What is the point of rail enthusiasm?

[Temple Meads]

I was asked the above question by a family member earlier, and just didn't know what answer to give, so I wondered what in your honest opinion, is the point of rail enthusiasm?

I doubt there is a specific answer to this question, but I just wonder if we can find a certain common ground..

 

[CC 72100]

Visit different places, relax and watch the world go by, sense of achievement as you get closer to clearing classes/lines for haulage, wondering how things work...

My personal ideas, but it's a very 'big' question with plenty of scope for a variety of answers!

 

[yorksrob]

I think a lot of it comes down to being far and away the most pleasurable way to get about.

 

[tbtc]

It's a combination of a few things for me:

* - Understanding how things work

* - Trying to work out how things could be improved (maybe with a marginal increase in resources, but without the "fantasy" aspirations that some have to re-open/ electrify every branch line) - for example how better to redistribute the finite number of DMUs that we have - would it be better to use "spare" DMUs on exotic new services like linking Blackburn to the "Settle & Carlisle" line or would it be better to use them on something mundane like doubling capacity on some busy existing services?

* - The practical side helps too - knowing your way round the country etc

For me it started as "collecting" (in terms of seeing engines then visiting stations, ticking off bits of track etc), which is same as collecting football programmes/ collecting records/ collecting stamps... there's something quite "male" about completing collections (whether it's having all the films by a director or all the timetables by a TOC).

 

[Drsatan]

I read somewhere that the railways tend to appeal to individuals with conditions on the aspergers' spectrum because of the strict routines and concepts used in day to day operation, such as knowing that at a certain time on a certain day, a train will run from A to B, stopping at X, Y, Z stations. Also, because aspects of railway operation require a good grasp of numbers (such as timetable planning), railway enthusiasm is again more appealing to people with conditions on the asperger spectrum because of the rigidity of railway operations.

Other than that, I believe that railway enthusiasm is very similar to car or F1 enthusiasm in that rail enthusiasts have their preferred locomotives or multiple units, just as car enthusiasts have their favourite manufacturer and cars (I have a friend who's a big TVR fan!), and F1 fans have their favourite team.

 

[WestCoast]

..that there doesn't really have to be a 'point' to any hobby or interest! People are interested in aspects of the railways for various reasons. You'll rarely manage to persuade people who don't appreciate why it's interesting that there is a 'point' to it.

Personally, it's the infrastructure in general that interests me, the way things fit together to transport millions each day. I do have favourite types of rolling stock, but writing numbers down or clearing classes/lines just for the sake of it doesn't really appeal to me.

 

[Wath Yard]

There is no point to rail enthusiasm. Just as there is no point watching soaps on TV, watching football matches, fishing, playing on an X-Box, or thousands of other things.

It passes the time, and makes the person who does it happy, though I'm not too sure about the latter with some railway enthusiasts.

 

[RPM]

Does it have to have a point? What is the point of fishing, gambling, cycling, stamp collecting, etc etc? Different things give pleasure to different people. Takes all sorts...

 

[Bevan Price]

The same question can be applied to many activities / hobbies. For example, what is the point of standing in a stream with a fishing rod at 5.00 a.m., and then throwing back into the water anything that you manage to catch. Or what is the point of spending lots of money in pubs filling on end with liquid that later comes out of the other end, and leaves you with a headache, damaged liver, or worse.

In most cases, the answer is that participants find it relaxing, entertaining, enjoyable. etc., and better than festering at home watching daytime TV.

In my case, it probably started with a fascination for steam locos, with visible working parts and the visual impact of moving clouds of steam / smoke. And, when I could afford, the opportunity to travel on as many lines as possible, visting, or passing through places that I would not otherwise see. And when regular steam finished, I decided that riding behind /photographing diesel & electric locos was more interesting than stopping indoors.

 

[richw]

My enthusiasm stems back to being quite a young child, and my grandad used to look after me every Saturday, and take me on a different rail journey every Saturday,and it simply reminds me of those good days out with my grandad. My grandad had loads of railway books and I enjoyed looking through these books at all the old trains as well

 

[AeroSpace]

If there were no rail enthusiasts, then train-spotter-spotting would not be nearly as enjoyable.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Railways are a bit like Tolkien's sub-creations - a whole different world with a different language, rules, behaviour, history etc, all to discover.

