Here are some suggestions to better understand your railfan:

• Realize that if you give, you can take later on...(hehehe)...In exchange for accompanying my railfan to his "train scouting trips" I get him to come with me on one of my Lawyer/Law Student Dinner Functions (without complaining!)-- he is cleaned and all dressed up!
• Bring a camera of your own, if you're ever "fortunate" enough to be invited on a train scouting/chasing trip. You can take pictures of them taking pictures of the trains... Instead of asking "how much longer?" every five minutes, this will help you wait at least twenty minutes before asking again!
• Instead of staring off into space, if you have to wait for your railfan in the car, think of different stories to tell the Railroad Police when they come up to your window to ask you what you're doing on their property! ("I'm picking up my boyfriend, who works here" usually works, but it's soooo boring!)
• Find out which "road" is your railfan's favorite. It helps to know that there's a distinction between these things! In the beginning, I thought all trains looked the same!
• Find out which engine is their favorite and why. (Ryan's favorite is an SD 40T-2, the "SP 8494", so those numbers hold huge significance to him. When we watched "A Beautiful Mind," Russell Crowe's character focuses on the numbers 8-4-9-4. I'm sure you can guess he wanted to watch the film again, just to see that number combination!)
• Find out the differences between engines. This allows you to be involved with the hobby-- especially when you're watching Train videos or DVDs! (Warning: this suggestion might backfire and you might get stern looks a couple of times if you can't remember how to tell the difference between an SD 40T-2 and an SD 45T-2!)
• Go visit the Railroad Museum or Model Railroad Museum-- you'll be relieved to know there are so many others out there who are even more of a railfanatic!
• Build your own model! Ryan and I love to compete and I've decided I'm going to build an Espee SW 1500-- a switcher! I think I can build one just as well as he can! (Warning: You might become a railfan yourself because after gluing those tiny grab irons into place, you'll have so much more appreciation for the next model you see!)

My first modeling project will be a dummy switcher-- Lucky for me, I have one of Ryan's switchers to guide me...(Three years later, my switcher has barely been touched and is still sitting in its box. In fact, I can't even remember where the darn thing is! But hey, you gotta give me credit for at least trying, right?)

I'd love to hear from you! Please send me your stories and anecdotes so I can add them on to this list! [email protected].