Appearing on Postcards from Buster/ On a Rail-Fanning Trip with Buster
A/N As always, I don't own the Arthur characters or the show they are in, they belong to Marc Brown.
I haven't written a story in days to weeks and would like to get one up.
This is just a story of me being met by Buster Baxter and it's supposed to be kind of like the Arthur Spin-Off Show "Postcards from Buster." This story will be told from my point of view. Boring Story Warning: This will not be one of my best stories so I don't expect many of you to like this story, in fact, I expect only one of you to like this story, although if more of you do, awesome. This story is doubly titled because it's supposed to be "Postcards from Buster" instead of "Arthur," and to show what this story is really about.
Constructive Criticism is welcome but ABSOLUTELY NO rude reviews or flames allowed. If there are either, I WILL REMOVE THEM! No Question, No Exception!
The Story
One sunny afternoon, I was on one of my rail-fanning trips and was rail-fanning at the railroad crossing on 6th Street and 9th Avenue. I've been at this crossing for about thirty minutes and I've seen one train go by and I took pictures of it. I was waiting to see another one come.
Then something unexpected occurred. I saw a white van cross the tracks east bound but after it crossed the tracks, it made a U-Turn at Stone Avenue and crossed the tracks again and then turned south on to 9th Avenue. After making one more U Turn, it stopped. I got a little nervous and thought that I was in danger, that I was about to get kidnapped! I wasn't sure if I should have ran for it, but I didn't bother because I cannot run very fast and I don't think I would have been able to get away even on my long legs. I mean was and I still am 5 foot 11 inches and have long legs but I haven't trained myself to run real fast and I don't like to run, especially if I don't need to.
When the van doors opened, I got more nervous and felt like I was down to my last seconds of freedom, and possibly down to my last hours, even minutes of life! I saw some men come out of the van. And then I saw someone I wouldn't have expected to see come out of the van, starting with red and white sneakers, then blue jeans, next an orange top and finally a white head with long ears and white hands, one of them holding a video camera. I couldn't believe my eyes!
It was Buster Baxter! When I saw first saw him, I thought that maybe I was hallucinating and since this was the desert, the desert southwest if you will, I thought it was a mirage and didn't believe what I saw was real.
Among the few men that were in the van that came out was another rabbit, only taller, with glasses, looked more like a human being with brown hair and with rabbit ears on top. It was Buster's father Robert Baxter, better known as Bo. I got a lot less nervous and felt relieved that I was not in danger but became astonished!
What gets even more unbelievable, Buster, his father, and the men with them see me and approach me. One man was carrying a large video camera and another was carrying a boom microphone.
"Hi sir!" shouted one of the men to me.
Still in disbelief, I was able to utter, "Uh, hi."
"How are you doing?" asked the man.
"I'm fine," I answered. I mean, I was very worried, scared, and nervous because I thought I was in danger. But seeing Buster Baxter and his father, I was relieved but I was still in disbelief.
I asked, "Am I really seeing what I'm seeing?"
"You sure are!" said Bo Baxter.
"You're Bo Baxter!" I said to him.
"That's right!" he said.
"And you're Buster Baxter!" It's obvious who I was talking to.
"Yep," he said, "that's who I am!"
"Wow," I said, "I cannot believe this!"
"What is your name?" asked Buster.
"My," I began, "my name is William."
"Nice to meet you, William," said Buster as we shook each other's hands.
"Same here," said Bo, who also shook hands with me.
I shook hands with the other men with them.
"So what are you doing here, William?" asked Buster.
"Oh," I said, "I'm just at this railroad crossing watching trains go by and taking pictures of them."
"Wow," said Buster Baxter. "Do you like it?"
"Like it?" I asked. "I love it! This is one of my favorite pastimes. I like to come to this railroad crossing and go to the other railroad crossings in Tucson to watch trains go by and sometimes take pictures of them."
"That's cool," said Buster.
"What I really like though," I said, "are the railroad crossings. Those are my most favorite parts of the railroad system. I mean many people don't like them but I do, very much."
"Uh huh," said Buster.
"I like the railroad crossing signals and crossing gates," I said. "What I like to do is watch the red lights flash on the signals and on the gates and I like to hear the bells ring and I like to watch the gates come down and be down. I also like them to make it back up too!"
"Interesting," said Buster.
"At this crossing, I like to watch from the south and west sides of the crossing better than on the north and east sides because the bells on this side of the crossing sound better than the bells on the other side of the crossing. And they look better too."
"How's that?" asked Bo.
"Well," I said, "see those cylinder shaped objects on top of those signals?"
I was pointing to them as I was talking about them.
After being told yeah, I said to them, "Those are General Signals electronic bells. And these are my most favorite railroad crossing bells of all and they sound the best, at least to me. Many other railfans than myself like the more classic mechanical bells, the ones I'm sure you're familiar with."
