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You know you're a railfan when . . .

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You know you're a railfan when . . .
Posted by Dayliner on Saturday, May 7, 2005 3:30 AM
you watch the Rochelle webcam at night.
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Posted by spbed on Saturday, May 7, 2005 8:08 AM
Yes that is true!

How about going 2,000 miles or so to watch trains. Does that qualify? [:o)][:p]


Originally posted by Dayliner
[

Living nearby to MP 186 of the UPRR  Austin TX Sub

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Posted by nanaimo73 on Saturday, May 7, 2005 8:19 AM
You don't use names for DPM , JDI , or MWH .
Dale
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Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, May 7, 2005 9:06 AM
Almost all four digit numbers remind you of a locomotive you once knew.
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Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, May 7, 2005 9:15 AM
You always look both ways, even crossing lines that have been abandoned for 60 years.
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Posted by JoeKoh on Saturday, May 7, 2005 9:53 AM
your son knows which way to turn before you actually get to your favorite spot.
stay safe
Joe

Deshler Ohio-crossroads of the B&O Matt eats your fries.YUM! Clinton st viaduct undefeated against too tall trucks!!!(voted to be called the "Clinton St. can opener").

 

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Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, May 7, 2005 10:30 AM
You know you're a railfan when...

You purchase a home track-side.

You pay the extra $60 for Virginia & Truckee license plates for your car.
(In Nevada, the state issues a Virginia & Truckee license plate. The extra money goes to rebuilding the line to Carson City.)

Your coworkers report unsual railroad happenings to you that they have witnessed.

Your favorite coffee cup has a railroad logo on it.

Jim
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Posted by chad thomas on Saturday, May 7, 2005 10:37 AM
Whe...Whe..When you hav...havn't see..see..seen a tr...tr...train in a few d..d...da..days and you start sh...sh...shaking like a heroin addict on the down side.

Doc says only cure is to go see some trains !!!!
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Posted by CShaveRR on Saturday, May 7, 2005 11:18 AM
You come home from a thoroughly brutal day at the yard, and immediately check out the Trains forum!

Carl

Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)

CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)

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Posted by CopCarSS on Saturday, May 7, 2005 11:24 AM
You actually look forward to traveling through Nebraska so you can catch some action on the UP! [;)]

Chris
Denver, CO

-Chris
West Chicago, IL
Christopher May Fine Art Photography

"In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration." ~Ansel Adams

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Posted by chad thomas on Saturday, May 7, 2005 11:37 AM
You travel several hundred miles to go to a family event only to get distracted at the local yard and not make it.
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Posted by spbed on Saturday, May 7, 2005 11:45 AM
Yes you bet. My most fervent wish on this trip is to catch the BNSF/UPRR under/over at GIsland. Hopefully luck will be on my side. Look for the pixs next Sat or Sun depending on what I will be doing on Sat. [:o)][:D][:p]

PS: End of May I will be checking out the UPRR in UT/ID & Western WY including Granger. [:o)][:D][:p]

Originally posted by CopCarSS

Living nearby to MP 186 of the UPRR  Austin TX Sub

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Posted by chad thomas on Saturday, May 7, 2005 11:57 AM
....Your local train crews say hello to you by name over the scanner when they see you.
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Posted by petitnj on Saturday, May 7, 2005 12:22 PM
You take the Sunset Limited.
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Posted by nanaimo73 on Saturday, May 7, 2005 3:04 PM
Having breakfast at the Denny's restaurant next to the La Quinta Motel in downtown Denver on the morning of the 8444 trip to Laramie and hearing the Grateful Dead's "A Touch of Grey" on the radio.

That is from the January 1988 Railfan & Railroad magazine. It makes me feel like I was there.
Dale
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Posted by coborn35 on Saturday, May 7, 2005 6:10 PM
Wading 2 miles through swamp and bog, through thousands of ticks, through pouring rain, almost gettign arrested just cause your 13 and like watching trains.
Oh yeah, I also got a job on the North Shore Scenic Railroad as a utility man. I asked to come down as much as i can.
I think im a railfan!

Mechanical Department  "No no that's fine shove that 20 pound set all around the yard... those shoes aren't hell and a half to change..."

The Missabe Road: Safety First

 

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Posted by trainster1073 on Saturday, May 7, 2005 6:32 PM

You know your're a railfan when you run to see a train that is coming past. It doesn't matter what you are doing at the time you just have to see it. Even if you have seen the Engine a half a dozen times!!!!!!![:D]
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Posted by canazar on Saturday, May 7, 2005 7:33 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by chad thomas

....Your local train crews say hello to you by name over the scanner when they see you.


Wow Chad , thats hardcore and too cool...

