No. That would be horns blowing repeatedly in quiet zones at 5:00am with no vehicle, rail or pedestrian traffic or obstructions. I will leave it to others to speculate why.
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āAnd indeed what is the point?ā
Great Python sketch!!
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I must hear CSX engineers play āShave & a haircut 2 bitsā every other day as they āwave backā to people in the park across the river from the railroad. I enjoy it as I picture the smiles it brings to faces. When Santa Claus arrives here for the downtown holiday lighting ceremony, the engineer of his decorated locomotive plays āJingle Bellsā on his one-note hornāand people love it.
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Union Pacific requests that fans stay back at least 25 ft. from the track. Someone was killed in Colorado because they didnāt follow that rule. You see a lot of dumb things if a steam loco is coming through.
Our local museum has an engineer give an Operation Lifesaver presentation to 2nd graders every spring. We encourage the kids to wave at train crews. Sometimes they will get a horn response. I do the same thing as my backyard is extremely close to the track. I stay on my side of the fence.
Always keep you local railroadās emergency number on your phone. Having it on and not using it is better than not having it on and needing it.
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Ok well I did measurements on google earth and turns out I never go 10 feet from a train. Iām usually about 35-50 
. But yes I will follow those guidelines, though I railfan on csx. Yeah when I said I go 10-30 feet away I was wrong. I donāt get that close.
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This clip below should show the pertinent part:
Hereās the whole video. Some people never learn.
Then there were the three girls taking a selfie in front of a Union Pacific train!
Yep, thatās no sunset in the background. Thatās a headlight!
Cheers, Ed
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Some of the concerns are visible here:
Iāll never understand why people basically stand on letās say track number 1 while a train goes on track number 2. And Iāve been in flagstaff, and people literally have crossed right after a train leaves the area. Letās say the train was on track 1, and they were closest to track one, and as the train leaves they canāt see if anything is coming on track 2. Easy way to get killed, especially on such a busy subdivision.
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my own opinion as long as what they do is legal theres alot videos of theives and tresspassers calling themselves railfans
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Personally I think itās amazing that railfans exist. There are almost as many plane spotters though as there are train spotters. I think thatās only because passenger aviation is a lot newer than the rail version. The problems are two fold.
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You have the issue thatās well documented of punks thinking itās funny to attack railroaders. These also include those who break into rail cars to steal their contents. Graffiti artists fall into this category as well. All of these people can be considered to be involved in criminal activities which necessitate greater railroad security.
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The other segment that hurts railfans is more accidental. Weāve seen a fair number of deaths and injuries at railfans events which I suspect are proportional to the twin factors of growth of social media and betterment of smart phone technology, especially cameras. How many have died taking a selfie instead of being aware of their surroundings?
I highlight these ālossesā as theyāre known in business parlance simply because theyāre often those that have the greatest consequence to public access to the railroads. Restoring and operating big steam on excursions has unfortunately made them a target for these groups, both the intentional and accidental. Group 1 makes railroaders nervous and defensive. Group 2 makes railroaders nervous and watchful in an already stressful job.
I think the answer is rapidly becoming possible. 24/7 A. I. surveillance of the right of way.
PS you donāt see clubs chasing accountants or staging comptroller events. My dad was both. His fans only made their presence known at his funeral when they showed up for the long motorcade to the cemetery.
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Only an answer if you get effective 24/7 legal prosecution of the āproblem peopleā. More likely railfans will continue to get it in the neck because theyāre easy to bully.
One particular problem thatās been touched on is when railfans try to āpretendā they are railroaders by wearing safety vests, etc. this can make actual railroaders watchful, first for safety reasons they werenāt expecting, and second because it might be weed-weaselry ready to perform some test or look for grounds for wack discipline. Those are bad and unnecessary distractions for crews trying to work.
Weāve had discussions in the past about railfans who think trains operate so they can get and photodocument ācatchesā and donāt care what problems they cause in so doing. I remember one case where a crew āruinedā a particular shot by keeping a nose door open, so a fan reported that as a nominal safety violation.
The catch is in part that some railfans find the people who work the trains as interesting as the trains themselvesā¦ but their subjects may not share the same enthusiasm, nostalgia, or whatever. I remember what was written as an amusing story in Trains about the last operating FT on the Southern, whose engineer ādidnāt want his pitcher tookā and actually threw an apple core at the eager photographers at one point. That is not as amusing now as it was then.
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Railfans can be very entitled.
And āentitlementsā are just a delusion. 
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Were those girls actually railfans or just people visiting some tracks? A real railfan would never do that, especially with knowledge of how a train works.
You give railfans entirely too much credit, just because Some donāt do Incredibly Stoopid Schitt, it doesnāt mean that ALL railfans Never do anything Stoopid, anymore than it means ALL railfans always do Stoopid things. Railfans fall into a broad spectrum, just like Society in general
Just look at Driving, if someone has a Driverās License, they Should be a Good Driver, Right??. How many times a day do we all see Proof, that this isnāt the case?
Doug
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Yeah, a lot of railfans can be very stupid.
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Probably a fraction of a percent.
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There are plenty of railfans doing illegal things. Some have caused railfans to be barred from the property. The E&LS is the perfect example. While run-of-the-mill thieves may steal from containers, you know itās railfans when builder plates, horns and bells are stolen.
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Railfans stealing horns? What a surprise 
So true. A lot of railfanning areas etc have been banned here in the U.K.
I have a couple rules i follow whilst railfanning.
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Stay a good bit away from the train: I usually stay at a point right before the ballast goes up to the rails if possible, and if thereās a fence, setup to capture through it.
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Pay attention: If thereās a possibility that the the wind of the train will affect something near it, set up further away.
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Be polite: If someone tells you to leave, Leave, youāre close to railroad property, they donāt have to let you see the trains.
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Donāt be weird: Donāt try taking photos of specifically of the crew, or of security, and when chasing, donāt try to be suspicious.