It was 4pm on a typical Tuesday in June, and hundreds of people sat waiting for the big moment: a train was passing through a rail station in La Plata, Missouri.
The viewers were not crowded around the platform, but in a chat room on an online stream. They consider themselves “virtual railfans” – a growing subculture that tunes into cameras affixed to stations across the United States and watches trains rolling through.
As the westbound boxcar locomotive powered through La Plata, the comments began to pour in: “That is FAST!” one viewer wrote. “He’s haulin’!” another agreed. “This is 65mph,” another said. Others breathlessly flooded the feed with fire emojis. As the last car disappeared from the camera, and the excitement dissipated one commenter summed up the experience: “And just like that,” he said. “It’s gone, and quiet.”