For me,

Your a railfan when you go through a grade crossing and look in your rearview mirror just in case you see the red lights blnk.... Then when you get lucky, you ripoff a U-turn so you can be in front.. [:D] Hey , before you luagh, I have only done twice.

Best Regards, Big John

Kiva Valley Railway- Freelanced road in central Arizona.  Visit the link to see my MR forum thread on The Building of the Whitton Branch on the  Kiva Valley Railway

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Posted by nanaimo73 on Saturday, May 7, 2005 8:06 PM
You have a closet stuffed with 1400 magazines about railroads and you think about issues you don't have instead of the ones you do have.
Dale
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Posted by CSXrules4eva on Saturday, May 7, 2005 9:26 PM
OK your a railfan when you . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Draw up your own imaginary railroad and actually print out operations, layouts, construction plans, rosters both cars and locomotives, maps; that you took the time to think up and type. lol

You really know your a railfan when you blow off work or school (and end up getting a F on a homework assignment) to go watch trains !!! There is an exception though. If your job is on a railraod you don't have to blow work off.
LORD HELP US ALL TO BE ORIGINAL AND NOT CRISPY!!! please? Sarah J.M. Warner conductor CSX
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Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, May 7, 2005 9:28 PM
LMAO... good stuff
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Posted by passengerfan on Saturday, May 7, 2005 9:33 PM
When your better half says sometimes I think you think more of trains than you do me. And like a dummy i give her a blank stare and she says you haven't heard a word I've said. What can I say!
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Posted by mersenne6 on Saturday, May 7, 2005 10:46 PM
You can look over an old building and quickly determine if it was ever serviced by the railroads and just where the spur entered the building.

If there is undeveloped property near said building you will stop the car and point out to everyone just where the old right-of-way must have gone. If there is no fence to keep you out you will walk out into the weed grown area and find the old roadbed just to prove you were right.
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Posted by chad thomas on Sunday, May 8, 2005 1:03 AM
QUOTE: Originally posted by CSXrules4eva

OK your a railfan when you . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Draw up your own imaginary railroad and actually print out operations, layouts, construction plans, rosters both cars and locomotives, maps; that you took the time to think up and type. lol


It's a relief to know I'm not the only one to do that.

While most people count sheep to fall asleep, I refine operations on my imaginary railroad in my head to fall asleep.
(imaginary RR soon to be modeled in HO).[8D]
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Posted by Modelcar on Sunday, May 8, 2005 8:39 AM
mersenne6....Wow, I sure can identify with all of that...Guilty...! Seems I can spot old ROW's anyplace...even when they are well hidden with time. I do a lot of walking {for a healthy reason}, and have an excellent place to walk where we live...{and do so}, but find myself going over town to walk on our excellent trail simply because it used to be a railroad. [8D]

Quentin

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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, May 8, 2005 6:14 PM
When you have a room dedacated to trains and have a o gauge layout,like me.
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Posted by jockellis on Sunday, May 8, 2005 8:34 PM
G'day, Y'all;
You can't keep your eyes on the road ahead because you are scanning the country on either side of the road for the tell-tale remains of roadbeds of long ago fallen flags and the waterways for extant bents still rising skyward.
I was once driving through a town when I noted that an area between the highway and a parallel road seemed too flat to be just a city park. "This had to have been a railroad!" I thought. Later, I learned that it was the northern terminus of the Georgia Coastal and Piedmont RR which ceased operations just before WWII.
Jock Ellis
Cumming, GA US of A

Jock Ellis Cumming, GA US of A Georgia Association of Railroad Passengers

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Posted by alcodave on Monday, May 9, 2005 2:42 AM
When someone is talking about trains and you remember an artical in an issue of Trains mag. from 10 or 15 years ago to use as a reference!
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Posted by tmcc man on Monday, May 9, 2005 6:11 AM
you can name all of the fallen flags
Colin from prr.railfan.net
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, May 9, 2005 7:35 AM
You've trained your wife to understand the difference between GE and EMD locomotives... she knows what the train brake is compared to the locomotive brake...and she takes time off from classroon work to call you because "there's a UP locomotive [not an 'engine']" leading a train into town.

You plan vacations around places where there's a rail museum.

Oh, and as for trainsets and layouts... it's mighty fine to be the sole employee and boss of the LB&I (Lost, Bewildered & Indifferent).

How many other folks actually collect patches of the museums and railroads they visit?

At three AM, you hear a whistle blow... and know that it's the freight between Birmingham and Macon... about to make a crew change in Columbus, Georgia.

This is the kind of thing that drives normal people crazy...but keeps this particular foamer somewhat sane.

Erik

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