Participants wanted for train spotting documentary

[HazelAnson]

My name is Hazel Anson, I study film and television production at York St John University and I am looking to film a short documentary on the emergence of train spotting and its relevance in today’s society. I understand the general public tend to misunderstand the hobby and so this documentary aims to provide a fresh and fair representation of rail enthusiasts and in turn dissuade the prejudices society holds against them.

We are looking for a number of enthusiasts of all ages who are willing to be interviewed to discuss their love of trains and their personal experiences of the hobby so as to gain a better understanding of what it is that fascinates individuals and where their interests have stemmed from. We would like to film contributors part-taking in the hobby as well as their home and social lives to get a well-rounded picture of their character.

Although based in York, the film crew and I are able to travel to more suitable locations or alternatively organise transport to York. We are currently in the process of researching the documentary, but more specific information can be provided on request.

If anyone is interested in participating please email myself at [email protected] with your name, a contact email address and number and I will get back to you shortly.

 

[Aictos]

If you want locations to interview spotters as they actually do so, may I suggest:

Peterborough
Doncaster
Hadley Wood
Crewe

 

[91101]

Hazel,

I sincerely hope that you are going into this project with your own preconceptions out of the window?

I would never ever have referred to myself as a "train spotter", probably through the connotations that are attached to it, and like a lot of people today, including a lot of youngsters who are intrestested in the railway industry I have never stood on the edge of a platform and written down numbers.

I would say that there are a number of different sub-cultures within of those who follow the industry, but I will come on to that later, I will give you my own experience first.

As a kid I always liked trains, I was brought up next to a railway line and found them fascinating. That died off by about 6 or 7 and life moved on. Then about 6 years ago I had to make a trip down to London, the first time I had been on a train probably for a long time, and it recaptured my imagination in to all of the wonderfull places that one could go, so I started travelling around by train with friends just exploring places, Leeds, Manchester, Bristol, wherever we could get to and from in a day, but their was more than just the destination that I found interesting, the relaxing experience of being on a train, or for me, the business side of the industry, how do you move 500 people every half hour from Newcastle to London safel and at a profit?

After uni, its probably not suprising that I ended up going into the industry, and now am a manager for it.

As I said, there are sub-cultures within of those who follow the industry, cranks, neds, bashers etc. There are some people who closely follow the different types of trains, and aspire to travel on each example of each type of train, there are those who are only interested in travelling over certain lines, or want to travel over every inch of the network. There was a recent set of engineering works on the south end of the East Coast Mainline (Edinburgh - London mainline) and a set of points that was not in regular use for passengers was being used, I bore witness to two people travelling over 200 miles just to be on a train that was using this set of points!!

I would say that there is generally a comonality of purpose amongst most people who are intrested in the railways despite what your individual intrest is, a lot of youngsters, myself included, will decide to move into the industry.

Within of the industry, there are, naturally following on my last statement, a lot of people who are interested and enthusiastic about working on and around trains and this gives those who work for the railway still a sort of family - bond making this a very nice place to work. Yesterday for example, I travelled on Eurostar from Paris back to London with a free first class upgrade just because I was staff! I very much doubt if BA would let a member of EasyJet staff travel in their first class just cos they worked in the same business?!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Don't go to Hadly Wood...trust me, there's never any customers there never mind spoters!!

 

[MidnightFlyer]

I'd happily be interviewed, provided someone supply a paper bag for me to put over my head I think the majority of us prefer the term 'rail enthusiast'

 

[43167]

Count me in.

 

[Kernowfem]

Id welcome anything that would put a stop to peoples 'youre really odd' looks when i tell them im a rail enthusiast.

Its in my blood, and while i dont really care what people may think of my ineterest it would be nice to see people educated on what an "enthusiast" is really all about.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

I dont really care what people think about rail enthusiasts, male or female, young or old, if they really find time to pass comment on it they need to get a life

 

[TGV]

My only advice is get a good spread of the community - there are enthusiasts on just about every main station and a lot in the industry itself too - but how many of them actually go about writing numbers, taking photos and riding on specific trains for that reason - I dunno. I never have done. I'm interested in railways because it's what I do for a living. Just as I used to work in the automotive industry, so cars interested me - and still do.

