ANY others into railroads/railroading?

[loadedpamperman]

I am aiming this mostly at those who are OBSESSED with literal RR history such as I am. I have to have accumulated over 175 RR history books alone, not counting books that are mostly pictures though they too have a lot of significant historical information.

It doesn't matter if you're a model RR'r, RR history buff & one who was building a massive around the walls N scale layout based on Pittston Jct where the Lehigh Valley & Lackawanna RR's crossed when life as i knew it came to an instant end as I went from a MASSIVE, stronger than 99.5% of my peers on Earth not to mention my wife, sons, business, boat, truck, hot rod, family cruiser, a beautiful house on a nice chunk of property on the side of a mountain. I have spent in excess of 700 days hospitalized since 2004 to date. GONE, almost overnight, was the money. I went from being ridicuously strong to not being able to stand or walk by July and confined to a walker & wheelchair afterward.

If anyone shares these interests, I'd love to chat about something else a lot of us have in common. Just going to need some help, and LOADS OF LUCK!!!

 

[NightFlare76]

I like Trains...
I really enjoy playing a game called Railroads Online. I would recommend it if you have a PC or something like a steam deck. They have had a lot of recent updates improving the track-building mechanic and improving the physics so trains don't pop off the rails as easily anymore. They also recently partnered with Astragon Entertainment to help get updates out faster.

 

[BlueHama]

Like riding trains. Was trying to get some shinkansen pictures, but wasn't able to since the overpass was blocked.

 

[Anemone]

Trains leave me pretty cold but layouts fascinate and delight me. Its kind of weird to me how trains are so central to scale modelling, but that's possibly just because they're not my thing personally! (but don't get me started on toy soldiers around my age...)

Like riding trains. Was trying to get some shinkansen pictures, but wasn't able to since the overpass was blocked.

There must be a spot, topography permitting, where one can get the shinkansen and Fuji (in the background) in frame. That would be a shot worth the journey out to the boonies, if one is sufficiently into that sort of thing.

 

[loadedpamperman]

I like Trains...
I really enjoy playing a game called Railroads Online. I would recommend it if you have a PC or something like a steam deck. They have had a lot of recent updates improving the track-building mechanic and improving the physics so trains don't pop off the rails as easily anymore. They also recently partnered with Astragon Entertainment to help get updates out faster.

What is this "steam deck"???

 

[NightFlare76]

What is this "steam deck"???

In basic terms, It's a pretty powerful gaming Pc in the form factor of a Nintendo Switch. If you are much of a gamer it would probably be pretty good for someone in your situation since it's small enough to take just about anywhere.

It's really good for Emulation so you can play all the classics on it like old school Mario or the original Rachet and Clank.
I have one and I have not been disappointed at all with it. It is honestly quite amazing to me how powerful it is in such a small package.
The Lowest tier of it is even cheaper than an Xbox series X or PlayStation 5. The second tier's pricing is about the same as those consoles and the last is more expensive but the only difference is the storage capacity which can be upgraded since Valve (Maker of the steam deck) promised the ability to self repair for those savvy enough or you can just buy a micro SD. What that means though is you don't have to pay a premium to get it fixed by Valve (looking at you apple) so it may also be repaired by 3rd parties. Anyway, that's my geeky trip about the Steam deck here's a link to its store page so you can look at it yourself.

Edit: Just realized the naming could be confused for something train related it is not that. sorry if I got your hopes up.

 

[littleph0enix]

I like Trains...

asdfmovie?

I like Trains...
I really enjoy playing a game called Railroads Online.

Have you seen the youtuber kAN Gaming? he does a lot of Scrap Mechanic! but more recently he has been playing Railroads Online since it came out and now he is doing a series that is with a guy called Hyce that works at the Colorado railroad museum. It has been filled with so much real railroad history that I cant remember it all haha, all very interesting stuff though.

Was not going to post since the OP seemed a little like they were only asking people that are very big train buffs which I do not find my self to be, since that does not seem to be the case so much here is my bit to add.



