Can anyone explain trainspotting to me?
Discussion
Now I'd imagine that many, if not all here are a tad nerdy about cars.
You probably store largely irrelevant details in your head, trim differences between models, how many of a certain model were made in a certain colour, perhaps cylinder capacities and compression ratios - whatever... this is human nature to some extent and most people will do it about something, we just do it with cars.
Something I don't understand is train spotters. I'm not talking about those with an interest in steam locomotives or "spotting" certain types of diesel trains, etc. That I can understand.
I'm talking about the chaps (hmmm... maybe females aren't afflicted with nerdiness) who stand at the end of the platform at London Bridge with their notepads and flasks. They don't look mental and aren't causing anyone any harm but what appeal is there about spotting commuter trains and noting down the carraige numbers?
I've put up the odd "spotted" thread for interesting cars but I can't imagine the day will come when I'll be standing on a motorway bridge noting down the number plates of every Ford Mondeo that passes beneath.
Does anyone know and can enlighten me as to this mystery?
You probably store largely irrelevant details in your head, trim differences between models, how many of a certain model were made in a certain colour, perhaps cylinder capacities and compression ratios - whatever... this is human nature to some extent and most people will do it about something, we just do it with cars.
Something I don't understand is train spotters. I'm not talking about those with an interest in steam locomotives or "spotting" certain types of diesel trains, etc. That I can understand.
I'm talking about the chaps (hmmm... maybe females aren't afflicted with nerdiness) who stand at the end of the platform at London Bridge with their notepads and flasks. They don't look mental and aren't causing anyone any harm but what appeal is there about spotting commuter trains and noting down the carraige numbers?
I've put up the odd "spotted" thread for interesting cars but I can't imagine the day will come when I'll be standing on a motorway bridge noting down the number plates of every Ford Mondeo that passes beneath.
Does anyone know and can enlighten me as to this mystery?
and pretty harmless. There are far worse things people can get obsessed about.It's like dangling a maggot on a hook on a line into a pond for carp to bite. Wouldn't be my idea of fun but it gets them out of the house for a while. I do wonder about bus spotters I saw on Oxford St. but that said its probably no less interesting a hobby than going shopping on oxford st which millions do annually. each to their own suppose
Moospeed said:
Now I'd imagine that many, if not all here are a tad nerdy about cars.
You probably store largely irrelevant details in your head, trim differences between models, how many of a certain model were made in a certain colour, perhaps cylinder capacities and compression ratios - whatever... this is human nature to some extent and most people will do it about something, we just do it with cars....
We're all trainspotters to a certain degree, we just wear different anoraks.You probably store largely irrelevant details in your head, trim differences between models, how many of a certain model were made in a certain colour, perhaps cylinder capacities and compression ratios - whatever... this is human nature to some extent and most people will do it about something, we just do it with cars....
e.g. Look at the football fans who take the piss out of trainspotters and then can then quote 15 years statistics for 'their' team (even after 10 pints)
For many (if not all) spotters, the "spotting" is often just one aspect of an overall interest in the subject. For me, plane spotting was carried out alongside reading about aircraft and making aircraft models - activities I still pursue to this day.
Many train spotters are model railway enthusiasts or are active in railway preservation.
Many train spotters are model railway enthusiasts or are active in railway preservation.
Car forums are pretty strange too, only they are enjoyed in private. It is entirely practical to join a forum for getting advice on parts or doing a job but most people like me also are happy spending time on forums just talking about cars, it's probably more of a geeky hobby than train spotting if you think about it. Also I bet a fair percentage of car forum participants own an anorak and a flask too.
I used to know a couple of very lightweight trainspotters when I was a teenager.
They only really went to a specific station to spot a specific "special" that was coming through and didn't go and sit watching the same multiple unit jobbies coming in and out all day. They'd also go to depot open days where BR would line loads of different stuff up for people to pore over.
If you're in to that kind of thing I imagine commuter lines are as dull as ditchwater, but somewhere with a bit of variety of services and some freight traffic would be more interesting.
I suppose the car equivalent would be the difference between going to a car show and taking down the registrations of Focuses in the Tesco car park.
As someone above said, it's a pretty harmless hobby.
They only really went to a specific station to spot a specific "special" that was coming through and didn't go and sit watching the same multiple unit jobbies coming in and out all day. They'd also go to depot open days where BR would line loads of different stuff up for people to pore over.
If you're in to that kind of thing I imagine commuter lines are as dull as ditchwater, but somewhere with a bit of variety of services and some freight traffic would be more interesting.
I suppose the car equivalent would be the difference between going to a car show and taking down the registrations of Focuses in the Tesco car park.
As someone above said, it's a pretty harmless hobby.
I can understand someone with an interest in trains looking for special ones, or looking for old lines and stations etc, or perhaps finding the engineering of them interesting. This is all analogous to us car geeks. Plane spotters also get different types of plane - in an hour at Heathrow you might see 20 or 30 different makes of plane land, which is interesting if you're into planes. However, the guys on regular lines looking at the regular trains (which by and large are all the same), are they literally just noting down the numbers of commuter trains as they pass? Genuine question, but why?! Isn't that like me spending time in Sainsbury's looking at variations of Ford Focus trim levels?
As with the OP's question, is there more to the trainspotting that we think?
As with the OP's question, is there more to the trainspotting that we think?
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