Advice for new trainspotter

[char1111]

Hello!
I'm 15 years old, and wanting to get into trainspotting.
Do you have some advice on how/where to get started?
Is there anything I need to know / be aware of?

I'd love to hear your advice, as I've been interested in trains and the railways for many years.


Thank you!

 

[StephenHunter]

Right, you're in Horley, which means that you're got a good variety of stuff passing you on the Brighton Main Line. Southern, Gatwick Express and Thameslink. Station platforms are good, but you might want to find a footbridge or something as some station staff can get a bit antsy about spotters.

Get a good book like the ABC Rail Guide to give you an idea of what various trains look like and their composition. Wikipedia is also useful. There also various magazines out there that will help keep you up to date with changes on the network.

I'd also recommend the Trainspotter app and the Trainlogger website as good places to record your sightings; a notepad might be handy too. A camera is also good, but remember not to use flash as it can disorient drivers.

Dress appropriately for the weather; sunscreen and insect repellent might be useful.

Most importantly, do not trespass on the railway. It's stupid and illegal.

 

[Peter C]

As @StephenHunter says, go for the ABC Rail Guide as a starting point. I use it and it's quite good value if you think £20-odd will see you through a year, if not more. I've only got the 2017 and 2018 versions but they still work very well.
I'd recommend using www.realtimetrains.co.uk to see what trains are going thorough your local station - I've found it to be useful to copy the "service" each train is on (i.e. the top line of a RealTime Trains page for a particular train - this can be found by clicking on the list of trains in the detailed view) into Trainspotter (the app I use) when recording a sighting. Very useful information for reference later. A lot of my early sightings have no info apart from the number and when I saw the train - not very helpful when wanting to work out what was on a particular service!

Hope this helps,

-Peter

 

[py_megapixel]

Assuming you have a smartphone, get yourself the SpotLog app. Much less of a nuisance than a notebook and easier to keep tidy!
Also, if you're curious about what's on what service, use https://www.opentraintimes.com/ or https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/ - both very simple but very good websites.

It might take you a while to find yourself a good location, but good places to try are far ends of station platforms (there's a reason you see people weilding cameras there!) and footbridges (but make sure you find a good wide one with a decent view).

The "holy grail" in my opinion is an less used station (nobody to ask you what you're doing), with automated announcements (so you know when something's about to come through), on a line with lots of trains per hour (so you don't get bored).

Just in case you weren't aware - train numbers are 6 digits (5 digits for locomotives), usually found in bold black writing on the front of trains but sometimes on the sides. The first 3 digits (2 digits for locomotives) are the class (on the Brighton mainline some examples are 455, 377, 387 and 700) which refers to the particular type (model, if you like) of train. The last 3 digits are unique to each unit.

 

[StephenHunter]

There are some exemptions on the numbering; SWR's 455s have only the last four digits and the new GA stock only uses the unit number. The 455s are easily recognisable by virtue of being very boxy.

Also worth doing some reading on railway history.

 

[char1111]

Thanks for the info everyone, I really appreciate it!
What are some stations (aside from Horley where I'll be starting) that are good?

By good I mean friendly to trainspotters, large variety and high volume of trains, and easy to access/navigate? (I have a visual impairment)

 

[StephenHunter]

In your neck of woods? London Bridge is good. Also Gatwick.

 

[Bevan Price]

Right, you're in Horley, which means that you're got a good variety of stuff passing you on the Brighton Main Line. Southern, Gatwick Express and Thameslink. Station platforms are good, but you might want to find a footbridge or something as some station staff can get a bit antsy about spotters.

Get a good book like the ABC Rail Guide to give you an idea of what various trains look like and their composition. Wikipedia is also useful. There also various magazines out there that will help keep you up to date with changes on the network.

I'd also recommend the Trainspotter app and the Trainlogger website as good places to record your sightings; a notepad might be handy too. A camera is also good, but remember not to use flash as it can disorient drivers.

Dress appropriately for the weather; sunscreen and insect repellent might be useful.

Most importantly, do not trespass on the railway. It's stupid and illegal.

Also - if you are on a station - stand well clear of platform edges - behind any yellow lines painted on the platforms.
Do not stand where you get in the way of staff, or where you get in the way of passengers trying to board or leave trains.
And do not drop any litter on the platforms or tracks.

Enjoy.
And note that if you go to any lines with high speed trains, the numbers on some trains can be so small that they may be difficult to read on fast-moving trains.
Platform 5 also produce "spotting books", as an alternative to the ABC Rail Guides. That also includes guides to trains in some countries in mainland Europe, if you ever go overseas on holiday.

 

[StephenHunter]

If you go overseas, Germany is excellent for its variety and ease of access; you can get from London to any part of Germany within a day. There's even more variety as you head further east, but things will be a bit less easy, especially for someone with visual impairment.

