JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Keith Burkey loves taking photos of trains and has been a lifelong rail fan.

“I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t,” the 43-year-old Vinco, Pa., native said. “From the youngest point of my childhood, I was interested in trains. … There is no reason for the draw. It’s a cultural thing, I would suggest.”

Capturing still images of trains and sharing them on the website Flickr is Burkey’s passion. There’s an emotional reaction to a train being in a photo. Even the sound of an oncoming train, especially at night, rouses something inside of him.

“It is a glorious racket that you won’t hear anywhere else,” he said.

Websites such as Heritage Units, PT 242 and Virtual Railfan reveal train locations and destinations for people such as D.J. Miller, of Gallitzin, who pursues his passion a few times a week in Summerhill, Cassandra and other small communities.

“There’s times I’ll be out all day,” he said.

Situated exactly halfway by rail between Johnstown and Altoona, Cassandra has become a required stop for train enthusiasts, and native John Shuniak figured that out one day in the late 1990s.

Sitting in front of his building, which housed his used car dealership and auto body shop, Shuniak said, “three or fours cars went by, and I noticed that they were all out-of-state plates.” He said that the cars were headed up to an old pedestrian bridge that crosses over the railroad.

“I was just curious and went up to the bridge,” he said, “and these people were standing on the bridge with cameras, and I just asked them what they were doing, and they said, ‘We’re just here to photograph trains.’ ”

It wasn’t long before Shuniak converted this business into the Cassandra Railroad Overlook Motel. Starting with just two rooms, the nearby trains drummed up enough business for Shuniak to expand to six with free wifi service.

“It is a huge hobby among people, and they are just so knowledgeable about the railroads that run in this country,” he said. “It’s just unbelievable.”

Shuniak spent three years creating a picnic and viewing area near the bridge for people to enjoy, and local businesses and private parties have donated benches and tables to accommodate visitors.

“The bridge at Cassandra, Pennsylvania, is known worldwide,” he said. “It really is.”

The stop offers rail fans the unique opportunity to get photos and videos of trains after sunset, with The Cassandra All-Nighter. A section of tracks at the bridge, illuminated by powerful shop lights, provides a band of light for trains to roll through.

Shuniak said 90% of his patrons drive from locations four to five hours away, but some hail from as far away as Australia, Great Britain and Germany, thanks to the internet.

Tom Davis, owner of The Station Inn Bed and Breakfast in Cresson, capitalized on the craze in 1993. The New York Times featured his business in 2009, with the Wall Street Journal following suit in 2018.

Cresson’s railroad observation platform was one of the spots that attracted Davis to relocate from New Jersey and renovate an 1860s-era building across the street. Although the eight rooms he has are vacant during winter, he said: “By the middle of April, we’ll be turning people away.”

The inn has become a quintessential stop for rail fans, and offers a live video feed on its website with links to dispatcher-engineer-conductor audio and a model train set for guests to enjoy.

Bob Elder, of Leominster, Massachusetts, was so impressed with what the area had to offer that he relocated to Gallitzin, buying The Tunnel Inn in 2018.

His guests come from as far as Canada, Puerto Rico and Germany. From March to mid-November, train fanatics come from Maryland, Virginia, Ohio, Colorado, Texas and Florida.

“I’m a lifelong rail fan, have been a model railroader, rail fan, photographer all my life,” Elder said, “and worked 35 years as a mechanic and just got to the point where I needed to retire and find something a little less stressful, and to be able to be trackside and enjoy the trains and host folks and make a living at it is a privilege to say the least.”