Do the general public think we're nuts?

[Glorious NSE]

I don't really regard turning on the blue light to talk to trainspotters, as best use of police time either. Given the increasingly common reports of police telling people they are not allowed to photograph things, it doesn't surprise me much either.

I hope folk don't regard it as a problem for them to come up and have a friendly chat, if you're an enthusiast who takes photo's of the everyday national network, especially if you do it from "unusual" places, I think you need to assume that will happen to you at some point, and what prompts the conversation can happen for any number of good reasons. 

 

I've had that several times, providing both parties keep it friendly nobody is likely to have a problem, and you shouldn't be told not to film unless there's a good reason for it...

 

As for whether the blue light is on, i'd take a guess that it likely depends on (a) what they think they are responding to and ( b ) the state of the road where they had to stop to talk to you on!

 

[Dunsignalling]

One Sunday morning, several years ago, I set out to get some photos of the old footbridge at Exeter Central before it was demolished.

 

Some wag residing in the County Jail overlooking the site loudly enquired as to why I was "wasting my time" in such an activity.

 

My (somewhat predictable) reply was "because I can" but I think the irony of his opening comment was lost on him.........

 

John

[trisonic]

Surely there are “trainspotters” who drink heavily and also go to watch Football, take photos of kittens - and yell obscene things at women? I met one a couple of years ago.   There may be a few even in the local “nick”.

 

Even ISIS ask “What are your hobbies?” on their enrollment form (I’m not kidding, either). Look it up.

 

Best, Pete.

[Oldddudders]

I suspect wielding a camera these days, and probably a DSLR in this case, separates us from the rest of mankind, which has long lost interest in anything so cumbersome, and whips out the smartphone instead.

[Guest]

Even ISIS ask “What are your hobbies?” on their enrollment form (I’m not kidding, either). Look it up.

 

I'd really rather not Google "How to join ISIS", thanks!

[leopardml2341]

I have long followed the maxim that

 

"There is no such thing as normal, only average; and who wants to be average?"

 

John

  

That's so mean.

 

(I'll get my coat!)

Andy Y,

 

We really do need a groan button

[railsquid]

Just cal me "Trailmix". Anyway:
 

Why it's time to bring back trainspotting as a hobby

For many of us today, the phrase 'trainspotting' conjures up images of that iconic movie starring Ewan McGregor as opposed to the peaceful, and fairly popular, hobby it used to be. 

But it could finally be time for the trainspotting revival, as new research reveals it is the latest activity that can be used as a mindfulness technique.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/goodlife/living/why-its-time-to-bring-back-trainspotting-as-a-hobby/

[trisonic]

I suspect wielding a camera these days, and probably a DSLR in this case, separates us from the rest of mankind, which has long lost interest in anything so cumbersome, and whips out the smartphone instead.

 

I use both. Certainly it’s easier to whip out a smartphone from ones pocket - and the latest ones  do take quite good photos. It saves lugging around a bag everywhere.

 

Best, Pete.

[Glorious NSE]

 

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/goodlife/living/why-its-time-to-bring-back-trainspotting-as-a-hobby/

Does it still count as mindfullness if you're carrying a lot more than just a pad and pen?

[Reorte]

I'd really rather not Google "How to join ISIS", thanks!

Hope that Googling it doesn't return this thread first, now that you've posted that!

[Happy Hippo]

I don't need the general public to think what I already know.

 

I'm raving bonkers!

[CloggyDog]

Having seen some of the samples at the NEC two or three years ago when the Warley exhibition clashed coincided with a science fiction do, I reckon the railway enthusiasts looked quite sensible.

 

 

'Samples'... Therein displaying exactly the same narrow-minded intolerance.

 

Being involved in both 'scenes', I can tell you that the amount of work that goes into some of those outfits and costumes is easily on a par with the work that goes into our little toy trains.

[Guest]

I'd really rather not Google "How to join ISIS", thanks!

 

Hope that Googling it doesn't return this thread first, now that you've posted that!

 

Back in a sec... there's a knock at the door.

 

[Andy Y]

Back in a sec... there's a knock at the door.

 

door.jpg

 

Cue more complaints about 'heavy-handed moderation'.

[cctransuk]

Been out photographing railways these past few days in West London. 

 

Is it just me, but are the general public less tolerant of those with a minority hobby? Do they see us as nuts (or worse.....)?

 

Some examples from this weekend:

* Car drivers honking their horns when they pass

* Driver's mates in white vans who shout "What you doing?" out of their cabs

* Schoolboys on bikes who also ask what you're doing and as they ride away can hear an expression like "gay......."

* Teenage schoolgirls who wanted me to take their picture! I declined..........

* WPC in patrol car drew up alongside me - asked nicely what I was doing. Even put on her blue lights as she was talking with me. Think I proved I was harmless

 

At least nobody asked if a steam special was due.....

 

 

Who cares ?!?

 

I have learned, (somewhat later in life than would probably have been good for my stress levels and self-esteem), that it doesn't matter a s**t what people think about me.

