Well known from social media posts reflecting eight years of travels with owner Alan David, “raildog” Max passed away Nov. 19, 2024 during a visit to former Trains Editor Jim Wrinn’s home to see Cate Wrinn. Max began showing signs of trouble while in Fort Worth, Texas, shortly after celebrating his 9th birthday on November 10th. After a vet visit, it was confirmed that he was having heart trouble. He was getting dizzy, stumbling, and falling down. Max was taken back to his home in Kansas and buried the next morning at sunrise.
Max was known for his Facebook page, “Where is Max today?” Found as a stray in 2015, this dog soon became a notable pup in the world of railroading. “He logged over 1,800 miles on Amtrak, and enjoyed cab rides on steam, diesel, and electric trains. Not bad for a dog!” says David. His page not only highlighted his many travels alongside his owner but Max had over 1,000 followers in 20 countries.
In 2015, Max’s (and David’s) life changed forever. According to David, the young stray was advertised as “Free to a good home” by a family who had found him walking along a local road. His piercing blue eyes and dark coloring were eye catching, not just for David but for many others that would come to meet him.
“After being asked many times by strangers for a picture, I decided to start a Facebook page for him,” David says. “The posts would show Max in some interesting place and ask ‘Where is Max today?’ followed by a description and some local history. Eventually that became the name of the page. This was never a commercial venture, just a man and his dog seeing the country.”
Many railroad subjects were covered on the page, along with ships, planes, and scenic wonders. The good-natured dog won over many individuals and word of his page spread fast. “I always told him his job was to put smiles on faces and he did that well, all the way to his dying day,” says David.
Max’s most viewed and shared post was when he was invited to be photographed at the Union Pacific Steam Shop in 2020. Pictures of him with the Big Boy No. 4014 and UP’s Manager of Heritage Operations Ed Dickens in the shop received over 20,000 views. After he received his service dog certification, many more doors were opened for him to ride trains, visit museums, and more. All of the visits were shared on his page, usually with contact information to encourage others to visit.
Max’s presence and railroad travels will be missed.
My condolences to Max and friends. In my 42 year railroad industry tenure, the only critters and mascots I ever recall were always cats in various depots and yard offices. One exception, before my 2010 retirement, the trainmaster (MTO) in my rural outlying office in NM, was briefly bringing in to work, his personnel pet Rotweiller.
Also one day, the MTO got a radio call from an eastbound freight just outside the office, that they could not proceed on their green indication because a kitten was nestled in the track.
So the MTO went outside and rescued the kitten, bringing him indoors as a mascot. The orange kitten, named Ambush due to his bushwhacking ability to scare us when we entered the office in the morning, was very vocal, always howling while the MTO was on a morning conference call via his speaker phone, so he had to go. The MTO, road foremen of engines, signal tech, and myself drew straws as to who would take Ambush home , so yours truly drew the short straw, lol. My inlaws next door enjoined his company for many years. 🙂
Sad, very sad, RIP Max.
We have had Dirt’s passing and now Max’s passing. Sad for rail fans and their owners.
Max met Dirt and DJ a few months before he passed, and has visited all 3 statues of Dirt.
All dogs deserve a loving home, but we each must hope for a dog who enjoys train watching. Some dogs do but many don’t, as they have very sensitive hearing. Sadly we’ve had the experience of a couple of dogs who initially enjoyed going trackside with us but later grew to hate it.
What a great life and a wonderful companion. RIP.
R.I.P. Max, you will be missed trackside.