 

[char1111]

Hmm, interesting! Thanks.

What about photography? I'm thinking about doing that too.

 

[py_megapixel]

What about photography? I'm thinking about doing that too.

For getting started, a smartphone or cheap point-and-shoot camera will do the trick, and you already know how to use it.

However, if/when you decide to upgrade to a better camera, the mode you might well want is Time Value (Tv) or Shutter Priority (S) - they do the same thing, just different names for different camera manufcturers. This is because the shutter speed gives you a huge amount of control when it comes to fast moving objects, as the slower the shutter, the more different positions the object will be in, so the blurrier it will appear (let me know if you want more information as I don't know how much you know about this or how well I'm explaining!). What Tv does is have you choose the shutter speed while it optimises everything else to get the best image possible, which is ideal.

However photography is also an expression of your creativity so you should always feel free to experiment with different modes and setups.

 

[Halish Railway]

Here’s a couple of things that I do when choosing where to go to when making my train spotting videos.

1. Look for interesting or rail services; There’s several ways of doing this, first is to go onto Railtour Info (http://www.railtourinfo.co.uk/tours.html) to find all types of railtours, though the timetables for these workings are often only released a couple of days in advance. Secondly, you can visit the National Rail website to find out about engineering work and possible diversions under the ‘changes to train times’ section. Finally, you could just look through Realtime trains (detailed mode) and use some of the filters, e.g. VAR, STP or non-passenger services. Also, during leaf fall season you will be able to see plenty of Railhead Treatment Trains, especially on the busy railways in the south of England.

2. Research what regular passenger trains pass through a desired station, using the custom times feature on Realtime Trains. I would recommend at least 8 trains per hour to keep yourself entertained, maybe 6 at a push. Otherwise you may find yourself waiting for quite a while between trains. Another quick tip - At some stations the information of passing trains isn’t loaded onto Realtime Trains until the day before.

3. Research the station that you are going to. Watch YouTube videos of the station and look at photos on Google Images to see whether its somewhere that you would want to spend your time at. Also I would avoid un-manned stations in big cities. In outer suburbs, towns and villages you should be fine.

 

[char1111]

I see. Thanks!

What about gaining access to the platforms? Are platform tickets still a thing?
I would probably hop between Horley and Gatwick so I'd most likely just get a return from Horley and spend some time at each station that way, but I'm curious about the best way to do it.

Also, are there any "do's and don'ts" with photography? I know of the obvious ones but is there anything else which is worth noting?

 

[dave87016]

And in the current climate don’t forget to wear a mask on stations and onboard the trains that covers your mouth and nose unless you are medically exempt

 

[char1111]

@StephenHunter by the way, when you said that train station staff can get antsy about trainspotting at the stations, could you please elaborate on that? Thanks.

 

[birchesgreen]

I see. Thanks!

What about gaining access to the platforms? Are platform tickets still a thing?
I would probably hop between Horley and Gatwick so I'd most likely just get a return from Horley and spend some time at each station that way, but I'm curious about the best way to do it.

Also, are there any "do's and don'ts" with photography? I know of the obvious ones but is there anything else which is worth noting?

I think you can still get platform tickets in some places though the easiest way is just to get a ticket to the next station which, depending on where you are of course, could only be a couple of quid. I always have a ticket when i'm on a platform photting, though because i've come from somewhere else (my local station is boring unless you like 323s).

As for photography no flash of course, stay out of the way of staff (and passengers) especially during dispatch. Know where the signals and lines of sight are so you can try and avoid interfering when the guard is seeing if its safe to depart. Its also best to avoid running along the platform. Basically avoid anything which might make station staff notice you and become nervous and you'll be fine.

 

[StephenHunter]

@StephenHunter by the way, when you said that train station staff can get antsy about trainspotting at the stations, could you please elaborate on that? Thanks.

They might think you're recceing the place for a terrorist attack. At major stations, you're advised to inform the staff when you arrive.

 

[char1111]

They might think you're recceing the place for a terrorist attack. At major stations, you're advised to inform the staff when you arrive.

I see. Thanks
Following onto this, can station staff refuse/kick you out for spotting, even if you have or are willing to get a ticket?

I know that trainspotting is allowed as long as its done sensibly, as the Network Rail website says. I'm just curious to know whether station staff can override this?

 

[Peter C]

I see. Thanks
Following onto this, can station staff refuse/kick you out for spotting, even if you have or are willing to get a ticket?

I know that trainspotting is allowed as long as its done sensibly, as the Network Rail website says. I'm just curious to know whether station staff can override this?

I think they can, yes. The Railway Enthusiast Guidelines at the beginning of the ABC Rail Guide says that if a member of staff asks you to leave a station, or even just move to a different part of a station, then you just follow that as they are just trying to ekeep you and everyone safe.

