8 THINGS A RAILFAN CAN DO WHILE TRAVELLING:
1. When you are travelling in trains in a double line you can usually find home signals with arms extended towards left except for bigger stations where they might be right as well or for bigger junctions where there might only be digital indicator boards. You may find it interesting to note the aspect of the signal if you happen to sit near a window towards the left side of whichever direction the train is heading(Always note signals are usually at the left of P.Way when train is heading straight).You would therefore be knowing which loop the train is heading to before anyone in your compartment does.
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You may want to notice the various types of boards you can see while train is moving, a quick analysis can thereby give you a clear idea on why a train is slowing/honking etc while normal passengers may complain that the driver is a bit over enthusiastic, you know better here, beat that
3. You may want to notice the track sounds and oscillations while train is at a higher speed, smoother in case of an LHB. The musical sounds accompanied by the jerks are a great combination.
4. You may want to notice the gradient symbols and gradient end symbols beside P.Way and observe the difference in speed, if you carefully observe at higher speeds you can even feel the train climbing/descending. You can visually see this at curves.
5. You may want to observe the kilometre markings beside the track and calculate the current train speed yourself(Distance covered in a minute times 60). You don’t need a GPS or an android phone in this case, basic mathematics will do. You will start to feel the speed and over time you can probably deduce the speed yourself without even looking at the markers.
6. You may want to observe the deceleration of a train and the sound while drop of BP takes place, you would therefore know when the brakes are applied and brakes released.
7. You may want to observe the characteristic jerks found in Non-LHB yet CBC coupling rakes (Ex:Charminar Exp/Godavari Exp) while accelerating. Locomotives such as WAP-7 give real powerful jerks while in a run, you can assume a notch is changed right after a termination of caution if you experience one. Notch changes can clearly be heard if you are sitting in the first 6 compartments in a diesel hauled train.
8. You may want to observe road numbers of coaches/wagons/locos enroute to deduce which year they were built in and also the various liveries you can find enroute.
These are based on my experience only and i cannot generalize it to every railfan.. I find it awesome to do the above mentioned as they give me an understanding on how/why my train is moving and a perfect picture of the section limits and limitations.
Railfanning is an unique experience personal to everyone out there, enjoy..
Regards,
SCRF