What I don’t get about Non-Railfans is, when ever they see a bridge and no trains they just have to balance they selfs on the rails. When its a long bridge and when your looking at them like you stupid [censored] and just knowing a train is just across that bridge just makes you mad and makes you look how non-railfans are stupid compared to us railfans. But some railfans do the same thing as non-railfans.
Another thing as we know are crossings. Why don’t they just wait untill the train goes past you instead of risking you, the crew’s life and other passengers in the car. I am sure we have had our cases of seeing cars passing the crossing just making us just put our heads down and shake our heads. I am sure they will know when they made a bad mistake when they see the plow come at them then a flash. Then the familes have to hear ‘‘Sorry Johnny died at a crossing downtown’’ then months of geif. Very sad and a very risky thing to do.
Tresspassing, walking on the tracks, same thing to me. This is a another bad thing to do when your probaly not worried about whats coming behind you at a large speed and a large amount of cars. Listening to the radio to your favorite artist with a train breathing down your neck thats the worst, you can’t hear the horn behind you then boom your flying and then flash your sadly dead.
I am sure there are a tons more but just wanted to share what was on my mind at this moment on Sunday.
Run on sentences and bad grammar aside … the public could care less about trains. Trains are a non existant OR over existant nusance to them. Trains hold people up and delay them, they wreck things and make noise.
And of course, why should I have to wait for a train when it can just stop and wait for me?
People will only be edcutated about the proper way to handle a train unless they witness someone get smoked or a family member or friend dies. Other than that good luck.
What really gets me is when a train is actually going through a downtown area. Even trains like Amtrak, the public doesn’t even notice. I’ve seen I don’t know how many people getting into their car or something with a train going pased a couple blocks away, and they don’t even see it, and probably don’t even hear it! In their minds trains don’t really exist, and it doesn’t matter to them whether there is a train or there isn’t, until that unfortunate day when they have to wait at the grade crossing. THEN it’s a big deal. I just don’t understand it.
That right there pretty much destroys the main premise. It’s not just a “railfans” issue.
A more accurate way to put it is that some people have different priorities than you do.
Big surprise, huh?
Last I checked, other people have no obligation whatsoever to share the same priorities.
Some folks just don’t find trains particularly attractive, so they never look beneath the noisy, smelly, “in your face at rush hour” surface. They just see tha portions that are impossible to ignore, and make a value judgement.
I’m that way about golf.
I mean WTF? losing a little white ball in a big green pasture ove and over again etc etc, what’s the point? What fun is that?
Unless you look at it from the urban perspective of a quiet green, meticulously tailored oasis, where you can escape from the numbness of the asphalt jungle…otherwise it’s just a racket for the equipment manufacturers.
I’m just happy when non railfans mind their own friggin business, and leave me to my own priorities.
Sorting stupidity into railfan and non railfan catagories is pointless unless one thinks one has an advantage over the other. Darwin’s theory is a good referee for this contest.
…I suppose on a subject of the public and railroads…It’s no concern of mine what the general public does as far as the aspect of “railfaning”…
I do believe {as I’ve alluded to many times on here}, the RR’s would present a better image if they were more “public” of their existence…especially from a standpoint of interacting with the public in the safety category. Interact in a way to inform the public “why” sometimes they must be stretched across a crossing, etc…and perhaps other ways of trying to “get along”.
As long as I can do my railfaning in a sensible way and of course a safe way that’s all I need to be concerned about…not what “others” are doing towards their interests.
"Run on [run-on] sentences and bad grammar aside … the public could care less about trains. Trains are a non existant [non-existent] over existant [existent] nusance [nuisance] to them. Trains hold people up and delay them, they wreck things and make noise.
People will only be edcutated [educated] about the proper way to handle a train unless they witness someone get smoked or a family member or friend dies. Other than that good luck.
I guess the excercise of sorting stupidity in these times is a lost cause. The Alfred E. Neuman generation has morphed into a generation that has brought the excercise of stupidity to higher levels. In its ability to dodge responsibility for its own acts, ie: Bill Clinton, " I did not have sex with that woman…" [ his understood presumption was that oral sex was not real sex], and then politicians or others who break the law and then excuse it because they have a good reason that exhonerates them from blame,[ mistreated as children, substance abuse, and so forth] and seek treatment to aviod the limelight of public scrutiny. As railfans we are not imune from stupidity [ planting ourselves in the middle of the tracks, or on a tangent to get,“That perfect shot”, etc.] we just have a better grasp of the consequences of our anctions and their potential consequences. I guess we are destined to have in our midst those who have dived into the shallow end of the gene pool and hit their heads on the bottom.
“Word of the Day: improvident: lacking foresight; negligent; thoughtless.”
"(2 August 2002, Kansas) Police said an Olathe man was struck and killed by a train after his vehicle broke down on Interstate 35. His attempts at repairing his car had failed, and he had stepped away from the busy freeway to call for help, when the train engineer[BNSF] spotted him standing on the tracks. The engineer said the man was
I am new here but I was hoping to add my two cents. I may not remember the fish I caught but I remember the times I went fishing with my oldest brother. Watching trains is like fishing for me. I can fish all day and catch one and still come home in a good mood. I have been on a boat with people that get frustrated because there has not been a bite in over an hour. I go down to the CSX/NS tracks for lunch everyday and I might only see 1 train in an hour, but it is the most relaxing luch place in the world for me. I know it is rambling, but I hope you get the gist of of what I am saying.
Ferguson- I understand what you are saying Fishing = Trains for you. Me would be Hockey and Trains. On some days you might have a crappy game or a good game would be just like trains. You could have a 6 train day in a certain amount of hours, then in hockey speak you can have 60 minutes of grade A hockey or the other way around.
You can also get frustrated by no trains and visiting fans from your enemy or rival by saying, ‘‘Wolfe…Wolfe…Wolfe YOU SUCK!!!’’ pretty much all game.
If people didn’t understand my post and understand it I am sure they wouldn’t reply back or say I don’t get what I said.