Trainwatching is boring now

[Anonymous]

I recently made a road trip up to Spokane Washington from Portland Oregon. The whole trip paralleled the BNSF and UP mainlines through the northwest. Only recently has my intrest and love for trains been rekindled, so like and good railfan I just sat there and stared out the window watching the trains.

I was dissapointed.

I grew up in fremont, california, on what is today the UP warm springs subdivision. No intense train action around there, in fact I don't have any idea if it was a branch line mainline, or what it really was meant for. But the UP and SP tracks travelled right through town. When I was young it was so exciting the see all the different power roll through. I sometimes got to see some tough SD40-2 consists, occasionally a good on Rio Grande GP40, sometimes I'd see a gp20, or even an old sd9 running long hood forward. I saw SW1200's, I was excited when I saw new SD60's and the like. I got to see SPSF kodachromes, my favorite, sometimes cotton belt units would roll through, the occasinal Dash-8 on the UP. It was always an excitement waiting to see what kind of power was behind that bright light coming towards me.

But travelling along the mainlines today, I was bored. Dash-8W, yawn. Occasionally I might see an old SD40-2 soldiering on, that was a treat. I saw swaths of SD70M's on UP, not bad. And ofcourse the complete infestation of Dash-9W's on both roads. That was about all I ever saw, those 4 locos. The most exciting find I saw was a white face GP38 pulling a work train for BNSF, that was a real exciting moment.

So what's my point? Whatever happened to variety? I was honestly bored seeing Dash 9 after Dash 9, even if it was an AC4400 or something it still looks basically the same, same cab design etc. And the paint is all basically the same, a bunch of pumkins or a bunch of lemons. No longer do I wait at the crossing with anticipation, I figure it'll just be another GE clone. I'd be blown away to see C30, or a GP40 roll by, or at least something not on 6 trucks with a wide cab. I was excited to see that on some of the redesigned SD90's the cab style was changed a little, finally some variety!

I guess I am just posting this to see if anyone else feels the same way as I do, with only 4 major railroads nowadays, and herds of GE clones wandering the rails, do you feel like the good old days of loco-watching are fleeting fast?

Maybe it's that with the older machines it seemed like all the different locos had personalities, the mean n' tough looking SD40, the short and stout GP30. The ominous high hood GP9's. The noble SD40 "snoot" noses. The big but friendly SD50's and 60's, the baby SW1200's. The can-do attitude of the little GP20's. The rugged and mountain looking RioGrande SD40T2s, the bright and friendly Kodachromes, the minority but still proud Cotton Belt. Anybody get it?

I don't feel like the newer locos, especially the GE's have much personality. When you see an AC4400 you should make you feel intimidated by the power, instead I think "hmmm, looks just like any other fat faced GE, yawn."

I'll always be a railfan, but I sure wish somebody would change the design of these things a little every new model, kind of like a car, or I wi***he roads would have more specially painted units , so I don't spend more time looking at the different types of boxcars than I do looking at the power. Anybody else feel this way?

[JoeKoh]

i cant say its boring from my area.CSX has diffrent uniits at the point along with leased and borrowed power from up and bnsf.Plus the trains have to slow down because they are doing trackwork in the area.just remember wherever your viewing
stay safe
Joe

[eolafan]

Boring, yes it is sometimes, but we must always remember that we are visitors when we watch the railroads and that they are in business to do one thing only, MAKE MONEY in transporting things and people from one place to another, PERIOD! They are not in business to make our hobby interesting for us (although they do this sometimes with nice paint schemes, etc.). We must always remember these things and HOPE (rather than expect) that something interesting will come along our way. To think otherwise would be like expecting Northwest or United Airlines to bring back the DC9 or 707...this will never happen! Jim, Aurora, IL (BNSF country)

[wallyworld]

I think the one insight into the feeling that train watching is boring has to do more with who is doing the watching more than what is being watched. In another words, boring compared to what? I happen to agree with you. Growing up in my small town, I could watch "The Laker" roar past kicking up clouds of snow, I could amble down to the North Shore terminal and spend a summer afternoon watching them switch the yards, or see the Baldwin centercabs chortle slowly along on the EJ&E on transfer moves, or go over to Roundout and see the Hiawatha's fly by. I know I am very fortunate to have been there. From my own perspective, the lack of distinctions and variety equates to one repeating reaction I have now, when a train goes by that is akin to "thats nice, but so what?" I think if you are techno minded, you are stuck with comparing maybe where a horn is located, or whatever. I really believe that when you look at the content of publications devoted to railroading, you will find a growing amount of "looking back," as well as first person narratives in reaction to this situation. I don't know about you, but I can only look at so many track charts, or business related articles before my eyes glaze over. I am sure editors of these magazines have a tough row to how. As a consequence I think there is a growing market for articles of a historical nature or preservation efforts versus covering the current scene. However, each to their own as they say.

