THIS ARTICLE WAS SCHEDULED FOR BROADCAST ON “TWIAR” (THIS WEEK IN AMATEUR RADIO) ON 06/01/02. IT IS WRITTEN BY WILLIAM CONTINELLI, W2XOY, WHO ALSO WROTE THE "WAYBACK MACHINE" SERIES.
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HI, THIS IS BILL CONTINELLI, W2XOY. YOU’VE ALL HEARD THE BOBBI GENTRY SONG “TALAHATCHIE BRIDGE”. IN A MOMENT, I’LL TELL YOU WHAT REALLY HAPPENS IN TALAHATCHIE COUNTY, ESPECIALLY TO NEW YORKERS WHO CARRY DUAL BAND HT’S.
I LOVE TO TRAVEL. AND I’M LUCKY IN THAT MY EMPLOYER, OVER THE PAST YEAR, HAS SENT ME ON NUMEROUS EXTENDED TRIPS TO PHILADELPHIA, SEATTLE, PHOENIX, MEMPHIS AND--OF COURSE--NEW YORK CITY ON SEPTEMBER 11TH. I’VE TRAVELED BY PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES, ALWAYS WITH A FULL COMPLEMENT OF HF, VHF & UHF AMATEUR RADIOS, AS WELL AS CB, SHORTWAVE, AND FRS RADIOS.
I LOOKED FORWARD TO MY MOST RECENT TRIP, A MONTH IN MEMPHIS. I PLANNED ON MELDING MY TWO HOBBIES, RADIOS AND RAILFANNING, IN NUMEROUS SIDETRIPS.
ON MY FIRST MONDAY THERE, I GOT OUT OF THE OFFICE AT 3 PM. I IMMEDIATELY HEADED TO THE MISSISSIPPI BORDER, 1 MILE AWAY. MY GOAL? TO PHOTOGRAPH THE TRAINS ON THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAINLINE, WHICH RUNS FROM CHICAGO TO NEW ORLEANS. THE FAMED AMTRAK TRAIN, “THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS”, USES THIS LINE.
AS I DROVE DEEPER INTO MISSISSIPPI, THE SUBURBAN LANDSCAPE SOUTH OF MEMPHIS GRADUALLY DISAPPEARED, REPLACED BY A FLAT RURAL DELTA DOTTED WITH SHANTIES AND FARMS. I TURNED OFF THE MAIN HIGHWAY, ON TO MISSISSIPPI STATE ROUTE 3, WHICH PARALLELED THE TRACKS. DILAPIDATED TRAILERS, SHACKS, AND SHANTIES SPOKE OF POVERTY GOING BACK GENERATIONS. BY THE TIME I REACHED THE TALAHATCHIE COUNTY LINE, I WAS DEEP IN WILLIAM FAULKNER COUNTRY. TIME APPEARED FROZEN IN THE 1930’S.
I FINALLY FOUND THE IDEAL PHOTO LOCATION, A RURAL CROSSING ON A SIDE ROAD. THE BACKGROUND SCENERY CAPTURED THE ESSENCE OF RURAL MISSISSIPPI. WITH MY YAESU VX-1 TUNED TO 161.19 MHZ, AND THE BLOCK SIGNALS AT THE CROSSING, I WOULD HAVE PLENTY OF WARNING BEFORE THE TRAIN ARRIVED.
AND SO I STOOD BY THE TRACKS, YAESU AND CAMERA IN HAND. SEVERAL LOCALS PASSED BY IN THEIR PICKUP TRUCKS AND FARM VEHICLES. SOME SMILED AND WAVED, OTHERS JUST STARED. THE BLOCK SIGNALS WERE DARK, AND 161.19, THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL FREQUENCY, WAS SILENT. I DETERMINED THAT IF NOTHING HAPPENED BY 7 PM, I WOULD CALL IT A DAY & HEAD BACK.
A PICKUP TRUCK THEN PASSED SLOWLY BY. THE DRIVER, A GRIZZLED MAN IN HIS LATE 50’S, GLARED AT ME, THEN STOPPED WHEN HE SAW MY CAR. HE BACKED UP TO WHERE I WAS AND, WHILE HIS TRUCK WAS ACTUALLY STOPPED ON THE TRACKS, HAD THE FOLLOWING CONVERSATION WITH ME. HIS VOICE SOUNDED LIKE WALTER BRENNAN’S, ONLY WITH A THICKER SOUTHERN DRAWL.
(THE PART OF THE MISSISSIPPI LOCAL IS PLAYED BY BILL BARAN, N2FNH)
**N2FNH >>> “WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?”
**W2XOY >>> “I’M A RAILFAN. I’M WAITING FOR A TRAIN TO PASS SO I CAN TAKE A PICTURE”
**N2FNH >>> “THERE AIN’T NO TRAIN”
**W2XOY >>> “THERE WILL BE. THIS IS THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL MAINLINE. I DON’T HAVE ANY ILLINOIS CENTRAL PICTURES IN MY COLLECTION”.
