I, Bill McNally, am a lifelong lover of trains and take every opportunity I can to ride the rails or otherwise work on the railroad. My love for trains began in childhood when my uncle gave me an electric Thomas the Tank Engine model train set on my fourth birthday. I couldn’t get enough of trains then, and I still can’t!
After graduating high school, I spent eight years working in the maritime field before making railroading my job in 2016. That year I joined the Friends of the Valley Railroad as a volunteer, and just weeks later I was hired on by the Valley Railroad as paid staff. I still work for them in riverboat operations, steam engine operations, and train operations.
I am also a licensed captain, holding a 100 Ton Master’s license. I operate boats around southern New England, particularly in the lower Connecticut River Valley. My experience in both railroading and piloting vessels is what led to me naming this website ‘The Railroading Captain.’