Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2021 00:28:48 +0000
From: Douglas DD <thehakaanen@hotmail.com>
Subject: Mayfield Titans  Chapter 73

Greetings and welcome back. A new person enters Aiden's life in this
chapter. Even though he plays baseball (although not well) the connection
between the two boys is not baseball but trains.

Please donate to the Nifty Archive and keep the stories on track.

Emails are always appreciated. thehakaanen@hotmail.com

Douglas

CHAPTER 73
FOAMING

SATURDAY, MAY 30

<The Barnes House>

For the first time in a long while, Aiden was sitting in his window seat to
watch for an oncoming car. This car, however, wouldn't be stopping at his
house, it would be continuing to a house almost two miles away. The car
would be carrying Nolan and his parents who were going to the Barnes house
to meet with a realtor who would be showing the house to them.

Aiden planned on riding his bike to Kalie's driveway which came out on
Lakeshore Drive a hundred yards from the Barnes house. He would turn onto
the driveway, hide his bike in the brush and walk up the pedestrian/bike
path until he was directly across Lakeshore Drive from the house. Then he
would hide in the wooded area next to the Gomez house, which was one of the
few houses on the north side of Lakeshore.

When the Moyer's car drove by, he saw Nolan waving out of the back
window. He had told Nolan of his plans the night before. Nolan loved them
and told Aiden he would be watching for him. They had talked about Aiden
joining Nolan and his parents for the showing, then decided it would be
best for Aiden to not show up uninvited. They didn't want to do anything to
discourage Nolan's mother from continuing to love the house.

The covert operation ended up not coming to fruition. Just as Aiden stood
to go to the garage for his bicycle, a car turned into the driveway, which
he recognized as Eric's. Aiden debated getting out of sight so Eric would
leave, and he could go about playing spy. But he was hit right away by the
thought that doing so wouldn't be rigidly honest. It would be the exact
opposite behavior of the person he claimed to be.

Then other thoughts hit him. First, Eric might be dropping by for just a
moment to see his dads, who weren't home, so his visit would be short. Or
maybe he was just dropping something off, which meant another short
visit. Also, while he was hiding in the woods trying to see what was going
on at the Barnes house, the truth was no matter how good a job he did of
hiding and positioning himself, he wasn't going to see anything anyway. And
finally, it had been decided last night that since Nolan would be going
past Aiden's house, his parents might as well drop him off there instead of
Larry and Aiden picking him up in Meadow Park to go train watching. As a
result, Aiden was opening the front door as Eric came up the steps.

"Hey, Coach Simmons, what brings you here?" Aiden asked.

"What's this Coach Simmons business?" Eric grinned.

"Coach Hallion insists we call you Coach Simmons when you're coaching the
team. I'm practicing so it becomes a habit."

"Well, as your number two big bro, I insist you call me Eric except when
I'm coaching the team."

"Fair enough. My dads aren't here if that's who you came to see."

"Believe it or not, I came to see you."

"For real? Well, come on in and head into the visiting room and find a
seat."

"The visiting room?" Eric asked with a bit of confusion.

"The den, or rec room, or whatever it is. We give it lots of different
names depending how we're using it," Aiden explained.

"Okay, the visiting room it is."

Eric took a seat in the love seat and Aiden sat in what he claimed was his
recliner. "What do you want to see me about?"

"I know about your love for trains and for rail photography and my visit
has to do with that love."

"I'm a foamer and proud of it. And if you came to tell me about the 4449, I
know all about it. Pop's gonna take Nolan and me to watch it and photograph
it."

"I was certain you knew about it. There was no way the news of that
locomotive running through Centralia was going to get past you. The reason
I came is to give you something that will not only help you today, but
whenever you are out proudly foaming."

"Oh, do tell," Aiden said.

"Do you have your phone on you?" Eric asked.

Aiden reached into his right pants pocket, pulled out his phone, and held
it up for Eric to see.

"I want to download an app into your phone that will be of great benefit to
you. It will be as good or better than a scanner." Rail fans who went train
watching often used scanners to pick up railroad radio chatter. Aiden had
been dropping hints about getting one for his birthday, but that was still
three months away.

Eric went on to explain that the app belonged to the railroad and was used
to give railroaders the information the dispatchers would have: where
trains were running, their direction, speed, what track they were on, what
kind of train they were, their origin and destination, the specific
locomotives assigned to the crew, the signal indications, and who was on
the operating crew. As Eric told Aiden, it was a gold mine of information.

"Wow, are you allowed to just give that out to people?" Aiden asked.

"Yes and no. I can download the app to individuals preapproved by
management. However, you will not be receiving the complete version, which
allows for some communication with the railroad. All you can do is read the
information."

"That sounds awesome to me. Why would I want to talk to the railroad?"

"Shit happens. Anyway, they're very strict about who gets the app. I asked
my division superintendent for BNSF and your dads for permission to
download it into your phone."

"So, if they're so strict, why are they letting you give this to a
twelve-year-old boy?" Aiden asked.

"Good question. I didn't hold anything back from Gil. He says he trusts my
judgement and would approve as long as your parents approved. Really, the
only way there could be a problem is if you had the complete app. It should
be impossible to screw anything up with the safe version," Eric said.

"Should be impossible? Not IS impossible?"

"Like I said, shit happens."

"I thought Marty was the bro who cussed, not you," Aiden said.

"So, I'm not perfect."

"Except when you pitch perfect games."

"Well, there is that," Eric grinned. "Okay, bro, log into your phone and I
will download the app for you."

After Eric finished downloading, he handed the phone back to Aiden. Aiden
looked at the screen and grinned. "Whoa, this looks like it's somewhere
around Napavine Hill," Aiden said. Napavine Hill was where he, Nolan, and
Larry planned to watch the 4449 and its train. Even though it was Saturday,
Phil had to work because an accident on the County Road 17 bridge across
the Willipa River had damaged the bridge. His assistant, Lewis Carlson, had
flown to San Francisco with his older son John, to watch Marty Carlson and
the Mariners take on the San Francisco Giants. Marty was Lewis's son and
John's younger brother. As a result, Phil took charge of the repairs.

"All three mains are shown. And it looks like there is a BNSF grain train
on Main 1 at Winton heading north and a Cascades on Main 3 at Napavine
heading south."

"You've got it pegged," Eric said. Eric patted the seat next to him,
beckoning Aiden to sit next to him. Aiden texted Nolan that he had company
and then left the recliner and sat next to Eric.

Using his own phone for his demonstration, Eric showed Aiden how to execute
the changes on the readout that he was authorized to make. One of the
biggest changes he could make was the location being viewed. Aiden mimicked
what Eric was doing and soon learned the basics of using the app.

Aiden thanked Eric profusely for his surprise gift. "This is one of the
awesomest presents I ever got," Aiden bubbled.

"I figured you'd like it."

"Like it? I LOVE it." He gave Eric a long hug. "I know you're working
today, but you'll get to see the pictures. We'll just have to find the
right day and time."

"I'll be looking forward to it," Eric grinned.

While Eric was showing Aiden the app, Nolan was following his parents and
Mark Heim, the realtor, around the Barnes house. He liked the looks of
it. The house was about the same age as Aiden's house and was in excellent
condition. Nolan thought it was bigger than Aiden's house, and by the time
the showing was finished, he learned that he was right. It was, without
question, bigger than the house in Meadow Park.

When they toured the bedrooms, Nolan noted that they were about the same
size as the ones in his Meadow Park house. The bedrooms were all downstairs
on the main floor. The master bedroom was on the east end of the house. The
center of the house contained the living room, kitchen, dining area, and a
room that could be used as a den or a rec room. There were three bedrooms
on the west end of the house. The living room, master bedroom, and one of
the three bedrooms had views of the lake.

Nolan fell in love with the bedroom with the lake view. It not only had the
view but it was the only one of the three to have its own bathroom. The
other two shared a hall bathroom.

There was an upstairs area above the garage which had two rooms that could
be used as office or work spaces. Like Aiden's house, the property sloped
from Lakeshore Drive down to the lake. As a result, the south end of the
house had a basement under it.

Nolan wandered away from the realtor and his parents since a lot of what
they were talking about didn't interest him. Topics like the walk-in
closets in the master bedroom and the room Nolan liked, the large kitchen
pantry, and the utility room situated between the rec room and the garage
didn't interest him enough to keep him from exploring on his own. As a
result, he decided to check out the basement, if he could find the door.