"I think I know what you're talking about," said Buster.
"I do too," said Bo.
The other men agreed.
Pointing to the bells on the other side of the tracks, I said to them, "Now see those hour-glass shaped objects, well, bells on two of the other signals? Those are Western Cullen Hayes electronic bells. I kind of sort of like them but they don't sound as good, they sound sour and not very many people like them. But the Union Pacific Railroad, the railroad who owns this line, seems to be using a lot of them on a lot of its crossings."
Then I asked them, "So what made you guys decide to stop and come see me?"
The director, the first man to talk to me, said, "We saw you and decided to see what you were doing."
"Really?" I asked. "That was awfully nice of you to do. Thank you."
"We were also wondering if you'd like to appear on the show 'Postcards from Buster.'"
"Me," I asked, "on 'Postcards from Buster?'"
"That's right," said the director.
"So William," said the man with the big camera, "how would you like to appear on 'Postcards from Buster?'"
"I'm going to be on 'Postcards from Buster?'" I asked again.
"If you want to be," said the director, who was the first person to talk to me.
"Do I ever!" I answered excited.
This was my one chance to be on "Postcards from Buster," and I did not want to let this opportunity pass me by.
"And can I film you?" asked Buster.
"Why of course you can," I answered.
"Awesome," he said. "When I film you, can you repeat everything you just said?"
I giggle just a little, and then I say, "Uh, sure."
And so the Postcards from Buster crew got ready to film me and record me. After that, Buster turned on his camera and started filming me. Then we pretty much repeated our conversation. Buster and the camera man didn't just focus on me, they also focused on the railroad crossing and the signals and gates as I talked about them and pointed to them.
I also added, saying to Buster, or to his camera, "Now I've been at this railroad crossing for more than a half hour and I did see one train go by about thirty minutes ago. Now I'm just waiting to see if another one will come."
Ten more minutes have passed, and I was almost feeling like I was just wasting Buster's, Bo's, and the P.F.B. crews' times.
Then finally we hear whistles.
"Sounds like a train is coming," said Bo.
"I think so too," said Buster.
Buster goes on to say, "I want to go to the other side of the tracks to hear those bells William says don't sound good, I got to hear them for myself."
"Well," says Bo, "we better hurry before the train gets here."
"I'll stay on this side," I said.
"Okay," they said.
Buster, Bo, and the others ran across the tracks but stay on the south side of 6th Street, and as they were getting ready to film, the crossing signals activated. We heard the alarms go off and we saw the gates going down as the lights were flashing and traffic stopped as the gates were coming down. Soon an eastbound freight train came. As I was watching the train go by, the lights flashing back and forth and the down gates and listening to the General Signals electronic bells, which sounded really good as usual, and as I was taking pictures, I wondered how Buster and them were handling the Western Cullen Hayes electronic bells.
After almost three minutes, the train passed, and then the bells and signal lights turned off but the gate lights stayed on until the gates went back up. When I saw Buster and them, they were on the other side of the street but crossed back to my side of the tracks and then when traffic was clear, they crossed back over to me.
"You were right," said Buster to me, "those bells do sound sour. I hope the bells on this side don't sound as bad."
"I think you'll like the bells on this side better," I told Buster.
"We're going to have to get going soon," Bo said.
"Okay," I said.
We did wait for one more train to come. And then ten minutes after the last train passed, the signals started up again, and a second after that, another whistle was blowing. The gates came back down and traffic stopped.
"I have to say," shouted Buster, "the bells do sound good together!"
"I agree," I shouted.
Then the train came and it was heading westbound on the other track. Buster and the camera man filmed this train and also filmed me and what I was doing, which were watching the train and the flashing lights and taking more pictures.
I then went to Bo Baxter and gave my cell phone to him asking him to take my picture with the train passing behind me, which he did. I also asked him to take my picture with Buster and he did that too. I even had my picture taken with Buster and Bo!
After the train passed, the bells and signal lights timed out and the gates went back up and the gate lights timed out too.
"I have to say" said Buster, back to using his camcorder, "I noticed that not only are there six signals and five gates at this crossing, but the gates don't all come down at the same time at this crossing."
"You're right," I said, "they don't. First the gates on the north and east sides of the crossing go down, then two of the three gates on this side go down and then a few seconds later the last gate goes down. This is a weird crossing."
"I'll say," says Buster, "I've seen many railroad crossings but I've never seen one like this one before, although I think I saw this crossing last time I visited here."
"Me neither," said Bo.
"What I don't like about this crossing though," I said, "is that the lights stop flashing before the gates go up. And a few other crossings in Tucson do this. But I like it better when the lights keep flashing until the gates go up, although at least the gate lights continue to flash until the arms are up."
"Arms?" asked Buster, "I thought they were called gates."
"They are," said Bo, "but they're also called arms."