-Peter

 

[py_megapixel]

One extra word of advice - make sure you're staying well clear from platform edges, and stay in public areas. I'm not in the railway industry myself but I'm sure a number of members on here who are will tell you about the dangers of trainspotters either not paying attention and ending up dangerously close to the line, or deliberately trespassing.

 

[Darandio]

I see. Thanks
Following onto this, can station staff refuse/kick you out for spotting, even if you have or are willing to get a ticket?

I know that trainspotting is allowed as long as its done sensibly, as the Network Rail website says. I'm just curious to know whether station staff can override this?

Of course yes, they are well within their rights to ask you to leave.

 

[Bevan Price]

I see. Thanks
Following onto this, can station staff refuse/kick you out for spotting, even if you have or are willing to get a ticket?

I know that trainspotting is allowed as long as its done sensibly, as the Network Rail website says. I'm just curious to know whether station staff can override this?

As can happen anywhere - not just on the railways - you can meet people in a bad mood, "jobsworth" types, and people who "invent" rules that do not exist -- and I am afraid that they can ask you to leave railway property - and you cannot refuse. Railways are "private" property, so the owner (or authorised representative) can decide who is allowed to be present. If in doubt, when you arrive at a station, try to find the station or platform supervisor, and ask if they object to you trainspotting, etc.; they may ask how long to expect to be present.

In some areas, there are rover / day ranger / one day travelcard tickets that enable you to visit several stations - and move to a different station if you encounter a "difficult" member of staff. In some areas - but possibly not in your local areas, there are unstaffed stations. You will still need to behave sensibly because there may be CCTV cameras watching the platforms, whilst crews of passing trains are also able to report anyone who seems to be behaving badly.

Photography - if you ever progress to using conventional cameras, some staff consider that using tripods is a safety hazard, because people can trip over them.

 

[char1111]

Thanks for your help everyone, I went out yesterday and did my first lot - I spoke to one of the station staff and they told me that it was fine to film, be aware of fast passing trains, told me where to go if I saw something/an incident, etc. After that I had absolutely no problems at all, and I was there for a good 2-3 hours. Got some good shots too. Overall a brilliant Sunday afternoon.



I'd love to hear about how you think I did, and how I could improve. Thank you all once again!

 

[birchesgreen]

Great stuff, keep going!

 

[Peter C]

Thanks for your help everyone, I went out yesterday and did my first lot - I spoke to one of the station staff and they told me that it was fine to film, be aware of fast passing trains, told me where to go if I saw something/an incident, etc. After that I had absolutely no problems at all, and I was there for a good 2-3 hours. Got some good shots too. Overall a brilliant Sunday afternoon.

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I'd love to hear about how you think I did, and how I could improve. Thank you all once again!

Sounds like you had a good day out! From what you've said you did all of the right things and the staff seemed very kind. Out of interest, how many trains did you see?

-Peter

 

[Andy Pacer]

Sounds great, stick at it, good to have something to focus on and interest you during these strange times.

 

[bearhugger]

I recomend having a look at the following websites.
Guidelines for taking photos.
NRE Guidelines for enthusiasts.
BTP Rail Enthusiasts.

I generally find when arriving at a station that I've never spotted at before, to find a member of station staff and check with them whether i need to sign in or buy a platform ticket. Most of the time you will be ok. However a couple of weeks ago I went to Guildford station and was asked to go and let the supervisor on platform 2 know i was there. He reminded me not to use flash photography, stay behind the yellow lines and that there were welfare officer around that may come and check on me (pretty much the standard 'talk' you get.). When I went back later to let him know i was leaving we had a 10/15 minute chat about variou stuff and was quite friendly.

 

[char1111]

Sounds like you had a good day out! From what you've said you did all of the right things and the staff seemed very kind. Out of interest, how many trains did you see?

-Peter

I saw at least 50 trains either passing through or stopping, they normally came every couple of minutes, and sometimes there were multiple at one time

 

[Peter C]

I saw at least 50 trains either passing through or stopping, they normally came every couple of minutes, and sometimes there were multiple at one time

Ah OK - sounds brilliant!
Sorry to keep asking questions, but did you get many numbers? I find that when there are lots of trains in quick succession I get confused with numbers and services!

-Peter

 

[Richard Scott]

Thanks for the info everyone, I really appreciate it!
What are some stations (aside from Horley where I'll be starting) that are good?

By good I mean friendly to trainspotters, large variety and high volume of trains, and easy to access/navigate? (I have a visual impairment)

From where you are would suggest Clapham Junction. May be worth arming yourself with a Travelcard and having a day around London. Would suggest going with a few mates or someone you know given your age. There are lots of like minded people of your age but be careful they are the age they say they are before arranging to meet anyone (sorry to mention it but do need to be careful in this day and age). One tip would give, keep a log of the trains you travel on as I didn't do that in the early days and regret it.