulling out of the station and cause a derailment, but nobody seems to mind.
"Happens all the time," says Richard, cleaning up the wreckage. With a bunch of 12-year-olds, he says, what else would you expect?
Have a story? Let's hear it over lunch. E-mail your name, phone number and what's on your mind to freelunch@desnews.com or send a fax to 801-466-2851. You can also write me at the Deseret News, P.O. Box 1257, Salt Lake City, UT 84110.