You Might be a Railfan if.......

[espeefoamer]

When you check into a hotel,you ask for a room that faces the tracks.

[bbrant]

Here's a couple more....

You complain about getting up for work at 6:00 AM but happily get up at 4:00 AM to go railfanning

When someone rings your doorbell they hear two long chimes, a short chime followed by one more long chime

You think the bell choir at your church has nothing on the bell of a locomotive

When you turned 16 you wanted your first car to be a locomotive

You have to explain to your friends that your car is dark blue but the roof is white because "that's how CSX does it"

[scole100]

You and your wife take a once in a lifetime trip to Hawaii, and you haul her into the only Railroad Museum on the island, instead of taking her to the beach! By the way, the Lapahoihoi Railroad Museum on the big island is a MUST SEE! The Sugar Cane Train on Maui is not to bad either.

[jockellis]

G'day, Y'all,
You look down one side of the road and then the other as you drive, searching for the telltale signs of weed-covered embankments which tell you some long-forgotten railroad once ran there. Your wife has to tell you to slow down for traffic or a stop sign.
Jock Ellis
Cumming, GA US of A

[JDV5th]

Or, because an HO scale model won't do, you have to build a scale model railroad around your backyard that you can ride on, and give kids all sorts of rides (adults too).

[JDV5th]

QUOTE: Originally posted by equinox

You approach a railroad grade crossing and hope to be stopped by a train.

Absolutely!

Or, every time you hear a train in the distance, you yell out "Train!" so all your co-workers and family members can hear you.

[Anonymous]

You think terrosrist is just an excuse so some police officer can steal all of your rail photos.

[trainboyH16-44]

bnsfkline and bbrant, you're sooooo right!!! I do about 90% of those. Really!
Matthew
Wish I had some....

[espeefoamer]

You're going over a grade crossing when the lights and bells activate and you make a u turn so you can wait for the train.I did that this morning[:)].
You might be a railfan if you can say "been there,done that "to over half of these posts!

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by icmr

you walk around muttering the specifications of your favorite locomotive.(done that)



ICMR

Happy Railroading.[swg][swg]

I do that ... people look at me funny[:D][:D][:p]

You might be a railfan if you and your dad get a freshly washed and waxed Jeep covered in mud beyond color regognition to chase a UP SD70!!! Done that[8D]

Since were on the topic of Jeff Foxworthy, how about a Larry the Cable Guy quote...

Git er done!!!!!!!

[dwil89]

you get into debates regularly on whether EMD OR GE is better...

[dwil89]

you stay at a regular hotel on a railfan trip, and other guests look at you strangely as you walk in the lobby with scanners, antennas, cameras, notepads, and the like in hand....

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by StillGrande

You get up before everyone else in the house on vacation and walk 2 miles to the tracks 1 hour early (just in case) to photograph the 1 train that comes by on the line that day.

I thought I was the only one that did that!!!!

[chad thomas]

....You drive hundreds of miles to go to a family reunion and blow it off to go train watching instead.

[StillGrande]

You get up before everyone else in the house on vacation and walk 2 miles to the tracks 1 hour early (just in case) to photograph the 1 train that comes by on the line that day.

[Anonymous]

...you know what every control and gauge is in the cab of a Big Boy.

[Anonymous]

I always like to repeat what the UP Hot box Detector says; UP Detector Milepost 332.0.
BNSF Detector Milepost .3 no defects repeat no defects out!
And every time I hear a Train horn I run up the alley just to see what Power it has.
People think im nuts. I just love doing that. Allan.

[bbrant]

You might be a railfan if....

You have more photos of trains than you do of your family

You go to a GM dealership just to see what type of deal you can get on an SD40-2

You know every locomotive made by GE but can’t name a single one of their other products

You know all the train symbols for your favorite line but can’t remember your anniversary

As a kid, you kept a stash of train magazines under your mattress

Your idea of yard work involves switching railroad cars and making up trains

You’re disappointed when you learned ballast used in florescent lights isn’t the same as ballast used by railroads

Visitors to your house have to have yardmaster clearance before pulling their car into your driveway

You think people who don’t like trains are weird

You paint your house in the same scheme of your favorite railroad

You hated Superman because he was faster than a speeding locomotive

You prefer to do all your holiday shopping at your local hobby shop

You can’t understand how people can’t distinguish a GP from an SD

Your co-workers with window seats get annoyed when you stand in their cube just to watch a train go by

You know of more railfan web sites than Yahoo does

You call your favorite railroad and ask if they can redo their scheduled to better accommodate your free time

[Anonymous]

If you are a true believer in NS (fan, devotee, stockholder and observer) and your co-worker is an equaly true believer in CSX (for what ever reason that may be) and you both argue the relative gretness of your railroad but will together fight anyone that says anything bad about the industry , its history, its unquestioned rightness and its place that is second only to the almighty in the reality of the world, Then you might be a railfan.