I not super in to everything trains (more steam engines than just trains), for a long time I used to have a Hornby train set when I was like 7 or 8 and I loved it other then the flying Scotsman I never really learnt about what the other trains were. (just had fun building it all up and playing with them)

I used to always be in wonder when going to some old train station and just looking around and thinking how cool everything there was, now I just think that wonder was just my nature interest as someone that is now a welder/ engineer that loves the amazing engineering/ craftsmanship that went in to every part of the railroads.

Now that I am older my interest for the engineering history for how things like trains evolved has become something I'm always interested to learn more on (as long as I can keep it in my head haha), other then that outside of railroads I do like to go to steam shows like 2 to 3 times a year if I can since there is not too many railroad events here the UK.

 

[NightFlare76]

asdfmovie?

Lol yes.

Have you seen the youtuber kAN Gaming? he does a lot of Scrap Mechanic! but more recently he has been playing Railroads Online since it came out and now he is doing a series that is with a guy called Hyce that works at the Colorado railroad museum. It has been filled with so much real railroad history that I cant remember it all haha, all very interesting stuff though.

I really should start watching that series my friend dose and it sounds awesome.

I not super in to everything trains (more steam engines than just trains)

I get that its so fascinating to me the sheer amount of engineering that went in to harnessing the power of steam to create such amazingly powerful machines. And thats probably one of the reasons Im into maker space though I'm much too young as of now to know if ill really try to pursue welding or engineering I think thats more like a hobby for me. I tried welding in collage but I did not like the professional atmosphere but perhaps someday it'll draw me back. I'm much more of a computer nerd and am currently trimg to get my degree as a computer software specialist.

 

[littleph0enix]

Lol yes.

Haha nice, see them at London comic con every year


yeah by all means most of the stuff kAN Gaming does is pretty interesting since he was an engineer.


Yep steams engines are just too cool haha, dont know about being too young to be a welding or engineering I started when I was 12 at school like 14 years ago. (I will add that no one in my family knows nothing about welding or engineering and that I have had to learn out of my own interest/ skills)
Though it does feel odd that at the age of 26 I am looked at as a professional welding/ engineer, do get what you mean by professional atmosphere was not easy for sure but I fitted in the end just got to find what works best for you.

Nothing wrong with being a computer nerd , I do like to work on upgrading my pc from time to time myself. (now I just dont trust PC repair people with my pc at all since I can do it myself)

 

[NightFlare76]

dont know about being too young to be a welding or engineering I started when I was 12 at school like 14 years ago.

What I meant by that is it didn't seem to work out for me right now but perhaps some day in my future.

Nothing wrong with being a computer nerd , I do like to work on upgrading my pc from time to time myself. (now I just dont trust PC repair people with my pc at all since I can do it myself)

And I totally support that! I think the Right to Repair should be globally enforced, it produces less Ewaste. I really want to go and be a repair agent at bestbuy or some local shop. I just love the amount of problem solving that comes with computer software sometimes.

 

[nectar0001]

Totally! I'm a frequent train commuter and traveler and love to ride the rails. Have ridden many long-distance Amtrak lines and JR from Sapporo to Kagoshima, among others.

 

[Zeke]

As a former over the road truck driver railroads were my more efficient competition when considering cost per ton/mile. But I’m of the generation that was around for the end of steam with the dominance of diesel electric so I was fascinated by trains in general. My mom took me on a passenger train ride for my 7th birthday as she thought passenger trains would soon be gone in our area. Steam engines and diesel electric have intrigued me from my youth and this included an HO track layout, with both style engines, that my father and I built. In recent years I’ve found articles on the internet about both diesel electric and steam engines, especially the Big Boys from the western states that I loved reading. YouTube has had some good videos on these massive steam engines that has consumed vast amounts of my time as well.

 

[Peartree]

I'm been fairly interested in railways and trains since I did a lot of trips by train when younger with my dad and sometimes other family too.

So much that I'm now doing a PhD in civil engineering funded by the UK railway!