Peoples attitudes?

[Lawman]

Folks,

what's the deal with people giving trainspotters/rail enuthiasts such a hard time.l can't get my head around it.There are plane spotters,bird spotters,Eddie Stobbart spotters,bus spotters...............l could go on

l wouldn't dream of slagging someone off just because of there interests but it would appear us rail folks are top the slagging off tree for it.

people in my work now know l have an interest in trains....................and yip a get a slagging for it,it's good natured but l'm sure it's not the same for everyone

anyone else in the same boat?

 

[Hydro]

anyone else in the same boat?

Boat spotters, I'd presume.

 

[starrymarkb]

Boat spotters, I'd presume.

There is one of those at the local kink socials - we'd rather talk about other things

 

[dk1]

Rise above it mate. I did once have a work colleague try to be-little me as he had an audience. I then questioned his enthusiasm for the exciting & nail biting thrill that is ...fishing!! Got a great laugh from the rest of the messroom much to his & .

Not proud of bringing myself down to their level but was funny.

 

[northernrail]

I yoused to get on my nerves a lot, but after some encouruging words from people here on Rail foums i just dont care anymore.
were rail enthusiast there car enthusiasts, or something else that everyone seems to love.
Were all different.

 

[chuckles1066]

Folks,

what's the deal with people giving trainspotters/rail enuthiasts such a hard time.l can't get my head around it.There are plane spotters,bird spotters,Eddie Stobbart spotters,bus spotters...............l could go on

l wouldn't dream of slagging someone off just because of there interests but it would appear us rail folks are top the slagging off tree for it.

people in my work now know l have an interest in trains....................and yip a get a slagging for it,it's good natured but l'm sure it's not the same for everyone

anyone else in the same boat?

Just tell them it's a hobby.

And then ask them how many hours a week do they devote to Facebook.

Isn't that just a hobby? Albeit a perverse one (if I kept shoving Post-It notes through your letterbox everytime I wanted you to know something "new" and "exciting" had happened in my life, you'd tell me to stop).

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Frankly, it doesn't concern them in the slightest so they should just get lost and leave you to persue your hobby.

 

[Lawman]

lt's kind ov funny.................the amount of times at work i'v been looking at train videos on the internet and l hear footsteps coming in my direction.............you know if there was a world record for coming out this site,l would certainly win it............quick as a flash its gone

 

[Matt Taylor]

just admit to using porn at work, it would be less embarrassing.

 

[Daniel]

just admit to using porn at work, it would be less embarrassing.

*presses the "like" button!!!*

 

[RPM]

The older I've got the less I've cared about what people think of me. If people laugh at me photting trains I give them the shakey wrist wanker gesture. I don't suppose their hobby will lead to a 42K a year job!

 

[Flamingo]

When I got a job as a guard, I told my aged mother I was now a piano player in a brothel, so as to spare her feelings

 

[DaveNewcastle]

When I got a job as a guard, I told my aged mother I was now a piano player in a brothel, so as to spare her feelings

That's the best post I've read on here for a while!


And you've just reminded me . . . . . .
I really should blame my parents for more of my life's choices!

 

[jopsuk]

People pick on the different. Most "geeky" or "nerdy" hobbies fall in to this category- though of course it doesn't help that the most visible spotters at stations are often the bad stereotypes...

 

[Striker]

Just tell them it's a hobby.

And then ask them how many hours a week do they devote to Facebook.

Isn't that just a hobby? Albeit a perverse one (if I kept shoving Post-It notes through your letterbox everytime I wanted you to know something "new" and "exciting" had happened in my life, you'd tell me to stop).

You're just picking Facebook as an example because it's very popular at the moment, but that analogy doesn't work I'm afraid. People choose to go on Facebook and then they may see your status and what you're doing etc. By shoving post-it notes through a letterbox you are FORCING people to know what you are doing. There's a difference. So good try, but no cigar.

Trainspotting/taking pictures IS a bit odd, so you can hardly blame people for finding it odd/funny. I do think I'm rather odd myself, but at least I acknowledge that fact and I don't have a big chip on my shoulder.

 

[At_traction]

You're just picking Facebook as an example because it's very popular at the moment, but that analogy doesn't work I'm afraid. People choose to go on Facebook and then they may see your status and what you're doing etc. By shoving post-it notes through a letterbox you are FORCING people to know what you are doing. There's a difference. So good try, but no cigar.

