I know of Tom Brokaw, Gene Hackman, Walt Disney and Tom Hanks are rail enthusiests. But what about other countries with Will known rail fans? I know of only 3. Elton John, Rod Stewart and James May. (James May is one of the Producers on the BBC show TOP GEAR)
I have seen the list on Wikipedia, but what about you guys, who have you heard to be Railfans like us?
JOE: Hey man, how did your railfanning trip go?
MARK: Great man, got some awsome photos of a Box-on-wheels GEVO and had some company this time…
The problem here, bnsfkline, is that final phrase, “to be Raiflans like us”. No one wants to admit to that and therefore there is a great unknown mass out there!
But truthfully, this will be an endless search. I’ve seen other forums hash this over and over and the list is always incomplete and misleading. Are railfans those who build and operate model layouts, collect toy trains, photograph real trains, volunteer or otherwise work with a museum or touris line, will ride trains whenever or wherever, or just enjoy pausing and watching a train go by? Take all the catagories, add a dozen more I never thought of, and you will find everyone, of all walks of life, are actual or potential railfans. Frank Sinatra was Lionel collector and Niel Young bought the company. But when it comes to the active sport of chasing trains, taking pictures, and riding trains, I don’t belive those in the public eye flaunt thier avocation so that it rests on our shoulders to report any sightings and not rely on card lists of memberhips. I will say this: paroachialy, I find many members of the broadcasting field are indeed afficianadoes, so there are very large local lists of “celebertey” who like trains. After that, settle down for a long chat, longer waits, and an eventual long list…
I think the question is to name people who became famous as railfans, but rather people who became famous in entertainment, politics, etc. who were also railfans…such as movie star Buster Keaton.
I would expect the number of such people in the UK would be higher than anywhere else by the way, largely because their more constant interaction with trains makes being a “railway enthusiast” more common.
Captain Sensible from The Dammed (an English punk rock band) is known to be a train watcher. Apparently, he now insists that all Dammed tours include time to view the local transit systems
“Come along and ride this train, come along and ride this train. Across the mountains, prairies, reservations, rivers, levees, plains, come along and ride this train.” Johnny Cash
Angus and Malcolm Young of AC/DC. I can’t find the quote where they talk about liking trains, but their lead single off their last album was called “Rock N Roll Train,” the video features trains, and they have a giant stage prop steam engine on their latest tour. Here’s the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX2xbqWtyJU
As the father of a budding musician/musicologist, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that composer Antonin Dvorak was the 19th-century equivalent of a foamer, according to reports. He also liked ships.
John Madden, football broadcaster & former coach. Supposedly he doesn’t like to fly, so he goes by train - Amtrak or private car - almost everyplace he has to in the US. O so I’ve read.
He did, for a while, until Greyhound gave him a bus. That was probably about 15 years ago.
I do remember him showing the the routine he had to go through in order to get the bed down in a roomette with out exposing himself in the hallway on one his football broadcasts. (me, I was always thin engough to get the bed down w/o having to open the sliding door…not so for him. He had to use the door curtains.)
I suspect the listening-to-the-scanner, photo-taking, railfan population is quite a bit smaller than the train-collecting, model RR crowd. You wouldn’t find Rod Stewart or Neil Young on railpictures.net.[8D]
Tom Snyder, the late television personality associated with NBC News, was a big time railfan.
I’ve also read where, during the early 1950s, some of the more active members of the M.I.T. model railroad club applied what they learned in designing model railroad signaling and control systems to the development of digital computer programming. Scenery-wise their layout wasn’t much to look at, but their block signals, crossing gates & signals, and C.T.C. were supposedly quite awesome.
Some 20th century railroad presidents come to mind as well like the “way-out-of-the-closet” brothers Claytor (Sou., N.& W. Amtrak), Bill Jeffers (“I’d rather be president of the Union Pacific Railroad than president of the United States!”), John S. Reed (ATSF), and I’m sore to suspect Alfred E. Perlman.
Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, and I believe Keith Emerson. Collins and Gabriel’s interests lean more toward modeling, but Collins and the post-Gabriel Genesis did one of the finest (and least-known) railroad songs ever, “Driving the Last Spike.” It’s lyrics are based on the heroic efforts of early Brit railway builders, but they could just as easily honor those who chiseled through the lansdcapes of Donner, Stampede, etc. After the Genesis reunion tour a couple years ago, Collins announced he was putting off plans for further recording and touring until he and his son had finished building their model railroad.
One of the more lavish O-scale Maerklin modelers in Europe during the 1930s and '40s was the Reich Chancellor’s corpulent buddy, Hermann Goering!
Faced with a growing shortage of steel as the war soured for Germany by 1943, it was Goering who suggested that maybe new steam locomotive boilers could be made out of concrete!
Additions to the list that haven’t been mentioned yet:
Britain’s Prince Charles is said (without hard-core confirmation that I’ve ever found) to be a keen rail enthusiast–not just able to tell a steam loco from a diesel, but able to tell various loco classes apart, supposedly able to take the regulator of a train if he’s in the cab, etc.
Britain’s Pete Waterman is a music/recording company executive that has been said to be worth more than Virgin’s Richard Bramson, and is probably the closest we have to a railroad tycoon with lots of trains to “play” with. At one point, he had something on the order of 18 historic diesel/electric locomotives and a couple steam locomotives, and has personally bankrolled the restoration of the National Railway Museum’s “Super D” London & North Western 0-8-0. Do an internet search for more information.
He’s not a celebrity, as in a star, but Spencer Christian is a failfan. He used to do the weather on Good Morning, America and he also hosted Tracks Ahead.