Trainspotters

[neonwilderness]

I've just spotted (sic) this thread and see there's a few members on here with an interest in railways.

I have a bit of an interest too, mainly due to various friends and family working in the industry. I usually tend to keep quiet about it as when you mention railways to anyone, they immediately think of the guy at the end of the platform with the anorak and NHS glasses. It's not surprising though when there's people like this around who clearly need to get out more:


So who else is going to own up to having an interest, and more importantly how many of you own a thermos?

Discuss.

 

[moose]

I'm not at the stage of noting down numbers in my notebook, but I have an interest in trains, particularly steam trains.
One of my best days ever was when me and my dad drove one

And yes, we toook a tartan thermos.

 

[bi0boy]

My friend says trainspotters are like proper computer hackers - by observing the smallest details of a system, they hope to gain an understanding of how the entire system operates.

 

[Roadkill]

I like trains, but I deny being a trainspotter.

 

[aqua]

you can deny all you like roadie, we know the truth

 

[Roadkill]

Bah

You ever seen me on a platform with a notebook and thermos, eh? Eh?

 

[teuchter]

I've got an interest in railways, although I have to say I don't "own up" to it all that much in real life.

I've never done the whole writing down numbers thing and I haven't got an anorak or a thermos. But I refrain from making fun of those that do.

It always seems a bit strange that it's socially acceptable to know the results of every FA cup final since 1925, spend entire evenings talking about blokes in shorts kicking a ball around, or walk about in public wearing brightly coloured uniforms sold to you by your chosen team of said blokes in shorts.

Yet, give away any knowledge about railways beyond being able to tell the difference between first and standard class, and people are soon looking at you as if you're some kind of a wierdo ....

 

[Roadkill]

It always seems a bit strange that it's socially acceptable to know the results of every FA cup final since 1925, spend entire evenings talking about blokes in shorts kicking a ball around, or walk about in public wearing brightly coloured uniforms sold to you by your chosen team of said blokes in shorts.

Very true.

 

[neonwilderness]

It always seems a bit strange that it's socially acceptable to know the results of every FA cup final since 1925, spend entire evenings talking about blokes in shorts kicking a ball around, or walk about in public wearing brightly coloured uniforms sold to you by your chosen team of said blokes in shorts.

But that's popular, so it's ok

I've never really seen the point in writing down numbers (or why people get so wound up about football for that matter). The most I've ever done is taken the odd photograph.

I'm not sure where the trainspotter stereotype has come from. The majority of people I know with an interest are fairly "normal".

 

[teuchter]

But that's popular, so it's ok

I've never really seen the point in writing down numbers (or why people get so wound up about football for that matter). The most I've ever done is taken the odd photograph.

I think there's a kind of "collecting" element lurking inside most of us (males in particular??) which may or may not go in hand with an interest for its own sake in a particular thing. So you can be interested in railways but not be compelled to collect numbers. Or perhaps vice versa. I know there are some birdwatchers who are annoyed by the "twitchers" (the ones who obsessively chase rare sightings) because they reckon they don't actually care much for the birds themselves. I guess the same probably applies to football.

I'm not sure where the trainspotter stereotype has come from. The majority of people I know with an interest are fairly "normal".

Just because they're visible, I suppose. The guy standing on the end of a platform with a notebook (I note dictaphones are popular these days...) is an easily identifiable figure.

 

[moose]

I drive past Manchester Airport a lot, and there are usually gangs of plane spotters clustered round the fence. Now that's weird

 

[Dubversion]

Bah

You ever seen me on a platform with a notebook and thermos, eh? Eh?

You get up much earlier than she does

 

[PacificOcean]

I have no interest in trains tbh (and do trainspotters still exist? Surely all trains look the same now apart from the different operating compaines liverys)

However, I have an huge facination with stations and in particular closed stations and long lost lines.

Doing a walk along the old extremity of the Metropolitain Line to Verney Junction, seeing where stations used to be and where the trackbed was, was one of the happiest days of my life.

 

[Roadkill]

I have no interest in trains tbh (and do trainspotters still exist? Surely all trains look the same now apart from the different operating compaines liverys)

You'd be surprised at the number of people you see sitting on the end of platforms with notebooks, even in the rush hour at London Bridge.

 

[PacificOcean]

You'd be surprised at the number of people you see sitting on the end of platforms with notebooks, even in the rush hour at London Bridge.

What are they noting down? I thought all trains have those dot matrix destination displays on the front now rather than numbers.

 

[Roadkill]

What are they noting down? I thought all trains have those dot matrix destination displays on the front now rather than numbers.

The train/multiple unit's number - in this case, the one just below the windscreen.

