Mums of trainspotters / rail enthusiasts?

[TweeBee]

Hi,
DS is 13 and seriously into trains, loves going to various stations and filming and then uploading onto YouTube and watching other videos.
I usually make sure an adult is with him unless it’s a quick trip to the station in our town after school but he’s feeling he should have more independence now. I have other DC who don’t want to come, so sometimes he misses out because of this and he would like to go alone.
He has friends but this is very much not their thing and I just wondered if other parents have DC who are into trains, what do you let them do independently?
Thanks

If sensible/mature, I don't see a problem for a 13 year old to be pretty independent. Presumably they're getting themselves to/from secondary school, so will already be navigating roads, public transport, etc.

Getting themselves to/from a railway station and/or lineside viewpoints isn't a particular problem I'd have thought if pretty close, and not via dark/dangerous alleyways, parks frequented by drunks/druggies, etc, so as long as they're using major busy thoroughfares, have common sense for crossing roads, etc., no problem for me.

Do you have any particular aspect that is worrying you??

Thanks for your reply.
I’m happy for him to go to stations on our local line in relatively safe areas, but this is a small area and he really wants to go via a city to the next county to see freight trains.
I suppose I worry people might be suspicious of him hanging around a station all day, though I guess it’s fairly obvious what he’s up to with his tripod etc!
Also I had very little freedom as a child and my parents often weigh in with their opinions on DS having too much freedom (riding his bike locally) so I am just looking for some guidance / reassurance really.

I don't travel by trains very often but every time you go through a major station there always seems to be people there watching and taking notes/photos - I presume not when it is chucking it down with rain, but in the middle of the day on working days yes.

I very much doubt whether people will get suspicious of him. Nearly everyone knows about trainspotters and what they are up to.

There is certainly a large fraction of the population that will think what he is doing is pretty weird though. Whether it is actually any weirder than watching 22 people kick a bit of leather around is another question...

There might be clubs he could join (does Rail Riders still exist?) otherwise you just have to trust him to be sensible.
NEVER go on the track.
Don't go off with spotters to somewhere else -ie a different station to the one you have agreed to.
Don't travel without a ticket.
If another spotter (or any adult really) makes him feel uncomfortable he needs to know to go and report it to the station staff or the transport police.

13 is too young to be sharing a hobby with complete strangers and absolutely no caution. Often to 'spot' people will go off from mainline stations to smaller places, not even stations but line side. There are a lot of adult men into this hobby and while I'm not saying they are all unsafe around your child I am saying you would not ordinarily let your child get to know grown adults with no supervision, especially in the outdoor setting with no 'eyes'

Honestly; if something special (train wise) is coming try to do it with him, boring but good bonding. Otherwise o would say local station where he can be seen; make sure he is well versed in not getting to know grown adults while he is out there. Make sure he knows how and who to ask for help.

One of mine was in to planes at that age and I can't tell you the amount of odd bods we came across. I always accompanied DC and we met lots of lovely people, but you have to be so so careful.

There's a massive rail exhibition called Rail Live in Statford Upon Avon in June (19/20 June this year) - it's a trade show but you can get in as a non rail person. If you're anywhere near, it'd be an exciting day out for a rail enthusiast - could understand a bit more about how the railway works (and it's on a site that has old rolling stock so there's lots of unusual trains to see).

Parking is a TWAT though, there's a shuttle from Stratford Parkway.

One of my relatives was into buses, and I was once given the somewhat dubious benefit of tagging along to a bus meet with them.

Let's just say there were certainly some interesting characters around. As well of course as some lovely people who couldn't wait to give you a full run down regarding the various aspects of owning a bus.

This is what I was thinking. My son has outgrown an early train enthusiasm, but our hours spent watching very boring trains at Bethnal Green made clear to me that some of the people doing likewise are socially unusual, that anyone watching trains for long is highly visible (possibly to predators, and some of the watchers are vulnerable). Basically it could make him a target, and you would want him to be a bit older and confident in dealing with all situations before letting him go off alone.

Go along too.
I went with mine until he was around 16.
Glad I did. Met some really nice 'oddballs' (& we are an ASD family ourselves)
One or two who had an unhealthy interest in kids (one I was warned about by other spotters who had previous jail time for it, one who wanted Ds to 'sit on his lap' aged 8). The other aspect is any kind of trouble. Ds got shouted at for filming on a Tube platform a few years back. I think the law had changed since we'd last been in London. Anyway the LT person went mental at Ds (aged 18) who was really scared he was going to be locked up. Good that I was around too

My 13 year old loves trains. We were in London last week and spent a fortune on activities. His favourite part? The class 57 at Paddington station! Luckily, he has a friend who is the same and they go to stations together. A few months ago somebody called the btp to check on them as they were concerned, which I actually found reassuring that they were being looked out for. I would let my sone go to the local station on his own but no further afield without someone else there.

My grandsons are 13 years old and I just asked myself if I would let them go to our local railway station where I know several of the train spotting brigade.
My answer was definitely No!

I don’t mind being judgemental when it is necessary and I would worry about my grandsons being too naive to pick up on any potentially worrying situations.

He's a bit young at the moment but once he's a little older he'll find his tribe - online most likely. Yes I know online scares people here and you do need to take precautions to protect yourself but it's how people meet up now, it's how many people find their life partners.

I had a quick Google to see if there's any youth groups for spotters. A lot of the information seems out of date - a lot of groups might have fizzled out thanks to COVID.
Maybe join some of the Facebook groups (you not him) like Rail Enthusiasts UK (I think that was the name of one that popped up) and see if there are organised groups or meet ups for children/teens (if organised properly the adults will have DBS certificates etc).
There's also loads of rail spotting magazines available which will have details of meetups, special events, groups etc.

My DS is exactly the same about trains. I have to say, I have found station staff universally kind to young train enthusiasts. They have always been happy to explain things to my DS if they have time. (We have a lady at a small local station who saves redundant station posters for us, so my DS can have route maps etc on his wall.) I doubt any of the staff will have a problem with a teenager filming trains for YouTube.

Our local station has a youth group attached, for kids with an interest in trains. They do fundraising, get experience working in the station and go on regular trips to depots and other stations.
There may be something similar in your area

Thanks so much for all the responses.