....when looking to buy a new minivan, you look at the gray ones. Wife asks you "why gray?" You say, "well I want to paint the grill, front fenders and rear door scarlet red".
I got one. You know when your a railfan when your driving down the highway, pacing a train. When your stopped at a crossing and jump out of your car to get a good picture as the train passes.
You know you're a railfan......... ...........when the missus doesn't so much as get upset that you were out chasing Katy.
You wish the lettering on the tender of the locomotive your riding says READING not FEROEQUIS. But, hay I don't own it You talk your friend into going half way across the state to do a work weekend at a railroad museum because he has a camper and you can camp in the museum grounds a 100 ft from the main line! (and he's not really a railfan)
You have a "bad order" drawer at your house for things that break that are in need of repair or replacement. You refer to road work crews as Maintenance-of-Way. You do this and your not-necessarily-a-railfan wife knows what you are talking about. You throw a fit if you're in a car and a train is coming by and nobody stops so that you can watch it. Your kids recognize roadnames by paint schemes before they can read. You plan time in your family trip to the Oregon Coast so that perhaps you can squeeze in some railfanning of the Toledo Branch or the Port of Tillamook Bay Railroad. You take your fifteen minute breaks down by the grade crossing so you can hopefully catch sight of a train. You listen to a scanner radio so that you know the optimal time to take a fifteen minute break. You describe different areas by their railroad designations, e.g., "Oh, you mean out along the Oregon Electric?"
Good one. I can't say how many times I have done this over the years. And sometimes you'll have the curious bystander who, for whatever reason, can't help asking, "What are you doing?" as I stand there with my camera so very obviousely taking a picture of the train... mg:
You know your a Railfan when.....You keep coming back to this thread to see which,(if not all!:teeth,of these you can relate to on a daily basis
You meticuously research topographic maps to find rare and abandon Milwaukee Road branch lines in the UP, Minnesota and Wisconsin. You then plan your vacation around trips to these areas. You get there and spend the day(s) driving around, trying to find the ROW (real fun after it has been abandoned for 20 years. Them trees grow!) or structures. You photograph ALL evidence you can find, making sure your 3 foot measuring stick is in the shots in case you want to model some of the stuff. You ask locals in each small town, "You ever see the train"....which goes over real good when the line hasn't been there for 20 years. You then spend nights organizing your image files and posting them on Trainboard. No, I'm not married.......why do you ask? Exploring the Southern Minnesota and Iowa Division in a month. Isinours, MN...here I come! -Mark
I did that when I moved here... I was bored, reading y MT Atlas/Gazetteer in my apartment late at night, and I saw this neat area with tunnels and trestles, just east of town..... Lemmetellya, it's fun trying to track down landowners about permission...
Free beer works wonders.......but I usually stick to public access or shot from a road. If I can't get the shot within 5 minutes of stopping the car I generally don't bother. I A few places I have pulled into, asked for "directions" and then did the, "hey..that's neat can I get a picture?" and have never had an issue. The key thing is to be quick and leave no traces. I spent many years in various areas of the photo business and learned how to move like a ghost.
I guess I am the opposite; I shy away from shots I can get from my car... How else do you think I got this shot? Or this!
Am I the only railfan who has a son whose initials are MKT? His given name is Matthew Kyle Thompson, and for the record he is NOT a railfan.
My girls' initials are LFRR and NCRR. This was not intended as a tribute to any particular railroads.
they are all funny i have two bumpersitckers in my room that say i brake for trains and we stop at all RR crosings ohh i got one you go on a trip with your family and your mom does not know that she booked a hotel that has a CSX mainline next too it and all you want too do is go sit and wait for a train too come and your family want too go do other things besides sit and wait for trains (its troo beleve me)
You don't drive, so you ask your wife to call work for a sick day, just so you can check out a short line RR
Your turn signals are wigwags. Your car horn is a Nathan K5LA. When you have a pool party that is next to the train tracks and the engineer decides to stop his train to take a dip while he waits for the traffic to die down a bit and grabs a Bud.
