I have me so many countless great railfans trackside over my 40 something years doing this, that I wouldn't know where to begin.

The one I'm going to tell you about however was not famous... in fact I don't think he was ever published.

Back in Haworth NJ in the late 1970s, Tony Vigiano was this old (to me, I was a teen) character in a huge 1973 Buick. He hung out at the same grade crossing on the Conrail River Line that many NJ railfans cut their teeth at. As a bunch of us where kids on bikes, Tony would allow us to sit in his Buick between trains, where he'd run the heater, smoke a stogy, and tell stories (some railfan related, like when he was given free reign on the retired CUT motors at Croton Harmon, some not railfan related, and which I cannot repeat in good taste).

Tony was the nicest guy out there. We had lots of railfan conflicts out there, and yet, Tony got along with everyone.

After every train, he would turn to me and ask, "Did you get the numbers, what where they?" I'm not 100% certain why he cared about locomotive numbers so much, but he had to have everyone that he shot.

Soon after that, Tony died. I never knew what he died from. I never knew what became of his collection. And only after his death did I realize, I never knew about his family.

About two years ago, I was back in NJ at Waldwick Curve, aka Collins Curve (named for the famed photographer Bob Collins). Tony came from Waldwick, so when I noticed that the name of the bridge was the Robert Vigiano Memorial Bridge, I felt a chill run down my spine. Robert Vigiano had died in Vietnam in 1967.

An internet search confirmed my suspicion. Robert was Tony's second son.

God bless you, Tony Vigiano. We're still thinking of you, buddy.