Something to get passionate about.
It also means you can impress your friends by hardly ever get lost or stuck somewhere (unless you misread the Verona timetable on a Sunday and the train to Venice does not turn up because it only runs on weekdays...).

 

[WatcherZero]

I think that theres three distincy motivations/personalities of enthusiasts which can be split down into three main categories which I call:

Spotters and Collectors: Collect numbers, sightings, photographs, models, etc... They may actually try to ride as much track as possible but unlike the Sightseers they arent looking out the window at the passing hills and fields, but on the track, signals and the ride. They think riding a rare operated service, either by unit operating it, unusual route or infrequent service is highly important.

Engineers: Enjoy the mechanical/technological aspects of both trains and infrastructure, both old and new, dont understand the spotters enthusiasm for little details and dont get why they arent interested in the big things like bridges, viaducts, junctions.

Historians/Sightseers: Their interested in the history aspect of former lines, historical buildings and structures. They may like to dress up and go to reenactments and preserved units and lines. They also enjoy the scenery more than the other groups making a holiday of it. They have little interest in modern stuff as its too 'uniform' and lacks 'charachter'.

 

[EM2]

^^^
What about modellers?

 

[johnnychips]

And people like me who are fascinated by timetables?

 

[HH]

And people like me who are fascinated by timetables?

Just plain weird.

 

[MK Tom]

I think that theres three distincy motivations/personalities of enthusiasts which can be split down into three main categories which I call:

Spotters and Collectors: Collect numbers, sightings, photographs, models, etc... They may actually try to ride as much track as possible but unlike the Sightseers they arent looking out the window at the passing hills and fields, but on the track, signals and the ride. They think riding a rare operated service, either by unit operating it, unusual route or infrequent service is highly important.

Engineers: Enjoy the mechanical/technological aspects of both trains and infrastructure, both old and new, dont understand the spotters enthusiasm for little details and dont get why they arent interested in the big things like bridges, viaducts, junctions.

Historians/Sightseers: Their interested in the history aspect of former lines, historical buildings and structures. They may like to dress up and go to reenactments and preserved units and lines. They also enjoy the scenery more than the other groups making a holiday of it. They have little interest in modern stuff as its too 'uniform' and lacks 'charachter'.

I think most of the people on this site come under all three.

For me something that sets rail enthusiasm apart from more 'common' pursuits is a sense of consequence - it's an interest in something that affects lives, affects the future of the country/world and has a practical, measurable impact on things. Unlike football/soaps/celebrities etc etc etc. The same I believe applies to my other interests such as science, history, architecture and more.

I'll echo what people have said about the geographic knowledge it gives you. I tend to know towns better than people who live in them but that often stems from my interests in roads and architecture too.

Something I think sets us apart from people with more common interests is an appreciation for detail. Most people see a thing, any thing, and it's just a thing to them. They don't remember it, or anything about it, or truly observe it. I think we for the most part tend to pay far more attention to all things - hence why so many people on here have interests in other transport modes, other areas of engineering, other things you can collect and spot, other things that require encyclopaedic knowledge, and so forth.

Whether that's down to some 'condition' or not I don't know - but somebody mentioned aspergers earlier. As far as I'm concerned if it is a 'condition' that's given me these interests and this appreciation for these things, then it's not a thing that's wrong with me. If anything it's a positive evolutionary mutation that the species at large would do well to imitate.

 

[swj99]

Does it have to have a point?

Exactly. Whatever the point, it is in the eye of the beholder so to speak.

 

[Cable Car]

Nobody has mentioned that this is almost a 99% male hobby.

Bit like war I suppose.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Historians/Sightseers: Their interested in the history aspect of former lines, historical buildings and structures. They may like to dress up and go to reenactments and preserved units and lines. They also enjoy the scenery more than the other groups making a holiday of it. They have little interest in modern stuff as its too 'uniform' and lacks 'character'.

Whilst I tend to fall into this section of your description, I am only interested in the more scholarly nature of railway history and have not yet succumbed to the wearing of "fancy dress"...

 

[Cheshire Rover]

Well I am an Engineer by profession so I look at the railway as an engineering entity. You have large and complex machines, complicated electrical circuitry, lots of civil engineering, structures etc. Add in that I like to travel and there you go!
I wouldn't like to work on the railways though. Too old fashioned, too political.

 

[Oswyntail]

For me, a large part of the attraction is psychological regression. When I go on a trip I can be back in my childhood, when the worries were different, and I can simply "turn off". OK, there are a lot of extra bits that interest me now, politics, human behaviour, history and the like. But the bedrock for me is escapism.

