each day , it 's become an attraction for fans eager to collect train images and sounds . In 2001 , Williams , who grew up by a train track , pushed town officials to construct a viewing platform with picnic tables , wireless Internet and a scanner to detect oncoming trains . The Southeast Georgia town reports that at least 12,500 visitors from all over the world visit the platform to watch trains each year . Watch Williams and his friend talk about the joy of train watching '' As the prominence of the iconic American railroad has faded over the past half-century , there remains a devout group of train enthusiasts like Williams and his friends , dubbed railfans , who obsessively chase and watch powerful trains glide along railroad tracks . Trains Magazine , an industry publication , estimates that there are 175,000 U.S. railfans , mostly male baby boomers . `` The word ` enthusiast ' does n't begin to cover their devotion , '' said Rhonda Del Boccio , head of the Okefenokee Chamber of Commerce , which oversees railfan tourism in Folkston . `` Picture -LSB- the popular game -RSB- ` World of Warcraft
FOLKSTON , Georgia -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Rain or shine , 80-year-old Cookie Williams plops himself on the wooden viewing platform perched over double train tracks . Cookie Williams , 80 , watches a CSX freight train chug by on a typical Tuesday afternoon . On this warm May afternoon , a patient Williams sits slouched , legs crossed and arms relaxed , donning his vintage CSX railroad company cap littered with miniature train pendants . He is waiting for a train . A scanner , listening for oncoming train signals , crackles in the background as it picks up some conductor chatter . He waits some more . `` A lot of people in this town thought I was on the kooky side , '' said Williams , who is retired from the paper and pulp industry . `` But I love it . I 've loved these trains ever since I was a kid . '' Folkston , Georgia , where Williams lives , is one of many train hot spots nationwide . Here , the blasting train noises are jokingly called `` Folkston music . '' With up to 60 trains crawling loudly through the quaint town