How Do You Show You're a Railfan?

[METRO]

For me, I'm lucky enough to have my own office (as president of a student organization on campus) and I keep an HO NYC J3a that I painted in 20th Century Limited stripes on my desk.

Every now and again someone will comment on it. I think the most common comment I get is how well it matches my Apple G4 Powerbook! Haha.

~METRO

[Anonymous]

I wear a lot of train t shirts and sweat shirts as well as drinking from coffee cups and reading MR and Trains in public. I also have belt buckles I wear and lapel pins so people get the idea that I'm a railfan. All that stuff seems to bring up the conversation now and then. I seem to get the most comments from a sweatshirt that says "The light at the end of the tunnel may be an oncoming train!" Usually you can tell who is just wanting to needle you and who is looking for something to talk about along the lines of trains. Otherwise I have been approached a couple times while chasing and photographing trains by railfans. Seems we all have something to talk about after the intros. Imagine that.

[Anonymous]

I have zillions of railroad baseball type caps, and I always were one when I'm out. And of course if I'm near trackside I'll have a camera around my neck! When I was working (I'm retired!) I used to have some framed railway photos and a railway calendar on my office walls. Never brought a train to work though.

Bob Boudreau

[Anonymous]

I moon train crews?

[ksax73]

QUOTE: Originally posted by deschane

I moon train crews?

LOL, I don't do that but that'd be funny if the train actually stopped and the engineer got out to confront you. That would be one of those hilarious, unexpected events, hahahaha, lol.

(all fun and games)

As far as me, I have a bunch of Amtrak train pictures that show up on my desktop of my computer and they switch up every hour thanks to my webshots software. Other than that I don't think I show it much asside from what's in my "personal space" such as my computer or room.

[rrinker]

I guess I don't do anything overt, although if I am trackside watching a train (from PUBLIC property), I will wave to the train crew so a) they know I know the train is there and b) they know I'm friendly, not some moron about to toss a rock at them or take a shot at them.

But most of my railfanning is limited to museums and tourist lines as I don't have a high interest in modern railroading, plus ever since Norfolk Southern started calling the police to chase people from PUBLIC roads adjacent to the nearby hump yard, it's left a bad taste in my mouth.

--Randy

[bcammack]

I have (had) a nice '40s era aerial photograph of the Central of Georgia Savannah yard framed and matted on my office wall. On the bookcase is (was) a 12" long acrylic and walnut display piece with an N scale 4-4-0 and three MDC Overton passenger cars.

[FThunder11]

I always wear my Amtrak Hat and i wear a BNSF shirt

[Anonymous]

I have my own office too. I have many train pics that I took framed.
I also have many that I have taken downloaded to my screensaver on my computer.

For those that where Tshirts/ballcaps of their fav. railroads-Where is a good source to find them?

[Anonymous]

I have both Hobby Loads and GG1 shirts, that I wear occasionally.

Alvie.

[Anonymous]

I have an Amtrak Coast Starlight baseball-cap, a Santa Fe 3751 baseball-cap, and several train t-shirts. No-one has commented on any of them or asking about trains yet. I guess I just need more train stuff. [:D]

[randybc2003]

I have a screensaver with Howard Fogg paintings. Also, I have a couple of belt buckles with Woodburning American Standards on them - A bronz one for "every day" and a faux ivory one. Not only can people see I am a fan, but they can see my preferences!!

[Hawks05]

i don't show it. its my secret hobby really. don't want my friends to find out and think i'm a nut case or something. if they find out i take pictures of trains i'll just say i'm into photographer. if you walked into my bedroom you'll see a calender for 2005 and some magazines laying around. thats about it.

[mikebonellisr]

I usualy don't, but I'm always amazed when other modelers come up to me when they see me reading a RR magazine or see RR stuff in my car.There seems to be quite a few of us out there at all different levels.

[n2mopac]

Well, I must say first that I don't feel the need to advertise that I am a rail fan. It is my hobby, not something I try hard to "show off." But my office does have several train related items in it. like some cool wooden bookends my mother-in-law gave me for Christmas a few years ago with a steam engine exiting the tunnel on one end with the caboose just entering the tunnel on the other. I have a couple of soap stone train carvings and a couple of other train trinkets around a well.

Ron

[fiatfan]

I have a GP-9 dummy pulling a couple of cars (each with our company logo on them). I also have a train calender on the wall and occasionally use photos of my layout as wallpaper on my computer.

The drawback to using layout photos is that I realize I would rather be home working on the trains (wouldn't we all!). Retirement can't get her soon enough. Still three years away.

In the five years I've had the stuff on display, not one person has ever commented on it.

Tom

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Hawks05

i don't show it. its my secret hobby really. don't want my friends to find out and think i'm a nut case or something.

Hey - that's a great attitude! All of us model railroaders are "nut cases"! Truly amazing!

I wonder what you think of other hobbyists - plastic modelers, flying aircraft modelers, stamp collectors - are they nut cases too?

I personally don't give a rats butt what others think of my hobby. It's what I like doing and what keeps me occupied and invigorated. Similarly if others are sports nuts - jocks - whose whole life revolves around one sport or another, I don't pass judgement on them, its just not my cuppa tea.

Be open with your leisure pursuits, and see if it isn't all that bad! Too many model railroaders are "closet modelers" with the same attitude. It's not like the hobby is something to be ashamed of - call it scale model railroading and not "playing with trains"!

