My name is Dan Furey, and I like trains.
When I’m not writing about lesbian space pirates or trains, I can usually be found playing video games, drinking coffee, coming up with wacky Lego designs, or reading just about anything. I also love maps, old & new, so it’s no surprise that my day job is working for my local mapping department.
I’ve always loved trains–my first words were “choo choo”, you can ask my mom!–and I love writing, so the blog on this site is my attempt at combining the two. I’ve worked as a real railroader (on the Alaska Railroad), and I studied under Dr. Tyler Dick at the University of Illinois, so with this combination of theoretical and practical experience, I hope to make sense of the often-opaque industry that is American Railroading.
Railroads have just about always been a very conservative bunch–in both the political and literal sense–and I aim to provide a more labor-focused perspective to help balance the conversation. While I am of course a rail fan, I’m just as interested in the why of railroading as the what; sure, some locomotives are cool, but why did a railroad purchase this one instead of that one? Why did some lines get abandoned, while others went from shaky branch to heavy-duty mainline? Those questions, and more, are all things I hope to uncover with this blog.
I’m also passionate about rail advocacy. Too many proponents of rail in the US have a limited understanding of American rail history, and especially freight operations, and I hope to shed some light on why the US has the rail network we do, and what it would actually take to bring widespread passenger service–and true high-speed rail–to the US.
If that all sounds good to you, then get on board! The Iron Horse welcomes you, and we hope you enjoy the ride!
