I live in an apartment that is right next to active train tracks… a few floors up, i have a prime view of the tracks from my windows/balcony… its a heavily used corridor that sees both freight and passenger service.
While im not really into trains, (more of a nuisance for me… being essentially right above the tracks), i will say, ive seen some really cool shit that really gave me a real appreciation for people who enjoy trains… since moving here, i find myself actually going to the window to watch them more often than anticipated.
Personally, the coolest stuff ive seen hasnt been the freight or passenger trains, but the ultra specialized equipment used to maintain the tracks… some examples:
1- one day, they replaced the railroad ties under the tracks. They had a really cool set of machinery that i can only describe as a robot on rails… the front of it pulled out every other tie, the back installed a new tie in its place with a bunch of other steps in-between.
2-they were shipping a bunch of railroad rails. The rails were in long continuous segments that spanned the entire train’s length… my apartment perch is on a relatively sharp curve in the rails (really pleasant for noise /s), so it was cool to see how they handled it… the train essentially shimmied back and forth only a few feet at a time to allow their rail payload to bend and adjust to the curve in the track.