Rant mode off! [:D]

Bob Boudreau

[AggroJones]

I don't. No one knows what I do. Only my immediate family and other model railroaders. I try my damnedest not to let people find out.

[Dough]

LMAO, you sure can tell the high school age and below modelers.

[Anonymous]

hey! we are nuts arent we, spending hundreds of dollars on 10 inch long pieces of plastic just because they go "CHOO-CHOO"

[ben10ben]

I always have at least one of my most current magazines with me at school to read during free moments, and, suprisingly, have occasionally had someone ask to look at one. I also tend to try to relate topics in Science and History to model and real trains, where relevant and apropriate, so I'm known for that.

[Anonymous]

I wear cool golf shirts with logos - CNJ, DL&W, etc. - on them. They actually get people talking sometimes. It's nice to educate people about railroads. Also, Norfolk Southern has great caps, etc. available, too.

[Anonymous]

I have pics of trains and cad drawings which are cool since I am a draftsman.
I took the bigboy cad drawing and made it into a challenger.
I also wear a Up belt buckle have a UP denim jacket and my train hat with enough pins to require card board inside to support it

[Anonymous]

Besides the sticker on my hard hat that says I LOVE TRAINS, I have many CSX, Chessie, and Seaboard System shirts and jackets I wear to work!

[TrainFreak409]

I talk a lot about trains, and usually go one saying some technical spec that no one else understands. I also talk about my job, since I work at a train store. Been talking about trains since I learned how, my first words were "Choo choo." And I don't plan to stop.

~[8]~ TrainFreak409 ~[8]~

[Anonymous]

I wear a vest to all the train shows that is covered w/patches & pins of many railroads.
I wear a Walmart cap to work that has train pins on it & I dispay some of my layout photo's on the bulletin board in the warehouse. The vendors especially like the large color photo of the Walmart Dist. center that is on my layout. They always tell everyone it's the new DC in Arcadia. It's got about 10 HO scale Walmart semi's sitting next to it.
Everyone at my work place knows I'm into trains in a big way. The workers bring all their kids, parents, grandparents, wives, girlfriends & such on my day off, plus my layouts been in the local paper a few times. So, I guess you can say" I'm a train nutt".
Larry

[Anonymous]

except for the models on my shelves, I don't show that I'm a railfan :|

[Hawks05]

QUOTE: Originally posted by FundyNorthern

QUOTE: Originally posted by Hawks05

i don't show it. its my secret hobby really. don't want my friends to find out and think i'm a nut case or something.

Hey - that's a great attitude! All of us model railroaders are "nut cases"! Truly amazing!

I wonder what you think of other hobbyists - plastic modelers, flying aircraft modelers, stamp collectors - are they nut cases too?

I personally don't give a rats butt what others think of my hobby. It's what I like doing and what keeps me occupied and invigorated. Similarly if others are sports nuts - jocks - whose whole life revolves around one sport or another, I don't pass judgement on them, its just not my cuppa tea.

Be open with your leisure pursuits, and see if it isn't all that bad! Too many model railroaders are "closet modelers" with the same attitude. It's not like the hobby is something to be ashamed of - call it scale model railroading and not "playing with trains"!

Rant mode off! [:D]

Bob Boudreau

i have one friend who is into model cars i believe, he doesn't tell anyone really either. i'm still in high school so this hobby isn't something a lot of HSers do. maybe once i get out of college and everything i'll show it off. i'm also a jock to. i only play one sport but if i wouldn't i could be a 4 sport athlete, just chose to stick to one or maybe 2 this year.

thats how i am. i don't like to cause a lot of commotion and i don't like to flaunt what i do. if i feel like telling someone i will otherwise i'll keep it to myself and if someone is in my room and asks what is in the other room upstairs i'll show them and say its my hobby.

[Anonymous]

I'm fifteen, in eleventh grade, and everyone in the school knows what my hobby is--after all, I am cofounder and president of my school's railfan club. I don't go up to people saying, "Hello, I'm a railfan," but I make no secret of it either.

Yeah, some people JUST DON'T GET IT, but the majority of those who know of it are understanding, even if they do kid about it a little.

Those from the steam age are usually happy that someone is still interested in steam locomotives. For everyone else, once they realize that your interest has more to do with history and mechanics than "choo-choo trains," they should leave you alone. Of course, the world still has rude personages, but they are just as common among "adults" as among my classmates.

I know that many in the middle and high school grades are concerned that admitting to being a railfan will make them seem purile (I am no exception from this concern), but I have found two things:
1.) Most of those who would condemn you as purile are under the belief that railroads are obsolete, unsightful holdovers from decades ago; have never ridden a train in their life and have had no more experience with railroads than being stopped at a grade crossing; and are themselves immature, purile people; and
2.) It is more immature to deny your chosen hobby (and to win the approval of those who are members of what a described in the last statement of point one) than to embrace a perfectly respectable pasttime.

Happy railfanning!
-Daniel Parks

[Nieuweboer]

I used to have a bumper sticker "Model Railroader on Board" and that got me into conversations a couple of times. When still active I had my own office with a model of an EMD E-unit on my desk and a numer of enlarged photographs that I personally took at Tehatchapi. Everybody in the office knew I was a train hobbyist and I even wrote an article about model railroading for the company magazine. Now, when asked about the way I spend my retirement time I tell about my hobby, but as soon as I sense that people find this a bit silly for a grown man I stress and even exaggorate the electronic aspect of the hobby and that makes it a serious passtime again .Electronics is complicated and even mysterious to many peolple so anyone working with electronics must be taken seriously.