female trainspotters awareness

[Emzymayzy123]

Hi guys i am new here and i dont know if this is the correct place to put this but i am a female train spotter/enthusiast and i dont see many other females out there in this hobby

I would like to find out why really is it only because its mostly a mans hobby and girls are worried about admitting it or is it just not their thing or what?

I'd love to find out and if i can help bring more women in to this hobby if they are wanting to do it that is of course i think it would be good to make its only regular trainspotting group for females because i see groups going out and i wonder where are the females?... if any one is interested and want to help me do this get in touch...

 

[yorkie]

Welcome to the forum

Hi guys i am new here and i dont know if this is the correct place to put this but i am a female train spotter/enthusiast and i dont see many other females out there in this hobby...

I know of several female rail enthusiasts on this forum (but not many are spotters) but you are right they are in the minority.

But that's not too dissimilar to enthusiasts of other forms of transport, such as cars, buses and planes. Also, to a lesser extent, certain sports such as football unfortunately.

I am not quite sure why. I think we've had a thread on this before, but I am struggling to find it. An interesting one relating to traincrew is this: Male and female traincrew .

 

[Cowley]

Hi guys i am new here and i dont know if this is the correct place to put this but i am a female train spotter/enthusiast and i dont see many other females out there in this hobby i would like to find out why really is it only because its mostly a mans hobby and girls are worried about admitting it or is it just not their thing or what?? id love to find out and if i can help bring more women in to this hobby if they are wanting to do it that is of course i think it would be good to make its only regular trainspotting group for females because i see groups going out and i wonder where are the females?... if any one is interested and want to help me do this get in touch...

Welcome to the forum Emzymayzy.
I don't think you're the only female enthusiast out there (there's definitely some on the forum too), I've met quite a few now especially over the last few years.
It's probably fair to say that the hobby is pretty top heavy with male enthusiasts but as with life in general things are changing.
There seems to be lots of women volunteering at the various steam railways in the country and although some of them may have come into the hobby because of their partners, many have just found it interesting and have immersed themselves in it just as the rest of us have. I have quite a few female friends that volunteer at the Mid Hants and I find that they love being involved with it all and are completely accepted as equals by their male colleagues and friends.

 

[Bromley boy]

Welcome to the forum

I know of several female rail enthusiasts on this forum (but not many are spotters) but you are right they are in the minority.

But that's not too dissimilar to enthusiasts of other forms of transport, such as cars, buses and planes. Also, to a lesser extent, certain sports such as football unfortunately.

I am not quite sure why. I think we've had a thread on this before, but I am struggling to find it. An interesting one relating to traincrew is this: Male and female traincrew .

That's an interesting one - it's very noticeable that rail enthusiasts also tend to like other forms of transport but relatively few (in my experience) like sports such as football.

I'd love to know why that is.

I've always assumed this is because people who "out" themselves as spotters tend to have the confidence to turn away from fashionable interests such a football, where for every genuine fan there are several others who follow it just because their mates do.

I'd imagine for females this takes even more self confidence as trainspotting is even further away from most fashionable female interests than the things blokes are stereotypically supposed to be interested in.

 

[Barn]

Being completely frank about it, I think there is a personality type which enjoys collecting and categorizing things, and understanding quite specific things in huge amounts of detail even if such understanding isn't really vital to day-to-day life.

That personality type is, in my view, drawn to trainspotting and is, in my view, predominantly found in males.

I suppose it is similar to the fact that Asperger syndrome, which is often associated with similar traits, is markedly more common in males than females. But, just as with Asperger syndrome, those traits are found in some women too.

None of the above is meant to be in any way derogatory to either transpotters or people with Aspeger syndrome - just an honest observation.

Rail enthusiasm more generally is much wider than trainspotting and includes all sorts of interests including architecture, civil engineering, travel and sightseeing, sociology, cartography, deal-hunting, law and legal process, timetabling, electrical engineering, politics and trade unionism, etc, etc.

 

[shredder1]

I have quite a lot of female spotters/enthusiasts on my facebook page, in fact one of them has just written a book on railways.

http://www.blurb.co.uk/b/7613242-tracing-the-lancashire-derbyshire-east-coast-railw

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Being completely frank about it, I think there is a personality type which enjoys collecting and categorizing things, and understanding quite specific things in huge amounts of detail even if such understanding isn't really vital to day-to-day life.

That personality type is, in my view, drawn to trainspotting and is, in my view, predominantly found in males.

I suppose it is similar to the fact that Asperger syndrome, which is often associated with similar traits, is markedly more common in males than females. But, just as with Asperger syndrome, those traits are found in some women too.

None of the above is meant to be in any way derogatory to either transpotters or people with Aspeger syndrome - just an honest observation.

