Notepad people

[slowNsteady]

Often whilst driving through stations, namely Bethnal Green, I see people and groups with notepads looking intently at each passing train.

My question is obviously they are taking down unit numbers but what else and what exactly do they do with this information? Isn’t there easier ways to get this information than standing in not the most scenic part of London in all weathers?

Fair play to them though, it’s dedication and social. But they never wave back

 

[Merseysider]

Some people like to 'tick off' all units within a given class of train, almost akin to birdwatchers who will tick off all types of bird they see. Often it is as simple as that - 'collecting'.

 

[D1511]

They're too busy scribbling down unit numbers to wave back. More modern dorks use a dictaphone or phone voice recorder to record numbers, including the numbers of IKA megafret wagons on intermodals in one horrific example I saw at Stafford recently.
They're a bit of a platform pest, but otherwise reasonably harmless.

 

[6Gman]

They're too busy scribbling down unit numbers to wave back. More modern dorks use a dictaphone or phone voice recorder to record numbers, including the numbers of IKA megafret wagons on intermodals in one horrific example I saw at Stafford recently.
They're a bit of a platform pest, but otherwise reasonably harmless.

In what way "horrific"?

In what way a "platform pest"?

I see the guys at Stafford frequently - they don't do anything untoward and never seem to get in anybody's way.

 

[D1511]

In what way "horrific"?

In what way a "platform pest"?

I see the guys at Stafford frequently - they don't do anything untoward and never seem to get in anybody's way.

Horses for courses I suppose, but in 50 years of being a rail enthusiast, I've never collected a wagon or unit number. Observe, yes, but written down and ticked off in a book (is there actually a book of IKA and FEA numbers???) certainly not.
I've spoken to a few of the lads at Stafford too, and they're mostly fine, but please don't try to deny that platform neds are a thing.

 

[robbeech]

Everyone is different, I know people that will have every carriage number written or recorded somehow, and the number of miles and chains travelled in a particular coach on a particular train / number of miles behind a particular loco, some that will just note down unit numbers, some that will get photographs and some that just like to look at the trains.

I think there will be a minority who will be a pain if they’re in the way and asked to do something by platform staff but I’d certainly say most people are totally harmless rather than reasonably. I do know an old chap that now uses an app to log everything, he regularly emails me a backup of his work, I guess because he doesn’t use his own email or perhaps we set it up with mine when he first downloaded it, it was some years ago.
There’s also an argument that someone with such a keen interest is more likely to “see something that doesn’t look right”.

The numbers thing in general operation intrigues me, not enough to ever consider writing it down, but enough for me to get on 150002 and think to my self “I got this one this morning too, it’s the one that originally had a Rolls Royce engine” as an example.

 

[saismee]

The numbers thing in general operation intrigues me, not enough to ever consider writing it down, but enough for me to get on 150002 and think to my self “I got this one this morning too, it’s the one that originally had a Rolls Royce engine” as an example.

I remember a stain on the table of my train home matching the one on my train to work. It clicked that I had accidentally managed to sit in the exact same seat on the same unit both ways. Don't know the number, and I don't have any seat preference beyond preferring a window.

I'll make a mental note of each class I travel on, but not the subclass or unit number. I had a great opportunity to try out some WCML variety recently, but I just ended up taking the direct Evero from Chester because I would rather get the 5 hour journey home over with!

 

[Purple Train]

I think it's very much the case that most, if not all, enthusiasts wouldn't think their own favoured pursuits odd, but people who have other preferences most definitely are. For instance, I'm a track basher in the Baker Atlas sense, but anybody who marks off crossovers on a Quail map is just plain weird

Seriously though - I think it's great that there are so many varied pursuits within the rail umbrella. It means there's always more to learn from a fellow enthusiast.

 

[norbitonflyer]

I'll make a mental note of each class I travel on, but not the subclass or unit number.

Certainly used to collect numbers, and unsderline them in the "Combined Volume".

