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Number Taking/Train Spotting
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TheJRB
Established Member
Blimey I'm surprised at the whole shoving camera in cab thing; some people really do have trouble with manners. It absolutely is a two way thing. I hate it when people get too close to the edge of the platform or do something silly. It really must panic drivers sometimes.I am a train geek, rail enthusiast, train spotter, whoteva we are called this week, and I jot down any interesting numbers I see (even when driving trains as long as I am not too busy) and always wave or say morning to the platform enders (some wave back and others just look confused) but what gets my back up is when they shove the camera in the window trying to get a picture of the controls without even asking so I will shove the camera back out the window, but a polite request and I will even take the picture for them so it is square on.
Manners go both ways, something a lot of people on both sides seem to struggle with.
As far as I am concerned as long as you enjoy your hobby and it doesnt cause anyone else any harm then enjoy it, but please consider others.
I sometimes wave or get waved at by drivers when I'm out taking photos both at stations and lineside locations. I always think Greater Anglia drivers are a cheerful bunch as I almost always get a smile or waved at by them at Stratford!
Then again one of the strangest ones I experienced recently was at Clacton. There was the driver and another member of staff in the cab (I guess they saw I was about to film) and just before the train departed, they pulled both their blinds all the way down. Suppose they didn't want to be seen!
It has only happened twice so doesnt happen very often.
Hornet
Member
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- 16 Jul 2013
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- 748
I was a 'Train Spotter' in the 60's, complete with the standard issue anorak! Would finish school in the afternoon and head down to my local station, with my Combined Volume in my hand, marking off the numbers of Western's, Warship's, Hymek's, Brush Type 4's, Blue Pullman's and Pressed Steel DMU's. I used to travel into London, on my own as an eight year old, (I lived in Slough), to go to King's Cross and St Pancras to see Deltic's and Peak's coming and going. The fascination for me was to see Train's heading off to destination's I never dreamed that I could visit. (London and Reading were the limits of my world).
As I got older, the travel bug got to me and by the age of thirteen I had travelled as far away as Wareham, Penzance and Aberystwyth all on my own. Even my Secondary School Geography Teacher was impressed with my travel exploits. He never questioned why I did it. It was just the fact that to him, I seemed to have a level of UK Geographical knowledge far in advance of the rest of fellow pupils, which he encourage.
Leaving school and starting work on the Railways, afforded me the chance to visit those parts of the UK, (the North East, North West, East Anglia and Scotland) that I had never been to before. That led me to, by 1980 to have travelled on every line that was then open to passenger traffic on British Rail at that time. By this time I was big into motorcycling and I had bought my first couple of 35mm SLR camera's. This led me to try my biggest challenge yet. To attempt to photograph every station which was served by a British Rail Passenger Timetabled Service.
The challenge wasn't as simple as it seems. Part of the challenge included that the station had to have a train passing through it or terminating at it, which meant the more remote lines would become a major test. Having a motorcycle helped greatly on lines like the Wick, Kyle, West Highland, Central Wales, Cambrian Coast and Cumbrian Coast Line. London and the South East line were fairly straightforward, as were the major Cities. The project started out with an open ended timeframe. Weekends were taken up with trips to motorcycle race meets which meant that I could visit more rural lines either on my way or the day before. I also worked on many Saturday's and by 1989 I was travelling to Dublin every fortnight, for the weekend. The Dublin trips during the summer meant that I could cover more stations in Wales and Scotland. (I used to travel to Ulster for their big Motorcycle Road Races), so myself and my Bike were regular travellers on the Holyhead Dun Laoghaire and Stranraer Larne ferry crossings during the summer. My annual TT trip allowed me to cover some of the lesser lines in the North West.
The open ended time frame disappeared when it became clear that the Railways were to be privatised on the 1st April 1994. This gave me a deadline to hit which meant that I needed to complete my challenge by the day before. On the 31st March 1994 I spent an evening at Taplow Station photographing trains. Why Taplow? It was the first place I ever went to as a Train Spotter in the 60's. It's where I wrote down my first number as a seven year old and it was the Station I collected the last Western I needed for my complete set and where I photographed the last run of the Westerns in February 1977. For me the Westerns were my favourite Locomotive of all. I have never seen them on Preservation Lines as I feel that they are wasted. I did though travel from my present home in Dublin to see two Western Railtours in North Wales. Once in February 2008 where I made a quick trip out and back on the HSS to photograph D1015 at Holyhead. (I was back in Dublin in time to watch Leinster play that evening). The second time in September 2009 I travelled across on Irish Ferries Ulysses with my bike chasing D1015 around North Wales.
