So, what got you interested in railways?

[berjay]

I,ll tell you how I rally got interested in "model railway" During me service time I was posted to India . It was during my posting to Rawalpindi That I got the chance to travel on the footplate of the Frontier Express fro Lahore to "Pindi" And there I had my first opportunity to DRIVE it !
And that started it, Its happened many times since but not like the first one ,its still there
Best regard to all from Bernard

[graham9qh]

I think what got me hooked was trips from London as a child to the South coast (lived @ Harrow, NW London) I vaguely remember going up in the cab after one trip back. Also after that when my mother & I went shopping at Wembley, she used to leave me at a footpath that led down some steps by the side of Wembley Central stn, so I could watch the trains from there.

[jif]

I ask myself why I love the railways often I've come to only one conclusion. I have absolutely no idea lol.

If I had the option to travel by road, air or rail, I would choose rail every time. Whenever I see a train even a boring Desiro, I'm captivated. Although I might draw the line with a Pacer lol.....

[52G]

For me it was discussions with a school mate at the adjoining desk. We popped down to Sunderland station just after school to see the Liverpool come through. It was a Thursday and was hauled by A3 60086. Went down the next day too and naively expected any one of the 202 ex-LNER pacifics to turn up. Needless to say it was 60086 again. But on the Saturday we collected a treasure trove indeed at Newcastle. We boarded the Liverpool back to Sunderland - 60086 again! But from then on I was well and truly hooked. I lost interest with the demise of steam but had it rekindled by my son around 1990 who got hooked himself out here in NZ.

[52G]

I wrote this on another forum a year or so back:

It always amuses me that folk think "train spotting" is a completely useless activity.

Recently on "Who wants to be a millionaire" (UK version) there was the individual who didn't know where Berwick-upon-Tweed was. They guessed "Shropshire" :-) I have to say that my interest in railways has improved my knowledge of the countries in which I've resided immeasurably - UK, NZ, Oz. Same for the USA too to some extent because of my reading although I've never been there.

The words "fun" and "sanity" always loom uppermost in my mind too. Human beings started out as hunter/gatherers. Our need to be hunter/gatherers has not diminished just because we are all too often engaged in meaningless, soul destroying, bureaucratic jobs in what is now termed "The Information Society". In order to retain our sanity We have now had to replace our ancestors' real work for survival with games - treasure hunts, collecting hobbies, sports, etc. "Train Spotting", both in its specific and wider generic senses, caters for BOTH hunting and gathering. In other words the hobby keeps us SANE. And while we are remaining SANE we are having FUN at the same time. I could name other useless hobbies, but every time I think of one I could write a similar piece about why it too keeps us SANE. I could also name far more useless paid jobs than useless hobbies though that is, of course, coloured by my own particular world view.

I remember going down to the South Island with my son in 1992. We drove to most places where the railway went and had our goal to see every loco in the SI. We didn't manage that but we did see every main line loco. I recall discussing this outside Linwood depot with a couple of fellow "train nutters". I discovered that a couple of hitherto unseen DCs were in the repair depot. The only other one was DC4847 which turned up on the shunting service over in Greymouth on our last day. Our "treasure hunt" playing field was the entire South Island. We had FUN on that trip. We slept in the car on three occasions - at Picton (didn't get much sleep that night), Timaru, and Westport. We hurtled back to Picton from Greymouth that day and made the ferry with 5 minutes to spare at 7:25 pm.

I don't see how this form of collecting is significantly different from "more socially respectable" forms of collecting such as antiques or postage stamps. It's a darned sight cheaper too. So you can throw around all the pejorative terms for rail enthusiast you like. It's just water off a duck's back.

[Claire]

Well, my dad used to take me on specials from Nottingham to Plymouth in the early 1980's and maybe the late 1970's . . . . some were very special, we had breakdowns and trees on the lines and trysts between young football supporters and snogs between trains (them were the days) (think I was included there too!) . . we had tuck shops in the break vans.... what is not to find terribly exciting especially with a huge railway timetable in your hand . . . and then I rail rovered round UK and Australia . . . and now save up for steam train journies when I can, but always love a 37 or 50!

[camop11]

Im mostly interested in early american steam trains and working on the Frisco Scenic Railway at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Mo. I keep the Facebook page updated! Frisco Silver Dollar City Scenic Railway

[rick ward]

Abit like Seth said if it flys floats or got wheels im in there,, but into steamers 1955 to 1961 just spotting number crunching just 2 rolls of film on my brownie 127 big big regrets, started again in 1967-1968 filled 3 albums, also working on Bittern Blue Peter as black hand gang,, then the BR ban,, now back into steamers at York thro the summer, very lucky,, but you wait for one loco when 50years ago they were coming all day, Oh how would pay alot for just one day in 1960,, and big regret packing up in 1961,, well you could,nt tell a girl your a train spotter at 16,, plus waiting time in the pub 18-25, now my wife in a home i have time to see my locos when ever i want for half aday at least

[Steve27752]

My wife bought me a Clive Groome one day Footplate Days experience. Wonderful

[rick ward]

this is a test to see where it goes