By David G. Firestone
I’ve done The Driver Suit Blog since January of 2013. I’ve shared my love for auto racing and the uniforms and memorabilia. During that time, I’ve been harboring a deep secret. It’s been boiling inside me for some time. I simply haven’t been able to reveal it until now. I have to confess…I am a railfan. Whew! That felt good!
OK, seriously, all joking aside, I’ve always enjoyed traveling by train, be it CTA, Metra, or Amtrak. I’m also into watching train documentaries on YouTube. I’m not watching random videos of trains, but informative videos.
I was watching a video by Thunderbolt 1000 Siren Productions on the history of Conrail,
and I suddenly remember that I may have some railroad stuff in my basement. Sadly, it’s gone now, but I’ve decided to get some new stuff.
First, I found a few Conrail desk commemorative items, as show below.
Second I got some cheap engines and rolling stock, mostly because it was cheap.
My favorite item of this new group is road number marker from Alton & Southern Railway 1511.
Alton & Southern Railway 1511 or ALS 1511m was an EMD SW1500, a 1,500 horsepower diesel-electric switcher locomotive built by General Motors’ Electro-Motive Division from 1966 to 1974. Alton and Southern Railway ordered a total of 18 of them, numbered 1500 to 1517. Alton & Southern Railway 1511 was built in February of 1970, and was the final build of EMD order 7190. I don’t know if Alton & Southern Railway 1511
Using pictures, I was able to determine that the road number lights were light on a dark background, at least on the front. This was changed not long after, and this appears to have been a long-used piece of glass, and it shows a lot of use.
As for Alton & Southern Railway 1511…well…I don’t know. I don’t know if Alton & Southern Railway 1511 still exists. I did a lot of research, and I can’t figure out anything. The best that I can come up with is that as of 2019, it still existed, as it was photographed. But that’s it.
I’ve not been willing to talk about this is a very simple reason. Truth is, like any fanbase, there are those who will take thing too far. I talked a few years ago about a couple of them, and since the more egregious of the two has been convicted, and, at the time of writing, is facing as much as two years in prison, and a $10,000 fine. This is also in addition to being held responsible for $350,000 of damage he caused.
So, I’m a railfan. I’m proud of it, and I will continue to collect train stuff.
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