The Marchon Family

I like railways a lot. I've been a railfan as long as I can remember. My grandmother used to take me on train trips when I was little and it is reported that I used to sit quietly by the window on these occasions, watching the landscape and most of all the other trains go by. Of course, Switzerland is a great country for railroading and I spent a big part of my spare time as a teenager touring the various railway lines of Switzerland. My one time goal was to travel each and every one of them - well, I never quite made it, but I saw a lot of them!

Lately, I've grown more and more fond of the railroads of America. Those really long, heavy trains pulled by multiple diesel engines - what a sight. There's no such thing here in Switzerland. A few years back on one of my trips I had the opportunity to watch the last summer of Tennessee Pass - 100+ car unit coal trains with up to ten big AC diesels. I was standing next to the track on the climb out of Minturn, Colorado and, you know, being that close you can really feel the 40'000 horsepower... It was awesome ...

The American Railroad Rosters Project