why do you railfan?

[lakeshoredave]

i go to get away from my job.

also i go to see as many trains as possible.

[AARR]

For the partying...

[Mr. Tops]

because i like trains

[conrailmike]

because i like trains

Ditto

[Big Frank]

Im not a railfan. My hobby is racking up insane mounts of miles on my vehicle while wasting money on gas, scanners and books and going to small towns that no regular person has ever heard of as vacation spots.

[GTWFRED]

Excellent question, it's in my blood going back to granddad taking me to Durand to watch the steamers as a kid, now I'm doing my part to pass it on to My grandkids.

[Y@]

I LIKE TWAINS!

i do it because it's fun for me... always has been, and hopefully always will be.

[SW]

Seems like all little boys (and a few little girls) go thru a phase where they like trains, then they outgrow it. I never outgrew it -- guess it means I haven't grown up!

[sd70accsxt700]

Because I am sick in the head, and everywhere else. And as others have said, I like sitting around in towns like Hicksville, Oh, or Plant City, FL, or even Foley, Roddys Sag, or even Maxwell, PA (the last three), so people can look at me and say WTF is that? Also to be harrased by the cops. And most absolutly the partys. But mostly to get away from work!!!!!!!

[AARR]

But mostly to get away from work!!!!!!!

That would be like me going to an office building to watch sales people so I could get away from work

[Fred]

I guess I just like trains, been "playing" with trains for over 48 years, been "workin" on trains for over 42 years and been railfanning for too long to remember ! Railfanning with your buddies results in good times and lots of laughs, and then more good times and laughs later at the slide show.

[J T]

For the partying...

[PAT.C]

I LIKE BEER.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PULL MY FINGER.!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Big Frank]

I LIKE BEER.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PULL MY FINGER.!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I agree the fan meets are going to go from train watching to beer tasting meets lol

[JANGAJONGA]

For the enjoyment of seeing such massive machines rocketing by you. AND CUZ ITS KOOL.

[GreatLakesRailfan]

Im not a railfan. My hobby is racking up insane mounts of miles on my vehicle while wasting money on gas, scanners and books and going to small towns that no regular person has ever heard of as vacation spots.

That just about sums it up for me as well.

But mostly to get away from work!!!!!!!

That would be like me going to an office building to watch sales people so I could get away from work

You really need to go to an office building just to do that Don? For a change of pace, you could spend a day at a Home Depot or a Menards or something just to shake things up a bit...

[TrainWatcher]

History.

My Grandkids will be seeing Mag-Lev and 300+ mph trains. They'll want to know what it was like to see 4449 clocking 60 mph on an excursion, and what a GP30 Slug looks like. And why everyone hung out to just see trains.

Its a dying hobby folks... lets all face it.

Our Grandfathers who worked for NYC, PC, PRR, NH, ATSF, UP, SP, they showed us the only real thing thats built that tiny throng of 13 colonies, into a Raging world superpower. They spent time explaining what is was like to work Chicago Union with an UP 0-6-0 building that infamous Trans-Con streamliner, thats was hearlded as a new faster way to travel. No old steam locomotive that takes loads of Coal and Water, but sleek streamliners, that race by at 80+ mph, horn blaring....

Yea, they'll all be in museums. But for those of us railfans how appreciate the man-hours, the crews, and just the fact of railroading itself, its something more. Its a way of life, thats gonna be hard to replace. Aircraft can only to so much, and so can trucks. Railroads? Always changing.

[MDH]

But mostly to get away from work!!!!!!!

That would be like me going to an office building to watch sales people so I could get away from work

C'mon - watching sales people can be entertaining! At a former employer we had a sales woman that took her top client out to bars & strip clubs & "entertained" him...

[AARR]

C'mon - watching sales people can be entertaining! At a former employer we had a sales woman that took her top client out to bars & strip clubs & "entertained" him...

Whatver it takes to close the sale

I also railfan to discuss PR&E topics...people who know me will know what I'm talking about

[Mick]

I railfan because it seems like it would be silly not to.


Mick