Does being called a train spotter offend you (if your just a rail fan)?

[Swift-Deere]

Looking around at this forum and other sources many rail enthusiasts seem to get annoyed or offended at being called train spotters (because of the stereotypical image of trainspotter i.e. the anorak and glasses clad nerd).

Are any of you offended if someone calls you a train spotter if you tell them you like trains(but dont go train spotting)?

Do you want to avoid this image?

Trainspotters does this upset you that fellow rail fans are distancing themselves from you, do you even care?

As for me am a train fan but not or have never been a trainspotter so if my friends say am a trainspotter i get pretty annoyed about it and correct them

Whats do you guys about this whole issue?

 

[43034 The Black Horse]

Most people know I'm not a train spotter - The folks at school now know i'm an Enthusiast or a 'Basher' (Some even know what a Red Pen merchant is!).

Not too fussed to randomers I don't know - Couldn't give a t0ss what they think.....

 

[poshbakerloo]

I hate being called a train spotter. It always makes me think of a fat 50 year old man in a bright blue anorak with a note pad writing down the numbers!

Which is something I don't even do. I just like train ie watching them at the station when waiting for a train lol

 

[Swift-Deere]

I hate being called a train spotter. It always makes me think of a fat 50 year old man in a bright blue anorak with a note pad writing down the numbers!

Which is something I don't even do. I just like train ie watching them at the station when waiting for a train lol

Me Too lol

 

[Old Timer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhQQ_mIUvOs

 

[Swift-Deere]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhQQ_mIUvOs

That was certently er...interesting lol

 

[Old Timer]

Thought it would be !

My dry sense of humour is an acquired taste I am afraid. Too often it is either not recognised or mistaken.

 

[Phoenix]

Personally I don't mind being associated with having a interest in the railways personally if people want to hide it and not do it they should stop and do something else otherwise it just looks like some secret perversion.
I love trains and am addicted to them all my friends and family know and yeah it can be the focal point of some convos in the pub but I take it on the chin because at the end of the day doing train related things is worth the bother.

I really don't want to be seen as a synic but I really think people need to stop thinking about the image there portraying and also stop trying to please there peers a month ago my girlfriend left me and it wasn't because im a train spotter so either way were all still part of the human race and need to realize that.

 

[Dai.]

I don't really mind what people call me as long as they don't start making fun of my hobby.


We all have different interests, I don't follow them about shouting abuse at them as they do theirs, why should we be treated differently?

 

[Phoenix]

I don't really mind what people call me as long as they don't start making fun of my hobby.


We all have different interests, I don't follow them about shouting abuse at them as they do theirs, why should we be treated differently?

Sadly because of the fact over the last few decades the media has portrayed us as boring uneventful people who participate in a pointless hobbie but it's easy enough to change peoples minds on that.

 

[Daimler]

I have been a spotter on-off, but I don't know if it's really my 'thing' - I just can't be bothered a lot of the time, and am happier taking photos when at the lineside.

Nonetheless, I really don't mind people seeing me as a 'trainspotter'. So what, after all?

 

[Aictos]

The one thing that really upsets me is the view from some quarters that if you show any interest in the railway, you must automatically be a train spotter and spend time writing down every number you see be it Loco, Carriages or Wagons etc...
I just like learning how things work,

 

[NSEFAN]

if you show any interest in the railway, you must automatically be a train spotter and spend time writing down every number you see be it Loco, Carriages or Wagons etc..

It is for this reason, if I ever get questioned by a member of staff or the public, that I say I'm a trainspotter, not a rail enthusiast. Most people have simple views about things: they understand the concept of 'trainspotter' better than 'rail enthusiast'.

It doesn't bother me though. People can think what they want, as long as I can keep taking pictures!

 

[Mojo]

Don't see why rail enthusiasts are any more sad than football fans. How many railway enthusiasts wear a railway uniform when they go out for the day to do whatever they do, go miles across the country on a regular basis to see something or cry if they miss their favourite train? How many TV channels are there for rail enthusiasts to just sit and watch trains go past, or radio stations that just play news about the railway? Finally how much do rail enthusiasts talk about their interest outside of the "circle?" Some people I know seem to have no topic of conversation other than football or how many drinks they had last night.

Obviously YMMV and there are football fans and rail enthusiasts that either do this or they don't.

 

[Oswyntail]

I hate being called a train spotter. It always makes me think of a fat 50 year old man in a bright blue anorak with a note pad writing down the numbers!....