**N2FNH >>> “WHAT’S THAT IN YOUR HAND?”
**W2XOY >>> “THIS IS MY CAMERA. AND THIS IS A HAM RADIO. I USE IT AS A SCANNER TO LISTEN TO THE TRAIN FREQUENCIES.”
**N2FNH >>> “A RADIO??? IT LOOKS LIKE A DETONATOR TO ME. ARE YOU PLANNING ON BLOWING UP THE TRAIN?”
**W2XOY >>> “IT IS NOT A DETONATOR. IT’S SIMPLY A RADIO TUNED TO THE TRAIN FREQUENCIES. I LIKE TO PHOTOGRAPH TRAINS, NOT BLOW THEM UP”.
**N2FNH >>> “YOUR CAR HAS NEW YORK PLATES. WHAT ARE YOU DOING DOWN HERE?”
**W2XOY >>> “I’M IN MEMPHIS ON BUSINESS. I TOOK A SIDE TRIP TO MISSISSIPPI TO TRAINWATCH.”
**N2FNH >>> “WHY ALL THE ANTENNAS ON YOUR CAR?”
**W2XOY >>> “I’M A HAM AND CB RADIO OPERATOR. THE ANTENNAS ARE FOR MY RADIOS AND MY SCANNERS.”
**N2FNH >>> “I AIN’T NEVER HEARD OF SUCH THINGS. THERE’S A LOT OF STRANGE THINGS HAPPENING SINCE 9/11”.
**W2XOY>>> BY THIS TIME MY PATIENCE WAS WEARING THIN. AND HE HAD PRESSED THE WRONG BUTTON. SO, I SAID: “LISTEN, DON’T TELL ME ABOUT 9/11. I WAS IN LOWER MANHATTAN THAT DAY, 4 BLOCKS FROM GROUND ZERO. I HEARD AND FELT THE EXPLOSIONS. I SAW THE AFTERMATH. I SAW THE COLLAPSED BUILDINGS, I SMELLED THE SMOKE. I AM SIMPLY HERE RAILFANNING. I’M ON A PUBLIC ROAD, AND I’M NOT DOING ANYTHING ILLEGAL. I’M GOING TO TAKE A PICTURE OF THE TRAIN AND LEAVE”.
IT WAS THE WRONG THING TO SAY. I SAW HIS EYES WIDEN, AS HE DID A DOUBLE TAKE. I COULD ALMOST READ HIS THOUGHTS.....
**N2FNH >>> “MY GAWD, HE WAS THERE ON 9/11. AND HE’S HERE NOW! WITH A DETONATOR!! AND THAT CAR!! ALL THE ANTENNAS!! HE’S GETTING HIS ORDERS DIRECTLY FROM OOSAAMMAA HISSELF!! AND LOOK, THAT CAR IS A HY-UNDAI!! AIN’T THAT MADE IN KOREA?? THAT’S A COMMUNIST COUNTRY!!! I GOTTA GET OUTTA HERE AND CALL THE SHERIFF!!”
WITHOUT A WORD, HE PULLED AWAY, SLOWING DOWN ONLY TO WRITE DOWN MY LICENSE NUMBER. NOW I WAS ALONE. THE LANDSCAPE WAS OMINOUS, THE SILENCE WAS OPPRESSING. SPEAKING OF SILENCE, THE YAESU WAS STILL QUIET, THE BLOCK SIGNALS DARK. PART OF ME WANTED TO LEAVE, BUT THE NEW YORK IN ME SAID “STAY”!!. I’VE DONE NOTHING WRONG, I’LL WAIT UNTIL 7 PM, LIKE I PLANNED.
AT 7 O’CLOCK, THE YAESU WAS STILL QUIET, AND THE BLOCK SIGNALS STILL DARK. IT WAS TIME TO LEAVE. AS I DROVE DOWN THE SIDE ROAD AND TURNED BACK ON STATE HIGHWAY 3, I SAW TWO SHERIFF CARS IN MY REARVIEW MIRROR, LIGHTS FLASHING. I STARTED TO SLOW DOWN, BUT THEY TURNED ON THE SIDE ROAD, JUMPED OUT OF THEIR CARS AT THE TRACKS AND BEGAN WALKING UP AND DOWN THE TRACKS.
WERE THEY LOOKING FOR THE BOMB? WOULD THEY FIGURE OUT THAT THE “TERRORIST” WAS, AT THIS MOMENT, DRIVING AWAY? WOULD THEY COME AFTER ME?
THEY NEVER DID.
I KEPT MONITORING 161.19 MHZ ALL THE WAY BACK. THE DISPATCHER MADE NO MENTION OF A BOMB. AT A SAFER BUT LESS PHOTOGENIC CROSSING, I GOT MY ILLINOIS CENTRAL PICTURES.
SO, WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE RAILFAN WHO STANDS FOR HOURS AT TRACKSIDE, WATCHING TRAINS? OR THE VHF ENTHUSIAST WHO GOES TO THE RARE GRIDSQUARE AND SETS UP A MINI ANTENNA FARM. FOR ME, THE MESSAGE IS, KEEP DOING WHAT I’M DOING, BUT BE CAREFUL.
(PAUSE)
THIS IS BILL CONTINELLI, W2XOY, FOR “THIS WEEK IN AMATEUR RADIO”