Whatever you do, don't just interview and base it round the stereotypical "anorak" on the platform writing numbers down - although, I'm sure you'll find a few of those too!

 

[E&W Lucas]

I'm sure some of the "care in the community cases" from the end of York platform will make excellent television, but please take note of the comments from "91101" above. If you are a university calibre individual, you should be seeking to go beyond the steriotypes. Many of us who actually work in the industry do so through choice, and genuinely enjoy our jobs. Jobs that are highly skilled, responsible and very well rewarded.

Consider also the effect that the more established railway preservation societies have had. Some are now multi - million pound businesses, creating real jobs for people, and bringing many more millions of pounds into their local economies through hundreds of thousands of visitors a year. If you're not familiar, the big ones are North Yorks Moors Railway, Severn Valley, Ffestionig/ Welsh highland and West Sommerset. All from little acorns sowed by some "enthusiasts" about 40 years ago. If you need a "way in" with this aspect, please PM me.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

This sounds like an interesting project; count me in Hazel - you have mail.

 

[37401]

There is a fair few aspects with train cranks, some like to go to stations/lineside and others like myself prefer to do charters and diesel galas though the latter has been covered 10 or so years ago

 

[Greenback]

My name is Hazel Anson, I study film and television production at York St John University and I am looking to film a short documentary on the emergence of train spotting and its relevance in today’s society. I understand the general public tend to misunderstand the hobby and so this documentary aims to provide a fresh and fair representation of rail enthusiasts and in turn dissuade the prejudices society holds against them.

We are looking for a number of enthusiasts of all ages who are willing to be interviewed to discuss their love of trains and their personal experiences of the hobby so as to gain a better understanding of what it is that fascinates individuals and where their interests have stemmed from. We would like to film contributors part-taking in the hobby as well as their home and social lives to get a well-rounded picture of their character.

Although based in York, the film crew and I are able to travel to more suitable locations or alternatively organise transport to York. We are currently in the process of researching the documentary, but more specific information can be provided on request.

If anyone is interested in participating please email myself at [email protected] with your name, a contact email address and number and I will get back to you shortly.

Hello Hazel. Just to nit pick a bit, train spotting and the associated collecting of locmotive numbers has been around for generations. I don't consider myself a train spotter, as I don't tend to stand around on platforsm, but I do go out and photograph trains in scenic locations!

I am interested in railways rather than trains. I enjoy the history aspect as well as how rail services are organised. I don't know whether I fit into what you are looking for or not, but I have a wide range of other hobbies and interests!

 

[monkey]

...not to put a downer on things, but I like one of the above posters do hope you treat the interest with some sensitivity hazel. I'm not train spotter and I don't even go out my way to travel on trains, but have passsing interest - but just as an example a few years ago some students on the course I am on in uni (on design course where lots of people do video) now, did just such short "documentary" about train enthusiasts. unfortunately, their editing was much to be desired (sly editing of partial conversations and splicing of long awkward silences, just to give an idea), and lead to rather mocking and unsensitive depiction, and rather unfair to those who had kindly agreed to speak on camera. it actaully lead the course leaders to introduce measures to ensure people follow moral guidelines about how to represent their subjects truthfully to prevent similar things being created again. even though I don't go spotting, I was rather horrified at the way it was slyly edited and the general nastiness that permeated from piece of film.

that said this is not to put anyone off though, I would encourage people to be involved in documentaries more as I'm sure it will be done honourably... Think it would be interesting to see how its changed, and also at the way railway photography in particular seems to be really taking off now that digital photography is soo good and accessible...

 

[yorkie]

.... I am looking to film a short documentary on the emergence of train spotting and its relevance in today’s society...

Hmm, there are a few train spotters here, but it's not a site for 'spotters' as such (of course I'm not saying spotters aren't welcome here; it's just not aimed at spotters) I can send you a PM and point you in the direction of places where you are more likely to find spotters, but many of the hardcore spotters who stand on the end of platforms probably do not have internet access. A trip from York to Donny wouldn't cost you much, and you'd find dozens of them if you picked the right day and time...!

We are looking for a number of enthusiasts of all ages who are willing to be interviewed to discuss their love of trains and their personal experiences of the hobby....