Rail enthusiasm more generally is much wider than trainspotting and includes all sorts of interests including architecture, civil engineering, travel and sightseeing, sociology, cartography, deal-hunting, law and legal process, timetabling, electrical engineering, politics and trade unionism, etc, etc.

With regard solely to the gender bias in Aspergers diagnoses, an increasing number of professionals believe this is down to a societal bias in recognising the symptoms, rather than a greater natural prevalence in males. If a little girl seems fixated on something to the detriment of other things, that's just her way. If a little boy is fixated to the point of distraction it's seen as a problem.

 

[GW43125]

Being completely frank about it, I think there is a personality type which enjoys collecting and categorizing things, and understanding quite specific things in huge amounts of detail even if such understanding isn't really vital to day-to-day life.

That personality type is, in my view, drawn to trainspotting and is, in my view, predominantly found in males.

I suppose it is similar to the fact that Asperger syndrome, which is often associated with similar traits, is markedly more common in males than females. But, just as with Asperger syndrome, those traits are found in some women too.

None of the above is meant to be in any way derogatory to either transpotters or people with Aspeger syndrome - just an honest observation.

Rail enthusiasm more generally is much wider than trainspotting and includes all sorts of interests including architecture, civil engineering, travel and sightseeing, sociology, cartography, deal-hunting, law and legal process, timetabling, electrical engineering, politics and trade unionism, etc, etc.

I'm inclined to agree with you there.

I'm a male aspie and you've just described my personality really well.

I do inexplicably enjoy that and as you said, I can understand things in very specific details, but only certain things.

Apologies for taking this thread off topic, but I thought I'd put in my tuppence-worth as I really agree with what has been said.

 

[Barn]

With regard solely to the gender bias in Aspergers diagnoses, an increasing number of professionals believe this is down to a societal bias in recognising the symptoms, rather than a greater natural prevalence in males. If a little girl seems fixated on something to the detriment of other things, that's just her way. If a little boy is fixated to the point of distraction it's seen as a problem.

I'm by no means an expert on this. I think that you are right that Asperger syndrome in women has been, and is, underdiagnosed. But from what I have read I do not think that neutralizes the gender bias altogether. It just reduces it from historic figures of over 10:1 (indeed, Asperger himself originally felt that his syndrome simply didn't exist in women) to something more like 2:1. I also understand that females with Asperger syndrome can manifest it differently so what we think of as the 'classic' traits of the syndrome are tilted towards those typically exhibited by men.

I'm inclined to agree with you there.

I'm a male aspie and you've just described my personality really well.

I do inexplicably enjoy that and as you said, I can understand things in very specific details, but only certain things.

Apologies for taking this thread off topic, but I thought I'd put in my tuppence-worth as I really agree with what has been said.

Thank you.

Without meaning at all to diminish anyone's own experiences or play down any hardship they have faced, my own view is that Asperger syndrome is more of a 'feature' in a person than a 'bug'. I think that Asperger-type traits in people are responsible for many very productive interests and hobbies together with several skills which can be very useful in the workplace and to society if properly appreciated. To choose a relatively trivial example, if we didn't have people with Asperger syndrome, I very much doubt we would have a Wikipedia which is anywhere near as comprehensive as it is!

 

[Jess Clark]

Been a trainspotter for 1 year. 2nd year of being one in feb 2021. Great platform!

 

[Ashley Hill]

We had a secretary at my depot who was a 50 basher,not the bellowing out the window type but certainly in the front coach. We've also had several teenage girls as volunteers on my local heritage line some of whom went on to work on the mainline.

 

[The_Train]

I've seen a few women about on platforms but generally they have been there with a fella who I assumed to be a partner/husband and the woman had taken the attitude of 'if you can't beat him, join him'. There was a couple I saw at Stafford a few times last summer and it seemed that the bloke was doing the photography whilst the woman noted down the numbers - seemed like a good way of doing things.

Don't tend to see many lone females doing the hobby and I would assume one of the reasons is that they maybe don't feel safe standing on the end of a platform by themselves in this day and age, especially through the autumn/winter months when darkness comes early. We see lots of stories of boys and men being harassed/bullied/abused for wanting to note a number or photo/video a train and as this is usually conducted by groups of youths (mainly lads) I'd imagine that those situations would feel a lot worse to a lone girl/woman.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I've seen a few women about on platforms but generally they have been there with a fella who I assumed to be a partner/husband and the woman had taken the attitude of 'if you can't beat him, join him'. There was a couple I saw at Stafford a few times last summer and it seemed that the bloke was doing the photography whilst the woman noted down the numbers - seemed like a good way of doing things.