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar...

I don't know how the FB works, but I'd assume that there is a function that allows an email notification to be sent to the "friends" every time there is an update. Probably something that can be switched off, but probably also often left on. So, in that sense, the replee(?) probably has a good point.

Trainspotting/taking pictures IS a bit odd, so you can hardly blame people for finding it odd/funny.

If a large/ish portion of a person's spare time (by his(/OK, her too) own admission) consists of something that has got, justifiably or not, this kind of public image, occasional lashes are inevitable.

I can, personally, even somewhat quirkily and self-effacingly proudly state to be a rail mad person (not merely a lame-a** "enthusiast" which doesn't self-depracate enough ) at work. But that of course is related to the work carried out having more than a little passing commonality with the railways. Even though the profession is definitely not generally seen as one of tech geeks (except for certain compu geeks, usually the student interns).

But if rail enthusiasm/craziness is good enough for such "vocal" proponents as Bruce Dickinson or Frank Sinatra, who the h*ll am I to disagree.

 

[ANorthernGuard]

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar...

I don't know how the FB works, but I'd assume that there is a function that allows an email notification to be sent to the "friends" every time there is an update. Probably something that can be switched off, but probably also often left on. So, in that sense, the replee(?) probably has a good point.



If a large/ish portion of a person's spare time (by his(/OK, her too) own admission) consists of something that has got, justifiably or not, this kind of public image, occasional lashes are inevitable.

I can, personally, even somewhat quirkily and self-effacingly proudly state to be a rail mad person (not merely a lame-a** "enthusiast" which doesn't self-depracate enough ) at work. But that of course is related to the work carried out having more than a little passing commonality with the railways. Even though the profession is definitely not generally seen as one of tech geeks (except for certain compu geeks, usually the student interns).

But if rail enthusiasm/craziness is good enough for such "vocal" proponents as Bruce Dickinson or Frank Sinatra, who the h*ll am I to disagree.

I understand spotting for steam trains etc. but as I have said before I just cannot understand the fascination with a 142 or 150 etc etc. they are generic bog standard units, there is so much more onthe railway like architecture etc that is so much more fascinating (in my opinion obviously)

I have no problem whatsoever with enthusiasts, i was brought up on the railway, but I do have a problem being asked questions (when I have politely said to the persons that I have to concentrate on my job, well I don't want to give 2 at a red etc!) which I would not have a clue to the answer lol

 

[colpepper]

I understand spotting for steam trains etc. but as I have said before I just cannot understand the fascination with a 142 or 150 etc etc. they are generic bog standard units, there is so much more onthe railway like architecture etc that is so much more fascinating (in my opinion obviously)

That pretty much sums up my point of view, although I reserve the right to change my mind. I travelled behind banger blue Class 44, 45, 46 and 47s so often I barely noticed them and when I did it was wholly negative. Now I'd love to see a battered old Peak on the midland mainline with a mixed Mk1 and 2 rake.

I was only nine when steam made its farewells but the spotting potential was in a different league with a chance to see Victorian locos to mod plan traction. I also agree on railway architecture, what a legacy but a shame so much was flattened.

 

[Bittern]

And I can't understand why people are so obsessed with watching random young-middle aged men kicking a ball around for 90 mins. Personally, I'd rather go out and take pics of a 'bog standard' multiple unit.

 

[Striker]

And I can't understand why people are so obsessed with watching random young-middle aged men kicking a ball around for 90 mins. Personally, I'd rather go out and take pics of a 'bog standard' multiple unit.

Why is it that whenever people are justifying their hobby they have to bring football up? Simple fact is. Trainspotters are deemed odd. Football fans aren't.

 

[colpepper]

I like football, fishing and railways. Let's not knock each other's obsessive compulsions because people laugh at ours. I feel secure enjoying aspects of all three and a few more besides, each make life more colourful.

 

[Bittern]

Why is it that whenever people are justifying their hobby they have to bring football up? Simple fact is. Trainspotters are deemed odd. Football fans aren't.

That was hardly my point. My point was someone above couldn't understand why people photographed "bog standard" units, and as someone who photographs "bog standard" units, I say I don't understand why people are obsessed with people kicking around a ball.

Simples.