But over revcent decades I have just tried to note whioch classes i have travelled on/behind. There always seemed to be something I was missing - the 318s eluded me for longest, until quite by chance I got one in 2014 (been unable to book on the Fort William Sleeper, so got a day train to Glasgow, changing at Dalmuir for Central)

About three years ago I finally completed the set of unit classes currently in service on a trip to Eduinburgh, with a 385 and an 803 on the same day. New classes entered service since, so I cleared them for a second time earlier this year with a 398 and 756 on a trip to Cardiff.

Of classes with at least one representative in working order, I'm still looking for haulage by classes 89, 93 and 99, and a few shunter classes

Yes, it's pointless. Most liesure pursuits are.

 

[6Gman]

Yes, it's pointless. Most liesure pursuits are.

Exactly.

But it's cheaper than going to (most) football matches to cheer on 11 people you'll probably meet, and who will be off at the end of the season/their contract if they're offered more money elsewhere - at which point thousands of new people who will never meet them will cheer them on.



(This is not a criticism of football fans. Some of my best friends are football fans. I no more understand their obsession than they understand mine. Each to their own.)

 

[ABB125]

There's such a wide range of things you can do with numbers, just depends on how dedicated/nerdy/weird (delete as appropriate!) you are.

Personally, I record every train (ie: locomotive or multiple unit) I see, to be ticked off in whichever book is relevant. I don't bother with coaches, nor freight wagons (because that's far too eccentric even for me!). Obviously I will have seen more than I have ticked off, due to lack of ability to write things at the same rate as seeing them/being too far away etc. I'm not interested in the number of times I've seen a specific train, including dates/times/service info etc, but some people are.

 

[StephenHunter]

I use an app myself!

Home Page - SpotLog

spotlog.org

SpotLog is an app for Trainspotters that runs on Android smartphones, iPhones and iPads.

The app allows you to record loco and unit numbers, keep a log of trains seen and mark the sightings off in the apps "book" section. The "Book" section contains class lists and information and gets its data from the LocoList database.

I've collected the entirety of c2c's rolling stock and nearly all of the S7s. The 345s were complete until the new lot were ordered, but I saw 345071 on Saturday at Paddington, where I got a whole batch of units, plus locos, on the 125 Group tour.

 

[Willie Bee]

Do they still have the Ian Allen books of train numbers ?

I had a similar type book for planes and even ships many many years ago

Good, harmless fun

 

[Ashley Hill]

It’s a bit worrying seeing derogatory names used in this thread, after all didn’t most of us start off by spotting and filling in your Ian Allen/P5 books when you got home?
I received a dictaphone for Christmas in 1985, very handy for passing busy stations and depots. I did eventually give up actual spotting when I joined BR but developed an interest in railway operations and history.

 

[vic-rijrode]

Talking of nerds, I cannot understand those folks who spend hours tinkering, adjusting, washing, polishing a car!

Just take it through the car wash or to a garage mechanic if there's something wrong for heaven's sake.

The only attraction of a car is to get you from A to B where buses or trains can't.

Don't get me started on "vintage" car owners. Have you ever tried to drive one of those things?

 

[Robin Edwards]

I think what is evident is that some nerds and weirdos are far more socially unacceptable or acceptable to those less inclusive in life, than other types of nerds and weirdos

 

[The exile]

I received a dictaphone for Christmas in 1985, very handy for passing busy stations and depots. I did eventually give up actual spotting when I joined BR but developed an interest in railway operations and history.

Must have been the “what all enthusiasts should have” that year as I think that was when I was given mine. It met an untimely end on Swindon station a couple of years later…

 

[vic-rijrode]

I think what is evident is that some nerds and weirdos are far more socially unacceptable or acceptable to those less inclusive in life, than other types of nerds and weirdos

social fascism...

 

[pokemonsuper9]

I put my seen/ridden down in a spreadsheet rather than a book.
I'm not one to stand at the end of a platform for hours, but while waiting for my train I'll absolutely be out there.

Do people who use pre-made list books buy the new versions in order to include new classes? For me it's just a couple minutes job of copying a template sheet and setting all the references up.

