What is it with Train Spotters?!?!?!?

Question

I take it they write down numbers of trains or something in their little book?!? WTF IS THAT ABOUT!?! Why do you want to collect lists of numbers?!? Is it an obsessive compulsive disorder or something? I can understand why a train enthusiast might take pictures of steam trains or something but writing numbers of the next intercity train going past Chelmsford station?!?! WHY?!?!

Answer 1

yes i must admit with you that i cannot see the attraction of standing on a platform writing down numbers of individual trains, i always said i would love to be on a brand new train and when you go through spotter central(i.e Doncaster Station) go through slowly with all the numbers covered with a white sticker.

I work on aboard trains and the funniest incident i remember was standing on Doncaster station waiting for the off signal, when a bunch of spotters hurried to the end of the platform with their cameras ready, well i was expecting something unusual like maybe a Steam Engine, or a charter service which gets them all excited, imagine my surprise when a freight train come by pulling coal!!!!!! you would have thought the second coming had just arrived.

And why do they all look the same?????

Answer 2

Not my cup of tea, but everybody's got to have a hobby!!!

According to the website listed in my source:
If you saw the movie Trainspotting a few years ago, you may recall the story of some drug-addicted young people, or maybe a good music soundtrack, but very little about trains. Well, trainspotting is all about trains and the people who watch them. It's a pastime where people stand around a railroad station for hours, in all kinds of weather, writing down numbers of passing railroad cars. And lately in Britain, the activity's popularity has been growing. Now either the people who do this are absolute loons, or we're missing something. We sent Martin Stott to check it out.

Seems harmless... and probably no more ridiculous than collecting those Precious Moments statues.

Answer 3

i'm an occassional "spotter" or rail-fan. I holiday by the community prepare, and do my "recognizing" as part of my interest of sort Railroading... I take pictures and notes to hold jointly information to apply on my RR (The Yamson-Shepherd Stockton Pacific)... an N-scale format filling a ten'x12' mattress room. the exciting ? staring at a a million/2 mile long coal prepare bypass for the period of the section... the notably much countless DTXX container stacks popping out of Oakland Ca and heading around the country... the careful stability of freight and native commuter and Amtak... and as quickly as a year, the Ringling Brothers Circus prepare. i can work out the place "rabid-spotters" would desire to be annoying, disruptive, or perhaps risky... yet I do get abit indignant listening to the various anti-spotter comments. ALOT all of us is people who, in the u . s . a . rather, write to State and Federal regulation makers to maintain the rails... damn the truckers unions, screw the SUV drivers... shall we build extra rails and placed the trains to artwork !

Answer 4

some people in the hobby of railfanning are very anal about knowing where particular equipment is. part of it comes from modeling them. just to have a model of a train isnt enough they will model it right down to stains on the paint. i am a railfan and i will spend hours watching trains. this is usually where i spend my days off. i am not sure where exactly the fascination with railroads comes from but there is a certain thrill that comes from being close to a machine of such size and power. my hair still stands on end like when i was little when the ground is rumbling under my feet. it is very hard to explain to someone. my step dad goes to car shows all the time and i have no interest in them. they are just a bunch of cars lined up so you can look at them. it seems very boring to me but i doubt he would ever do more than glance at a train. we all have something that motivates us in a unique way.

Answer 5

There are some people who are 'big picture' people who can only see the forest.

And there are others who are detail-oriented, and can see the trees.
Some of them also keep lists of train cars.

You need the 2nd group around so that big-picture people can feel important about all the forests they can see. The big-picture folks couldn't tell a Douglas Fir tree from a Jeffrey Pine if it fell on their head.

Answer 6

Trainspotting is for dorks. These people facinate me to the extreeme, i've even started "Spotter spotting". This hobby goes to show that "care in the comunity" doesn't work.

I see and hear 100's of these idiots spouting off about what engine went where, what company is doing what, how good a "Thrash" 37 XXX is, what moves are going on etc etc............all talking a load of uninformed twaddle.

I hate the buggers.

Answer 7

I don't get your point... I suggest you not pay attention to other people if it bothers you that much..

Is it any different than some airplane nut? A muscle car nut? A boating nut? Any kind of nut?

Its a hobby. People have hobbies they enjoy. Pure and simple - if that bothers you, I propose you get over it. Go watch football or cricket in a pub - thats productive right? Maybe not, but its fun and enjoyable. Thats what counts..

To each his own.

Answer 8

Actually, you see a lot of people along the right of way. As for myself, I'd rather see someone with a pen and pad in his hand rather than a rock, beer bottle, bowling ball, spike, tie plate, gun or (insert object here) that will soon be released in my direction.

So, are you the ONE person on the planet who is free from all eccentricities?

Answer 9

The phrase each to his own comes to mind or even, One Mans Meat is another Mans Poison. To a trainspotter you may have a silly hobby like watching football or even tiddly winks.

Answer 10

Like a lot of things it is a simulacrum of the hunt giving a similar buzz to those interested in it. To those of us that aren't it does seem very silly since you could just write them down anyway - everyone to their own.