[Anonymous]

I very much disagree. Sure, I'd rather be watching the RS3's, AS16s, VO1000's, S1s, S2s, SW1's, FAs, F3s, F7s, RF16s, GG1's, P5As, E2Bs and so forth that I grew up watching. But I wouldn't miss today's show for the world. Watching 20,000 tons of coal being hoisted over a mountain by two units down on thier knees, traction motors and blowers screaming, is quite a show. As is a 15,000 foot long double stack racing by at track speed. And every time I see one I am amazed at the speed and ease a single unit can handle a RoadRailer train. Likewise I thoroughly enjoy Amtrak's Acela and all of the other electrically powered trains on the Corridor, whether they are Amtrak, NJ Transit, SEPTA, or MARC.

Today's railroading is not the same show it was 20, 30 or 40 years ago, but it most certainly is a show that is well worth watching. And something you can be sure of is that in 20 years the current rail scene will be gone, to be replaced by ??????

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

Trainwatching can be boring only if you let it be boring. Variety may not be what it used to be but things are still interesting. BRC's roster is a lot simpler than it used to be but I still enjoy watching GP38's in pulldown duty and SD40/slug sets pushing cuts over the hump when I watch from the Cicero Ave. overpass.
I also look forward to seeing something new even if it replaces something old. E9's no longer haul commuters on the BN mainline but the commuters are still there and the new locomotives from MPI are interesting.
As I've mentioned elsewhere, we all remember what we watched when we first started watching trains and use that as our measuring stick. Railroading has definitely changed from that day, whatever it was, but it is still interesting.

[CShaveRR]

I'm sorry...after a lifetime (part of one, anyway) of being a railfan and over thirty years of working on a railroad, I still go out to watch trains on occasion, and usually in my same old haunts. Disappointed? sometimes. Bored? Never?

Knowledge is important...even if AC4400s look roughly the same as they did nine years ago (has it been that long?!), new ones, given away only by their numbers, should get a reaction.

And who says you have to stop watching trains once the locomotives go by? New freight cars, unusual freight cars, a sign of new business (cars you haven't seen before, or which have been absent for a long time) can be significant. Do motive power freaks fall asleep until the DP unit shows up?

Now get back out there!

[joseph2]

Airdrum I agree with you.Besides look a like Diesels we have look a like unit trains,plus only four major railroads in the USA.Myself I find shortlines and regionals more interesting then Class 1 roads.

[JoeKoh]

QUOTE: Originally posted by JoeKoh

i cant say its boring from my area.CSX has diffrent uniits at the point along with leased and borrowed power from up and bnsf.Plus the trains have to slow down because they are doing trackwork in the area.just remember wherever your viewing
stay safe
Joe

just a sample
today I was in my old neighborhood and a local csx gp38-2(repainted) was passed by 4 brand new up engines with the building america logos and flag.it was fantastic.
stay safe[:D]
Joe

[dharmon]

Watching trains is comfort food for the soul....like baseball, old chevy trucks, hunting with friends, bbq and telling war stories with your buds over beer. [:)] I can't see it ever getting boring.

[JoeKoh]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dharmon

Watching trains is comfort food for the soul....like baseball, old chevy trucks, hunting with friends, bbq and telling war stories with your buds over beer. [:)] I can't see it ever getting boring.

Matt says you forgot apple pie![:D]
stay safe
Joe

[bnsfkline]

DEATH TO THE AC44'S AND DASH NINES! They ruined the varity of Train watching! my goal....buy every AC44 and Dash nine out there, AND SCRAP THEM

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by JoeKoh

QUOTE: Originally posted by dharmon

Watching trains is comfort food for the soul....like baseball, old chevy trucks, hunting with friends, bbq and telling war stories with your buds over beer. [:)] I can't see it ever getting boring.

Matt says you forgot apple pie![:D]
stay safe
Joe

Apple is okay, but pecan rules....[:p]

[Anonymous]

I can't say that watching diesels leading a large consist doesn't still give me a thrill but, I am old enough to remember the days when steamers led the way. There was something about these big monsters blowing smoke and belching steam that just indicated power. I miss those days and am glad I didn't miss, if even the end, of the steam era.

