(Topic) Do your family and friends know you are into trains?

(Topic) Do your family and friends know you are into trains or model trains?  And what kind of train fan are you?

I'll go ahead and kick off....

In Japan, railfans who are into trains and model trains, tend to be revered as otaku.  

And in Japan, you get the absolutely obsessed tori-tetsu (those who take photos of trains).  Then you have the Nori-tetsu (those who enjoy traveling by train) and eki-tetsu (those who love train station architecture), jikokuhyo-tetsu (those who love reading train timetables), sharyo-tetsu (those who know about the mechanics of the train and are train experts when it comes to information), oto-tetsu (expert on train sounds), ekiben-tetsu (those who enjoy eating and collecting ekiben - lunch boxes sold at train stations and eaten while riding a train), oshi-tetsu (train station stamp collectors), mokei-tetsu (train model collector and builder) and shushu-tetsu (train merchandise and memorabilia collector).



For the first question, does my family and friends know I'm into model trains?  Not really.  I'm a closeted geek and don't mind to keep things that way.  I started letting out little by little that I'm into trains to people I know but they are not aware of the extent.  If I know someone who enjoys trains, then I'll open myself up to discuss trains with them.  But to be truthful, my only train communication is on the Internet.

I have my own man-cave.  My sanctuary.  If no one knows, I own many trains or I'm into trains, I'm cool with that. My wife and son see me watching train videos on YouTube and friends think I just post photos of trains, because I travel.  My parents and siblings don't know either but very few (maybe a handful) know I'm very hardcore.  If anything, they associate train photos is because I travel a lot or it's photography related.

And what kind of train fan am I?









Obviously Mokei-tetsu and shushu-tetsu, I collect model trains and I collect limited trains such as Tomix and Plarail limited items in collaboration with railway companies.  I like to show my support to these railway stations as I don't like to read news of stations shutting down.

I am nori-tetsu, I love riding trains.







I'm a tori-tetsu, but not the bad mannered ones.  I don't go to train events to take photos, I just take photos of trains and trams in general.







I am eki-tetsu, I love visiting train stations!







I'm not a true oto-tetsu...but I love the train station jingles and announcements which I like recording when I'm on a train.



I'm not an ekiben-tetsu because I can go to 7-11, Lawson or Food Mart and get something cheaper and enjoy. 



I'm also not oshi-tetsu. Oshi-tetsu fans tried to get me into getting stamps but that's something I don't want to get into, otherwise I'll spend my entire day doing that.   They have events in Japan where you can visit all stations and get as many stamps.  Great to encourage people to visit stations and ride trains.  I actually set one day to do that but I canceled it.  That is the last thing I need to get crazy over.

I am a little sharyo-tetsu, where I like to know about the mechanics of things, but not at a large extent to hold a conversation with someone who is fully knowledgeable.

I know a few people who are jikokuhyo-tetsu, but I'm not too fixated on train schedules.  More for train routes and trying something new but not train schedules.  There are hardcore train fans who have pads of when they see a train arrive and depart.  Although, I will research schedules if I want to ride or take photo of a train.

Well its no secret in my family everyone knows ever since i was young. I usually don't talk about my internet life in person but if someone brings the topic up i might talk about my channel and what im a fan of. I am secretive and not a show off or brag about it.

[Super]

An interesting question. I don't talk about my trains very much in the real world. The only people that know about this is my Daughter, Granddaughters and my Grandson who was the reason I started this just over a decade ago.

I am the same way, I don't talk about it because I don't think people (including family and friends) can understand it. But when I do meet someone who enjoys trains and even collects them, I light up. It's pretty awesome to meet others who are into trains.

But the same can be said of my passion for Japanese culture, diecast metal cars, baseball and VR (Virtual Reality), I can't talk about that with family or friends as they are not into it as much as I am.

I only really talk deeply about train collecting to my wife and Tully.
Tully really doesn’t care anymore, but I tell him about them anyway. Lol
There are a handful of family members and friends who know about the collection, but only a few have seen it, and none in the past 10 years, maybe a half dozen people who’ve even hear of the name Muddy Poppins, who might remember it, or even associate it with me.
My mom has never understood and oddly has never been interested in even seeing it.
Its kinda just my little secret that I keep to myself and hidden away.
I’d have to say that I’m a Thomas and friends character fan more than an actual train enthusiast, though I do love many of the non-Thomas real life Plarail models.
Western steamers mostly, but there are other designs that I really think look cool too.
That said, I don’t really converse about real life trains with true train enthusiasts either, as the technical jargon and lingo isn’t as important to me as seeing the smiling expression on a newly released characters face.
The guys at the local fair with the giant indoor HO set ups on public display nearly put me to sleep trying to have a conversations with them talking about compression units and Johnson rods…lol
It’s a lonely hobby sometimes, but it’s a great one, and we do seem to all eventually gravitate together enough to find whatever bit of support, gratification, and satisfaction we need…right here on BPT.

[Super]

we do seem to all eventually gravitate together enough to find whatever bit of support, gratification, and satisfaction we need…right here on BPT.

Well said 😃

It’s a lonely hobby sometimes, but it’s a great one, and we do seem to all eventually gravitate together enough to find whatever bit of support, gratification, and satisfaction we need…right here on BPT.

I totally agree.