Penn State Altoona student turns lifelong love of trains into YouTube channel

ALTOONA, Pa. - Kian Woods says he was always a curious kid who loved playing with mechanical and kinetic style toys. He says his family went to the local library often where he would spend hours playing at a wooden train table. As he grew older, his own wooden train toys were discarded for motorized Trackmaster toy trains, which were then discarded for model trains. This was no phase.

When the Connecticut native began looking into colleges, he knew he wanted to pursue a railroading degree. During a college fair held at his high school, he came across information about Penn State Altoona and its Rail Transportation Engineering program. Woods says he was immediately sold.

He is now in his second year and a member of the college's student chapter of the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA). The group facilitates connections among engineering students, railroad industry professionals, and Penn State alumni. There are seminars and guest speakers, field trips and conferences.

If you think that would be enough of the #TrainLife for Woods, you'd be wrong. His love for trains doesn't stop at just his college degree. He also frequently goes out to "railfan," a term used to describe watching or recording trains.

He's the guy you see standing on a bridge or overpass, camera equipment in hand, both patiently and eagerly awaiting a train to roll through on the tracks beneath. He's the guy who frequently takes road trips in his Mazda 3 named Pablo just to see trains pass by - Boston, New York City, Florida, California, Montreal, and Panama among his destinations.

He's also the guy who created a YouTube channel dedicated to, well, trains, of course.

"I always knew I wanted to make a train-related YouTube channel, but I didn't have the motivation until I found one that made videos I really liked. That gave me the kick I needed to give it a try."

Woods created SAS Railfan, "a railfanning YouTube channel by a railfan with a short attention span," in 2022.

He had a specific vision in mind for SAS, mainly that it would not be boring.

"A problem I've always had with the average train video is that people just upload raw, unedited material, literally just a train going past. I get super bored watching that kind of video and find myself skipping through them. That's why I make my videos engaging and fun to watch."

His videos include compilations, Q & A, various shenanigans, many, many, many names of trains, and even one where he takes his dog, Finn, railfanning.

"I knew there was an open market for train videos that are much more enjoyable to watch through humor and editing. Not many channels were making that kind of content."

Woods uses music, graphics, voice-over, sound effects, and animation to make videos he feels are engaging and entertaining.

"That's why my channel has outgrown older train channels so much faster. It's what people want to watch."

And it seems to be working. SAS currently has more than 2,600 subscribers.

"I've gotten many comments and messages saying that people really enjoy the content and want more like it. That kind of feedback is what motivates me to keep making videos and keep improving their quality."