 Nolan walked out the front door and then turned and came back into the
house, just as he would if he were coming home. Ahead of him was the living
room. To his right and left were closed doors. He opened the one to his
left and found a coat closet. He walked to the other side of the foyer and
opened a door that was obviously the entry to the basement. It was time for
him to explore.

Before starting down to the basement, Nolan thought about Aiden. He
wondered if his friend was hiding out across the street. Nolan had no doubt
that if Aiden was doing his espionage routine, he would have sent a text,
so he checked his phone. He saw he had been right—he did have a text
from his boyfriend.

It was not what he expected, however. "Hey SBear I got company and couldnt
make it. cya when ur done. luv SCake". Nolan wondered who was so important
that Aiden changed his mind about spying. Well, I'll be finding out really
soon, he thought.

Nolan saw a light switch, turned on the light and went down the stairs to
the basement. What he saw excited him. It wasn't nearly as big as Aiden's
giant basement, but it was bigger than his basement at home. He imagined
the model railway layout in the room and could tell there was room for that
and more. There was a lot of storage space and there were windows along the
south side of the room with a view of the lake. The basement at home had no
windows. He looked for outlets and saw there were more than enough to meet
the needs of the layout. As far as Nolan was concerned, the basement was
perfect, and he had to get his dad to see it as soon as possible.

Nolan went up the stairs two at a time. He saw his dad trying to look
interested in the features of the island in the kitchen as Mark Heim
pointed them out to his mother.

He tugged on his dad's sweater. "Dad, you gotta see something," he said
quietly as he tried not to be too intrusive.

"Be patient, son," Paul said.

Mark saw that Nolan was excited about something. Mark noted that outside of
one of the bedrooms, the boy had seemed aloof and showed little interest in
the house. He decided to turn the conversation to the teen and get him
involved. After all, he could end up having an influence on the decision
making. Whatever it was the boy was interested in, Mark was ready to latch
onto it.

"It appears that Nolan found something of interest," Mark grinned.

"Nolan, apologize for interrupting Mr. Heim," Vivian said.

"No, no, it's fine. Part of showing a house is showing what people want to
see." Not to mention keeping them all interested, Mark thought. What he
didn't know was that Nolan was very interested in the house and liking it
more by the minute; what bored Nolan had been the things his mother was
interested in. "What has you all excited, Nolan?"

"The basement," Nolan replied.

"The basement?" Vivian queried.

"Dad, you've got to see it," Nolan said excitedly.

"I'm sure Mr. Heim will be showing it to us," Paul said.

"And I think right now is the perfect time to see it," Mark said.

Nolan led the way down the stairs and walked to the center of the
room. "What do you think, dad?"

"Are you thinking about the layout?" Paul asked.

"You know it."

Paul noticed the questioning look on Mark's face. "We have a big model
railroad layout. This room looks like it has room for it and then
some. Plus, it is a beautiful room."

"And it even has a view," Nolan said excitedly.

Paul and Mark got into discussing the electrical wiring of the
basement. Nolan listened intently while Vivian tried to look
interested. But one thing that did catch her attention was that her husband
and her son were animated, showing a level of excitement they hadn't
displayed previously. She knew how much the two loved the model railroad
layout. She had thought about pointing out what a great room this was for
their layout as soon as they had stepped into the basement, but she stopped
herself. She felt it would mean much more if they discovered it for
themselves or, as it turned out in this case, if Nolan discovered it for
both.

When the showing ended, Paul and Vivian thanked Mark for his good
work. "The family has a lot to discuss," Paul told him as they shook
hands. "I'll get back to you when I can."

"I am showing the house to a family of four this afternoon. They seemed
pretty eager to tour it," Mark said.

"Thanks for letting us know."

On the short trip to Aiden's house, Nolan made sure to let his parents know
how much he liked the basement room, the rec room, the view from the
bedroom he would claim if they moved in, and the swimming pool. He wanted
to make sure they knew he was interested. He was careful not to mention
Aiden as a major factor, but he wasn't fooling his parents.

Paul turned into the Miller's driveway. Nolan recognized the car in the
driveway as belonging to Eric. Nolan picked up his camera and the camera
bag with Paul's video camera. "I should be home by no later than four if
everything runs on time," Nolan said. "And I'll be extra careful with your
vid cam. Thanks for letting me use it."

"I know you'll be responsible. I'll be looking forward to your video and
Aiden's pictures. I'll be taking a few shots from the Club house unless we
squeeze each other out, but you two will be doing the heavy work. Have
fun."

"Thanks." Nolan grinned when he saw Aiden coming out the front down and
down the steps to the driveway.

"Don't let that boy talk you into hitting us up hard about buying the
house. Not that you need any extra urging," Paul laughed. He opened the
driver's door window and greeted Aiden.

"Hello, Mr. Moyer and Mrs. Moyer. If you want to hang around a few minutes,
my pop will be getting here soon."

Paul looked over at his wife who indicated she was ready to leave. "Thanks
for the invitation, but we'll wave to him if we pass him," Paul said.

"See ya for dinner," Nolan said as Paul raised the window.

Paul turned his car around in the driveway, pulled out onto Lakeshore
Drive, and headed west. "It looks like dad has your driveway all figured
out," Nolan said.

"Probably because my dads told him it's way easier to turn around here than
to back out onto the road. The speed limit is only thirty but sometimes
people cheat," Aiden told him.

"People speed? Oh, the horror! What a shock! And what's Eric doing here?"

"Come on in and I'll show you." Aiden gave Nolan what was supposed to be
quick kiss but ended up lasting thirty seconds. After breaking off the
kiss, Aiden led his boyfriend into the house.

Eric was standing at the front window and grinned when the two boys entered
the house. "I was wondering when you guys were going to come up for air,"
Eric grinned.

"Were you spying on us?" Aiden asked indignantly.

"I thought your dad was driving up, but from the way you dashed out the
front door I should have known better. I had no idea I was going to be
treated to a beautiful example of friendship."

"Hi, Coach," Nolan said as he walked up to Eric and fist bumped him as
Aiden scowled at Eric. Nolan looked back at his boyfriend. "Don't worry
about him," he told Eric. "He'll get over it."

"I'm sure he will. And how are you doing, Nolan? I haven't seen you
since...well...since yesterday."

"Yeah, it has been a long time. It's been that long since I've seen grumpy
over there."

"Okay guys, I surrender," Aiden conceded. "I know you weren't spying on us,
at least not on purpose. And then once you saw us connect you kept watching
to see if you could learn something by watching a totally awesome kiss. I'm
sure Noah would appreciate it."

Nolan breathed a sigh of relief. One of the many things he loved about
Aiden was that the rare times he got into a snit, he managed to quickly
pull himself out of it, unless he was mad at a total asshole.

"I have to admit, it was tough to take my eyes off you two," Eric
grinned. "The love you two share was very obvious. Now, that said, how
about showing Nolan the new toy I gave you."

Aiden picked up his phone and logged into it. "That new toy looks like your
phone," Nolan observed.

"That's because it is my phone. The new toy is an app that my big bro and
pitching coach gave me," Aiden told him.

Aiden showed Nolan his train tracking app and the two soon had their heads
together checking out the information it provided them. "So, the way it's
set up right now, we'll see the 4449 after it goes through Longview," Nolan
said.

"Exactly. But I can change the parameters so that we can see it between
Vancouver and Longview. This is where a scanner would come in handy, so we
can hear how the dispatcher moves the train around while we watch it move."

"Just how many times have you asked your dads for a scanner for your
birthday?"

"Just a few quadrillion. It will probably take a couple of bazillion to get
their attention. I know this much, we won't have a scanner today, so we'll
have to hope whoever is close to us has one."

"I'm surprised your pop doesn't have one."

"So am I," Aiden confessed, "but what can I say?"

"You can say it's one more reason you should get one for your birthday,"
Nolan suggested.

Eric was enjoying the byplay between Aiden and Nolan. He had enjoyed the
same back and forth with Noah when they were kids. In fact, he still did.

"Maybe you should suggest it to him," Aiden said. "When I ask, he and dad
just shake their heads and say that they'll keep it in mind. I'm
outnumbered two to one and if you speak up for me, we'll have even teams,"
he told Eric.

As if on cue, they heard a car turn into the driveway. "That would appear
to be your dad," Eric said.

Larry entered through the front door. He found Aiden, Nolan, and Eric
seated in the living room. He exchanged greetings with Eric and Nolan and
sat on the couch. "I'm thinking Aiden had the BNSF app downloaded into his
phone," Larry said.