Oh, in that case you'll have more luck on this site then! The vast majority of enthusiasts are not spotters. Just like with cars, there are a lot of enthusiasts, but not many of them are car spotters.

The problem is a lot of enthusiasts may not even read this topic, and/or be put off by the title, as it says it's a documentary about train spotting.

 

[bnm]

I too see myself as a rail enthusiast, rather than a trainspotter. I predominantly focus on the area covered by First Great Western and moderate on another forum which covers said area.

It's rare to see the younger generation 'spotting' at the end of platforms these days. They are more likely to be found travelling the network or photographing/videoing various aspects of it.

We have a fantastic rail network in this country, and my primary enjoyment is the journey, rather than the destination. In fact, over the next four weeks I will be travelling to all points served by First Great Western, partly for the heck of it and partly to provide feedback on the services provided.

 

[deltic1989]

If youre going to be in the Lincoln/Nottingham area drop me a line i would be happy to be interviewed.

 

[Techniquest]

When I first read this thread yesterday, I declined to reply straight away. Why? I had, and still do, a niggling feeling about it. I don't really think there's been a documentary made which puts the hobby in a good light whatsoever, preferring instead to be more of the sort mentioned by another member who posted on page 1 of this thread (I'm sorry, I didn't check who it was but I'm sure they'd be happy to confirm who they are!).

As almost everyone else has said in response to this thus far, the hobby encompasses many different aspects. Spotting has not been the be all and end all of it for several decades. To cover each and every aspect in a fair and decent light would be quite challenging. Especially as a lot of us don't class ourselves merely as spotters these days.

Even so, I could certainly be interested in participating. It would depend really whether the person/people putting it together would either be interested in coming down to this part of the country (Wiltshire is a fair bit of a way from York!) or issuing me with whatever is required to get to York, as I'd not be willing to shell out a fortune getting to York out of my own pocket for someone else's gain. If that makes sense. Indeed, the last person who interviewed me a few years ago came all the way down from Newcastle to Hereford (as he was doing the same thing in the Midlands later that day) to do so!

I shall be e-mailing the OP to find out more, though.

 

[monkey]

preferring instead to be more of the sort mentioned by another member who posted on page 1 of this thread (I'm sorry, I didn't check who it was but I'm sure they'd be happy to confirm who they are!).

...possibly me?

 

[Techniquest]

It was indeed you, yes. My apologies for not checking before, monkey.

I've just e-mailed Ms Anson for further details. For anyone remotely curious, this is what I had to say (I've not included the bit where I've copy-pasted her post from here, pointless!):

Some questions for your team and yourself come to mind. These are the following;

1) Should this short documentary be produced, is it known where it is intended to be aired/shown at this time? In addition to that, how long is the documentary to be and is it merely intended to form part of the work for the course at York St. John University?

2) As rail enthusiasm, these days, encompasses many different aspects as well as spotting, would any of these be discussed/asked about/etc in the documentary?

3) You also mentioned discussing home and social lives. How much detail exactly would one be required to go into, as I'm sure you can understand an awful lot of people are not too keen on talking about themselves, particularly to someone/a group of people they don't know too well. Could you elaborate?

4) Further research is being carried out, I note from the above text. Could you mention (or go into some detail) what other research is required?

5) Finally, you mention your film crew and yourself are able to travel to more suitable locations, or organise alternatively transport to York. As I'm sure you will doubtlessly already know, enthusiasts are spread right across the country. Organising transport to York for those of us interested in participating in your interview who live a considerable way from York would be very costly and logistically difficult to organise, especially if there is a lot of interest. The question is then, would you consider organising transport to (and preferably back from!) York for those of us who live in the South, in my case I refer to Wiltshire? Or would those interested in participating in the documentary but live a considerable way from York need to pay our own way to York and back?

I know there's a fair few questions in the above to answer, but as I'm sure you can appreciate, I'd like to know as much as I can before confirming my interest in participation. Should you not be able to interview me on the grounds of how far from York I am, or any other fair reason, it would be rather rude of myself not to wish you the best of luck with this project, indeed with the course in general.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

I am interested to see what the reply to the above is!

 

[4SRKT]

I'd give it a go, but my wife would kill me as she's part of the mainstream of society that reckons that 'spotters' are just idiots or saddoes.