Grr. As a 56 year old man with ample girth and a discreet notepad I think you mock me personally. My Hawkshead jacket is grey, though, not blue. And, like Colin in the video, I have been "spotting" for many, many years - actually, I think this must be about my half-century. Champagne in my thermos next time, I think.
I know some people think the activity pointless, and at base it is. But it satisfies a part of my urge to collect, gives me a nice warm feeling of remembering the idyll of my childhood, and, perhaps most importantly, gives me an opportunity to chill and turn my brain off. I am quite open about this facet of my life, and, though at first amused at thinking of me being a "Colin", colleagues and friends realise that the hobby is a part of me and contributes to the lovable and fascinating whole. So they can call me what they like.
What does annoy me is a) people who mock any group of people simply because they do not do what they do and b) people who do have some feeling for the mocked group but join in with the mockery because they do not have the self-confidence not to.

 

[Swift-Deere]

Don't see why rail enthusiasts are any more sad than football fans. How many railway enthusiasts wear a railway uniform when they go out for the day to do whatever they do, go miles across the country on a regular basis to see something or cry if they miss their favourite train? How many TV channels are there for rail enthusiasts to just sit and watch trains go past, or radio stations that just play news about the railway? Finally how much do rail enthusiasts talk about their interest outside of the "circle?" Some people I know seem to have no topic of conversation other than football or how many drinks they had last night.

Obviously YMMV and there are football fans and rail enthusiasts that either do this or they don't.

Yeh i Hate people who never shut up about football especially those who support clubs that are rubbish and never going to win anything (i.e. Everton, Liverpool fc) but think they are the best clubs in the world.

Used to really annoy me in College when you were in search of a civilized conversation and all as you got was the great Everton waffle

(Sorry any Everton, Liverpool or other football club fans not offence meant just please try and find something else to talk about as well)

 

[Phoenix]

Grr. As a 56 year old man with ample girth and a discreet notepad I think you mock me personally. My Hawkshead jacket is grey, though, not blue. And, like Colin in the video, I have been "spotting" for many, many years - actually, I think this must be about my half-century. Champagne in my thermos next time, I think.
I know some people think the activity pointless, and at base it is. But it satisfies a part of my urge to collect, gives me a nice warm feeling of remembering the idyll of my childhood, and, perhaps most importantly, gives me an opportunity to chill and turn my brain off. I am quite open about this facet of my life, and, though at first amused at thinking of me being a "Colin", colleagues and friends realise that the hobby is a part of me and contributes to the lovable and fascinating whole. So they can call me what they like.
What does annoy me is a) people who mock any group of people simply because they do not do what they do and b) people who do have some feeling for the mocked group but join in with the mockery because they do not have the self-confidence not to.

Thank you and round of applause for once we get some honesty on the subject.

 

[yorkie]

I think it's fair to say a car enthusiast would object to being called a "car spotter", so of course I am going to object to being called a "train spotter", because I'm not one.

Different people will have different interpretations of the term, but the implication is of someone who stands at a station platform for many hours, writing down numbers. If people want to do that, then that's up to them, and they have every right to do that and it's not right to insult them for doing that, but it's not for me.

Unfortunately many people think that if you are interested in trains or railways then you must be a spotter who stands at the end of a platform for hours on end doing nothing other than writing numbers down.

The term "trainspotting" is used as an insult, and I would say anyone who does not stand on a platform end for hours writing down numbers has every right to be offended at being called one. A "boy racer" would be offended if you called them a "car spotter" so why shouldn't a "basher" be offended at being called a "train spotter"?

 

[37401]

I dont like being call a trainspotter, mainly because the people that call me that think of the anorak type, the compleae opposite to what I am.

I prefer

Crank
Enthusiast
Basher

 

[ChrisTheRef]

I have never and will never take a photo/video of a train or write down its number. It really doesn't appeal to me.

I like them, they're my favourite form of transport, but I think maybe that's it?

I have no problem with "train spotters" or whatever the PC phrase is, I'm just not one of 'em

 

[43021HST]

Looking around at this forum and other sources many rail enthusiasts seem to get annoyed or offended at being called train spotters (because of the stereotypical image of trainspotter i.e. the anorak and glasses clad nerd).

Are any of you offended if someone calls you a train spotter if you tell them you like trains(but dont go train spotting)?

Do you want to avoid this image?

Trainspotters does this upset you that fellow rail fans are distancing themselves from you, do you even care?

As for me am a train fan but not or have never been a trainspotter so if my friends say am a trainspotter i get pretty annoyed about it and correct them

Whats do you guys about this whole issue?

