It appears if I have the children with, we get a tap or two from the horn. If I’m alone, maybe one out of three?
Does the crew like fans, or are they annoyed?
Most of the time railfans are not a problem. I may or may not blow the horn for them when they wave, depending where I am and what is going on (blowing the horn more than necessary in residential areas just tends to irritate the residents). I am a little more inclined to add some extra toots when kids are there, especially when they are excitedly jumping about because the train is there. I have at times encountered the same person several times on the same run, and do wonder what liberties they are taking with motor vehicle laws in order to keep pace.
What irritates me is when I see railfans darting about the tracks while the train is approaching, trying to get this shot or that angle. They are one bad step from tripping and falling directly into the foul. Just pick a spot sufficiently away from the right of way (at least 15-20 feet) and then stay put, or at least don’t move closer to the track. Crews will appreciate that. If they don’t give you a special tap on the horn, don’t take it personally.
As stated above by adkrr64 stay off the RoW and be mindful of local laws and ordinances… Don’t be a problem be a solution… Also… Absolutely do not become a foamer!
Don’t try to get the crews attention by waving wildly at them, or any other gestures. If they want to acknowledge you they will. Remember these guys are human just like you and have been on the road all day, don’t get proper rest, etc… So don’t get upset or angry they don’t wave at you, or give a few blast of the horn…
More enjoyable to me was seeing the B&O type CPL dwarf signal. We all have our own enjoyable elements of railroading.
Found this gem from ten years ago… http://cs.trains.com/trn/f/111/t/153292.aspx
Some are railfans themselves and understand. Some aren’t and don’t understand and likely don’t like railfans much either.
I don’t think that I could say it any better than “adkrr64” did!
I never had any problems with railfans and enjoyed talking to them when sitting in a siding waiting to meet another train.
I will say that I am thankful that I never met anyone like the guy that made that video above. I might have had to walk away from him. [;)]
The enthusiasm of railfans never ceases to amaze me. I have never turned down a request for a head-end ride, circumstances permitting, and I have even invited some to ride ‘up front’. I find them respectful, enthusiastic and grateful. It is an admirable hobby and if I could help them pursue it made me feel gratified also.
I just watched that video. That guy takes things to whole 'nother level!
Yeah… these crazy Railfans…
They put on a multi-color fuzzy wig and sit behind home rail to be in view of the TV cameras and then make all sorts of chants and incantations while flopping the wig back and forth trying to influence the dispatcher.
And the others that paint their bare chests in their favourite RR livery and paint the initials of their alma mater RR, so when they raise their beers together the TV cameras can show which RR they are cheering for.
And don’t forget the constumed people that the RR’s hire to be “Mascots”… and the Mascot Races and Condiment Races that are run before a train arrives or during the 7th train stretch when the announcer leans out of the Radio/TV booth over the stands and sings:
"Take me out to the Rail Yard, take me out to the trains. Buy me some donuts and coffee drinks, I can always take a leak in the creeks. Oh it’s root, root, root for the home rail, if they don’t couple its a shame. For its one, two, three engines out at the old Rail Yard!
Oh, and the half-time shows with all the singing stars hawking their latest album for the TV audiences.
And the marching bands, and the flyover by the Air Force, and the sky divers.
Yeah… these Railfans are an odd lot!
Is it me? Those crossing gates did not seem to be working properly.
In my active years as a railfan, I never saw anybody such as the man in that video. During my three years of living on the mainline of the IC, I came to know some operators and several trainmen in passenger service (and was known to more men in road service than I knew personally). We were respectful of one another–and six years after I moved from Mississippi, I was eating breakfast in the station in New Orleans–and an IC conductor whom I had known came up to me and we had a good conversation.
Living in Reform, Alabama, I knew both agents (AT&N and GM&O), and men in road service on the AT&N. I also knew several passenger trainmen on the AGS and one engineer on the Southern.
My one interaction with anyone in road service on the GM&O came one evening when I was going home from Tuscaloosa; there is a short stretch where the highway is right by the railroad; I paced the engine for a while, dipped my headlights, and the engineer gave me two shorts.
My understanding of relations between railroaders and fans is that if a fan acts decently, the railroaders’ reactions will be friendly.
Some may have seen the video from the (now defunct) Saratoga and North Creek where the voice behind the camera was similarly overly excited to see a BL2 and an E unit.
Except the voice behind the camera wasn’t some rabid railfan - it was their general manager, parodying rabid railfans…
Producing the appalling result that the entire viral response in the media made the parody out to be an instance of how pathetic foamers are. Not once did I read it was a parody; not once did I see the original video referenced, let alone presented ‘side by side’ so lay readers could appreciate the joke. It even took me in for some time (I think I found the original version by accident from a different context).
Some instances of the ‘two cultures’ difference between railfan priorities and train-crew priorities could be found on the ihaterailfans.com site. One unintentionally appalling example was a post of a ‘beloved’ unit on its side, with the hope that the crew that put it there suffered as a kind of karma for wrecking it.
There’s also a problem with wannabees (Tree and I think a couple of others have described their counterparts for the fire service who love to wear reflectorized vests for ‘safety’ and caper around rights-of-way, making train crews think they are more ‘legitimate’ than they actually are. That goes well beyond the usual stereotype of the engineer’s hat full of pins, vest full of patches, and surly air of dubious social contact, etc. in the original definitions of FOMITE or FRN.
In the Dwight and Englewood Schools railroad club overseen by Karl Zimmermann, there was a distinctive cohort of younger kids we lovingly called ‘junior railfans’. These are the kids who would yell and
Semper Vaporo, [(-D] [;)] [tup]
Yes, that is a bit over-the-top, but I’m sure as that young railfan gains a bit of age and maturity he’ll know enough to save that extreme enthusiasm for steam runbys.
Had a somewhat different experience this summer. I was at trackside on my bike, waiting for a train to pass over the country road I was on… As the train approached the crossing I did nothin… no wave… no sign of acknowledgement from me even… I was 50 km into a long Saturday ride… not feeling well for some reason, and simply couldn’t muster the strength to wave. As the locomotive slowly ground past me the engineer looked down at me and gestured with both hands as if to say “what the heck??” Maybe he was expecting a wave… I dunno.
There was a guy who made the old Railroad Magazine’s monthly “Interesting Railfan” series. As I recall, he was a big fan of Amtrak. So much so that he had a large tatoo of the Amtrak logo (1970s version) on his chest.
Most of my co-workers use the term ‘foamer’ for all railfans. I reserve it for the ones that get overly excited. Such as the guy who caught the Rio Grande heritage unit.
Jeff
Then there are those, usually at crossings and usually not railfans, who wave with one finger only.
Jeff
When I get a good catch (usually by luck) I get just as excited, but I don’t “ruin” my video by expressing myself audibly. I’m usually just jumping around like this guy.