Railfans

[Amtrak OBS Gone Freight]

Railfans, are in my opinion, a good bunch of people! Some railfans simply like to watch the trains go by, others wanna take pictures, recordings, etc, others persue it to enjoy time with their children, some enjoy it for the model train aspect, and for some it is their whole life! I am one of those who merely enjoys watching the trains pass through. There is something about the power of a locomotive chugging away as it moves a heavy load from point A to B. Also I have always been captivated by the sounds of trains (I guess because of growing up aorund them). For whatever reasons, we have folks who enjoy trains! God bless em. But I will now get to the point of this posting now!

First off, I am a railfan! I have been one as long as I can remember. By about the age of twelve the train bug really took hold. One aspect of the railroad industry is many of the folks who work in it. I have made a lot of friends over the years in the railroad. They range from engineers, conductors, mechanics, signal maintainers, and even one railroad police luetinent (spelling?), etc. I took my job with the railroad around five years ago. I enjoy my job overall. But one thing I have had to learn to do is differenciate the time as a railfan to the time as my job! The railroad is my job! That is the first priority when at work. I don't like to be around it much in my offtime anymore, I guess because I get my fill now so to say. But I still like to go and hit some hot spots once in a while like Folkston GA, etc. I see this at work, and I see at in my railfan travels! There is one sad fact about us railfans! Because of the old "guilty by association" concept, there are those few railfans who have an attitude of they know it all about railroading! This attitude makes it hard on all railfans (even those who know their place)! Once again I see this at work and in my travels. This is sad, but it is the fact! The railroads see anyone who is a liabilty, a security threat, etc as one who does not belong! The railroads have enough problems from within as well as your everyday occurances such as the innocent person crossing the tracks at a grade crossing!

So with this all in mind (some of you feel free to add), I as an employee of a railroad and as a railfan, am calling on all railfans to please keep yourselves in check at all times when persuing the hobby! If you have that little "railfan attitude" I just spoke of, please lose it! Watch the trains, take pictures, etc off the property if at all possible, and on property in authorized locations. I know of one place I frequent in Folkston GA. If you like to ride the trains, by all means do so! Don't go someplace because you think it is OK, or I have been doing this along time attitude. We all need to be sure we as railfans use common sense around the rails! Sometimes that common sense means we should go someplace else. I have had to do it many times to avoid a troublsome situation. The situation regarding the man who was arrested in NOL could have been avoided in my opinion had he used a little more common sense! Don't rely on signs, don't make a situation worse! Just use common sense and back down! It may seem like bull/not right at the time or regarding the whole situation, but it sure is a hell of lot easier than getting into a tighter/tougher situation. It is a sad fact but this is true! I follow the basic common sense approach and I can enjoy my aspect of the hobby just about all the time! Good luck railfans, enjoy the hobby to its fullest and while out there when you observe someone (fellow railfan) who is out of line, step up to the plate and infom them to help them correct their behavior so they don't ruin it for the rest of us. OBS...

 

[SegaExtreme]

Railfans, are in my opinion, a good bunch of people! Some railfans simply like to watch the trains go by, others wanna take pictures, recordings, etc, others persue it to enjoy time with their children, some enjoy it for the model train aspect, and for some it is their whole life! I am one of those who merely enjoys watching the trains pass through. There is something about the power of a locomotive chugging away as it moves a heavy load from point A to B. Also I have always been captivated by the sounds of trains (I guess because of growing up aorund them). For whatever reasons, we have folks who enjoy trains! God bless em. But I will now get to the point of this posting now! First off, I am a railfan! I have been one as long as I can remember. By about the age of twelve the train bug really took hold. One aspect of the railroad industry is many of the folks who work in it. I have made a lot of friends over the years in the railroad. They range from engineers, conductors, mechanics, signal maintainers, and even one railroad police luetinent (spelling?), etc. I took my job with the railroad around five years ago. I enjoy my job overall. But one thing I have had to learn to do is differenciate the time as a railfan to the time as my job! The railroad is my job! That is the first priority when at work. I don't like to be around it much in my offtime anymore, I guess because I get my fill now so to say. But I still like to go and hit some hot spots once in a while like Folkston GA, etc. I see this at work, and I see at in my railfan travels! There is one sad fact about us railfans! Because of the old "guilty by association" concept, there are those few railfans who have an attitude of they know it all about railroading! This attitude makes it hard on all railfans (even those who know their place)! Once again I see this at work and in my travels. This is sad, but it is the fact! The railroads see anyone who is a liabilty, a security threat, etc as one who does not belong! The railroads have enough problems from within as well as your everyday occurances such as the innocent person crossing the tracks at a grade crossing!

So with this all in mind (some of you feel free to add), I as an employee of a railroad and as a railfan, am calling on all railfans to please keep yourselves in check at all times when persuing the hobby! If you have that little "railfan attitude" I just spoke of, please lose it! Watch the trains, take pictures, etc off the property if at all possible, and on property in authorized locations. I know of one place I frequent in Folkston GA. If you like to ride the trains, by all means do so! Don't go someplace because you think it is OK, or I have been doing this along time attitude. We all need to be sure we as railfans use common sense around the rails! Sometimes that common sense means we should go someplace else. I have had to do it many times to avoid a troublsome situation. The situation regarding the man who was arrested in NOL could have been avoided in my opinion had he used a little more common sense! Don't rely on signs, don't make a situation worse! Just use common sense and back down! It may seem like bull/not right at the time or regarding the whole situation, but it sure is a hell of lot easier than getting into a tighter/tougher situation. It is a sad fact but this is true! I follow the basic common sense approach and I can enjoy my aspect of the hobby just about all the time! Good luck railfans, enjoy the hobby to its fullest and while out there when you observe someone (fellow railfan) who is out of line, step up to the plate and infom them to help them correct their behavior so they don't ruin it for the rest of us. OBS...

-_-

 

[AmtrakFan]

OBS Emplyoee,

I haven't let London curtail my railfanning in the least I am always out just about everyday all the crews recognize me. I have called the RR Police before when people were on the tracks I have all the RR's Police programed into my Cell Phone.