The mother of all "you might be a railfan ifs...."

[Anonymous]

Dear locomutt,

Here are a few more:
You might be a railfan if...
...you wonder what voltage Mr. Rogers' trolley runs on.
...the highest point on your Great Northern layout is "J.J. Hill Hill"
...the only way your family can get you to go grocery shopping is to trick you by "we're going to the train store."

-Daniel

[Anonymous]

You might be a railfan if:
- You can tell people where each train on the video they showed at Church is located.
- You complain when your local Public TV station shows a commercial with a train
from the opposite side of the country.
- Your favorite fish is a shark because it reminds you of a Sharknose Diesel.
- to your children, Santa comes on a freight with a red caboose named rudolph.

[Anonymous]

You might be a railfan if you 50th post is almost exactly 1 week to the hour after your first, like me![:D][8D][^][:D][8D][^][:D][8D][^][^][:p][xx(][|)]

[JoeKoh]

Keep going keep posting train guy!
congrats
Joe

[Anonymous]

[:X][:X]Or If Your Wife Finds A Camera Strap And Thinks Its A Thong

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by SWITCH09

[:X][:X]Or If Your Wife Finds A Camera Strap And Thinks Its A Thong

That only happens in Canada and if your name is Kevinthepolkadotcountingman[;)]

[Mikeygaw]

... you've posted on this site
... you have an account on this site
... you've been to this site

[Nora]

...if you go to the dingiest laundromat around because it's smack up against the main line?

[:D]

--Nora (with baskets and baskets of clean clothes)

[Mikeygaw]

-you can hear any horn sound within 20 miles and know where the train is at
-you drop what your doing and run out to watch the train

[Anonymous]

you might be a rail fan if your parents find you behind the garage with a scanner and camera only after calling in the national guard reporting you missing 3 weeks earlier[:D]

[Anonymous]

~If your favorite part of watching movies is pointing out all rail-related mistakes
~If you use rail-related metaphors for things that have nothing to do with tracks....like if you fancy a certain girl, you become good friends, but you're worried if you go too fast you'll "derail", and if you don't go fast enough you'll miss the train. Or you talk about "proceeding at reduced speed". And maybe you use the word "Mainline" instead of "Mainstream" when talking about trends.....now THAT's a sign of a railfan

[espeefoamer]

You check an Amtrak timetable to see how many trains you can ride in a two week vacation.[8D] Your boss catches you riding in the cab of a CF7[:p] You are stopped at a grade crossing with a train already passing,and you feel cheated because you missed the locomotives.[:)] You visit the B&O Railroad Museum,see South Shore car#5 and realize"I've ridden that car".[^]

[Anonymous]

~You look forward to any upcoming trip that involves a train.....simply because it involves a train....
~When a new commuter line starts up or expands, you have to be on the first train on the first day of operation (guilty as charged!)

[JoeKoh]

you go to the doctors office for a check up and they have a beautiful poster for an event featuring cincinnati union terminal in the foreground and you want to ask hey can I have that?
stay safe
Joe

[Anonymous]

when all your photo equipment, costs more than the new 4wheel drive SUV, that you have to haul all of it in......

[Anonymous]

Here are some:
You might be a railfan if...
...your car looks like a miniature E8, complete with paint job.
...the north wall of your office has a picture of 4449, the west has 844, the south has 3751, the east has 261, and you're wondering if you should put 3985 on the ceiling.
...you go into the railroad offices, and the CEO says "what's your great idea this week?"
...you always put "president and CEO, KR&NP railroad" at the end of your letters. Little do the readers know the KR&NP is a 4x8 table layout.

[Anonymous]

~You don't work shifts, you work "Tricks"
~And you're angry at those who gave the word certain undertones
~You keep asking for new timetables at the station as soon as you here there's an update in service
~You visit the shops, find out you know more than the mechanics
~"The shops" call YOU first every time any piece of equipment needs an overhaul
~The sound of a train's airhorn does more for you than the planet's supply of Prozzac

[Anonymous]

Another one.......
~You somehow work a train into your wedding day (if you actually marry ON the train, you REALLY are a railfan)

[brilondon]

Your doorbell chimes are the same as the local passenger stations chimes that precede passwnger train announcements.

[JoeUmp]

- You hear a horn and the first words out of your mouth are, "de train, de train" ala Tatoo.

[Anonymous]

If you convince your family that the carol was the "12 trains of christmas" and was originally about Lionel

---

If you search the internet for a railroad Smiley, just to place in your forum signature.

---

If your best conversations are with railfans on differant parts of the continent (and beyond)

[JoeUmp]

I always feel cheated if I miss the locomotive(s).

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by raakone

Another one.......
~You somehow work a train into your wedding day (if you actually marry ON the train, you REALLY are a railfan)

There was an issue of Classic Toy Trains that had an article about the layout of CTT staff memebr Kent Jonhson. It mentioned his wedding and said that it had a model train running around the wedding cake, windup trains on the tables at the reception and a "Just Coupled" sign on the car. Now that's what I call a wedding!

[rrnut282]

- If you name your children so that their initials are reporting marks and you can buy a railroad logo for their monogram....

-If you convinced your wife that it was educational to stop and wait for the train so the kids could practice counting [ the cars]....

If you convinced your wife that it was educational to stop and wait for the train so the toddlers could point out the pretty colors or letters of the alphabet...

- if you stop at every crossing whether the lights are flashing or not...

- If every trip you make starts with, " Hey that gets me close to XX railroad."

-When you get to the "L"'s in a book/catalog, you would rather look at locomotives than longerie.

I'm not guilty of the last one, but give my wife another twenty years and maybe...

[JoeKoh]

QUOTE: Originally posted by rrnut282
.

- if you stop at every crossing whether the lights are flashing or not...

thats good advice because gates and lights are not always fullproof.
STAY SAFE
Joe

[Anonymous]

if your asked to do a history of the railroads that pass thru your city
by the historical society and do.....[:D][:)]

you know what a trick is and it doesnt involve a lady of the night[:o)]

[jeaton]

-you can spot the location of abandoned railroad right of way on cultivated fields.

-your teenaged stepson insists on riding or walking 100 yards ahead of you so he doesn't have to hear the history of the railroad that used to occupy the trail.

-traveling by car, you can identify the current and past one or two owners of any rail crossing you encounter at any place in at least two states.

-riding on Metra, you point to Lake Street Tower, and tell your wife about third trick visits with IIT MR Club members, one of whom was the operator. (That makes you an OLD rail fan).

-finally, you are disappointed if there are no new posts to this forum since the last time you visited maybe an hour ago.

[Anonymous]

The first and last ones of Jeaton's hit the nail right on the nail for me.
what about if:
You allways stare at the tracks as id a train were actually there.
You stop talking on the phone for a minuite when you hear a train horn.
You only want to see a movie in the theaters if it has a train in it.

[joecool1212]

How about when your on a long trip with the kids and they want to look for slug bugs or yellow cars and you say how about we look at how many different train locos we can see. Or lets count how many cars that train has. Happy holidays Joe

[joecool1212]

you go on a inland boat trip to watch for trains. Joe