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by bnsfkline

DEATH TO THE AC44'S AND DASH NINES! They ruined the varity of Train watching! my goal....buy every AC44 and Dash nine out there, AND SCRAP THEM

Caught a BNSF loaded coal train leaving town yesterday - with a new AC44 on the headend and an SD70 as a helper! Interesting!

Mookie

[CShaveRR]

QUOTE: Originally posted by bnsfkline

DEATH TO THE AC44'S AND DASH NINES! They ruined the varity of Train watching! my goal....buy every AC44 and Dash nine out there, AND SCRAP THEM

My, what an imagination!

I don't remember people getting so up in arms when it was SD40-2s and C30-7s that ruled the rails! Or GP9s, for that matter. I remember David P. Morgan saying something like, show me your most ubiquitous locomotive--like a plain-Jane GP7--and I'll show you the next locomotive that railfans will be clamoring for to pull their fantrips. I can't remember the wording; DPM was undoubtedly far more eloquent.

Get the big picture...they wouldn't buy these things by the hundreds if they didn't get the job done. What we watch is the job being done (on some days better than others!). What would you replace these units with? The way things are going, it would have to be something really butt-ugly!

I'd rather see that kind of money spent revitalizing a national passenger service. Then you might get some real variety!

[bedell]

Boring or not, I need some help in finding a safe, legal place to watch some NEC action in the northeast area of Baltimore. Will be there next week, staying in the Whitemarsh/Nottingham area. Thanks for any advice.

[JoeKoh]

QUOTE: Originally posted by bedell

Boring or not, I need some help in finding a safe, legal place to watch some NEC action in the northeast area of Baltimore. Will be there next week, staying in the Whitemarsh/Nottingham area. Thanks for any advice.

Welcome to the forums[:D]
if you are going to Baltimore checkout the corner of Pratt and Poppleton.The B&O museum would be a great place to start[:)]
stay safe
Joe

[Anonymous]

The thrill of watching a train roar through a town at 70 mph will never get boring, even if its the same loco each time.

Tyler

[Anonymous]

I somewhat agree. I would have loved to see The Hiawatha Hudsons rocketing through Rondout, the Stainless Steel Zephyrs speeding through LaGrange, or even the BN E-Units pulling their parade of daily commuters through Eola. On the other hand, the units of today look so sleek. The sound so loud. Its amazing to see these AC units rumblue through town, pulling double stack, coal, ore, or a local. The only thing I could ask for was that CSX paint one of their AC6600CW's in the old Chessie System paint, PLEASE!

[Willy2]

To me, trains will never get boring. I don't care if I see ten trains in a day and each has all DASH 9s, it is still fun. No matter what, trains are great. The faster the better!

[Anonymous]

If you can, find a shortline to chase every now and then to break the monotony. You can find the variety you seek there. I do agree with you--Variety IS the spice of life!

[Anonymous]

Boring, not to me. I'm here in Philadelphia, living next to the CSX Trenton Line, and still get a decent variety of engines and equipment that roll through. I also actually enjoy catching NS action, and even the dash9's don't turn me off (to much) Would I like to see a bit more color and variety, yes, sure. But, most important to me, as was mentioned in another post, 20-30 years from now, we'll look back at these times and be mighty happy to have experienced and documented them. [:D]

john r
http://www.trainweb.org/phllocal

[potlatcher]

Face it, this is the same general complaint that echoed around the railfan community forty years ago when, suddenly, all the steam locomotives were gone and diesels ruled the roost. Many railfans lumped diesels; whether they be EMD F's, Alco FA's, Baldwin "Sharks", or FM C-Liners; into the same group and said the same thing about them: "They all look alike!"

Some of those fans "fell away" and gave up on railroads altogether. Others disappeared into their basements to build steam-powered model railroads or into darkrooms to make prints of their steam locomotive negative collections, and were never seen again - at least not with a camera near the railroad tracks.

That's really too bad! Imagine how many more photos of "classic diesels" we would have available today if these guys hadn't given up.

Personally, I don't find modern diesels as interesting as the earlier ones. And given my choice, I'd rather spend a day chasing a shortline with older locomotives than watching a Class 1. But that choice isn't always available and I would rather do the latter than not watch at all. Any train is less boring than no trains.