 

[Kneedown]

Nobody has mentioned that this is almost a 99% male hobby.

It's a fact that, deep down, us boys (and a good few gals) like big pieces of machinery.
I havn't taken numbers or bashed loco's since i was a kid, but even after 25 years+ working on the railway i'm going to look at the HST i'm driving to Skegg on Saturday and think to myself.... "That is one impressive piece of kit and it's mine for the day!" I used to be the same when i was based at Toton and listened to my 56 with 42 loaded MGR's screaming away up the hill to Morton.
I don't quite get the same rush from the Sprinters i'm on 99% of the time these days, but railways evolve and you never know exactly what's to come next. I'm more an "enthusiastic Driver" than an enthusiast, but i love the railway, past and present, and miss some of the trains i used to drive in the past. Others currently i can't wait to see the back of, but i'll be sticking around to see what comes next, even if it means me retiring later rather than sooner.
I suppose i'm just a big kid who likes big toys to play with!

As regards the "point" of being a rail enthusiast, as others have pointed out there isn't a point, as there isn't a point to a lot of things. I love fishing although there is no point to it, unless i'm sea fishing and there will be something for the table at the end of the day. Us humans, and the more intelligent animal species need our senses stimulating. It's how we have evolved over time, and how we will evolve further.

 

[cuccir]

For me it forms just a small (but loved) part of a wider enthusiasm for all things travel/tourist, and I guess ultimately for all things geography. My interest is in tickets/journeys/routes, but I'm equally interested in bus routes and roads too.

 

[sburnley]

I agree with many of the posts saying that there is no "point" to being a rail enthusiast any more than many other hobbies and pastimes but for me it started off in my teens at school when the school Railway Society used to go off on trips to loco sheds and railway works. The fascination has stayed with me ever since.

It always impressed me just how many locos there were (this was in the steam days of course!) and I could not fathom out what they all did, so there was an element of mystery about it all.

It's good to travel by train because you don't have to know which lane to be in, or risk being cut up by some incompetent in a hurry and you can often buy a sandwich and a coffee when you want.

Another appeal is the combination of orderliness and surprise. By and large the trains run to schedules, freight included, but you never know which loco or which unit will be on any particular duty.

There is continuing change too, that makes rail enthusiasm interesting in the longer term. I have many hours of video from the 1980s onwards that show the change from heritage dmus to second generation units, from loco hauled cross country trains to voyagers, from 86s and 87s to pendolinos, from diesel to electric traction.

I am also a railway modeller (in P4). The interest for me here is the challenge of getting the model to look like and work like the real thing. There are the same engineering problems - making the locos run smoothly, keeping the track in good order in my shed despite baking hot and freezing cold temperatures, and ensuring that the points operate successfully. There are many skills needed - building model buildings, soldering, painting to name a few - and you need to be able to make accurate observation of the landscape and how the railway was made to fit in to it.

So all these aspects make trainspotting and modelling continuingly very absorbing. As you learn more you find out that there is so much more still to know - it's a very big subject, spread right across the world!

 

[snail]

If there were no rail enthusiasts, then train-spotter-spotting would not be nearly as enjoyable.

Ah, so you do that too!

 

[theblackwatch]

The point is, it is a pleasurable activity which can be enjoyed. Does there need to be anything other than that!

 

[bluenoxid]

It gets me out in the morning on those days I could have nothing to do. We're all different. It's what makes us fun.

 

[Pen Mill]

I was asked the above question by a family member earlier, and just didn't know what answer to give, so I wondered what in your honest opinion, is the point of rail enthusiasm?

I doubt there is a specific answer to this question, but I just wonder if we can find a certain common ground..

The same point as , what is the point in football enthusiasm or fishing or golf or knitting or watching big Bro.

There isn't one apart from it being a hobby.

EDIT Having not read through , this is pretty much spot on what Wath Yard said last night !!

 

[tbtc]

For me it started as "collecting" (in terms of seeing engines then visiting stations, ticking off bits of track etc), which is same as collecting football programmes/ collecting records/ collecting stamps... there's something quite "male" about completing collections (whether it's having all the films by a director or all the timetables by a TOC).

Nobody has mentioned that this is almost a 99% male hobby

I wonder whether it's still as "male" as it used to be?