"I'm knowing that you are right," Aiden said. "And it is totally radical."
He scooted in close to his pop and Nolan moved to the other side of
Larry. As soon as everyone was settled, Aiden started showing off the
wonders of the app. Eric could tell that Aiden and Nolan were going to have
a blast foaming on the hill together.

"It's probably time for us to get ready to go if we're going to get lunch
and get on the Hill early enough to procure a good place to watch from,"
Larry suggested. He turned to Eric and said, "I'm treating the boys to
lunch at Bob's Burger Barn. You're welcome to join us—it's on me."

"I wish I could, Coach," Eric said sadly, "but I have to go to work. BNSF
wants a second signal maintainer on duty on the sub, and that would be me."

"They need two signal maintainers on the subdivision because of an
excursion train?" Larry asked. "Since when did an excursion become a high
priority on a freight railroad?"

"Since Brett Foster booked passage on it for the length of the excursion."
Brett Foster was a junior at Stanford University and the son of Allen
Foster, the president of BNSF. He loved trains and riding them, causing his
father to jokingly ask where he had gone wrong raising his son.

The entire excursion went up the Coast Line from Los Angeles to Oakland on
the Union Pacific. Day two had train on the UP through the Feather River
Canyon to the Keddie Wye, where it took BNSF through the Inside Gateway to
Klamath Falls, Oregon. From there the train was on the UP to Chemult where
it switched back to the BNSF and traveled through the Deschutes Canyon to
Bend, Oregon. The last day saw it traveling from Bend to The Dalles, west
through the Columbia River Gorge to Vancouver, Washington, and then north
to Seattle. From Chemult to Seattle, the train ran on the BNSF.

Very few riders rode all four days, most of them picked a day or two for
their excursion. All the passenger cars on the train were vintage cars
built in the 1940's and 1950's. While the train carried sleeping cars, it
overnighted in a rail yard at each location. The riders got to take the
entire trip in daylight. Four of the cars were dome cars, where the
passengers could sit up high and get a 360-degree view of the passing
scenery.

"I guess it pays to know people in high places," Larry chuckled in reaction
to Eric's revelation.

"Heaven help the dispatcher who makes this train stop and wait for
anybody," Eric said.

<Napavine Hill>

Larry and the boys saw Eric to the door. "Thanks for helping out Aiden with
that app," Larry told him.

"That's what Big Bros are for," Eric said.

Larry looked down at Aiden and ruffled his hair. "It shows a great deal of
trust and confidence in him on your part. I'm sure he won't let you
down. Right, son?"

"I would never let my Big Bros down." He ran his hand through his hair,
messing it up even more in his attempt to straighten out the mess his pop
had made. Still, he looked directly at his dad and added, "And I won't let
my pop down either." Eric grinned and headed down the steps to his car.

"Okay, boys, get everything you need into the car and then we'll head to
Bob's for burgers," Larry said.

Aiden and Nolan went to Aiden's room. Aiden grabbed his camera bag and his
overnight bag. He checked to make sure he had his telephoto lens, that he
had a memory card installed, and that he had remembered to reconnect his
battery after charging it. He told Nolan to take his tripod, which Nolan
might want to use for his video. Before leaving the bedroom, the boys
paused and exchanged kisses and vows of love.

They agreed that Aiden would take the still pictures and Nolan would do the
video. Larry was taking his camera as well, but he planned on taking a
trail down the hill to track level. He would take his pictures from there
to give a different perspective.

After getting lunch to go, they hit Highway 12 and drove to Centralia,
where they entered Interstate 5 and exited two exits to the south. They
drove up a narrow road that led to the top of Napavine Hill. The entire
hill was a county park, so they had the run of it. When they arrived in the
parking lot, it was a little before one. The train was due to pass the hill
around two.

Aiden counted twenty cars in the parking lot, which had parking spaces for
thirty cars, leaving room for more spectators to park.

The three of them grabbed their equipment and headed for the trail that led
to the best view of the tracks. They had been there before watching and
photographing trains, but they never had the competition for the best
viewpoints that they'd have this time. When they came out of the woods and
entered the open plateau, Aiden surveyed the scene to see what places were
available. He was pleased to find that there was plenty of room to set up.

"I think you two know what you want to do and are old enough to know how to
handle yourselves. I'm going to follow the trail down the hill and find a
good place to set up," Larry said.

"Don't step on railroad property," Aiden cautioned.

 Larry yanked off Aiden's baseball hat and ruffled his hair again. "Don't
worry, daddy, I'll be careful."

Aiden grabbed his hat and jerked it down onto his head. "If I'm your daddy,
then you shouldn't be messing with my hair."

"Yes, daddy," Larry grinned as he started for the trail that led down the
hill.

Some of the railfans who had claimed their space were sitting on lawn
chairs that they had brought with them. There were three benches on the
hill that had a good view of the tracks which had been taken. The two boys
didn't mind—they had planned to sit on the ground while they waited, but
first they wanted to go to their favorite location. They knew the hill well
enough to take a trail that dog legged into the woods away from the tracks,
and then came out in Aiden's favorite picture taking spot. There was nobody
there.

"I guess only the locals like us must know about this spot," Aiden said.

"Well, somebody is going to follow the trail and see where it comes out,"
Nolan responded. "I don't think we're going to be alone when train time
comes."

"You're probably right, so let's sit at our lookout spot." The lookout spot
was an outcropping with a sweeping view of the tracks in both
directions. The boys parked their butts on the ground, saving their
spot. Aiden pulled out his phone and opened the BNSF app. The only train he
saw in the area was a southbound Union Pacific that was running through
Centralia.

Aiden and Nolan had been sitting for about ten minutes when a boy who
looked to be their age emerged from the woods on the trail they had just
hiked on.  He had a camera with a telephoto lens strapped around his
shoulder and was carrying an equipment bag.  When he saw Aiden and Nolan he
walked over to them.

"Hi, guys," he said shyly. Aiden noted that the boy was taller than him but
looked to be an equal distance shorter than Nolan. He had short cropped
brown hair and a sturdy body.

Aiden and Nolan stood up and Aiden held out his fist, which the boy bumped.

"My name is Landon. Are you guys here for the 4449?" the boy said. Before
Nolan or Aiden could answer, Landon said, "Never mind. Dumb
question. You've found a super spot here. I figured hardly anybody would
know about it. This lookout spot is not only the best one on the hill, it's
the best place between Centralia and Longview."

"I'm Aiden and don't worry about the dumb question. I lead the known
universe in dumb questions." Well, maybe not, since Mason can ask more than
his share, Aiden mused. Aiden knew he had heard the name Landon somewhere
and was trying to figure out where.

"I'm Nolan." He exchanged a fist bump with Landon. "And you act like you've
been up here a few times before."

"It's a good place to take train pictures," Landon stated matter-of-factly.

That's when Aiden had his "duh" moment. His mind connected train pictures
and Landon and came up with the Lewis County Fair photo exhibit back in
December.

"Your name is Landon Mercer, and you had a prize-winning photo exhibit at
the fair," Aiden stated. "Those were some awesome train pictures."

"They were pretty good," Landon said modestly. "At least the judges thought
so."

"And you go to Winton Middle School."

"For one more year, anyway. Hang on a sec, I want to get something out of
my bag." Landon reached into his equipment bag and pulled out a
scanner. Aiden wasn't surprised to see it; he had gathered from Landon's
pictures that he was a serious railfan. Maybe even a foamer.

"Can you pick up chatter with the 4449?" Nolan asked.

"Yeah. It's still over a half-hour out, but it's time to start seriously
listening to the chatter. Plus, I have a train tracking app on my phone."

"I've got a tracking app, too," Aiden said. "I'm bringing it up right now."
Aiden looked at the screen and scrolled south. "Hmm, it's going through
Longview on Main 3. There's a northbound UP freight a little ahead of it on
Main 2, which the 4449 will be passing really soon."

"Whoa, that thing is sick," Landon said. "I mean mine has a lot of info,
but nothing like this does. And the graphics are even sicker. Which app is
this? Where did you get it?"

"I am not allowed to tell," Aiden said. He knew that wasn't entirely
true. He could reveal that it was the BNSF app, he just couldn't tell who
gave it to him. Since he didn't know Landon that well, Aiden decided to say
nothing about its origin.

Before Landon could ask why, Aiden went into his favorite subject changing
mode, which was asking questions. "Why aren't you taking your pictures in
Winton?" he asked Landon. "You've got the park with straight track and the
Big Egg sitting there for background. Plus, you have all those old stores
and stuff on the main street for background too. You used all that stuff in
the pictures I saw at the fair."