All the above stemmed from my days 'Train Spotting' in the 60's. My greatest achievements were completing my British Rail Station Challenge, (I have continued since 1994 by photographing every new station that has opened on the Network), My spotting of every 'Class 52' member and travelling around every part of the UK on my Motorcycle, (plus being at every Leinster European Cup Final, but that's just from my days living in Dublin). The other great thing about those early days was being able to go to London on my own as an eight and nine year old, and being able to explore the Science Museum without anybody batting an eyelid about a young boy wondering about on his own. Happy Days.
As I got older, the travel bug got to me and by the age of thirteen I had travelled as far away as Wareham, Penzance and Aberystwyth all on my own. Even my Secondary School Geography Teacher was impressed with my travel exploits. He never questioned why I did it. It was just the fact that to him, I seemed to have a level of UK Geographical knowledge far in advance of the rest of fellow pupils, which he encourage.
Leaving school and starting work on the Railways, afforded me the chance to visit those parts of the UK, (the North East, North West, East Anglia and Scotland) that I had never been to before. That led me to, by 1980 to have travelled on every line that was then open to passenger traffic on British Rail at that time. By this time I was big into motorcycling and I had bought my first couple of 35mm SLR camera's. This led me to try my biggest challenge yet. To attempt to photograph every station which was served by a British Rail Passenger Timetabled Service.
The challenge wasn't as simple as it seems. Part of the challenge included that the station had to have a train passing through it or terminating at it, which meant the more remote lines would become a major test. Having a motorcycle helped greatly on lines like the Wick, Kyle, West Highland, Central Wales, Cambrian Coast and Cumbrian Coast Line. London and the South East line were fairly straightforward, as were the major Cities. The project started out with an open ended timeframe. Weekends were taken up with trips to motorcycle race meets which meant that I could visit more rural lines either on my way or the day before. I also worked on many Saturday's and by 1989 I was travelling to Dublin every fortnight, for the weekend. The Dublin trips during the summer meant that I could cover more stations in Wales and Scotland. (I used to travel to Ulster for their big Motorcycle Road Races), so myself and my Bike were regular travellers on the Holyhead Dun Laoghaire and Stranraer Larne ferry crossings during the summer. My annual TT trip allowed me to cover some of the lesser lines in the North West.
The open ended time frame disappeared when it became clear that the Railways were to be privatised on the 1st April 1994. This gave me a deadline to hit which meant that I needed to complete my challenge by the day before. On the 31st March 1994 I spent an evening at Taplow Station photographing trains. Why Taplow? It was the first place I ever went to as a Train Spotter in the 60's. It's where I wrote down my first number as a seven year old and it was the Station I collected the last Western I needed for my complete set and where I photographed the last run of the Westerns in February 1977. For me the Westerns were my favourite Locomotive of all. I have never seen them on Preservation Lines as I feel that they are wasted. I did though travel from my present home in Dublin to see two Western Railtours in North Wales. Once in February 2008 where I made a quick trip out and back on the HSS to photograph D1015 at Holyhead. (I was back in Dublin in time to watch Leinster play that evening). The second time in September 2009 I travelled across on Irish Ferries Ulysses with my bike chasing D1015 around North Wales.
All the above stemmed from my days 'Train Spotting' in the 60's. My greatest achievements were completing my British Rail Station Challenge, (I have continued since 1994 by photographing every new station that has opened on the Network), My spotting of every 'Class 52' member and travelling around every part of the UK on my Motorcycle, (plus being at every Leinster European Cup Final, but that's just from my days living in Dublin). The other great thing about those early days was being able to go to London on my own as an eight and nine year old, and being able to explore the Science Museum without anybody batting an eyelid about a young boy wondering about on his own. Happy Days.
Thinking about the historical aspect has spotting changed much over the years ?
With tech and gadgets becoming increasingly popular is it easier now ? I have seen many a dictaphone but not seen many smartphones. Add the popularity of apps and WTT information being at the touch of a button surely you could get a fleet done in a few days.
