Childhood Love of Freight Trains Lures
Cameraman to Tracks
by Joseph C. Hinson
December 27, 2001

The Herald out of Rock Hill ran that article on me that I mentioned in my Overcoming Train Traffic rants. It's odd getting your name in the paper without one of three things happening: 1.) your birth, 2.) your death, or 3.) your arrest. It's even odder when someone hears of your hobby and considers it of sufficient interest to warrant a spot in the paper.

Childhood love of freight trains lures cameraman to tracks
By Erica Pippins The Herald
(Published December 27‚ 2001)

LANCASTER - While the blue and yellow freight train moved slowly up the tracks - traveling to Great Falls at a speed of less than 25 mph - Joseph Hinson looked for the perfect spot.

He focused his camera lens and began to rapidly click off image after image to add to his collection of photographs and memorabilia on the Lancaster & Chester Railway route.

The sound of the camera's shutter soon was covered by a blaring horn, as the conductor let motorists know that the train was about to cross the tracks at Orr Road. As he got closer, the conductor flashed a wide smile and Hinson waved back.

"I often go to areas along the route to watch and take pictures of the trains, but I am sure some of the crews would say that they see me every day," chuckled Hinson, who even has a scanner that allows him track the location of the trains on the route.

"I know some of them (conductors) by name and others by sight," said Hinson, 31, a full-time student studying teleproduction at York Technical College. "I can honestly say that the L&C is amazingly friendly to rail fans."

His fascination for trains began when he was a small child.

"My grandmother lived in front of an old mill on 9th Street in Chester, and I remember being 9 or 10 and looking out the window as the trains rolled by," Hinson said. "My friends and I would also play games near the tracks, and every time a train would approach they would yell out, "We gotta take a break, because Joe is gonna go watch the train.'"

Hinson said it's the innocence of those times that turned him into a rail line aficionado. Though he has visited different routes in Tennessee, Arkansas and Colorado, his loyalty primarily lies with the railways in the Carolinas, particularly the L&C.

The L&C, which began in 1873 as the Cheraw and Chester Railroad, was purchased for $25,000 in 1896 by Col. Leroy Springs of Springs Industries. It continues to maintain the same 29 miles of track trains traveled back then, as well as 30.8 miles acquired in March through a lease-purchase agreement from the Norfolk Southern lines.

Hinson, who admits to being a history buff, said he began to amass information about the L&C in his early 20s after reading a book by retired Winthrop University history professor Louise Pettus. His fact-finding expedition can now be seen on his Web site, which contains a thorough history of the L&C and links to other Web pages dedicated to Carolina railways.

"It's a way for people who may not normally be friends or move in the same circles to come together to share a common interest," said Hinson, who added that he recently went to Colorado to meet a few rail fans who have been in contact with him since the site went up.

Hinson said that it is amazing that the L&C has endured, considering how much the short lines have changed in Lancaster and Chester counties over the past 100 years.

"The hurricane of 1916 wiped out the Catawba River bridge and the L&C had to use the Southern line until they could rebuild. There was also a derailment that killed several rail workers, and I think at one point Col. Springs considered selling the L&C for scrap," Hinson said. "But it's still here."

As the train inched slowly down the tracks, Hinson smiles. He knows it will be back - and so will he.

A few notes. First, this train was not going to Great Falls. The L&C has never been to Great Falls and, in fact, no train has been to Great Falls since Seaboard Coast Line ripped up the track in the early 80s. I shouldn't be too surprised that the Herald got this wrong. When the L&C began operating the former Southern Railway SB line in Lancaster, they mucked up two critical aspects of the story. First, they said the L&C was based in Chester. It's not and never has been. Secondly, they said that the L&C would operate the rails from Catawba in York County to Kershaw in south Lancaster. The Kershaw part is right, but the agreement states that the L&C only operates the portion in Lancaster County. This supposedly held up some of the negotiations. The L&C wanted across the river into York to allow easier interchange with Norfolk Southern and CSX, but NS would have none of that.

The reporter, Erica Pippins, interviewed me beside the tracks in Richburg. The L&C was switching out the storage-in-transit tracks so they could work the Guardian Industry spur at the distribution park. The picture of me brings a smile to my face, once I get past that it makes me look three hundred pounds. I'm using my 300 mm lens. This was deliberate on my part, even though the lens was totally out of place for that shot. I basically just wanted to look more professional, and a longer lens did that. At least that was reasoning at the time. The photographer, Andy Burriss, asked me to keep my pose as the train passed. I'm actually focusing in on the last few cars.

But I do feel the need to comment on some of what she wrote. Bear with me. As I said, it is odd being on this side of the pen and paper. At some level, the article validates what I do. I'm not really sure how. At the same time, however, I feel it makes me look like an idiot. Consider this: "He focused his camera lens and began to rapidly click off image after image to add to his collection of photographs and memorabilia on the Lancaster & Chester Railway route." Clicking off image after image? That sounds a little, well, obsessive to me. I think I took four shots this day hoping for the "kill shot."