"I wanted to do something different. I've shot pictures here before, and
with this zoom telephoto I've gotten some pretty good shots. My dad said I
should try shooting down at track level, but that fence will be in the way
unless I can go up the hill a little, but even then, it's in the picture
partly blocking the train."

"I know. That's why you don't see a lot of peeps down there," Aiden
said. "My pop is one of them, but he just wanted to get different pics than
me."

"Is he a foamer, too?" Landon asked.

"He likes trains. He takes pictures because I do, so he does it when we go
train watching together. My dad isn't that big on trains, but he likes big
machines, so he doesn't mind train watching. And since I haven't said it
yet, I'm a foamer."

"You've got two dads? That's totally epic. What about you Nolan? Are you a
foamer?"

"Yeah," Nolan answered. "But my big thing is model railroading. My dad and
I have a big layout at home."

"Is he in the Centralia model club?"

"Yep. He's really active in it."

"My dad's in it, too. We don't have a real big layout at home, but he does
a lot of work for the shows and stuff. What's your dad's name?" Landon
asked.

"Paul Moyer."

"You mean Paul Moyer, the judge?"

"That's the dude."

"Damn. My dad thinks your dad's the best model railroader in the club. I'd
love to see that layout."

The conversation was interrupted by Landon's scanner. "Dispatch to Amtrak
4449. Over."  "4449. Over."

"Why did the dispatcher call it an Amtrak train?" Nolan asked.

"Because the Portland Heritage Museum that owns the locomotive had Amtrak
organize the excursion, so they get an Amtrak designation." Landon
answered.

"So if it's an Amtrak train does that mean it would show up today on
Track-A-Train?" Aiden asked.

"No, it's not a regular Amtrak train," Landon replied. "And they aren't
using Amtrak equipment. This is just a special dispatcher designation for
the excursion."

"Be informed you'll be passing a large group of spectators at Winton and
along Napavine Hill," the radio squawked. "Roger the crowds, dispatch."

Aiden scrolled north on the map on his app and saw that the southbound
Amtrak Cascades 507 was leaving Centralia on Main 1. He did some quick
calculating in his head and figured out that unless the Cascades was
delayed it would run past the hill long before its meet with the 4449 and
wouldn't be blocking their shot of the steam engine. "The 507 should be
passing the hill in about 10 minutes," Aiden said.

The next ten minutes were spent getting situated to get some shots of the
507. Nolan attached the video camera to the tripod and set up in a location
where he could get a sweeping shot. There were only four other people in
their little outcropping, and all of them were stationed to be out of the
way of Nolan's sweep. The passing 507 would be a big help in testing their
setup and all three boys busily took pictures and video as the train roared
past at track speed. The only issue with their test was the 507 was going
south and the 4449 would be coming north. But the framing, the lighting,
the zoom settings, and the like would all be similar.

There were no signals visible from their position on the hill, but Aiden
could track the signal closest to them on his app, as well as the exact
location, track, and speed of the oncoming steam locomotive. He saw the
signal on his screen go from green to flashing yellow, to yellow, and then
to red. The 4449 had now entered that block. Aiden scrolled the screen
slightly until he came across the red highlight with AMTK 4449 under it
indicating the steam train was almost upon them.

"I gotta find out how I can get that app," Landon said with more than a
hint of envy.

The three boys and three other railfans had their positions set and their
cameras poised for shooting. They heard the long drone of the steam whistle
a few seconds before they saw the train. When it came into view a plume of
white smoke was pouring out of the smokestack. The dispatcher had notified
the engineer of where the crowds were for two reasons. The first was for
safety, and the second was so he could put on a good show for the
photographers and video cameramen by blowing the whistle and making smoke,
causing the scene to be more photogenic.

Aiden, Nolan, and Landon used all their skill and knowledge to get the best
pictures they could. Even though the boys knew the time frame was longer,
it seemed like the train was in their sight for just a matter of
seconds. As soon as the dome observation car carrying the markers was out
of sight, the boys headed for a bench in the shade where they could look at
the results of their efforts.

They hadn't been able to count the cars on the train since they were
focused on their photography. They were now able to get a car count as well
as a more careful look at what equipment the train was hauling. But before
getting into the specifics, Aiden and Landon critiqued their
photographs. As usually happened when photographing a big machine traveling
at 60 miles an hour the quality of each frame differed. Overall, they each
saw pictures that they would delete and a few that were decent and worth
keeping.

But the ones that caught their attention, as well as Nolan's, were the ones
that stood out from the rest. Some would say that with their rapid fire
shooting the boys got lucky, but that was not the case. Both Aiden and
Landon knew the basics of photography and their cameras well enough that
they were able to have their lenses at the right setting for a couple of
spectacular pictures. Their luck was a result of good planning. For his
part, Nolan's video captured the passing train perfectly.

"Damn, Nolan, that video is really dope," Aiden told his boyfriend.

"We need to see all of this on a big screen," Landon said. "I never make up
my mind on a pic until I see the whole thing. It would be dope to see
everything together. Maybe next weekend."

"That won't work. We have baseball games on Saturday," Aiden said.

"Why don't we just do it tomorrow at my house. We have all the equipment
for showing it and my dad loves looking at my train pics. That way he can
see mine and my friends, too."

Aiden and Nolan liked how Landon used the word friends. "Well, if we're
friends, why don't we meet at my house," Nolan proposed. "We live between
Mayfield and Winton and Aiden's gonna be spending the night at my house
anyway. That way you and your dad can see our model railroad layout."

Before Landon could react, Aiden suggested they go straight to Nolan's
house and see the pictures that afternoon.

"What about dinner?" Landon asked. As a typical teen, one of his primary
concerns was food.

"I'll text my mom to expect one more guest," Nolan said.

Aiden stopped him before he could log on to his phone. "Before you text
her, I think it's only fair that we tell Landon about us."

"What about you?" Landon asked, perplexed by the statement. He wondered
what was so important that he needed to know it before he agreed to have
dinner and look at train pictures and a model railroad layout with his new
friends.

"Good idea," Nolan answered to show Aiden he agreed with his
suggestion. "And don't worry, Landon, this is nothing bad."

"So then why is it, like, a big deal?"

"We just thought you should know that Nolan and I are more than best
friends—we're boyfriends," Aiden told Landon.

"Boyfriends, as in you two are gay?"

"Exactly."

Landon thought for a moment then said, "I'm not sure what the big deal
is. You've become my friends and I think it's dope you two are friends like
that. The only thing I wonder is how when Nolan lives in Meadow Park and
you live in Mayfield, you two ended up being boyfriends."

"It's a long story. We'll tell it after we get to Nolan's house."

"Sounds fair. Now, call your mom, Nolan, and see if we can even do this."

"She'll be cool about it," Nolan hoped. Nolan took out his phone and sent
off a text to his mom. He was pleased to receive an instant reply.

"One more is okay. Tell whoever it is that he will be restricted to three
helpings of goulash," the text read.

Nolan read it to Aiden and Landon. "My mom seems to have a sense of humor,"
he said. "Who knew?"

Nolan and Aiden were both relieved that Landon accepted them as they
were. They had really taken a liking to him and would have been very
disappointed to learn he was a homophobe.

Instead of texting his dad, Landon called him. "Hey, dad, I think I got
some pictures that are dope," Landon said. He listened for a moment and
then said, "I made two friends who are foamers and they want me to have
dinner at one of their houses and we'll look at our pictures and at the
video that Nolan took." Another pause. Landon shook his head and said,
"Yep, that's who and it's at his house." Pause. "Hang on I'll ask.

"Hey, Nolan, is eight an okay time to pick me up?" Landon asked.

"Sounds okay to me," Nolan answered.

"Nolan says it's okay. I'll see you then." Landon disconnected. "This is
all so radical. I can't believe I have two friends who are foamers and take
good pictures and, wow, this is just so dope. When I asked my dad about
going to dinner at my new friend's house he goes, `Is that Nolan dude Paul
Moyer's son?' and you heard my answer. But, hey, how are we going to get to
Nolan's house?"

Landon's question was answered by a man coming out from the woods. "I think
the ride there will be provided by me," Larry grinned. "I was wondering if
you guys were planning to ever come to the parking lot."

"Landon, that's my pop, Larry Sanders. Pop, this is Landon Mercer the guy
who took those great pics we saw at the fair back in September."

