You might be a railfan if.....

[FJ and G]

You take the whole day off on Nov 4 to go railfanning instead of voting for president

[Anonymous]

You persuade your parents to go to Galesburg Railroad Days on the premises that there might also be a car show there on that day.[:D]

If you tell your parents you saw an empty unit coal train being pulled by three SD60Ms on the BNSF's K Line, they don't understand what you mean, and you wonder why.

[FThunder11]

Your computer's screen saver is a slide show with only pictures of trains (thank you railpictures.net)
Your on a date with your girlfriend and she says look over there pointing a finger and you say whats the point, theres no tracks over there.
You never buy a present without it having to do with your favorite railroad company

[Anonymous]

of you take your parents out for there 50th anniversery to your favorite railfanning spot. to watch trains.

[Anonymous]

you buy an air horn for your car

[FJ and G]

You move into an cockroach infested, asbestos-ridden shack on a Superfund site because there's a lot of train action at the crossing.

Dave Vergun

[Anonymous]

You call your car's aircon "dynamic braking" (if I switch on the aircon it slows down - I use it for increased engine braking when going downhill!)...

You want to fit a three-tone airhorn to all your vehicles, complete with dangling pullcords to operate it (our RV really needs this!)...

You know what the normal rail traffic past your house sounds like, so if you hear something different you're out there in seconds...

[n2mopac]

...you hope every day that you WILL get caught at the railroad crossing on your way to work.
...your hearts beats faster at the sound of a steam whistle.
...you actually know where the tracks that go through your town go.
...you set you watch by the horns of the trains that pass through your town.
...you drive 45 mph down the highway because you are keeping pace with the SD90MAC running at restricted speed on the main parallel to the road.

Ron

[Anonymous]

[8D] You might be a rail fan if you pick up a job at the local carrier working the track line and step back and watch a train roll over the new track and timbers you just laid.

[Anonymous]

Picture this.
Your standing on the back deck of the house, the family is there, the grill is fired up, and the burgers are flying. You hear the sound of a distant whistle. You grab a newbie relative that "can't understand this facination with trains" and whisk them off to a local grade crossing. You arrive just in time to catch the train you heard and they are in awe of its power. Yes, now they understand.
Been there, done that! [:D]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by METRO

E-mailing Daimler-Chrysler and telling them they spelled Geep wrong.

Have you been watching me[:0]?, I did that last week[:)]!! [:D] LOL[:D]

[Anonymous]

..you drive like the Dukes of Hazard while chasing a train to one of your favorite watching spots! [}:)]

[IRONROOSTER]

You slow down at every rail crossing, just hoping.
Enjoy
Paul

[Anonymous]

TrainJunky29, can we really have the Q, GN, NP, SLSF, SP&S, and ATSF back?

With all of the Zephyrs, Empire Builders, N.Coast Ltd., and F-units too?

[:D][^][8D][:O][;)]

[METRO]

E-mailing Daimler-Chrysler and telling them they spelled Geep wrong.

[Anonymous]

You might be a railfan if...
...you read TRAINS magazine while listening to recordings of steam locomotives and riding VIA Rail, all the while thinking about a GG-1, and consider it multi-tasking
...you consider your car a cab-forward
...you have ever described cars in terms of first generation passenger diesels
...you go to the auto show and spend the day telling your friend about Alco, Baldwin, and Lima after dieselization
...you can tell a Dash-9 from an AC-4400CW from half a mile away
...you can tell an F-3 from an F-7
...you consider steam locomotives to be an orchestra producing music, and resent anyone who links this music to "noise"
...you cry after reading about a railroad abandonned decades ago
...you live in California, but for some reason Acela crews know you on a first name basis
...you dream of "steamization" and "trails-to-rails" [:)]

Other things a railfan might do:
1.) Upon becoming rich, restoring to steam locomotives and ammassing a passenger car fleet, to be used for daily commuting.
2.) Becoming the largest shareholder in UP just to get them to stop charging for the use of their logo.
3.) Buying TV airtime, to be used to educate the general public on the technology of balanced slide valves
4.) Becoming chairman of the ICC, and splitting up BNSF into AT&SF, GN, NP, SP&S, CB&Q, SLSF, and have I forgotten anyone [:)]?
5.) Forming the "New MIlwaukee Road" just to give BNSF some competition, albeit with restored F-units and EP-5's

[Anonymous]

Some that I'm guilty of:

You try to find street routes that cross the most railroads.

You listen to trains going thru town at night when you can't go to sleep.

You only want to go on vacation to a town if it is a major rail center.

You find yourself doodling route maps of your favorite railroads when you get bored.

[Anonymous]

if your wife looks at you and says "I wonder what it would be like to be married to a NORMAL guy?" as she looks at you from across the dining room table, OVER your pile of model RRing paraphernalia that sits upon the table!
[#oops]

[Mikeygaw]

...you post here
...you have an account here

[Anonymous]

if you correct a little kid every time he goes "choo,chooo!!"

[Anonymous]

You pray for a train to stop you at the grade crossing and it is answered ( that has happened to me )

[lupo]

you book a motel near the tracks in San Diego to find out that the close a crossing from 1 at night untill 4 or 5 oçlock in the morning and don't switch of the bell!
ting,ting.ting ting ,ting.ting ,ting.ting ,ting.ting ,ting.ting ,ting.ting ,ting.ting ,ting.ting ,ting.ting
ting,ting.ting ting ,ting.ting ,ting.ting ,ting.ting ,ting.ting ,ting.ting ,ting.ting ,ting.ting ,ting.tingting,ting.ting ting ,ting.ting ,ting.ting ,ting.ting ,ting.ting ,ting.ting ,ting.ting ,ting.ting ,ting.ting
and stay there for tree nights [:p]

[Anonymous]

I am guilty of all of these:
You might be a railfan if...
...you spend an hour out in rain and hail to get a few photographs which don't look all that wonderful anyway, because it was raining
...you wait seven hours to photograph one train, and don't really mind it
...on a trip to the California coast, you wake up early every morning just to photograph two Surfliners, and spend no time at the beach
...you read five train periodicals and four museum newsetters
...it annoys you that spell check on your computer doesn’t recognize lashup, intermodal, superheater, catenary, or railfan, but does recognize airfreight
...you think of Pacific, Mountain, and Atlantic as locomotive types, not time zones

See you around the forums,
Daniel

[Anonymous]

You wonder why everyone wearing "Fighting Illini College Team" shirts look at you funny, trying to figure out what team "BNSF" is supposed to be.

[FThunder11]

the answer to your math problem is lineAC=4400.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by elias

If you watch the TRIANS web cam when you should be researching William Shakespeare for a term paper that is due in a week.

LOL

[Anonymous]

If you watch the TRIANS web cam when you should be researching William Shakespeare for a term paper that is due in a week.

[Mikeygaw]

you have a paint scheme nicknamed after you (go Norange!)

[Anonymous]

You paint your RV Dark Gray with Light Gray Lightning Stripes, and call it the 20th Century Limited.