Let me explain what I consider the kill shot. It may be self-explanatory. The kill shot is a shot out of a series of them where I know the moment I snap it that I have got the shot that will make my day. Out of the four I took, none were the kill shot. First, I was using the wrong lens. Secondly this isn't the best location to shoot from, regardless of what Pippins said, looking for "the perfect shot." A better shot near this same location is at the entrance of the L&C Distribution Park, about two hundred yards behind me in this shot. But that's beside the point.

"I can honestly say that the L&C is amazingly friendly to rail fans." I don't actually remember saying this in the exact wording it's represented. I'm not saying I didn't, but it seems an odd thing to say somehow. Mind you, it's true, but I wish I hadn't announced it as I did.

'"My grandmother lived in front of an old mill on 9th Street in Chester, and I remember being 9 or 10 and looking out the window as the trains rolled by," Hinson said. "My friends and I would also play games near the tracks, and every time a train would approach they would yell out, "We gotta take a break, because Joe is gonna go watch the train.'"

First, my grandmother lived in Lancaster. I'm not even sure there is a 9th Steet in Chester. And if there is, I bet there's not a mill on it with a railroad nearby. Just guessing here. The next part is true though, to a certain extent. But she put something in quotations that is not an exact quote. I never said we would play games "near the tracks." In this case, near the tracks would mean there was a parking lot, a road and one house between us. I remember playing in Kip Wright's backyard and hearing the train either uptown or at Memorial Park Rd. (depending on which direction it was coming from) and we would have to take a break -- so I could watch the train.

At the same time, as kids, we actually did play on the tracks. So I'm not sure what I'm complaining about other than as a railfan, I know now how incredibly stupid it is to play on or near the tracks or to walk on or near the tracks. Kids, don't try this at home. And if you're the parent of a small kid, please understand what I'm saying. The railroad tracks are not a safe place to walk. I know some of my fondest memories are walking the tracks with my cousin, Kyle, or even later in life walking them alone in deep thought. I now see how utterly stupid that is. On the various railroad e-lists I am on, I hear about people innocently walking the tracks all the time who either are killed or injured (read: loss of body parts) because they were on or near the tracks.

OK, backing off my soap box... You know, I could do a PSA. I'm in teleproduction, afterall. "This is your legs. This is your legs after they've been amputated by a train."

" Hinson, who admits to being a history buff, said he began to amass information about the L&C in his early 20s after reading a book by retired Winthrop University history professor Louise Pettus. His fact-finding expedition can now be seen on his Web site, which contains a thorough history of the L&C and links to other Web pages dedicated to Carolina railways."

I do like this paragraph well enough. I am glad she gave props to Ms. Pettus, which is why I mentioned her. Her books have helped me a lot in learning about Springs -- the company and the family -- as well as the Lancaster, Chester and York areas as a whole. I do find it odd how she worded my "confession" to being a history buff, as if it is something I should be ashamed of.

But I think it odd that she didn't actually link to my web site. I might would think the editors went to my site and saw all the f-words on the personal side, not the railroad side. But then it doesn't look like they actually did any research, so I'm not sure. (Really, the L&C going to Great Falls?)

From the article: "There was also a derailment that killed several rail workers, and I think at one point Col. Springs considered selling the L&C for scrap." The derailment, as I stated to her, was ion 1913 when they were carrying passengers to chester for a baseball game. They placed some empty freight cars -- coal hoppers, if I remember my facts straight -- ahead of the passenger cars. These cars pulled the passenger cars into Hopper Creek as they passed over. Seven people ultimately lost their lives. I believe all of them were passengers, no rail workers.

It's odd that she never e-mailed me to make sure she got her facts straight, but she kept me surmised of when the story would run. I know this was a fluff piece. It looks better than a white spot on the front of the local section. But if you're going to do something, do it right. Get your facts straight!

She closed with the following nugget of literary excellency: "As the train inched slowly down the tracks, Hinson smiles. He knows it will be back - and so will he." The sentence reads awkwardly to say the least. She used two verb tenses in there. It sounds like it came from a bad novel of some sort. First of all, I didn't smile that day. Secondly, of course I know it's going to be back. I also know it's not going to Great Falls anytime soon either!

So I've been obsessing over this most of the day really. As I said, it's odd being on this side of the pen and paper. Famous people have to deal with it all the time. Mostly, it's about their personal lives. I'm re-reading a book on U2 by Bill Flanagan, U2 at the End of the World. It's a very good read and offers an insiders perspective on U2's metamorphous of the early 90s from over-serious rockers to cynical mockers. Bono and Edge talk about reading magazine and news articles about themselves but not realizing -- not recognizing that the stranger the journalist was talking about was them.

On a much smaller scale, this is the same thing. Now that I've seen the other end of the pen, I wonder what the people whom I have interviewed think of my articles. I hope I didn't do them the disservice that I feel was done to me.

See my L&C articles at:
Carolina Rail News

Other Relevant URLs:
Overcoming Train Traffic (11/09/2001)
Overcoming Train Traffic, too: Trains Are a Threat to Public Safety (12/10/2001)

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