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The
Orange County Register
Story appeared in
COMMUNITY section
on
page 1
ID: 1059514
Illustration:
Edition: ANAHEIM HILLS
Correction: | RAILROAD TIES
Train-lover makes his living as a virtual conductor on the
Web
December
10, 1998
Byline: Deepa Bharath
Anaheim Hills News
Stephen
Grande didn't realize how much he loved trains until he took a trip from
Los Angeles to Seattle three years ago. He was enchanted by breathtaking
views of pounding surf, tall, snow-covered mountains and the magic of
changing landscapes.
"It was unbelievable what I'd missed all these
years," said Grande, a Hills resident for 12 years. "That trip was one of
the greatest experiences of my life."
It was the vacation of his dreams, but his work reaches similar
heights.
Grande owns a owns a company called trainweb.com, which is
based in the Fullerton train station.
From there, he runs a website totally dedicated to a tribe he calls
"foamers" - people whose mouths foam at the sight of big, noisy, iron
horses on the tracks.
The website has everything for train fans from schedules and maps
to Grande's own travelogues. The company gets most of its earnings from
businesses who advertise on the website.
It is sponsored by 40 businesses and the main page has received
about 600,000 hits since Aug. 1 of this year. Other pages have received
hits as well.
The site also has a web cam that gives up-to-date pictures of
trains arriving and departing from the Fullerton train station.
"The web cam is like a window on the world," said Grande. "It's
only been three months since we started it and we've already got more than
a million hits. I guess, people just like to look at trains when they get
a break from work."
Grande is a bit of a train nut himself. He has traveled more than
100,000 miles in three years on every single Amtrak route in the country.
A computer engineering graduate from Boston University, Grande
started the company in August 1996 with his friend and longtime business
associate Ray Burns, after spending a few stressful years in the
ever-changing computer hardware industry.
He decided to switch trades and profitably couple his expertise in
computers with his passion for trains.
"It's perfect for me, it's my niche," said Grande.
He now gets to be at the train station and his work is about his
hobby. "You can devote your greatest amount of time to what you love,"
said Grande. What more can I ask for?"
But, Grande's love for trains can't be simply labeled as a business
or a hobby, said Burns. "Steve can sit in a train forever, it's amazing
how he can do that,"he said.
Sometimes Grande just grabs his laptop and hops into any train that
catches his fancy.
"There are no telephones or distractions in a train," said Grande.
"The seats are so big and comfortable. Great place to get work done."
Grande said his wife and two daughters like trains and take up to
two trips with him a year. He goes solo on the others.
"They like the destinations more than the journey itself," he said
with a laugh. "Me, I'm the journey guy. "
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