I don't take down freight wagons or individual carriages, but I'll take down the DVT and the rake if it has it's own identity (so no Sleeper Mk5, but the Mk5a have their set numbers CH##).

 

[ash39]

Exactly.

But it's cheaper than going to (most) football matches to cheer on 11 people you'll probably meet, and who will be off at the end of the season/their contract if they're offered more money elsewhere - at which point thousands of new people who will never meet them will cheer them on.



(This is not a criticism of football fans. Some of my best friends are football fans. I no more understand their obsession than they understand mine. Each to their own.)

Talking of nerds, I cannot understand those folks who spend hours tinkering, adjusting, washing, polishing a car!

Just take it through the car wash or to a garage mechanic if there's something wrong for heaven's sake.

The only attraction of a car is to get you from A to B where buses or trains can't.

Don't get me started on "vintage" car owners. Have you ever tried to drive one of those things?

This thread is like playing bingo to me.

I have a spreadsheet with over 3,000 journeys logged on UK trains. I also have another spreadsheet with over 100 football games I've attended. I also have a garage shelf full of car cleaning products & equipment, including a polishing tool that removes scratches that most people won't see unless the sun shines on a certain angle.

Labelling anyone a nerd, geek or any other derogatory term because you don't understand what makes them happy, says more about you than them. I'm aware I'm unusual, but I know most people don't have the bandwith to understand niche interests so I just keep it to myself and 99% of people I come across just think I like 'normal', socially acceptable things.

The guys on platforms with dictaphones and notepads, I take my hat off to them for being brave enough to enjoy their hobby without fear or care of judgement.

 

[Robin Edwards]

social fascism...

Indeed so

On the subject of notepads, I've for some reason always kept detailed notes that without, decades later, would have been lost memories of times I enjoyed. I wish I'd made them a bit more detailed at times and they are highly valuable to me alone, just as old family photographs.

 

[Skiddaw]

I also have a garage shelf full of car cleaning products & equipment, including a polishing tool that removes scratches that most people won't see unless the sun shines on a certain angle.

You're not related to Mr S by any chance are you?

(He's also obsessed with spreadsheets btw).

 

[Western Sunset]

Ian Allan, please. If I had a tenner for the number of times folks write it as Allen...

 

[Ashley Hill]

Must have been the “what all enthusiasts should have” that year as I think that was when I was given mine. It met an untimely end on Swindon station a couple of years later…

I dropped mine at Saltley depot and broke the battery cover. Hooray for sticky tape and tin foil!

 

[ox_chap]

You never know how valuable these things might become in the future. For instance, model makers such as Accurascale now actively point to wagon photo archives, such as that of Paul Bartlett. An incredible resource for building that dream oo-gauge 1980s model railway. But at the time, photographing railway wagons was possibly seen as an odd hobby.

 

[sad1e]

I use an app myself!

trainlogger - the train spotting website

trainlogger - The train spotting website with 25,000 shunters, locomotives, multiple units and trams to log your sightings, haulage and photographs against.

trainlogger.co.uk

Another great website for this is trainlogger , much more in depth than spotlog for in rolling stock and also includes the vast majority of historical rolling stock and coaches , Plus it lets you upload photos for a small subscription fee.

 

[DelW]

Do they still have the Ian Allen books of train numbers ?

I had a similar type book for planes and even ships many many years ago

Good, harmless fun

Ian Allan closed their publishing division, and their bookshops, a few years ago. Other publishers produce similar volumes though, the Platform 5 combined volume probably being the best known. This year's edition has a cover price of £32.95.

 

[StephenHunter]

trainlogger - the train spotting website

trainlogger - The train spotting website with 25,000 shunters, locomotives, multiple units and trams to log your sightings, haulage and photographs against.

trainlogger.co.uk

Another great website for this is trainlogger , much more in depth than spotlog for in rolling stock and also includes the vast majority of historical rolling stock and coaches , Plus it lets you upload photos for a small subscription fee.

I use that too; although Spotlog covers foreign railways too.

 

[Western Sunset]

I don't underline stuff in a book anymore, though I do make notes in an A4 book. These are from Iver in July...