Keep em coming mine eye are widening
@455 is it hard to be a self confessed train enthusiast and a Driver ?
With tech and gadgets becoming increasingly popular is it easier now ? I have seen many a dictaphone but not seen many smartphones. Add the popularity of apps and WTT information being at the touch of a button surely you could get a fleet done in a few days.
Keep em coming mine eye are widening
@455 is it hard to be a self confessed train enthusiast and a Driver ?
Not really at work because there are a few at my (old) depot, but the enthusiast part does take a bit of a knock when you have been on rubbish shifts all week and I need to drag my backside out of bed to get an early start to go to some diesel gala a couple of hundred miles away. This year I have only done 4 galas, none more than 100 miles away and that is really bad.
I had three railways on my to do list and havent done any of them.
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pleasure.
The excitement has certainly waned over the last few years, the enjoyment is still there (when I get to the railway) but its getting there which is the problem, must fix that!
Just bought tickets for some steam coach thingy next month, lets see if that gets the juices flowing.
The excitement has certainly waned over the last few years, the enjoyment is still there (when I get to the railway) but its getting there which is the problem, must fix that!
Just bought tickets for some steam coach thingy next month, lets see if that gets the juices flowing.
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theblackwatch
Established Member
- Joined
- 15 Feb 2006
- Messages
- 10,889
Not really at work because there are a few at my (old) depot, but the enthusiast part does take a bit of a knock when you have been on rubbish shifts all week and I need to drag my backside out of bed to get an early start to go to some diesel gala a couple of hundred miles away. This year I have only done 4 galas, none more than 100 miles away and that is really bad.
I had three railways on my to do list and havent done any of them.
This is one reason I've never been bothered about getting a job 'on the railway'. I know a few people who have done so, and then find they've had enough of it at work that on their days off, they don't have the same enthusiasm for the hobby.
As regards to being much easier, I'd say the answer is yes it is! There is so much more available at your fingertips now - people have mobile phones and other devices, there are gen groups out there too. Gone are the days when you would go to your local station to see a charter train and have no idea what was one it until it rolled in. Or if you're after seeing a particular freight service, you can track it on Realtime Trains - no need to wonder how late it is or if it's going to turn up.
Also the way the railway is set up is totally different. Nowadays, a DBS Class 66 can appear virtually anywhere - there aren't examples based in Scotland which rarely appear elsewhere, as was the case with Class 47s (and many other classes) in the 70s or 80s. Also, there was much more to see loco-wise back then.
ANDYS
Member
For me it is a collection of things.
As a teenager (along time ago) I used to hang around with the trainspotting lot at school and tagged along when they went anywhere. My first real holiday without mum and dad was a week in a minibus going around Wales, the south coast and back to London.
After uni other things got in the way but when my son was about 9ish we both got the bug again. Now we travel all over the place and have had more days out then I can remember. He loves trains (and buses) and his grasp of geography and use of timetables is fantastic. He does not sit and play X-box all evening but is constantly on the look out for the next day out. Being slightly cheeky he has managed to wangle his way into many places where he probably is not allowed to go and has his own little fan club on You Tube. All this from seeing a few trains.
All this and a lot cheaper than some pastimes (football, cinema, theme parks etc) that he could be into.
Andy S
As a teenager (along time ago) I used to hang around with the trainspotting lot at school and tagged along when they went anywhere. My first real holiday without mum and dad was a week in a minibus going around Wales, the south coast and back to London.
After uni other things got in the way but when my son was about 9ish we both got the bug again. Now we travel all over the place and have had more days out then I can remember. He loves trains (and buses) and his grasp of geography and use of timetables is fantastic. He does not sit and play X-box all evening but is constantly on the look out for the next day out. Being slightly cheeky he has managed to wangle his way into many places where he probably is not allowed to go and has his own little fan club on You Tube. All this from seeing a few trains.
All this and a lot cheaper than some pastimes (football, cinema, theme parks etc) that he could be into.
Andy S
David Goddard
Established Member
Then again one of the strangest ones I experienced recently was at Clacton. There was the driver and another member of staff in the cab (I guess they saw I was about to film) and just before the train departed, they pulled both their blinds all the way down. Suppose they didn't want to be seen!
That happened to me with a London Midland 350 driver at Coventry once. I just waited a few minutes until he was due out and then tried again as he pulled away!
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