First Spot Since 1990

[sbaxter77]

Sorry if in wrong tread, first post!

I haven't done any spotting since 1990, when I was 13 and used to go with my dad. Picked up a copy of ABC Rail Guide on Monday and the bug seems to have come back 35 years later!

I even stopped at my local station on my way home from work to do my first spot (which just so happened to be the 17:04 (running late) 377 707 at Kingswood station) to see how the book worked, along with Spotlog, compared to the old Ian Allen books!

I think this may be the return of a very old hobby that I abandoned all those years ago!

So onto my question, I presume places such as Clapham / Waterloo require you to have a platform ticket of some sort unless you have specifically travelled there via train and have one already? Also, how are the public and station staff with spotters these days?

Any advice truly welcome as it's been a long time since standing on the bridge just outside Wimbledon station or at the level crossing at New Malden with my dad!

 

[Sun Chariot]

Welcome!

Yes, things have changed (my "track bashing" and general rail photography years were early 1980s until mid-1990s).

Posts I've read on other threads, suggest that larger & busier stations require you to seek out the station duty manager (or similar), to let them know of your presence and intent. It's a much more security-aware environment, nowadays.

For non-travel, a platform ticket is required at many stations operating tucket gatelines. That being said, I drove to Bognor Regis station 2 years ago, to photograph its old semaphore signals (attached). When I tried to buy a platform ticket, the clerk told me I could do it for free - and the gateline staff were similarly obliging!

My times - walking into Eastfield and brazenly asking to look round (ED's depot foreman said yes!), plus even more brazen sneaks into Crewe Electric Depot (81s, 82s, 83s, 85s galore), Bury Shed (the withdrawn 504s) and MC Metals scrapyard - well, I very much doubt I'd get away with it now!

 

[Islineclear3_1]

When I have a ticket to travel, I usually stay "invisible" and don't make myself conspicuous/stand out as a possible threat/hazard to staff. I rarely do much "spotting" these days but at most of the stations I used to frequent regularly, staff knew me by sight and waved me through. Too much work, burnout and little interest in modern stock now doesn't get me out on the platform

@Sun Chariot Nice to see the semaphores at Bognor are still looking fabulous. I know they were replaced around the end of 2023(?).

 

[Sun Chariot]

@Sun Chariot Nice to see the semaphores at Bognor are still looking fabulous. I know they were replaced around the end of 2023(?).

Thanks. They lasted a little longer, as I photo'd Bognor's & Littlehampton's brackets during September 2024. I have not been back to these locations since.
Also Marchwood's (erstwhile Fawley branch).

 

[30907]

Thanks. They lasted a little longer, as I photo'd Bognor's & Littlehampton's brackets during September 2024. I have not been back to these locations since.

Still there a month ago

 

[Sun Chariot]

Still there a month ago

Excellent! Many thanks.

 

[sbaxter77]

Welcome!

Yes, things have changed (my "track bashing" and general rail photography years were early 1980s until mid-1990s).

Posts I've read on other threads, suggest that larger & busier stations require you to seek out the station duty manager (or similar), to let them know of your presence and intent. It's a much more security-aware environment, nowadays.

For non-travel, a platform ticket is required at most stations operating tucket gatelines. That being said, I drove to Bognor Reigis station 2 years ago, to photograph its old semaphore signals (attached). When I tried to buy a platform ticket, the clerk told me I could do it for free - and the gateline staff were similarly obliging!

My times - walking into Eastfield and brazenly asking to look round (ED's depot foreman said yes!), plus even more brazen sneaks into Crewe Electric Depot (81s, 82s, 83s, 85s galore), Bury Shed (the withdrawn 504s) and MC Metals scrapyard - well, I very much doubt I'd get away with it now!

Thank you for this, i have been reading up since Monday but thought i would try and get some info from people in the know and alot more up to date than I!

 

[Bevan Price]

In some areas it can be helpful to get a one day rover / travelcard, so you can access all stations in an area without additional charge. You can also move from station to station if you encounter "problems", or want a change of scenery.

 

[Royston Vasey]

Sorry if in wrong tread, first post!

I haven't done any spotting since 1990, when I was 13 and used to go with my dad. Picked up a copy of ABC Rail Guide on Monday and the bug seems to have come back 35 years later!

I even stopped at my local station on my way home from work to do my first spot (which just so happened to be the 17:04 (running late) 377 707 at Kingswood station) to see how the book worked, along with Spotlog, compared to the old Ian Allen books!

I think this may be the return of a very old hobby that I abandoned all those years ago!

So onto my question, I presume places such as Clapham / Waterloo require you to have a platform ticket of some sort unless you have specifically travelled there via train and have one already? Also, how are the public and station staff with spotters these days?

Any advice truly welcome as it's been a long time since standing on the bridge just outside Wimbledon station or at the level crossing at New Malden with my dad!

You know, it's a precious thing that something you once cared so much about, never truly leaves you and can give you all that childhood joy all over again. The enjoyment is hardwired in, somehow.

For me it was afternoons at Newcastle or standing on the car park wall at Durham watching the Transpennine and Crosscountry locos and HSTs.

Recent years and relatively frequent need/excuse to travel for my job, have given me opportunities to enjoy whatever routes, rolling stock and locations I want to tick off my bucket list, choosing to an extent where I go, but most of all choosing how I get there. If you're doing this, Trainsplit journey searches are almost endlessly configurable including extended connections, and I usually end up spending less money on three times the mileage and time to get to the same place... there are so many ways to get to Birmingham for example, where I often need to go anyway.

I have also enjoyed spending evenings at, for example, Crewe where though a shadow of what it once was, is still a hive of activity. Or at a loose end for an evening in Manchester, grabbing an advance to Lancaster and sitting at the picnic tables at the marvellous platform pub. Or giving myself a 90 minute connection at Sheffield to sit on the high bench at the Sheffield Tap watching things go by.

Crewe is a favourite of mine and it's such a large and complex station, so used to enthusiasts, that I haven't ever been challenged by staff there. And they have even let me through the barriers just to spot.

Clapham Junction for you would be quite accessible. If you're staying for a while, my advice is be on a paper travelcard, so you can't be hit by incomplete journey charges when spending a three hour "connection"!

 

[birchesgreen]

Posts I've read on other threads, suggest that larger & busier stations require you to seek out the station duty manager (or similar), to let them know of your presence and intent. It's a much more security-aware environment, nowadays.

So people claim though i've never done that or had any issues, indeed spent 5 hours at Derby earlier today.

 

[Sun Chariot]

So people claim though i've never done that or had any issues, indeed spent 5 hours at Derby earlier today.

That is very refreshing to hear. I used to wander unhindered around a gateline-absent Preston station, in the latter 1980s. I haven't been at Derby since 1988.