RMweb Premium Steven B Posted May 23, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 23, 2014 The NRM are to have a special exhibition on train spotting from September until March next year and are looking for photos & stories: http://www.nrm.org.uk/GetInvolved/trainspotting.aspx http://nationalrailwaymuseum.wordpress.com/2014/04/23/researching-the-trainspotters/ Happy modelling. Steven B. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted May 23, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 23, 2014 Oh dear - it looks like the 'Interpretation Developer' has don't much research as yet and has done a bit too much 'interpretation' because 'trainspottng' was well and truly established in Britain before WWII. Alas stuff like this is all too typical of the way history is seen nowadays - it has to fit some sort of 'interpreter's' ideas rather than being based on facts and what actually took place. To be honest if they can't get the basics right why should folk start contributing their memories just to end up with them being 'interpreted'? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
'CHARD Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 I can see this turning out badly. Respondents will naturally be self-selecting, and as a result the material collected will probably be far from representative, and worse, could be cringingly embarrassing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mallard60022 Posted May 23, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 23, 2014 Maybe we could save the day by intervening? P Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
'CHARD Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 You know what, there have been worse ideas... If we gave them some pointers to specific 'movements' or subcultures... I don't think there's much mileage in 'I bought a notebook, pen and ruler... after three trips to Toton I cleared my 44s with 44003' - I doubt these will be particularly stimulating. However, the activities of the MNA during DeathSteam. The basher-rivalry of the eighties - Peak Army vs the world. The last summer of The Westerns. The golden years of The Freedom of Scotland. I'm sure there are plenty. And within each there are a wealth of themed stories. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 I don't think we had a name although 'enthusiasts' might cover what we were with our very wide interest in railways that extended far beyond collecting cabside numbers. I suppose the NRM is looking for are your average Joe's who simply 'remembered th'owden days' or got caught up in the late 1960's end-of-steam hysteria. Some maybe did the Hitler-salute behind "mega" 25's and 40's, or have a tearful memory of the last day of the nodding-donkey! My remarks could be seen as a put down, so maybe I'm a snob when it comes to spotters. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieB Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 If that's what passes for "research" perhaps we should encourage Pfizer to launch a hostile bid and asset strip the NRM of its intellectual property. Without being sniffy about it, I'm sure the well-intentioned Ms Banks is rather new to this subject, which has both a longer history and broader reach than the stereotype Bert Hardy images, bottles of tizer and an.....ks. Aside from its heyday during the transition from steam to diesel and electric in the UK, will there be the penetration of the iron and bamboo curtains through to the police state that almost prevailed in this country a few years ago? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
APOLLO Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 I'll be going with my Anorak, winkle picker shoes, straight cut jeans (a size too short) and duffel bag with notebook. pens (coloured biro's no less), jam butties, half eaten 1 week old Gala apple pie and bottle of Tizer (refilled with water from the dripping column at the end of the platform (true !!). For me the thrill was riding trains, head out of first carriage window getting cinders in the hair & eyes before 1968 and a lung full of 2 stroke diesel fumes for a few years after !! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43tCKXEMOWo&feature=related Brit15 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Pannier Tank Posted May 23, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 23, 2014 I'll be going with my Anorak, winkle picker shoes, straight cut jeans (a size too short) and duffel bag with notebook. pens (coloured biro's no less), jam butties, half eaten 1 week old Gala apple pie and bottle of Tizer (refilled with water from the dripping column at the end of the platform (true !!). Did you forget your knitted balaclava? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
APOLLO Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 Did you forget your knitted balaclava? Naa - balaclavas where an 80's thing !! My Anorak had a hood !! Brit15 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Pannier Tank Posted May 23, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 23, 2014 Naa - balaclavas where an 80's thing !! My Anorak had a hood !! Brit15 More like a 60's thing.....well that's when i wore mine! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 We Teds wouldn't be caught dead wearing hats in the 1950s. The trick was to go train-watching without it looking obvious. I used to watch the comings and goings where there was no chance of my mates or the birds knowing I was even slightly interested in trains. I was more relaxed with the girl I was to marry and took her all over the place......Chinley, Leeds, York, Llandudno Juntion, (geddit?). I didn't think she had noticed anything weird until one day she said in front of the children, "Innit funny, every time your dad stops to give the car a rest it's always by a level crossing". Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Hadyn Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 Don't knock it, get involved. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Jackson Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 about the only 'spotting' story I have is when I was much younger I saw the police livery class 37 from the intercity tv ad's passing the crossings at PDM just north of doncaster where the york and leeds lines diverge, no one believed me though Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Welchester Posted May 24, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 24, 2014 I agree with Pannier Tank about balaclavas; in the 1960s every schoolchild had one. I suspect they grew out of favour when they became increasingly recognised as part of the IRA 'uniform'. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 We used to sit on the rim of a tunnel ventilator shaft, wait for a fast train and play a game called 'getting your own back'. Some spotting was often a feature. Wonder how that will get interpreted? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250BOB Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 Come on guys.........lets stop doom mongering.....as Sir Hadyn has said.....get involved, and if you have ideas or criticisms...then tell the NRM.. But lets not knock this event..........I suspect that the vast majority of Railway Modellers have at some point in their lives, been "trainspotters"... ..I certainly was, from 1958 to 1965, and proud of it, not embarrassed to tell people about it.....it gave me some of the best memories of my childhood which I fondly remember today....and clearly led me on to my railway modelling activities for the rest of my life......which gives me a very enjoyable hobby which I share with some great people. I hope the event is a success....and I certainly will be going. Bob Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250BOB Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 We used to sit on the rim of a tunnel ventilator shaft, wait for a fast train and play a game called 'getting your own back'. Some spotting was often a feature. Wonder how that will get interpreted? Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh, thats terrible............... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted May 24, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 24, 2014 We Teds wouldn't be caught dead wearing hats in the 1950s. The trick was to go train-watching without it looking obvious. I used to watch the comings and goings where there was no chance of my mates or the birds knowing I was even slightly interested in trains. I was more relaxed with the girl I was to marry and took her all over the place......Chinley, Leeds, York, Llandudno Juntion, (geddit?). I didn't think she had noticed anything weird until one day she said in front of the children, "Innit funny, every time your dad stops to give the car a rest it's always by a level crossing". And of course the big advantage of getting about by train back then, even on things like the Blackpool excursions from Lancashire stations ( ) was the presence of non vcorridor stock and standing by the door at stations to make your otherwise empty compartment look busy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judge Dread Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 I'll be going with my Anorak, winkle picker shoes, straight cut jeans (a size too short) and duffel bag with notebook. pens (coloured biro's no less), jam butties, half eaten 1 week old Gala apple pie and bottle of Tizer (refilled with water from the dripping column at the end of the platform (true !!). You mean like this lad? If he recognizes himself, I will apologise of course although he will be as old as me now and hopefully just as clapped out! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted May 24, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 24, 2014 Don't knock it, get involved. I'm sure many of us would like to, I'm sure many of us has many a tale too tell (and some we might not like repeated) but judging by what has appeared so far I still have reservations about how our material would be portrayed and used, especially when in the hands of an 'Interpretation Developer' who clearly hasn't even researched the subject properly before publishing her initial piece. I also wonder if the term 'trainspotting' has also been used instead of 'railway enthusiast' for 'sensationalist' reasons rather than the fact that it might be might be more easily understood by the museum's average visitor profile? But maybe the story of my arrest while taking lineside photos in Poland, together with its romantic element, could be equally amusing to the wider public? But how does walking into Aberdare shed to be confronted by a bevvy of Foremen (various) and the Shedmaster back in 1962 go down or get 'interpreted'? Are stories of bunking sheds - and most of us did it, I'm sure, back in steam days - the right thing to publish in these days of obtrusive safety warnings about trespass and the H&S culture? Will the tales link from such things as simply collecting engine numbers to developing the wider interest in railways which took some of us into the industry and occasionally resulted in our ejecting from the loco depots we were managing the very 'bunkers' among whose numbers we had been barely a decade earlier (in a few months over 10 years I went from 'doing' a shed as a schoolboy, albeit with a permit, to being in charge of the stabling point which succeeded it). I could add a lot more, others could add as much if not far more but I remain intensely sceptical - sorry - about the light and manner in which an 'Interpretation Developer', with what comes over as a limited grasp of the subject, is likely to portray it. Mind you I reckon what we could say would be an interesting addition to the NRM's collection of reminiscences from retired railwaymen and in that respect it might become a useful archive for future reference and social historians Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250BOB Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 Mike I agree with your concerns entirely.......and if they are not careful, they will portray the trainspotting hobby poorly. BUT.....at least they are asking for help, assistance etc., to gather information from the "experts" so as to speak...........but when they have the information, its a question as to how to put it over to the public in its best light.......and I do worry about that part of it. I hope it is done in a knowledgeable fashion, and involve "spotters" in putting it together. I'm sure I have a picture somewhere of me sitting trackside......notepad, pen, anorak, AND in the summer, a frozen jubbly. But I think the idea/concept of an exhibition dedicated to trainspotting is excellent, and worth our support......any help and guidance we can give along the way, can surely only help. This RMweb thread is a good place to put our concerns......but also our ideas too, in order to help it perhaps be a success. Bob. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
69843 Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 Just a thought.... I wonder if a small Ian Allan ABC-esque booklet could be made up for the younger kids, with the numbers of locomotives at the NRM inside. Might keep some of the younger kids entertained, while also getting them involved in a bit of 'Trainspotting' Just an idea mind you Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Hadyn Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 I really don't like to let work cross over into my being here, but as Senior Curator of Rail Vehicles at the NRM, I can assure you that it is being taken seriously, and some great stories are coming out already from other parts of the railway interest. My colleague Bob Gwynne, who is a Llangollen volunteer and author of the Shire Albums on Railway Preservation and also Flying Scotsman, is working with Amy. Yes, there are folks at the museum who aren't railway people, but they're having a good go. Please support them. I have campaigned long and hard through over 10 years to have recognition of the railway interest in a display at the museum - and here it goes! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Phil Parker Posted May 24, 2014 Administrators Share Posted May 24, 2014 It's simple - if you don't get involved, the people who will shape this project are the sames one you see representing the hobby in the national press. Greasy idiots with a hat full of badges. I'd have expected Mike's stuff to be just what they are looking for. It doesn't sound that different from the contents of the books writen on the subject already so I don't see why you feel that they should be tempered by anyone's perception of what is "acceptable" today. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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