Landon walked up to Larry and shook his hand. "I'm pleased to meet you,
sir."

"The privilege is mine," Larry grinned. "I saw your pictures and they were
professional quality. Have you had any published?"

"I haven't sent any to anybody yet. But my dad thinks I'm good enough now
to try it."

The boys finished getting their gear together and followed Larry back to
the parking lot. Aiden told Larry what the plans for the evening
were. Since Aiden was cleared to spend the night, it was to give
information rather than to ask for permission. "I should also let you know;
we came out to Landon so he would know about us before he agreed to this
whole dinner idea."

"Well, welcome to Aiden and Nolan's circle of friends," Larry told
Landon. "You're going to learn that they're a great group of kids to hang
around with."

<Gordy, Miles, Kalie, and Brittany>

Gordy and Miles steadily pedaled their bikes on the bicycle/walking way on
the north side of Lakeshore Drive. They had enjoyed a lunch at Gordy's
house prepared by his mother and took off for Kalie's house just before
twelve-thirty. Both boys were grateful for the bikeway where they could
ride without having to dodge cars. Between Highway 12 and Kalie's house
they came across two joggers and a lady walking her dog. The path was big
enough for them to pass both with ease.

Their ride wasn't quite as smooth as the new bikeway when they rode up the
driveway to Kalie's house. After parking their bikes, the friends took the
four steps up to the front porch and Gordy rang the doorbell. Kalie had
seen them come up the driveway and waited for the doorbell to ring before
opening the door.

Gordy and Miles let out appreciative moans when they saw that Kalie was
wearing nothing but a pair of gym shorts. "You look really good dressed
like that," Gordy said. "I wonder how it would work on the last day of
school."

"You'll never find out, Gordon Lansing, unless you want to wear the same
clothes. Now, how about giving me a kiss."

Gordy obliged with a deep kiss and added a squeeze of Kalie's still
immature right breast. "Well, this is a great greeting outfit, even if you
don't wear it to school."

"Where's Brittany?" Miles asked.

"She's in the backhouse waiting for us, along with a plate of oatmeal
cookies," Kalie answered.

"When are your parents coming home?" Gordy asked.

"Mom won't be home until around four. Dad is working out in the field with
Roberto, and they won't be coming back until around the same time," Kalie
answered.

The three went out the back door, across the yard, and into the backhouse,
where Brittany was sitting on the couch wearing only a pair of panties. It
didn't take long for the boys to strip down to their underpants and prance
around the living room making sure the girls could see their bulges in the
front.

"Last one naked is a rotten egg," Kalie called out. It took less than
fifteen seconds for them to be naked, with Gordy earning the rotten egg
label.

The naked teens plus Gordy, who would be thirteen in a little over two
months, spent most of the next hour making out on the couch and eating
cookies. Gordy made out with Kalie and Miles made out with Brittany, to
start. But the horny youngsters switched after they each ate their second
cookie. Miles and Gordy kissed and played with each other's asses while the
girls kissed and finger fucked each other.

"I want to see the boys fuck," Brittany announced.

"I thought you and Miles were gonna do it," Kalie pointed out.

"We were, but I wanna see the boys do it. You and me can make out while
they do it, unless you and Gordy want to do it now."

"I'll do it with Miles as long he wants to do it and you guys do stuff
together at the same time," Gordy said. Miles said he would do whatever the
girls wanted.

Kalie knew how Gordy tended to be shy and private about sex. While he would
do sex in front of his friends, he wasn't always comfortable with it. She
fully expected him to refuse Brittany's request and was surprised when he
acquiesced.

"Let's go in the guest room cuz it has the biggest bed," Kalie suggested.

Everyone agreed and the three naked teens plus Gordy trundled into the back
bedroom. After some kissing and petting, Gordy grabbed the jar of lube that
Kalie just happened to have handy and slicked up his dick and Miles'
ass. Miles knew that Gordy didn't bottom much and wasn't surprised when
Gordy went right to work showing he would be the top. He thought Gordy
probably wanted to show Kalie that he was a stud by showing her what he
could do to her by doing it to a boy.

Gordy grabbed his cock so he could guide it into his friend's ass. He saw
Brittany and Kalie staring at them with fascinated looks on their faces. He
knew that Kalie had seen boys fucking, but he wasn't sure if Brittany
had. He scooted closer to Miles, maneuvering his four and three-quarter
inch leaking cock so it would penetrate Miles' grommet when he
hesitated. Brittany and Kalie were holding hands and staring, and Miles was
looking up at him with lust. The thought had suddenly hit Gordy that it was
one thing to have sex along with some of his friends, but it was an
entirely different thing to do it in front of an audience. He rolled over
on his back and stared at the ceiling.

"I can't do it," Gordy whispered as he felt his uncut cock start to
deflate.

"What do you mean you can't do it?" Brittany asked.

"I mean I can't do it in front of the girls. If everybody else was having
sex, I could, but you and Kalie were looking at me like I was on stage or
something and I can't do it."

Miles knew Gordy well enough to not be upset by his sudden change of
mind. While he didn't feel entirely comfortable getting fucked in front of
the two girls, it didn't bother him to the point where he didn't want to do
it. He respected his friend's decision, however. He reached over and
stroked his friend's smooth chest, noting the pained look on his face.

"It's cool, Gordy. We know how you feel about this kind of stuff," Miles
said.

"You must think I'm a total dork," Gordy whimpered.

"I don't think so," Kalie said. "I think you are Gordy and like all of our
friends say, no means no."

"But I came here and got naked with everybody so we could mess around,"
Brittany groused.

"How about you and me mess around," Miles said. "Gordy and Kalie can go to
the other bedroom and talk or do whatever."

"Okay," Brittany said brightly. "Do you want to fuck me?"

"How about we decide when we're alone."

Gordy started to rise off the bed, but stopped and gave Miles a long,
sensitive kiss on the lips. "Thanks, Miles. You're a great friend."

Miles pushed back on Gordy's lips, making the kiss more passionate until
the boys broke it off after a few seconds. "It takes a great friend to know
a great friend," Miles grinned.

Gordy and Kalie rose from the bed. Kalie looked down at Miles and Brittany,
focusing her attention on Brittany. "Remember. What happens in this house,
stays in this house. End of story." She grabbed Gordy's hand and walked out
of the room with her boyfriend.

Even though it wasn't the ending they expected, everyone agreed later that
the ending was satisfactory. Miles and Brittany made out on the bed for a
while until Miles went into the living room and grabbed a condom out of his
pants. He returned to the bedroom and fucked Brittany back-to-back.

Gordy and Kalie lay on the bed in the other bedroom and talked for a while
about what had just happened. After Kalie convinced Gordy that everything
was cool, they made out on the bed in the other bedroom. Their session
ended after Kalie gave Gordy a blow job and he finger fucked her to a
squealing, bed shaking orgasm.

The teens took a few minutes to regain their breath. Kalie broke the
silence when she asked Gordy if he still wanted to camp overnight with her.

"More than ever," Gordy said. "I really do want to go all the way, but I
know I could end up chickening out."

"If you do chicken out, you'll still be my boyfriend and I'll still love
you."

"Do you really love me?"

"I really love you."

"And I really love you, too," Gordy murmured. "Does Brittany have to camp
out with us? She's starting to get pushy like Heather."

"Does Aiden really have to camp out with YOU?" Kalie countered.

"I need his support close by. He'll be in another tent. We'll be able to do
it in private.

"Then you answered your question about Brittany. And she'll be in that
other tent, too."

"Gotcha."

"And besides. She really wants to get fucked by Aiden," Kalie giggled.

"And she's not alone. It's almost like people are standing in line to get
fucked by him but hardly anybody has a chance, especially if they're
girls."

"You know that I want Aiden. I only want two boys—you and Aiden. But
you're my boyfriend. I'm one of those people standing in line."

"Well guess what?" Grody asked.

"What?"

"It's worth waiting in line for."

<Nolan's House>

The first thing the boys did when they entered Nolan's house was introduce
Landon to Nolan's mother. She was justifiably impressed with Landon's
manners. They then went to Nolan's bedroom. Landon noted the sports posters
on the walls as opposed to his own room which had nothing but train posters
and calendars on the wall along with some of his own photographs. It was
also cluttered with various railroad paraphernalia that he had started
collecting when he was ten.

Landon's eyes lit up when he saw the HO tracks that circled the room. When
Nolan started the Northern Pacific passenger train running around the room,
Landon almost jumped out of his shoes with excitement. He knew what he
wanted in his room.

