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

[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]

~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

[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]

[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

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

[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[;)]

[Anonymous]

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

[JoeKoh]

Keep going keep posting train guy!
congrats
Joe

[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(][|)]

[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]

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

[locomutt]

trainjunky29

AMEN
locomutt

[Anonymous]

Here are a few more:
You might be a railfan if...
...you actually know what a BL-2 is.
...you cry out Union Pacific when you see an interstate sign.
...you actually laugh at my postings here.
...you're even reading this.

And, you might be a model railroader if...
...you count rivets on the 1:1 scale cars too.
...you try to convert your car to DCC.
...you know more about your layout's prototype year than most people born in it.

-Daniel

[locomutt]

Thank you Trainheartedguy!
locomutt[^] [:D]

P.S. The BL-2 is one of my favorite locos.
"I" remember when the C & O traded them
in for GP-30s.[8][:D]

[Anonymous]

Oooh, Ooh! More Jokes:
-if the only railroad programs that have been shown on TV that you don't have in your
collection are those that you didn't remember to buy a tape for.
-You have a stack of blank videos next to you VCR to record any 5 second clip on tv
showing a train.
-You are going the wrong direction on a highway lane because you are chasing
AMTRAK!
-If you start wondering why people avoid you when railroads are in the news.
-If you insist on driving a 1950 ford so you can purchase a Pullman.
-If it has been over a year since you have used a computer without a train on the
wallpaper.
or another one I am guilty of:
-You have been using this forum for three days and have spent a total of 10 hours and
now made 20 posts!

[Anonymous]

Locomutt, I don't have one of my own, but a quick Google search found me a photo of a WM BL-2. Its at:http://www.trainweb.org/fastfreightline/diesels/BL2/. It also found me some more: http://exotic.railfan.net/BL2.htm, http://www.railpictures.net/showphotos.php?locomotive=EMD%20BL2, http://www.wvrail.railfan.net/wmbl2_stenciling.html, plus tons of model photos. Hope this helps[8D]

[Train Guy 3]

You might be a railfan if ....
- your idea of painting the walls is placing train pictures on it.
- you meet your wife while stoped at a train crossing.
- your short cut consists of crossing the same set of tracks as many times as possible.
- you name your kid is named after a train.
- the railraod has reported you to the police.
- you idea of a Sunday drive is along a road parallel to tracks.
- you fall to sleep by listening to train sounds.

[locomutt]

trainjunky29, If you have a picture of a BL-2
Please send to locomutt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
locomutt[8D]

[locomutt]

Dogone, I didn't realize anyone remembered
what a BL-2 was!!!!!!!

locomutt[:p]

Excuse me! I meant anyone old enough
to remember what that engine was[:D]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by trainheartedguy

I have some more:
-not one of the items on your Christmas list is missing the word "train","railroad",
or "Locomotive"!
- Instead of a train under the Christmas tree, you have a Christmas tree over the train!
-The only reason you play monopoly is to be able to get the railroads!
-While co-workers have a family photo on their desk, you have a photo of a BL-2!

I am guilty of the first one (and I think I have been for my Christmas lists for a few years now). And I do try to go for the rairoads in Monopoly, after all, they're a safe investment, aren't they??? And why can't I get freight business from Oriental Avenue to Park Place?!?!?! Maybe I need to start a new high-speed intermodal with the four rairoads! And, while I don't have a picture of a BL-2, I usually have some train or another on my mind more than anything else (shows you what a railfan-wreck I am).

Here are a few:
You might be a railfan if...
...your idea of a political conversation is always Amtrak (I haven't quite got there yet).
...whenever anyone says something is worthless junk, you say "that's what they said about the NYC's Hudsons."

Oh-thanks for helping post 20 messages.

Off to other forums,
Daniel

[locomutt]

You know you're a railfan [?]!
If you come home and ask your wife if you have $350 in the bank acct. so you
can go buy yourself a new engine.

locomutt [8D]

[dharmon]

You're watching TV and see that commercial for the Toyota Camry and tell your wife that it was filmed in Canada because of the GO Transit commuter train in the background.

[Anonymous]

I have some more:
-not one of the items on your Christmas list is missing the word "train","railroad",
or "Locomotive"!
- Instead of a train under the Christmas tree, you have a Christmas tree over the train!
-The only reason you play monopoly is to be able to get the railroads!
-While co-workers have a family photo on their desk, you have a photo of a BL-2!

[Puckdropper]

...You are disappointed to find the new gas-electric your neighbor got is a car.
...you've ever gotten "stopped" by a train at a non-grade crossing (overpass).

[Anonymous]

Another "you might be a railfan if..." is that when you come back from a vacation that you've taken more pictures trains than anything else. I know I'm guilty of this one!
~Sask_tinplater
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To be more specific, you go to see Niagra Falls, and come back with more CN yard photos than of Niagra Falls! THAT is what I am guilty of!

And how about these:
-You run to the window at work whenever you hear a horn!
-You ask about the condition of the air hoses at a used car dealership.
-You need a new file cabnet to store your railroad photos.
-You Waive to the same engineer daily.
-You worry more about track condition than private property damage during a flood.
-You can guess the freight load by the time the train comes through.

[Anonymous]

Here's a few that I have just recently been guily of:
You might be a railfan if...
...you downloaded a large amount of train-simulator downloads over Thanksgiving, only to find that your computer was having trouble running after that.
...you just got your first star in your member rank at this forum and think "at this rate, only one more year until I have four gold stars."

-Daniel

[Anonymous]

Here are a few, and I'm guilty of more than one:
You might be a railfan if...
...you named your first cat Chessie, and then named your second cat CSX to avoid confusion.
...you took four rolls of pictures on one train.
...you visited the Union Pacific store, and your first reaction was "I never knew you could put the UP Wings and Shield on so much stuff.
...your second reaction was "how much stuff can I order without my family noticing.
...three weeks later, several boxes arrive from Cheyenne.
...you've ever stood underneath a water tank to get out of the rain.
...you’ve never told your child not to except food from strangers, but have had enough ‘train safety’ talks with him or her to make the inventor of Operation Lifesaver sick. (Sorry Jim.)
...you can remember specifications for dozens of steamers, but need to write down your aniversary and have trouble remembering how old you are.
...you feel honored when your wife's non-raifan friend calls your son a "big boy".

[Anonymous]

....you've ever arranged for a "tour of the line" (it's easier to do this in Europe, by the way)......and you don't consider yourself to have truly "travelled" the line until every rail-mile is covered, and you've "kissed the buffers" at every end. I heard about people who do that!

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by trainjunky29


...you have a new favorite railroad each month.
...you see abbreviations, and immediately think of the railroad with the same initials.

I'm guilty of these. I haven't really been able to commit to a single road that I like the best, I just love 'em all!

I know whenever I see New York City abbreviated with "NYC" I immediately think of New York Central. I think of B&O when I see/hear BO. I actually have a caboose from a 1960's Japanese HO train set in my collection with just "BO" on the sides with the "&" not there.

Another "you might be a railfan if..." is that when you come back from a vacation that you've taken more pictures trains than anything else. I know I'm guilty of this one!

How about that you will notice trains where no one else will? If I'm watching TV and there's a blurred or hard to see train in the background that's shown for half a second, I'll notice it immediately. (By the way, has anyone noticed in that commercial for Progresive Auto Insurance where the customers are bidding on how much they'll tip so that the waitress will serve them that behind the one guy there's shelves with O gauge Daylight and Texas Special sets on them?).