"They're also called barriers," I said, "well they have a few different names, but crossing gate, or gate, are the most correct terms. By the way, what did you think about the General Signals electronic bells?"
"You're right," Buster said, "the bells here on this side sound much better than the ones on the other side."
"I think so too," said Bo.
"I, however," said Buster, "like the older style bells better, even though these bells don't sound so bad."
"I agree with you Buster," said Bo.
"I wonder if you have any electronic bells in Elwood City," I said.
"I don't know," said Buster, "I don't know as much about railroad crossings as you do."
"Uhh not very many people do," I said, "although there are a few people, like my fellow railfans and railroad workers and signal manufacturers know more about railroad crossings than even I do."
"Well," said Bo, "we have to get going now. It's was nice meeting you and it was a nice time."
"It was nice meeting you guys too," I said. "Thanks for having me."
"It was nice to meet you," said Buster as I shook his hand once again. "I had a good time not only watching trains go by but watching someone who's into trains and especially into something I don't think many other people are into."
After the crew put all their equipment away, I shook their hands and thanked them for letting me appear on Postcards from Buster. They also thanked me for letting them film me. I also gave them my home address, my cell phone number, and my email address so they can contact me again if they want or need to.
Buster still had his camera on and he said "Good bye William!"
"Good bye William," Bo also said. "Have a good rest of your day!"
"I will," I said. "You all enjoy the rest of your day too."
So Buster, Bo, and the crew got back on their van, closed the doors, rolled up the van and began to drive away. I waved to them and they waved back as they drove off, once again heading east on 6th Street. I watched the van until it disappeared out of sight but stayed at the railroad crossing a little longer. But this is a day I will never forget and would be able to relive once I would be able to watch it on T.V., and have a copy of the video sent to me on D.V.D. What an honor to see and interact with Buster and his father and be on Postcards from Buster.
The End
A/N I cannot remember how long I've been doing this or the day I started doing this but I have been fantasizing about myself appearing on Postcards from Buster, and it taking place in Tucson, where I live, although Buster has already been to Tucson in real life and I think I was out of state when he came, but even if I was in Tucson, I highly doubt I would have appeared.
But how I wrote this story, this is kind of how I fantasized it, except I had to get more creative and add more dialogue to it. I also added in the 'me getting scared and feeling like I was going to be kidnapped' part.
I had a fuller fantasy about appearing on 'Postcards from Buster,' which included, but was not limited to me being at a railroad crossing, but actually having him over at my house!
But can I really be on 'Postcards from Buster?' And if I could, would I really appear on 'Postcards from Buster?' Even if I could, I'm not so sure I would, not because the show is suspended, or cancelled, but I must be honest, my life isn't interesting enough to be on Postcards from Buster. That and I don't think anyone, including you guys, would want me on Postcards from Buster. So because of that, I decided to drastically cut it from a full, or nearly full, appearance to a partial appearance, only having a few minutes in the show instead of being the main host.
But seriously I don't think I could appear on 'Postcards from Buster,' and even if I was offered the opportunity, I'm not sure I'd take it. I mean I wouldn't do it for fame, but still, I'm not sure I would do it.
I'm planning to do another 'Postcards from Buster' fanfic, only that one will not have a railroad crossing. In fact, I'm not sure that one is going to be a self-insert. I don't plan it to be but we'll see. And hopefully that story will be more interesting than this one.
Thanks for reading.
For Railfans and Other Interested Readers Only: The railroad crossing referred to in this story really does exist and so did the signals used. This crossing at one time did have six crossing signals, including 5 EM pedestal crossing gate signals from R.A.C.O. and Safetran and one full mast signal. Most of the lights were 8" but some were 12" with 20" backgrounds and all the lights were incandescent, and there were five gates which didn't all go down at the same time as described in this story. And there were four bells, all electronic, two from Western Cullen Hayes and two from General Signals. The signal lights also did time out before the gates went up but the gate lights, which were 4" incandescent lights, remained on until the gates went back up. If you live or lived in Tucson and saw this crossing, you'll know what I'm talking about. To see this crossing for yourself, go to Mike's Railroad Crossing Website. Then go to Signals, then to Arizona, and then Tucson. Keep checking back in case the page gets updated, it's supposed to be over the next few months or so.
The crossing has changed though, all the old signals and 8" lights are now gone, there are now 5 full mast crossing signals, three electronic bells, two Western Cullen Hayes, and one General Signals but with a different sound that the two that were there before, all the lights are 12" and most of them have 24" backgrounds and all the lights have L.E.D.s. There are also now three gates instead of five and they all have L.E.D.s as well, but the gates still don't all go down at the same time. And the lights were reprogrammed to flash up until the gates were back up. Plus, left turn traffic has been restricted to motorists, they extended the raised medians near that crossing so you can only make a right turn when traveling north or south on 9th Avenue, you cannot go straight or left anymore. Only bicyclists can go straight across on 9th Avenue.