Train spotting or plane spotting

[3WE]

Hi 3WE, You forgot to mention all the people behind the scene making pictures of trains and boats and planes possible.

I belive you are mistaken.

I mentioned dispatchers and ATC who are the ones REALLY in command.

[TheRealAncientMarine]

Even better is submarine racing....

Subs are like airplanes, at cruising your don't see them.
PiP

[SYDCBRWOD]

Concur...

Even better is submarine racing....

[P3_Super_Bee]

Or maybe just being able to spot the aircraft on the flightline...

[P3_Super_Bee]

But...

In air plane spotting might be cool...

[P3_Super_Bee]

Submarine spotting is the collest of all the spotting activities.

Concur...

[Peter_K]

Submarine spotting is the collest of all the spotting activities.

[TheRealAncientMarine]

Train spotting is boring.... and the delays.... no, thanks.

So no delays at airports? I know where I prefer to wait, and it is not at an airport.
PiP

[TheRealAncientMarine]

i think i know what plane spotting is (taking pictures of airplanes) which is what i want to do with my new camera

what is train spotting? is it the same thing? i find trains sorta dull and find it hard to beleive someone would waste time sitting around taking pictures of trains.

do people actually sit there and take pictures of trains going by? is there such a thing as ship spotting ?

leo

Ship spotting?
Let me put it this way. On your average major airport you'd be hard pushed to spot 'planes from more than 2 large manufacturers. Then add some Canadian and Brazilian smaller jets, some turboprops and if you're lucky the odd Russkie straggler. You'll wet yourself if you see a DC8, a 707 or a L1011. Heck some of you go bananas over a DC10/MD11.
Ho hum and all that.
Ships on the other hand are individuals, few are built in large series as sister ships and even then there will be differences to the discerning eye.
On top of that ships are females with personalities, not just different liveries. Aviation may have "borrowed" nautical terms like; port, starboard, pilot and so on, but there's no competition. None.
On don't get me started on the engines. Hair blowers, bah!
PiP

[DAIRD]

Hi 3WE, You forgot to mention all the people behind the scene making pictures of trains and boats and planes possible.

[3WE]

Just trying play nice?

I guess this is a time for total truth.

I have spotted trains and planes.

I have taken my scanner.

I have also taken my camera, but really do not have any great photos and definately, none of them are uploaded. Consequently my credentials to post on discussion fora are limited.

But yes, I could be called a geek.

But the really confusing part is I ususally get a big kick out of ITS' posts, I occasionally learn something from them, and find ITS detractors to be irritating and very often wrong.

Also, I do not care all that much about liveries, as much as I do the beauty and engineering of the machines, thier engines, and the steady hands of the operators as they manage aircraft thorugh winds, and the kinetic and potential engergy in tons upon tons of stuff as it goes up and down hills.

A frozen photograph does little to capture the incredible dynamics and skills that are unfolding before my eyes and ears.

[DAIRD]

Train spotting is boring.... and the delays.... no, thanks.

[P3_Super_Bee]

People who do either activity, may have geeky tendencies.

Just trying play nice?

[Verbal]

From Urban Dictionary:

trainspotting

As above: shooting up heroin or the like. Called so because a session will leave a dark linear mark (known as a "track") at the site of the affected vein. Hardcore users will tend to have multiple sites of injection and will locate, or "spot" an optimum vein - one with minimal "tracks" and discomfort or infection. A hit can be analogous to the impact of a locomotive or train.

[3WE]

The similarities are many.

Large, loud oil-burning engines. (Trains have an advantage as modern jet turbines do not generate the black smoke any more).

Running at high power, doing lots of work:

-Making a slightly heavy/large object go very very fast.

OR

-Making a very very large/heavy object go slightly fast.

People who do either activity, may have geeky tendencies.

Operators who are in command, and who are hopefully of a sound mind as they impress little boys.

You can use a frequency scanner to hear the operators talk to controllers/disptachers. (Geeky spotters carry them).

Sometimes, there are disasters:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAKbkU9l-xE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFe0846RgWc

But, most importantly, there are lots of liveries to discuss.

I once saw UP's "classic historic" liveries together: Baby-blue MoPac and Dark-red Katy. It was cool. Maybe I can upload the picture.