 

I get on with what my wife and I enjoy doing, and let the rest of them stew in their own juice !

 

We only get one go at life - why waste it worring about what people think of you ?

 

I only really started to enjoy life all of the time once I didn't give a damn !!

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

[ParkeNd]

I think that nowadays it depends entirely on where you are photographing. Photography at a heritage train location poses no issues at all, but places you might once have believed were public places, such as shopping malls, town centres, railway stations on the main network, are now best avoided. The public attitude to photography has changed, and not for the better, so best not to tempt fate in such places. The few occasions where groups of photographers have deliberately arranged deliberate photo sessions in public places to provoke reaction haven't helped.

 

P.S.  My main hobby is photography.

[Guest]

I think that nowadays it depends entirely on where you are photographing. Photography at a heritage train location poses no issues at all, but places you might once have believed were public places, such as shopping malls, town centres, railway stations on the main network, are now best avoided. The public attitude to photography has changed, and not for the better, so best not to tempt fate in such places. The few occasions where groups of photographers have deliberately arranged deliberate photo sessions in public places to provoke reaction haven't helped.

 

P.S.  My main hobby is photography.

 

Are you really suggesting that, as railway enthusiasts, we don't take photographs at other than heritage locations in case we upset someone? If photography is prohibited for a reason, fair enough. Otherwise, have some common sense and perhaps tell a member of staff what you're doing and ask if it's a problem. I really don't agree with the suggestion that we just don't bother to take photos anymore.

[Peter Kazmierczak]

Just to say that I wasn't at all bothered by the Police stopping and asking what I was doing - it was on a busy dual-carriageway (though with wide footpaths on each side) and as the WPC had stopped in the nearside lane, that's why she put on her blue lights.

 

Doubtless concerned if i was a possible "jumper" or maybe dropping things onto the railway. Obviously, not many people take pictures from that location.

[Mike Bellamy]

Been out photographing railways these past few days in West London. 

 

* WPC in patrol car drew up alongside me - asked nicely what I was doing . . .  Think I proved I was harmless

 

At least nobody asked if a steam special was due.....

 

 

Did you have a copy of ISBN: 9780850598438 in your knapsack with your thermos flask and jam sandwiches to prove your identification and good intentions

 

.

[Peter Kazmierczak]

And a Happy Christmas to you too Mike!

 

PS Best wishes with next month's show.

[luckymucklebackit]

Many modellers/trainspotters are just as quick to be very judgmental about football or 'popular culture' and on here we see many examples of intolerance towards a way of doing things even within the same hobby which does not fit with a personal perspective.

 

I was walking through Buchanan Street Bus Station a few months ago and there were a couple of guys taking photographs of buses, to which my initial though was "totally nerdy", but that was quickly followed by (in the words of Robert Burns) "O wad some Power the giftie gie us, To see oursels as ithers see us!"

 

Jim

[ParkeNd]

Are you really suggesting that, as railway enthusiasts, we don't take photographs at other than heritage locations in case we upset someone? If photography is prohibited for a reason, fair enough. Otherwise, have some common sense and perhaps tell a member of staff what you're doing and ask if it's a problem. I really don't agree with the suggestion that we just don't bother to take photos anymore.

 

There is such a thing as beating your head against the wall. If you want to enjoy taking photographs and finish up with photos worth having, then incurring the attention of yellow jacketed "security" men and being the proud writer of a letter to Amateur Photographer recounting your experience of having three police cars surround you whilst you upheld your rights in not giving your name and address etc (there are scores of cases like this) is just not worth the effort any more. Crossing the line and becoming a sort of urban guerrilla just for the sake of it is what I don't support.

[Reorte]

I was walking through Buchanan Street Bus Station a few months ago and there were a couple of guys taking photographs of buses, to which my initial though was "totally nerdy", but that was quickly followed by (in the words of Robert Burns) "O wad some Power the giftie gie us, To see oursels as ithers see us!"

I like to think that there's nothing that's too boring or nerdy to take an interest in, so whenever I see something I think has no interest whatsoever, or see people taking an interest in it, that's my problem*. That doesn't mean that I like it all, but the two aren't mutually exclusive; plenty of people are interested in war but I hope they don't actually like war for example.

 

* except being at work, or in Milton Keynes

[Rivercider]

That's so mean.

 

(I'll get my coat!)

It is good to see some people adopting humour mode over this topic,

 

cheers

[beast66606]

There is such a thing as beating your head against the wall. If you want to enjoy taking photographs and finish up with photos worth having, then incurring the attention of yellow jacketed "security" men and being the proud writer of a letter to Amateur Photographer recounting your experience of having three police cars surround you whilst you upheld your rights in not giving your name and address etc (there are scores of cases like this) is just not worth the effort any more. Crossing the line and becoming a sort of urban guerrilla just for the sake of it is what I don't support.

 

Once we let the b....ds grind us down, they've won - whoever the "they" are.