Don't tend to see many lone females doing the hobby and I would assume one of the reasons is that they maybe don't feel safe standing on the end of a platform by themselves in this day and age, especially through the autumn/winter months when darkness comes early. We see lots of stories of boys and men being harassed/bullied/abused for wanting to note a number or photo/video a train and as this is usually conducted by groups of youths (mainly lads) I'd imagine that those situations would feel a lot worse to a lone girl/woman.

There's also the (a stereotype, but not without foundation) idea that young men who are into trains (and may or may not be on the spectrum) aren't necessarily the most adept at talking to the opposite sex, and could end up coming on a bit strong if they think there's a lass who shares their interest... I can easily imagine that from that hypothetical young woman's point of view that might be intimidating.

 

[birchesgreen]

I've never seen a female rail enthusiast to be honest (that definitely wasn't accompanying someone else anyway) though i do know a few online.

Of course female rail enthusiasm has been around a long time

First recorded trainspotter was not man clad in anorak but 14-year-old girl Fanny Johnson

IT may come as a shock to most people’s preconceptions – but it seems the very first trainspotter belonged to an age when the anorak hadn’t…

www.thenorthernecho.co.uk

 

[Condor7]

On the recent Alan Carr‘s Epic Game Show where they revived and updated popular gameshows from the past, one of the female contestants declared her hobby as train spotting.

 

[richw]

by no means an expert on this. I think that you are right that Asperger syndrome in women has been, and is, underdiagnosed

My daughter is suspected to be somewhere on the ASD spectrum, I have been Told by the experts it’s much harder to diagnose a female child As many of the traits are Seen as stereotypical behaviour in a female child, whereas they stand out much more in a male child as it can often see unstereotypical behaviours. The professional implied many females don’t get a diagnosis until adult life (a family friend got her diagnosis in her 30s) many don’t get diagnosed unless it impacts their lives. Many males get diagnosed in childhood.

 

[route101]

Yes , ive only seen one female trainspotter and she was with her trainspotter partner.

I dont trainspot but like travelling around , usually on my own. Dont see many females doing that either.

 

[S&CLER]

I remember going to the first meeting of my university railway society in October 1967. There was only one member from one of the women's colleges . The secretary welcomed her and said that "last time we had a lady member, she ended up marrying the ex-secretary". Quick as a flash the new member replied "Please point out the ex-secretaries."

 

[507021]

My daughter is suspected to be somewhere on the ASD spectrum, I have been Told by the experts it’s much harder to diagnose a female child As many of the traits are Seen as stereotypical behaviour in a female child, whereas they stand out much more in a male child as it can often see unstereotypical behaviours. The professional implied many females don’t get a diagnosis until adult life (a family friend got her diagnosis in her 30s) many don’t get diagnosed unless it impacts their lives. Many males get diagnosed in childhood.

One of my daughters is suspected to be on the spectrum, too. Her GP has put her on the waiting list for an assessment, but we were told during the appointment it could take a long time for this to happen as the waiting list is very long.

I'm autistic myself, and received a diagnosis when I was fifteen.

 

[richw]

One of my daughters is suspected to be on the spectrum, too. Her GP has put her on the waiting list for an assessment, but we were told during the appointment it could take a long time for this to happen as the waiting list is very long.

I'm autistic myself, and received a diagnosis when I was fifteen.

Here in Cornwall the wait is around 4 years!
As she’s growing in confidence her traits are showing much more.

 

[507021]

Here in Cornwall the wait is around 4 years!
As she’s growing in confidence her traits are showing much more.

That's ridiculous, although sadly, not surprising as I was told we're looking at a 2-3 year wait. I'll be very, very surprised if my daughter's had her assessment before she starts school.

In the mean time though, I plan to make use of the resources and support groups which her GP recommended.

 

[Peter C]

In terms of why there aren't more female trainspotters, I wonder if it's down to the stereotypes of boys being into engineering and trains and that sort of thing and girls being into pink cuddly stuff. Completely wrong but people still believe that as a lot of them are taught it from a young age.
If you look at the stereotypes of trainspotting, they're either a man in an anorak noting down numbers from a soggy platform end, or a group of young boys stood watching trains go by from the lineside. Even though they're not true (necessarily - I've not seen anyone trainspotting in an anorak yet ), they give a message to girls and essentially tells them that the railway isn't for them. Which is complete nonsense, and something which is being changed as more and more women join the railway and encourage others to do so. A lot of what we see/hear/experience as a child goes on to shape who we are later in life and so if a girl is told that just boys watch trains, she may well go on through life thinking trains aren't for her.

I think the best way of trying to change this and to try and get more women into trainspotting is through showing it's not just for men. People on here sharing stories/experiences; telling friends; there are all sorts of ways of making the hobby more accessible. Stereotypes will always stay around in regards to the hobby - the comedians won't lose their trainspotting jokes just yet (!) - but hopefully, as is being seen on the railway as an industry, more and more women will join and then it will become much more of an inclusive thing, which is good for all involved!