It's exactly the same as in times gone by, when kids would note down a steam engine's number - in this case the one on the side of the cab and the plate on the smokebox door.

It was about noting down the deployments of different classes of engine; what sort of duties they were doing, and so on. There are sites out there devoted to classes of locomotive that are still working where people have quite obviously been doing the same thing - noting what sort of train a particular loco was spotted hauling on a particular day.

It all seems a bit pointless to me. I like locomotives, but you won't find me noting down numbers. At a preserved railway I'm more likely to be photographing the engine. Or, on the evidence of the last couple of lines I've been to, trying to chat up the fireman.

 

[aqua]

and you say your not a trainspotter

pmsl

 

[Roadkill]

Socks, the first time you see me on a platform writing down numbers you are more than welcome to push me onto the live rail.

 

[beeboo]

I think I have internalised trainspotterphobia

I don't really know anything about trains, but have a bit of *thing* about them. Not entirely coincidentally I've ended up working in transport research and I'll sometimes have a quick shufty at someone else's copy of Modern Railways. With a little bit of encouragement I could definitely end up a proper train geek.

I went to the Steam museum at Swindon recently (on my own, under no duress, and bypassing the opportunity to spend time in the massive retail outlet). And it was really, really cool. it actually made me cry

 

[neonwilderness]

Just because they're visible, I suppose. The guy standing on the end of a platform with a notebook (I note dictaphones are popular these days...) is an easily identifiable figure.

Yeah, I guess so. People like the guy in the video I posted don't really help either

However, I have an huge facination with stations and in particular closed stations and long lost lines.

I find abandoned railways quite interesting too. There's an old depot up here out in the middle of nowhere that closed down a few years ago and you can walk right into it. Hopefully now I have a decent camera I'll get a chance to go up again and take some better photos than these.

 

[Isambard]

I am not a trainSPOTTER but I love travelling by train for the whole experience and do it a fair bit in eastern Europe where it is still cheap.
I'm fairly ´political and transport politics is one my main things.

 

[oneflewover]

Like some others on here, when you make a intentional choice to travel by a specific mode of transport, it is to your interest to ensure you know the system well. This is most important when things go wrong.

Not only the does the knowledge assist it can help pass the time travelling.

And yes, trains are my thing.

 

[neonwilderness]

If you get sick of trains, you could always try

 

[beeboo]

are there any other girls on this thread or is it a mostly boy thing

 

[teuchter]

sadly I fear it's a mostly boy thing...

 

[pembrokestephen]

But that's popular, so it's ok

I've never really seen the point in writing down numbers (or why people get so wound up about football for that matter). The most I've ever done is taken the odd photograph.

I'm not sure where the trainspotter stereotype has come from. The majority of people I know with an interest are fairly "normal".

My guess is that the kind of "collecting" behaviour - which I see has already been alluded to by someone - is, especially in its more extreme forms, found on the autistic spectrum. I can think of several trainspotter types I have known who probably DID have an autistic spectrum disorder, and I was always fascinated by trains as a kid (and did, for a while, do the number-collecting thing, in an attempt to conform, before realising that there was no point to it), mostly because of the interest in "decoding" all the various types and what was different from them: it's now looking likely that I may be very slightly along the Asperger's line myself. Which explains a few things

Anyway, I suspect that's why trainspotters and the like get ostracised: in the extreme forms, there's something a bit "other" about them, and the Great Unwashed doesn't like "other".

My guess is that the football people are no less "other", but there's something already quite obsessive about the whole sport deal, so their "autistic" tendencies don't tend to stand out quite so much.

 

[teuchter]

My guess is that the football people are no less "other", but there's something already quite obsessive about the whole sport deal, so their "autistic" tendencies don't tend to stand out quite so much.

I've started a thread over in the football forum to see what they have to say about this matter...

 

[pembrokestephen]

I've started a thread over in the football forum to see what they have to say about this matter...

Excellent, that could be quite interesting...

 

[franklin1777]

I have an interest in trains but would not say I bother with the typical trainspotter bit. I dont bother collecting numbers.

I do browse through the railway mags in the news agent and have an interested in abandoned railways.

Plus I know all the different class engines, but really only bothered about unique trains like this one, but don't feel the need to make a note of when I have seen it.

 

[pembrokestephen]

I have an interest in trains but would not say I bother with the typical trainspotter bit. I dont bother collecting numbers.

I do browse through the railway mags in the news agent and have an interested in abandoned railways.

Plus I know all the different class engines, but really only bothered about unique trains like this one, but don't feel the need to make a note of when I have seen it.

I'd say that pretty much sums up my own level of interest - active curiosity, but stopping short of outright obsession

*and then he went and spoiled it all by asking why that HST is in all-over yellow...*