"Aiden has a layout like this in his bedroom," Nolan told Landon.

"But mine's not as big or fancy," Aiden said modestly.

"Oh, I dunno. You've got a better drawbridge and your train just happens to
be the `California Zephyr'.

"For real?" Landon squeaked. "'The California Zephyr'? Like you have the
whole consist?"

"No, mine is just five cars with two domes," Aiden answered. The full
consist of the train was generally eleven cars with five domes.

"I'd like to see it someday," Landon said.

"I'm sure you'll get the chance," Aiden grinned.

"Do you play any sports?" Nolan asked Landon.

"I'm an okay soccer player and I play baseball. I'm not very good, but I
love the game. Not as much as trains, but it's still fun. I played for the
JV team. I started five of our twelve games and played in all twelve. Well,
JV's have to play in every game they suit up for, but you know what I
mean."

"We do," Aiden said.

"And congrats on winning the championship," Landon told Aiden.

"Thanks. Are you playing summer ball?"

"Yep, for the Winton Travelers."

"We play you guys on our field on Thursday," Aiden said.

"I know. That is so sick. I can't wait. I've started both our games in left
field, but that's because Dickie was hurt. He'll probably start our game on
Tuesday. And you probably know we're 1-1 like you guys, but we both have a
game before we play each other."

"I don't think we play you," Nolan said. "I can check my schedule."

"That's cool. Nobody plays everybody in the league. We play Kentburg on
Tuesday, and they're pretty good. And the best part about our field is that
the BNSF mainline goes right by our right field fence. I get to play
baseball and foam at the same time," Landon giggled.

"That means you're not playing on the middle school field?" Aiden asked.

"Nope. They're redoing the athletic fields at the middle school and high
school. We only have a couple of other fields at Winton, but I guess
they're making it all work."

"What do you want to do next, look at our pictures or check out the big
layout in the basement?" Nolan asked Landon.

"Your mom said dinner would be in about an hour, right?" Landon asked.

"Something like that."

"And remember, my dads will be coming for dinner and to look at the
pictures with us," Aiden reminded his friends.

"As much as I want to look at and talk about the pictures, I want to do it
after dinner when everybody is here and we can just sit back and look."

"And maybe have dessert while we look," Aiden said.

"Do you see why I love this guy so much?" Nolan asked.

"I do and I still want to hear your stories," Landon replied.

"After the pictures we'll tell you all about it."

The boys left the bedroom for the basement and the model railroad layout.

Landon all but drooled over himself as he watched Nolan start his Santa Fe
freight train out of the yard on his table. The train had two Santa Fe F
units pulling a train with ten freight cars from ten different railroads
plus a Santa Fe caboose. The only cars from railroads that were active
under the same name were the Union Pacific and Canadian National cars. The
rest were from fallen flags; railroads that no longer existed in name. The
Santa Fe was one of those—it was now part of BNSF.

Nolan circled the train around his table, giving Landon a good look at it
as it wound through his Lego layout.

"And you built all those Lego buildings yourself?" Landon asked.

"Yep. I've got others in my bedroom that I'm working on. Sometimes I add a
new building in one of my open spaces, and sometimes I swap one out with
one of my old buildings," Nolan replied.

He pressed a button on his controller and switched his train over to the
main table. "My dad built most of the stuff here, but I help him a lot with
it. He says the quality of my work has gone up a lot since I hit middle
school."

"Our whole layout is about the size of your Lego layout," Landon said.

"As you can tell, our whole layout pretty much fills the room." But there
will be room for even more if we move to that house in Mayfield, Nolan
thought. "As you can tell, I like passenger trains better than freights."

"I love all trains. You guys are just amazing," Landon said. "You've got
trains in your bedrooms and Nolan has a dope model layout, and Aiden has
great camera equipment and a rad app for tracking trains. I'm so happy I
decided to take my pictures up on the hill. I like track level better but
going up on the hill was awesome. It gave me two new friends—railfan
friends."

The boys were interrupted by the door opening and Paul coming down the
stairs into the basement. He was surprised and pleased that the boys had
all their clothes on. It meant Nolan and Aiden were acting like normal boys
and not trying to get the pants off their new friend. He expected as much
from them, but as he was reminded by the actions of Nolan, Aiden, and their
friends, sometimes horny boys will be horny boys when gathered together. It
was true when I was a boy as well, he chuckled to himself.

Nolan introduced Landon and his father to each other. They gave Landon a
quick training lesson on the operation of the table, and soon he, Nolan,
and Aiden were operating three different trains around the layout. Paul
looked on proudly until he heard the doorbell and headed up stairs. He came
back down with Larry and Phil who, along with Paul, watched the three boys
run the model trains until Vivian called everyone up for dinner.

The table had the center leaf inserted to seat the seven diners. "I invited
your dad to eat with us," Paul told Landon after they sat at the table. "He
said he would be eating with some of his railfan friends, and you would
have an opportunity to get to know your new friends without him looking
over your shoulder."

"My dad never looks over my shoulder. He's one of the coolest dads around."
Landon was okay with his dad not coming to dinner, but he was disappointed
that he wouldn't be there for the picture show.

After they finished their dinner, Vivian said that dessert would be
chocolate cake and ice cream. "The cake is store bought, but I got it at
the Schmidt Bakery, so it will be freshly baked."

"The Schmidt Bakery is dope," Landon said. "My mom gets stuff there every
time she goes to Centralia."

Larry, Phil, and Paul staked out their seats on the sectional while Vivian
was in the kitchen placing the desserts on plates. Aiden sat in one of the
two overstuffed chairs and Landon sat in the other. Nolan sat in a dining
room chair he had carried into the room. He placed it where he could easily
use the remote to move through the pictures. They agreed that Nolan's video
would open the program. Nolan plugged his laptop into the television and
inserted his memory card into the laptop. He started the video and as soon
as he saw everything was functioning properly, he stopped it.

Vivian had just spooned ice cream on the last plate when the doorbell
rang. "I've got it," Paul announced. He had a good idea of who was at the
door and saw that he was right as soon as he opened the front door.

"Hi, Paul," Michael Mercer grinned.

"Come on in, Mike," Paul told Landon's father.

Mike entered the house and Paul closed the door behind him. "You said you
would be showing the pictures while feasting on dessert. I decided that
meeting Landon's new friends and viewing everybody's first steam engine
pictures sounded more exciting than listening to a bunch of old foamers
trying to outbrag each other about how many steam locomotives they've seen
on the mainline."

"We're happy to have you here. If you're lucky, we may even have some cake
and ice cream left."

"We have plenty left," Vivian said. She had come out of the kitchen to see
who was at the door. "I'll put together another plate."

"Hey, dad," Landon said when his father walked into the den. "You coming to
see our pictures with us is totally radical."

"How do you know I came for the pictures instead of the dessert?" Mike
asked.

"Because you're my foamer-in-chief and trains come first."

"That's true, but it's close," Mike chuckled.

"Dad, these are my two awesome foamer friends Aiden and Nolan. I know
you've seen Nolan around and Aiden is his best friend." Landon was careful
to say best instead of boy.

"I've seen Nolan around, of course, but I've never really met him. Nice to
formally meet you and nice to meet you Aiden."

"Nice to meet you, too." Aiden then introduced his dads. Paul watched Mike
to see how he reacted to Aiden's having two fathers. He was pleased to see
him smile and shake hands with Larry and Phil.

"Gentlemen, the desserts are ready. Head on into the kitchen and grab one,"
Vivian announced.

Soon everybody was seated. Mike sat on the sectional next to Larry and
Phil. The sectional had reclining seats; Paul and Larry put their feet up,
but the other three on the sectional seemed happy to have their feet on the
floor. Landon and Aiden put their feet up on ottomans.

Nolan started the video, and everyone oohed and aahed as the 4449 came into
view with an Amtrak Siemens Charger behind it. Then came nine vintage
passenger cars: Southern Pacific café-lounge "Overland Trail", Santa Fe
coach, Burlington Vista-Dome coach/café car "Silver Splendor", New York
Central sleeping car "Current River", Santa Fe dome "Plaza Lamy", Union
Pacific coach, California Zephyr Vista-Dome coach/café car "Silver
Lariat", California Zephyr sleeping car "Silver Rapids", California Zephyr
Vista-dome observation sleeper/lounge "Silver Solarium."

"Why is there an Amtrak diesel locomotive on that train?" Vivian
asked. "Isn't the steam engine powerful enough to pull that train?"