This is probably a load of old nonsense, especially the first bit, so let me know if so.

-Peter

 

[Ashley Hill]

I remember girls featuring in the Rail Riders magazine winning prizes etc. So in its own way perhaps BR tried to encourage females to enjoy railways.

 

[86247]

Back in late 80s early 90s their was a female train spotter that me and my mate regularly seen either at warrington or crewe. She used to have a dog with her called loco , not seen her for a long time though. Not seen many since maybe 1 or 2.

 

[AY1975]

I remember girls featuring in the Rail Riders magazine winning prizes etc. So in its own way perhaps BR tried to encourage females to enjoy railways.

Yes, sure, although I think the Rail Riders club (which I belonged to as a child) was aimed at promoting an interest in railways and train travel in general rather than necessarily being aimed specifically at enthusiasts.

There are a number of now-closed threads on the original 1980s Rail Riders club:

Rail riders

Who remembers the Rail Riders club, and of course their two locomotive, 47406 and 47488? Do you think Network Rail should look at restarting the club?

www.railforums.co.uk

Rail riders club

Hi , i`m a newbie ,just joined and was wondering if there are any other ex Rail Riders Club members in the forum . i was a member and still have most of my Rail Riders stuff but my old membership card is missing . i`d love to get a copy of the card so was wondering if anyone can print me a copy...

www.railforums.co.uk

RailRiders

Was anyone else here a member of "The Happiest Club in the Land" way back in the early 80's? I joined at the St Rollox open day and apart from seeing the APT for the first time this was the highlight of my day. I remember using up most of my travel discount vouchers over the two years I was a...

www.railforums.co.uk

And this one on the present day version: https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/rail-riders-club-2020.192220/

The present day version, which was set up at the beginning of this year, also has a website: https://www.railriders.club/

 

[DelW]

Some of the recent television programmes on heritage railways have shown a number of female volunteers. They haven't just been in the stereotypical roles (e.g. food service) either, they've included station staff, train crew and footplate crew. I'm not sure I've yet seen a driver (though I expect there are some) but I remember seeing a very enthusiastic young woman firing a steam loco (on the Ffestiniog iirc).

 

[Busaholic]

I have a good female friend who is interested in both steam and diesel engines, much more so than me in fact, and used to travel to specials like the Torbay Express, but couldn't be described as a trainspotter. She's the sort of person not phased by travelling or staying on her own, but still dresses in a feminine way. I don't think she's ever been hassled big time but she'd make it quite clear it was unwanted and she'd not tolerate it. I admire her greatly.

 

[madannie77]

Had some virus not intervened I would have been doing DEMU driver training earlier this year. As it is I shall have to remain as a train guard and diesel shunter driver for a bit longer.

These days I am rarely seen on stations or at other good photography locations without my husband, but before he retired I was often out and about on my own and sometimes surprising other enthusiasts with my knowledge of the railways and the type of photographic kit I use.

Of course I met the man who is now my husband through trains (and music). Having met and engaged in conversation during a concert I then made his head hurt a bit by rambling on about the alignment of the tunnels on the Bakerloo Line north of Piccadilly Circus during the journey home. I got off at Piccadilly Circus, apparently with him wondering how he had stumbled upon a woman who shared two of his main interests. Things have gone downhill ever since then

 

[Busaholic]

Had some virus not intervened I would have been doing DEMU driver training earlier this year. As it is I shall have to remain as a train guard and diesel shunter driver for a bit longer.

These days I am rarely seen on stations or at other good photography locations without my husband, but before he retired I was often out and about on my own and sometimes surprising other enthusiasts with my knowledge of the railways and the type of photographic kit I use.

Of course I met the man who is now my husband through trains (and music). Having met and engaged in conversation during a concert I then made his head hurt a bit by rambling on about the alignment of the tunnels on the Bakerloo Line north of Piccadilly Circus during the journey home. I got off at Piccadilly Circus, apparently with him how he had stumbled upon a woman who shared two of his main interests. Things have gone downhill ever since then

Lovely story.

 

[Bevan Price]

Back in late 80s early 90s their was a female train spotter that me and my mate regularly seen either at warrington or crewe. She used to have a dog with her called loco , not seen her for a long time though. Not seen many since maybe 1 or 2.

She lives (or lived) in the St. Helens area, and that dog definitely seemed a "bit loco". I presume the dog has long ago gone to "doggy heaven".
Not seen her for a while, but I did occasionally see her walking (alone) through St. Helens town centre. She seemed to prefer to talk to train drivers rather than other enthusiasts.