Origins of the term 'Rivet counting'?

Ken H · 30 May 2019

Was out for dinner last night and someone with no interest in railways used the term. 'rivet counting' - actually about a botanist who had a very narrow interest.

I was a little surprised - I thought this was a trainspotter thing.
But I looked an Wiktionary says:-

A person who has an obsession with the minutiae of their particular interest, especially in military and technology history. Anyone preoccupied with small distinguishing features between different items

I first heard it about people who had an interest in MGR hoppers and who could tell different lots of HAA wagons by counting the rivets on the chassis. It may even have been modellers.

Does anyone know if this term started in the railway community (if so where) or did it come from elsewhere?

RailUK Forums

farci · 30 May 2019

Might such an obsession have echos in the profession of 'toothbrush holesmanship' in this classic Peter Sellers sketch from 1958?

TRAX · 30 May 2019

We also use this term in France ("compteur de rivet" being a rivet counter).

Bald Rick · 30 May 2019

farci said:
Might such an obsession have echos in the profession of 'toothbrush holesmanship' in this classic Peter Sellers sketch from 1958?

Seeing the picture of a record on a turntable, reminds me that in my other life (back in the 90s) the practice of knowing dance music so well that you could identify samples, how they were being used, what record they came from, labels, years etc. and be a bit obsessive with it was known in DJ circles as “trainspotting”

43021HST · 31 May 2019

If you look up Railuk in the dictionary it says, "See also rivet counters"
Threads in the past on pacer rivets come to mind.

I've read some Railway modelling magazines from the 50s - 60s (yes I like to stay up to date); a lot of modellers then would build locos from scratch and various letters pages criticising a model for not having the correct number of rivets would arrive, followed by an equal number of letters quite rightly criticising the sheer banalilty of these obsessives.

underbank · 31 May 2019

There are a few joke rivet counter detection vans on various exhibition layouts. There's a good one on the museum of transport layout, and another here

Bevan Price · 31 May 2019

It was a jokey comment about those people who stood closely inspecting the minute details on steam locos, oblivious to the fact that they were spoiling peoples' photographs.
Not sure when it started, but certainly known in the 1960s.

Cowley · 31 May 2019

underbank said:
There are a few joke rivet counter detection vans on various exhibition layouts. There's a good one on the museum of transport layout, and another here

That’s excellent.
We’re trying to get an exhibition layout together at the moment and the Rivet Counter is something I’d always feared, until my rugby playing mate George mentioned to me that if someone complained that his class 20 probably wouldn’t have been seen crossing a viaduct on Dartmoor in 1991, he’d unscrew their head and probably score a conversion with it.
I’m not so worried about it now.

Origins of the term 'Rivet counting'?

Ken H

On Moderation

RailUK Forums

farci

Member

TRAX

Established Member

Bald Rick

Veteran Member

43021HST

Established Member

underbank

Established Member

Attachments

Bevan Price

Established Member

Cowley

Forum Staff