Trainspotters

When I arrive at the station at nine in the morning, the trainspotters are out in force. Two of them photograph the train we are on, a shitty two-carriage local train that's probably pretty old. One of them is wearing a beige blazer and has a very smart camera, as if these things help him blend in. He could be any normal businessman walking down the street, no one knowing about his dirty little secret. Which gets me thinking... are trainspotters like early stage or well behaved crack addicts? Both try and look as if nothing out of the ordinary is going on, both wake up desperate to get their fix and both look ashamed if you stare at them too long. Do they go to trainspotters anonymous, the NA of the trainspotting world? the TA.
The spotters get very, very excited when the 9.09 to Weymouth arrives. I, embarrasingly, have read the notice on said train and happen to know that it's an old train called back into service. But I am not salivating and holding a video camera, I'm staring bleary eyed on a Saturday morning and thinking- with the cost of our transport system can we not afford new trains?

Monday, August 3rd 2009