Other than standing 30+ feet from the rails and taking pictures, and/or wearing a Sante Fe hat, how do you tell your seeing another railfan?
Modeling the "Fargo Area Rapid Transit" in O scale 3 rail.
Sometimes its hard to say. I'm at Bayview Junction, a major railfan spot here in Canada, on a regular basis. I see all kinds. Some you would never guess are railfans. I see three old ladies there on Saturday nights... all three make a date out of watching trains I guess. But looking at them you'd never guess they're railfans. And then there's the really old lady I used to see there. One day I told her that she sure doesn't look like a typical railfan. She laughed and replied that her dad used to take her to Bayview to watch trains back in the 1930s! Sometimes you just can't tell!
At Blue Island Junction it isn't that hard since it's not near a business district. Anybody who is out there with a camera in hand is probably a fan.
Look for the koala ear cuff on her left ear.
She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw
Hard core fans can often be spotted by the scanner and camera they carry. And sometimes a pad to take notes.
More casual fans can be a little harder to spot, although they can be seen breaking out their cellphones when a train approaches.
As mentioned, seeing folks in "unusual" places can be a tip-off. That's why the Rochelle park exists - people noticed that fans congregated there and built the park. Same with Fostoria, Folkston, and a host of other places that now have formal trainwatching facilities.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
The thread title reminds me of the Red Skelton skit where he was the two seagulls, "Gertrude and Heathcliff".
Gertrude complains, "We've been in Hollywood for two weeks now and I haven't seen a movie star yet!"
Heathcliff responds, "Fly over with me and I'll SPOT one for ya."
For me, where I rail-fan, Anybody else that is there is either a rail-fan watching trains, or a RR employee cussin' the rail-fans for watching them while they work.
Semper Vaporo
Pkgs.
Mookie Look for the koala ear cuff on her left ear.
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
Semper Vaporo The thread title reminds me of the Red Skelton skit where he was the two seagulls, "Gertrude and Heathcliff". Gertrude complains, "We've been in Hollywood for two weeks now and I haven't seen a movie star yet!" Heathcliff responds, "Fly over with me and I'll SPOT one for ya." For me, where I rail-fan, Anybody else that is there is either a rail-fan watching trains, or a RR employee cussin' the rail-fans for watching them while they work.
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