Railfan Insight: Orange Cactus Productions

Over the past few months, we’ve heard from railfans around the globe and seen comments across our social channels about your railfanning stories, including how many of you got into trains, railways and railroads in the first place. One of those was Andre, aka Orange Cactus Productions, who gave us a great insight into how he became a railfan:

Andre was born in 1992 in the State of Rhode Island, USA, growing up in the small town of West Kingston which lies on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor. A passion for railroads runs in the family and it was Andre’s late Grandfather who would tell of his own father coming home from work covered in soot from the steam locomotives on the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. Over the years, Andre’s family would holiday over in New Hampshire, where he got his first taste of riding the rails at the Conway Scenic Railroad. “That was when I really discovered I loved railroading and American railroad history.”

Today, Andre lives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and has done since moving there at the age of 16. As with many teenagers during the mid 2000s, video games became the hobby of choice and though early iterations of Train Simulator were the focus for railfans like Andre at the time, this didn’t immediately translate into a passion for the real thing. Cost was a major factor in the decision to channel railfanning into video games; “It was an incredible experience for me in my teen years as a fan of trains and someone who couldn't afford model trains.” Sadly, in 2012, Andre’s grandfather passed away and on reflection, Andre realised that many of his fond memories were of talking about trains. It was a defining part of their relationship.

Since then, he has learnt much more about the history of American railroads and the ‘Fallen Flags’ from times gone by. Having established a YouTube channel as part of his train simulation hobby, it was time to see what the local railroads could offer in the Pennsylvania area and Andre’s growing knowledge of the Norfolk Southern rail movements would mark his beginning as a conventional railfan. The railfanning community played a crucial part in this and Andre began by asking other railfans about where best to stand and film trains in the state, both from a photography and safety point of view. This led to Derry Road Crossing in Hershey, PA and in August 2020, Andre shot his first footage railfanning ‘in the field’. Of course, the enjoyment being able to see the impressive locomotives and freight trains roll through has got Andre hooked. The excitement of seeing a heritage unit at Lebanon, PA has so far been the highlight, with many more no doubt on the horizon:

“For me it's the sights, the sounds and the history. America has such a rich history of railroads that no longer exist, that had their own unique identity and method of operation. History has always been a favorite subject of mine, so add in a passion for trains and it's a no brainer. Then there's the locomotives, specifically American steam and diesel locomotives, they look incredible and to me are a good example of problem solving. Most locomotives were designed to overcome challenges and meet needs on specific railroads. Designers had to get creative and the results of that creativity are amazing and often bizarre cosmetically.”

And the future sounds exciting, with a number of famous locations now on Andre’s ‘bucket list’ to capture locomotives across America, including the Reading & Northern Railroad, Horseshoe Curve, the Northeast Corridor in Maryland & New Jersey. There’s also the allure of going back to New Hampshire and the Conway Scenic Railroad too, which would complete the circle having ridden on it with the family all those years ago. As for the YouTube Channel, Orange Cactus Productions (also under the name Santa Fe Railguy) continues to upload both live action and simulator content, with the aim of sharing his spots, what he learns about the history and joining the growing railfan community.

You can find Andre most active on Instagram and on YouTube at Orange Cactus Productions. If you’d like to share your own railfan story with us, get in touch! We’d love to hear from you, whether you’re a spotter, photographer, film maker or modeler, contact us on social media or via the submit form here on the website.

Feature photo provided by Orange Cactus Productions and used with permission.