[bnsfkline]

You know you're a railfan when:

1. You shop for a house by the tracks instead of away from them!
2. When planning your next vacation, you choose your travel route based upon the location of active railroads and railroad museums.
3. When you blow your horn two longs, a short, and a long through every intersection.
4. Speaking of intersections, you call the signals as you go through them.
5. You call zoning to ask if you can use a boxcar for a shed.
6. You wonder why automobiles don't come equipped with couplers.
7. While engaged in intimate relations, you suddenly find yourself mentally debating the relative merits of Shay vs. rod engines.
8. Your wife tells you her water burst, and your first reaction is, "My God, her boiler will be ruined!"
9. When you wire up the fog lamps to flash alternately when you blow the horn
10. When being served dinner, you say, "Easy, easy, that'll do!" as you've gotten enough.
11. When riding with someone who's backing into a parking space, you say, "two cars, one car, that'll do."
12. When you get a shopping cart with a bad wheel, you tag it and set it aside for the shops to repair, or park it in an aisle and put up a blue flag in front of and behind it.
13. You curse the dispatcher when you're held up in traffic.
14. You're test driving a hot V6 and think, "This thing can really move in notch 8."
15. While driving your car, you put your arm on the window sill and wave your hand and blow your horn to all kids standing on the street.
16. Your wife opens her wallet to show the relatives photos of the children while you open your wallet to show them your latest rail photos from last weeks fan trip.
17. You install a pedal operated bell in your car and ring it while driving across railroad crossings.
18. You open your refrigerator door only to find it full of film for the next fan trip.
19. You find yourself looking for old locomotives and color schemes during the obligatory chase scene through the rail yards when you're watching old cop shows and movies on TV.
20. The efforts of Hollywood to re-create an earlier era using trains is met with your derisive snort, "They didn't have GP40-2's in 1970! Can't they get it right?"
21. You're on Amtrak, you find out that the guy across the isle is a railfan, and your wives look at each other, roll their eyes and sigh.
22. You're in your car and you come up to a railroad crossing. The crossing lights are not flashing and no trains are coming, but you slow to a crawl and look up the track both ways in hope of seeing a train.
23. You are on a rail facility tour and start talking to one of the mechanics on the shop floor only to find out that you know more than he does.
24. You rent certain movies at the video store because you know there is a very cool train scene in it.
25. You refuse to cross the tracks until your favorite train has passed by.
26. You barbeque using tie butts, for that special flavor!
27. You tell your wife you are going down to the corner bar to have a few drinks with the guys, however, you go to your favorite train watching spot to take a few photos.
28. You are on a highway overpass, at 60 mph you suddenly shout," that's the Seaboard down there!", and you can't believe the others in the car didn't recognize it by the color of the ballast.
29. You tell your wife you would like take a nice ride to look at scenery, her interpretation being, “guess I'll take some magazines to look at while he looks at the scenery in the rail yard."
30. You can't understand why everyone else doesn't understand what” approach diverging" means.
31. It would not be to your advantage for the railroad police to come to your house and look around.
32. You get tired of explaining to people that you are not a fireman because you have a radio.
33. Your relatives only think of you when they see a train.
34. When you are out by the tracks with another railfan people ask, "is the train coming?"
35. You get irritated whenever a train wrecks because nonrailfans "invade" your special train watching spots.
36. You don't like imitation railfans who wear railroad patches all over their clothing.
37. The train crews know you by first name.
38. When you're driving, you make "shooooo" sounds when you step on the brake, and "choooo" sounds when you take your foot off of it, imitating air brakes. (I think cement truck drivers do this too. 8-D) )
39. At your house by the tracks you get some of the crews trained to blow the crossing alert to let you know they are going by, even though there is no crossing there.
40. You date your girlfriend because the view out the front window of her apartment is your favorite railroads mainline.
41. You latter marry this woman knowing that she will understand you and won't mind that house by the tracks.
42. You build your 1 year old a jungle gym / fort in the backyard so they can play on it when you really intend to use it to get a better view of the trains over the back fence.
43. You size said fort large enough so that you and three of your friends have sufficient room to watch the trains.
44. When the lights are activated at the railroad crossing you race to be first in line, so you get an unobstructed view, then at double track crossings wait a little while after they go up in hopes that another train is coming the other way.
45. When you see a nice looking woman (or man, for the few female railfans you say something to your friends like "Look at that carbody!!!"
46. When you pass gas, you say something like, "80 pounds on the rear!"
47. You make engine sounds walking up the stairs, pretending you are on a grade.
48. You are on a date and pass by some tracks and in the process of rattling off everything you know, you realize she doesn't care!
49. You come back from a long distance railfan adventure and the very next day go out and shoot one of your local lines.
50. You are at a grade crossing and you jump out of your car because a train is coming so you can get a shot.
51.when watching the trains go by, instead of counting the cars, you look and see what train cars have railroad liveries from fallen flags are still floating around from railroads you know don't exist anymore.
52.when watching a train go by you log the sighting in a little notebook it as if it were an hourly weather report.
53.you talk in "railroad", and most people you are crazy when you talk to them. they say," again, slowly, in English!"
54.you turn your house into a replica of a train station.
55.you know the numbering system for your favorite railroads. locomotives, and what type they are...better than the dispatcher at the local yard.
56. you may say when someone "looses their train of thought" instead you say "He derailed his train of thought."
You know you're a railfan when you constantly complain about the lack of cabooses on trains.
You know you're a railfan when you can identify a locomotive as to it's manufacturer, model, phase, variation, year of manufacture, engine type, and horsepower, and all the engineer knows is that it's a "locomotive".
You know you're a railfan when you tell your wife that "a train just went by, I can see it's tracks" every time you cross one.
You know you're a railfan when you can find the rail yards in another town within 5 minutes of getting off the interstate/Higway/tollway, etc.
your rolling stock and loco roster on your train layout exceeds that of a regional shortline.
you have more trains and model railroader magazines than playboys
your train layout is so large, train dispatching is necessary and people scan your frequencies and railfan along YOUR mainline, but you can't see them.
your home movies collection consists of train runbys you shot.
You paint your vehicle in a railroad livery, number it, and attach a kl5a to the top your car, and then blow it every time you come to a rr crossing confusing motorists behind you.
you could fix a severe mechanical problem in an SD70MAC but can't change the oil in your car.
you know more numbers of train locomotives than addresses...and often confuse the two.
your idea of the "local hangout" is the rail yard, and you invite friends with you to watch trains.
you think railfanning is actually a spectator sport