My friends always use it to describe me, I,M A RAIL ENTHUSIAST NOT A TRAIN SPOTTER I DO NOT TAKE NUMBERS! every time I try to explain that it just makes things worse.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I dont like being call a trainspotter, mainly because the people that call me that think of the anorak type, the compleae opposite to what I am.

I prefer

Crank
Enthusiast
Basher

But you are the one who can remember all the numbers. Hmmmmmmm?

 

[90019]

But you are the one who can remember all the numbers. Hmmmmmmm?

Being able to remember them is not the same as keeping a record of them.

I'll try and remember the number of a train if I take a photo of it for reference, and because it's interesting to know what it is that's in the photo.

 

[generalvegitable]

I hate the term train spotter, most people know I like trains and are OK with it, I don't like football particularly because people take it too seriously, I like going to the end of a platform and just sitting there watching trains go past, I don't have a notebook and write down the numbers, when I first told my mates that I like trains they said, "you can't, your not an anorak" and after a bit of explanation they accepted it, there is just one person who goes on at me about being a "trainspotter" and I can't beat him up because he is only 11 (or 12 I don't know or care) and everyone would tell me to pick on someone my own size

those who support clubs that are rubbish and never going to win anything

I support one like that, but then again I only support them because they are the village team.

 

[Toots]

The one thing that really upsets me is the view from some quarters that if you show any interest in the railway, you must automatically be a train spotter and spend time writing down every number you see be it Loco, Carriages or Wagons etc...
I just like learning how things work,

And I imagine you were told not to say you interested in trains when you applied for the job in case ''they think you are a Spotter''.I took this advice and although I got the job,it turns out the guy that gave me the job was indeed an enthusiast!.I'm not a Spotter,I am more interested in the infrastructure side of things,although enjoy a steamer going by,but to be honest I don't like and never use the word 'enthusiast'.The fact is,if I let my guard down and show a little too much knowledge of the infrastructure side of things or I know a loco type,I am instantly branded a Spotter,so I'm a Spotter!.Its the only industry I know,where,if you show an interest,its detrimental!...can you imagine a Motor Mechanic saying he wasn't interested in cars?,or a DJ saying he wasn't into music?....as I say,only on the railway! .
I always wear a 'British Railways' badge,if anyone asks why I just say,''because you say I'm a Spotter''!.

 

[Swift-Deere]

and I can't beat him up because he is only 11 (or 12 I don't know or care) and everyone would tell me to pick on someone my own size

Beating the Guy up seems a little harsh lol

I support one like that, but then again I only support them because they are the village team.

I didn't mean local team is villages etc i meant teams live liverpool or Everton who think there great, but have never won the Premier league

 

[ChrisTheRef]

I didn't mean local team is villages etc i meant teams live liverpool or Everton who think there great, but have never won the Premier league

Be fair, Liverpool have won their fair share of stuff (unbiased, I'm a Wigan fan. We've won the Auto Windscreens Trophy twice!)

 

[berwickspotter]

I Think we have had this type of thread before but as i always say i'm a spotter and proud of it. NO I DON'T WEAR A ANORAK but i do take numbers and have done for the past 20 years. all the people at work no and all my freinds no and they do take the p**s but i always say if you don't like what i do then thats your problem DEAL WITH IT

 

[Menace Dennis]

I'm a Rail Enthusiast whether people like it or not. I do as I please, the same as Aircraft Watchers, Sports Fans, etc., who nobody seems to have that dig at.

 

[SouthEastern-465]

Train spotting has always being associated with rail enthusiats in my opinion even if you dont do train spotting and your a rail fanatic people will always associate you with it.

I admit I do a bit of spotting now and then but nothing major I dont feel the least embarrased about it or if anyone associates me with it because I like trains.

I do spotting whoevers there mates,family,commuters I dont care whos there aslong as I enjoy myself I dont care what anyone else thinks and that is that and I am proud of being a railway enthusiast and a spotter.

It is equally the same as liking football or car racing but as for the image of the train spotter looks all I can say is that when they see us at the station they will see we dont all where anoraks and have thick glasses but we look like everyday people and dress like any other person!

 

[Aussie_Rail]

Well, I used to not care being called a 'Gunzel' which is what they seem to call train-spotters here, but now that I'm sorta down sizing my level of interest I now like to refer to my interest as a 'light interest' and therefore not actually be a 'gunzel' anymore.

But the combo of 'trains/stations/anything associated with transport + camera' will deem you as a 'gunzel' or an enthusiast no matter what your level of interest in it might be.

At least, thats what I tell people.