While everybody except Vivian knew the answer, Landon loved teaching people
about trains and jumped right in with the answer. "Two reasons," the
thirteen-year-old foamer replied. "First, the railroad won't allow a steam
engine to operate on the mainline without backup. After all, they are kind
of old."

"That makes sense. And the second reason?"

"The second reason is to supply head-end power to the train." Before Vivian
could ask what head-end power was, Landon answered the question. "All of
the passenger cars heating and air conditioning are powered by electricity,
as are the lights and cooking stoves, and you name it. Steam engines don't
have generators to provide electricity, so they need a diesel. Passenger
locomotives had generators to provide what's called head-end power."

"And that's because the power comes from the head of the train?" Vivian
asked. Nolan was pleased by his mother's questions because they showed she
was interested in the topic of trains, even if she wasn't a rail buff.

"That's right."

"Then how did they get power back in the steam locomotive days?"

"From, like, the 1930's on, each car had a battery that was charged by an
axle-driven generator. And before you ask, the air-conditioning was powered
by small engines or mechanical power from the axles."

"Did you know your son was so smart?" Vivian asked Mike.

"He always has his nose in a train book of some sort at home, unless he's
stuffing his face with food of course," Landon's father chuckled. Landon
did his best to keep from blushing but was unsuccessful.

"Did you see those dome cars at the back of the train?" Aiden asked the
Moyers.

"I did," Vivian answered. "They were beautiful."

"Those last three cars are the ones we'll be riding in for our August
trip."

"You mean we can sit up on top and watch the scenery?"

"Yep."

"Now you have me really excited," Vivian beamed.

Landon broke his silence and swallowed a mouthful of saliva. "Are you
serious?" he asked Aiden. "I mean totally serious? You're going to be
riding the California Zephyr cars in August?"

"Totally, completely, and absolutely serious," Aiden said.

"Like behind the Amtrak `California Zephyr'?"

"Plus the `Empire Builder'."

"I keep telling dad that's what I want to do, don't I dad?"

"Well, at least since you learned the cars were going to be behind the
4449," Mike answered. "And what do I keep telling you?"

"Brooklyn Dodgers."

"Brooklyn Dodgers?" Vivian asked.

"It was the Dodger fans' cry when they were in Brooklyn," Landon told
her. "That was so long ago that my dad wasn't even born yet. Ancient
history and all that. But anyway, what they would say every year after the
Dodgers didn't win the World Series was `Wait `till next year!' Well, guess
what, dad?"

"What?" Mike had a pretty good idea of what was coming next.

"This time next year is really going to be next year."

"I've been saving up my nickels and dimes, so maybe it's time we talk to
your mother about it."

Landon grinned and pumped his right fist, hissing a long,
"Yessssssssssssssssss."

 The viewing finally turned to the photographs. Aiden's were the first to
be shown. It was the first time Landon had a close look at Aiden's train
photography and he was impressed. "I want to see what else you have some
time," Landon said.

"Sounds like we'll just have to do an overnight sometime," Aiden said as he
looked over at his dads, who both gave him their `it's cool with us' look.

As they viewed Aiden's photos and then Landon's they talked about the
makeup of the train and, in Landon's case, the history of the cars. Aiden
was knowledgeable about the California Zephyr cars but knew little of the
rest of the equipment. Landon was soon filling in the gaps.

After the show was finished, the adults applauded and were full of praise
for the boys' output. Landon felt that Aiden's best photographs were as
good as his best photographs, a thought that pleased him. He was enjoying
finding a foamer and rail photographer his age who was as enthusiastic as
he was if not as knowledgeable.

"Nolan's answered this question for me before, but I want to get the take
of Aiden, Landon, and Mike," Vivian said. "Why do you call each other
foamers?"

Aiden and Mike both looked at Landon, who was the star foamer in the
room. Landon was more than happy to take the lead. "Well, it came about
because some guys who work for the railroad don't like railfans much,
especially since some of them are annoying," he said. "But not us, of
course. So, anyway, they started calling railfans foamers, because they
were dudes who foamed at the mouth every time they see a train. Now, as
much as I groove on trains, that is not me. My dad, yeah, he's a dope
foamer, but not me. Did you guys see me foaming on the hill this
afternoon?" he asked Nolan and Aiden.

Nolan shook his head as Aiden said, "Well maybe a dribble or two," he
grinned.

"Well, at least I didn't get my shirt wet, right dad?"

"Hey, that was water that spilled from my bottle if you remember that
correctly," Mike replied.

"That's what he says, but the bottle was empty," Landon grinned.

"Funny thing is, there are admitted foamers who work for the railroads,"
Mike said. "I happen to know a few."

"Yeah, like my friend Eric," Aiden said.

"Are you talking about Eric Simmons?"

"Yep." Aiden was surprised Mike knew Eric, but then figured there really
weren't a lot of railroad employees based in Lewis County.

"Nice guy. Really smart. And yeah, he's a hard core foamer."

Vivian asked if anyone wanted coffee or some hot chocolate. All four adult
men along with Nolan said they wanted coffee. The rest of the boys voted
for hot chocolate, which is what Vivian ended up serving Nolan as well.

The boys knew that coffee time was adult chatting time, so they made their
way to Nolan's room to drink hot chocolate and have a chat of their
own. Nolan started his train. Landon admired the Lego structures Nolan had
built for his little layout.

"Do you guys ever watch RailStream?" Landon asked. Aiden and Nolan both
shook their heads.

"It's a streaming thing that shows a whole bunch of rail cams. They're,
like, all over the country."

"How do you stream it?" Aiden asked.

"I get it on my Firestick," Landon replied. "You could probably stream it
on Netflix or your laptop. I don't know if you can stream it on your phone
- I've never tried that. Do you subscribe to `Trains' magazine?"

"We both do," Nolan said. "I've watched the webcam at Rochelle that the
magazine sponsors. Is RailStream like that?"

Landon nodded. "Yeah, and the Rochelle cam is on RailStream, too. There's
two cameras in Fostoria, Ohio. Dude, they got three double track diamonds
there and unreal freight traffic. It's, like, all CSX and NS. Plus they
also got a Rail Fan park they call `The Iron Triangle' and it's not a quiet
zone so you hear all different kinds of train horns. I sure hope I can go
over there someday to see it and railfan."

"That'd be awesome," Aiden said. "Ohio is a long way away, though. Maybe we
could all go someday."

"As long as we've got a couple of minutes, how about telling me how you
guys ended up becoming boyfriends," Landon said. "I don't mean to be pushy,
but you did promise me you'd tell me the story."

Aiden and Nolan then took turns telling their story, starting with Aiden
being the foster son of Phil and Larry and being adopted and how Nolan's
dad was the judge in charge of the proceedings. They went into Larry and
Phil becoming friends with Paul Moyer and how that led to Nolan and Aiden
becoming friends, then best friends, and finally boyfriends, even though
they lived in different towns.

"You guys need to find a way to live in the same town and go to the same
school. Then you can invite me to your wedding," Landon said.

"I guess us being gay and boyfriends doesn't bug you any," Aiden said.

"No - why should it? You guys are gay and love each other and are happy. I
remember last year me and my dad were railfanning down by Castle
Rock. There was two dudes railfanning there that were visiting from
Medford, Oregon. They said their names were Cole and Dylan. It kinda
freaked me out when I saw them kiss each other and they said they were
boyfriends. They were way older than me - like college age - but they were
friendly and really knew a lot of train shit and photography stuff. They
had some awesome cameras and lenses. Anyway, I'm pretty sure I'm not gay
but that doesn't mean I don't want to spend the night with you. That is if
Aiden's serious about us looking at train pictures at his house and me
spending the night."

"I'm totally serious. And you don't need to worry about anything because
Nolan and I would never do anything you didn't want to do. We won't even
talk about anything you don't want to talk about."

"Relax, dudes. I ain't no prude and you can take that any way you
want. Besides, I trust you guys. You've become kick ass friends."

"Before we forget," Nolan interjected, "I mentioned before there's a small
chance my family could move to Mayfield and Aiden and I would be living
next to each other. But, as my boyfriend says, `nobody ever got anywhere by
future tripping', so we'll take it all a day at a time."

"Landon, time to go," came Mike's voice from the end of the hall.

The three boys stood up. "Well boys, it's been fun, and I can't wait for
next time." Landon then surprised Nolan and Aiden by giving each a
hug. "You've got all my info. Stay in touch and after school's out let's
set up a picture date and sleepover."