[miniwyo]

Your boss calls you at 8AM becasue she heard a different sounding train horn.
(happened last thursday, She heard freights all morning, and then the Challenger whistle and was slightly confused, so she called me, and found out what it was.)

You are on a college field trip staying at a campground not 30 feet from the rails and you are woken up by an oncoming train and you actually crawl over the other guy staying in the tent to open the door and watch her pass.

[PBenham]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dwil89

You choose a hotel because it is near the tracks and ask for a trackside room.....*been there..done that myself a number of times...

[:D] I did that years ago up in (near?) Bangor,Maine. Well,at approximately 3AM the local switcher GP7 572 rumbled by on her way up an industrial spur into the Bangor airport![:D] That was one time I was glad to have been awakened in the middle of the night. She was off her usual assignment, the Lewiston Lower branch, where I saw and photographed sister 562 at work the day before.

[waltersrails]

Yeah railfan and icmr

If you get pulled over from the cops for wacthing trains to long.
It happened to me.

[icmr]

you walk around muttering the specifications of your favorite locomotive.(done that)



ICMR

Happy Railroading.[swg][swg]

[CShaveRR]

People at work ask you the questions about freight cars and routings, or think you'd be interested in something new that they saw (they're right, of course).

[ericsp]

You see a train coming and stop at the railroad crossing even though the lights are not flashing and the gates are up, and hope no vehicles come up behind you.

[railfan619]

IF you sit at a railroad crossing for hours on end waiting for that perfect train to roll on by.[:D][:D][:D]

[wctransfer]

If you fall off your bike and check if the camera is ok before you notice you have a huge gash on your knee [yeah] ( been there and done that actually )

Alec

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by blhanel

...you walk around blowing in the top of your 20 oz. pop bottle, making it sound like a railroad whistle!

thats me [:D] [:p] [:0] [|)]

[Anonymous]

You think Dodge has nothing to do with trucks.