Oh, and I'm certainly not going to "justify" my hobby, simply because I don't have to.

 

[Southern]

For some, it is just what they grew up with. I was born in South London at the end of the eighties, overlooking the Norwood - Crystal Palace/Anerley line. This led to my preference for modern traction. I do miss the multi-coloured collection of liveries across the network, though. Yes, you have your rainbow 319's and the like but the majority is really a bit generic now.

 

[ANorthernGuard]

That was hardly my point. My point was someone above couldn't understand why people photographed "bog standard" units, and as someone who photographs "bog standard" units, I say I don't understand why people are obsessed with people kicking around a ball.

Simples.

Oh, and I'm certainly not going to "justify" my hobby, simply because I don't have to.

as I work on the bog standard units lol all day a dmu is a dmu designed for purpose thats all, now a Staem loco they had some thought, look at the lines of the Mallard or the power of an old deltic now they are trains steam or early diesel/electric ......class
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

For some, it is just what they grew up with. I was born in South London at the end of the eighties, overlooking the Norwood - Crystal Palace/Anerley line. This led to my preference for modern traction. I do miss the multi-coloured collection of liveries across the network, though. Yes, you have your rainbow 319's and the like but the majority is really a bit generic now.

I was brought up on the old vep's ceps etc. (my grandad was a station manager on the coastway line so spent many hours as a nipper in cabs or in big old buildings (couldn't even dream of doing stuff like that now even tho im pts scwid etc. lol)

 

[colpepper]

Modern units don't seem to stick around as long as first generation dmus. 'Derby diesels' as my father generically named all multiple units as we hung over a bridge somewhere while he lit a fag, changed from speed whiskers to corporate blue but were an ever present part of growing up, familiar 108s and Cravens rattling away from infancy to dating girls and buying houses.

Typically the units I get most lyrical about are Pacers and other antiques. I accept any accusations of unjustifiable prejudice against modern engineering and design but spent too many nights on remote halts waiting for the lights of the last rattler of the day to hove into view to change now.

 

[Matt Taylor]

All of us will one day have such nostalgic opinions, I spend so much of my life on 377s, 450s and 444s and as much I enjoy the modern ambience of air conditioning and electric doors sometimes I want to be whisked back to a time when the seats were blue and green checks with bright orange curtains and draughty windows, it seemed as if the blue and grey CIGs and VEPs would last forever.

 

[deltic1989]

Im a rail enthusiast and a keen fisherman. I usually try to pick fishing places in view of a railway to combine the hobbies. I admitted to liking trains at work the other day, and one of my collegues spent the rest of the day impersonating flying scotsman. It's water off a ducks back to me, so what if i like trains there are plenty of other odd hobbies out there, Bondage for instence.

 

[chuckles1066]

I understand spotting for steam trains etc. but as I have said before I just cannot understand the fascination with a 142 or 150 etc etc. they are generic bog standard units, there is so much more onthe railway like architecture etc that is so much more fascinating (in my opinion obviously)

Class 47's (brushes) were as common as muck in my youth - except the Knottingley ones, you NEVER saw one of them in Bristol.

Likewise Class 20's and Deltics.

Hence the fascination I guess.

 

[Kernowfem]

If being a rail enthusiast is deemed odd, then so be it, im odd. To be honest though, i have never had any stick or been on the end of any kind of mocking.

We all like what we like. If everyone was the same and liked the same things, life would be boring

 

[prod_pep]

I do agree with the point that we like what we grew up with. The "modern" stuff I like are the 1972-type EMUs, which were the trains I went on as a nipper (early 90s). Thing is, stuff built in the 1990s and 2000s just doesn't cut it, and I do to a point appreciate the "bog standard" lack of appeal some of those classes have. The older stuff does have a bit more character, but then again I don't have many experiences of slammers to speak of.

Personally, I haven't told anyone but my closest friends and immediate family about liking trains. It's just not something worth broadcasting, really. It's not as if people I know are going to tag along on spotting/photting trips. Possibly because of that, I haven't experienced much stick at all. The occasional snide comment at a station, but hey, we can all deal with that from time to time.

Not mocking people with other hobbies possibly perceived as worse than railway enthusiasm is a very good point. Sure, there's bus spotters, boat spotters, even road enthusiasts, but so what? You like what you like, and if it's not causing harm to others or breaking the law, what does it matter?