"You're on. You're a really special person, Landon," Aiden said. Nolan
agreed.

"Even when I foam all over myself?" Landon asked.

"Especially then," Aiden grinned.

After Landon and Mike left, Paul called Nolan and Aiden into the living
room for a father and son between the boys, Larry, Phil, and himself.

"This will be really quick," Paul said. "I can see that you and Landon have
hit it off big time. While I didn't go into any specifics with Landon's
father, I did get the impression that Landon is a very trusting boy and
somewhat naïve at times. Aiden's dads and I feel strongly that before
you get too involved and have overnights together, you tell him your
status."

Nolan was used to his father's judicial way of putting things. "So, to put
what you're saying into words that even Aiden and I can understand is that
you think we should come out to him?"

"That would sum it up."

"It's already done."

"Why am I not surprised," Larry said.

"Oh, and in case you're wondering, Landon still thinks we're the coolest
foamers ever."

Nolan and Aiden quizzed Paul and Vivian about their thoughts regarding the
Barnes house and what they planned to do next. "There is a place in Pine
Lake we're interested in," Paul said.

"Pine Lake!" Nolan screeched. "Their sports program is brutal!"

"It sounds like they could use a talented athlete like you," Vivian said.

"Mom, their coaching is terrible. Their varsity baseball team can't even
set up right for a relay throw into the infield. All you have to do is
watch how they play and you wouldn't want me to play there. And that's just
in baseball."

"The house we're interested in is a nice house on the lake," Paul
said. Because Aiden was listening, Paul was standing up for his wife even
though he agreed with his son. Since they hadn't had a showing yet, he
didn't feel it was the time for him to take a stand.

Aiden, Nolan, and Paul then went down to the basement and operated the
model railroad. After an hour of fun, Paul suggested the boys get ready for
bed. The boys were tired and didn't put up any argument.

"I wonder what Landon meant when he said he was no prude," Nolan said as he
and Aiden prepared for bed.

"I don't know, but I have a few guesses. It might be fun to find out. I
mean on top of being a really awesome kid, he's kinda cute."

"We should probably let him set the pace when we do our overnight just to
make sure there are no hard feelings."

"I agree," Aiden responded as he rinsed off his toothbrush.

When Aiden and Nolan climbed naked into Nolan's bed, Nolan asked a simple
question. "Top or bottom?"

"Bottom," Aiden answered. "I want to be the caboose and get banged around
by the big locomotive."

"You're sick, you know. And I don't mean it in a positive slang way, I mean
sick in the head."

"But you love me anyway."

"Yes, I love you anyway."

"Then be a big bear of a locomotive and fuck my brains out and give me a
no-touch cum."

That was exactly what happened. Aiden covered his torso with his light,
clear cum just before Nolan filled his ass with his heavier crude. It had
been a great day watching a steam locomotive rolling by and making a new
friend, and it ended with a spectacular finish. As the naked boys cuddled,
they fell asleep full of love and warmth.

<Grant>

Grant had turned thirteen on Thursday. He enjoyed a small afternoon
birthday party at his house. Lance, Lenny, Riley, Aiden, and Gordy had been
invited. Aiden apologized when he told Grant he would not be able to attend
because he had other plans. Grant smiled when Aiden handed him an envelope
the next day with a card and ten dollars enclosed. Aiden had written a note
on the card imploring Grant to spend the money doing something with his
boyfriend.

Gordy came to the party but was unable to spend the night. The birthday
meal was chili burgers and, of course, birthday cake. Lance, Lenny, and
Riley. Grant and his friends managed to sneak in a naked jerk off session
before climbing into their sleeping bags on the floor of Grant's bedroom.

<Landon>

Landon sighed after masturbating to a satisfactory climax. He wondered what
Aiden and Nolan were doing on their overnight. Since they were boyfriends,
he imagined they were probably jerking off together like he and Blake liked
to do. They weren't boyfriends like Aiden and Nolan were, but they saw
nothing the matter with watching each other jerk off. He wondered if they
did more than jerk off, but he couldn't imagine them doing the gross things
he heard kids in school talk about. Everybody jerked off, but he didn't
know anybody who admitted to doing more.

While he knew he wouldn't be sleeping over at Aiden's house until after the
end of the school year, Landon hoped it wouldn't be very long after school
was out. He wanted to find out what kinds of sex things Aiden and Nolan did
with each other, but he wasn't going to ask them about it. He didn't want
them to think he was weird and decided he would let them bring up any sex
stuff.

SUNDAY, MAY 31

<Gordy and Miles>

Gordy ended up spending Saturday night at Miles' house. After they turned
the lights out, they lay naked in bed talking about girls and jerking each
other off. After cumming, Gordy used the towel Miles handed him to wipe the
cum off his belly. He rolled over on his left side, placing his back to
Miles. Before he drifted off to sleep, Gordy wondered why it was that while
Miles jerked him off, he had an incredible desire to ask Miles to fuck
him. I'm such a dork, I should have let him fuck me at Kalie's house was
his last thought as he fell asleep.

As he and Miles showered together after waking up Sunday morning, Gordy was
still thinking of being fucked. He brought it up with Miles as his friend
was washing his back and butt.

"I wanted you to fuck me yesterday," Gordy said.

"In front of the girls or in my bed?" Miles asked.

"In your bed when you were jerking me off."

"So, why didn't you say something?"

"Because it sounded gay."

Miles pushed his soapy hand inside Gordy's crack and moved it up and
down. "Gordy, you can be a real dweeb sometimes."

"I know. But sometimes I just can't help it."

"We've all been friends forever and none of us care if you're gay or
straight or don't have a clue. If you wanted to be fucked, I would have
fucked you and had fun and you would have had fun and both of us aren't
gay. I think we're both bi and I probably like sex with guys more than you
do, but come on, who gives a shit. Stop thinking and just do it as long as
you follow rule number one."

"Thanks, Miles. You're a good friend. I guess I do think too much."

"Think less and fuck more, that's my motto," Miles said. "We've both got
church this morning or I'd fuck you right now in the shower. But we gotta
rinse off and get out and dressed before your `rents get here."

"I know," Gordy lamented. "Maybe we'll do it next time. But not in front of
any girls."

"Fair enough. I've fucked you before so it wouldn't be like you were being
daring or slutty or anything." Miles and Aiden were the only two boys who
had fucked Gordy's ass. "Next time, we'll just do it."

"Promise?" Gordy grinned.

"As long as you still want it, I promise."

<Aiden and Nolan>

"I fucked you before we fell asleep, and now I've fucked you before we hit
the shower," Nolan said. "How does your butt feel, Sweet Cakes?"

"Like it needs a couple of days off," Aiden replied.

"Then it's a good thing we're not neighbors, at least not yet. I need more
time to get that cute ass of yours into better shape."

"Let's get out of bed and shower. All this exercise has made me hungry."

The topic at breakfast was the upcoming baseball games on Tuesday. Aiden
and Nolan would be playing in the same complex, but not against each
other. The Yard Goats were playing West Centralia Wildcats on Field 1 and
Nolan's East Centralia team would be going against South Centralia on Field
3. West Centralia had a 2-0 record and the Goats were 1-1. Undefeated East
Centralia would be the visitors against winless South Centralia.

"South Centralia's two losses have been by three and two runs," Nolan said,
"so this won't be easy for us."

"West beat Tenino in eight, and Tenino is supposed to be loaded," Aiden
said. "Coach said I'd be the starting pitcher that game."

"That means those Wildcats are in big trouble," Nolan grinned. "Our coach
said I'll be starting against Tenino on Thursday."

"Which means that so-called loaded team is going to be in trouble."

"We all got three games this week, which means everybody's going to need a
lot of pitching."

"From what I've seen and heard so far, I think both of your teams look
pretty good as far as pitching depth goes," Paul said.

"I guess we'll find out," Aiden responded.

Larry picked Aiden up just before eleven. Nolan and Aiden had shared a
lingering goodbye kiss upstairs and said goodbye with a chaste hug at
Larry's car. Both boys had agreed to be careful in their public show of
affection when Nolan's mother was around. It was part of their effort to
keep things looking calm as long as Nolan's parents were considering the
Barnes house.

"I'll see you Tuesday at the baseball fields," Aiden said.

"I'll be looking forward to it," Nolan responded.

"I love you. Later, Sugar Bear," Aiden whispered.

"Later, Sweetcakes. I love you back."

Next: Tween Angst