Is trainspotting (NOT the movie) illegal?

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J

Jzero

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
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In the latest BOFH (epsiode 12), BOFH and the PFY bust a payroll clerk saying that edgy pr0n and dirty stories aren't illegal, but trainspotting definitely is.
They frame him with some train schedules in his inbox, but he doesn't get arrested because liberal lawmakers have allow people to trainspot without penalty.

Now if I understand correctly from the glossary of Scottish slang in the back of the book, trainspotting is basically just keeping tabs on the comings and goings of trains. One spotter I read about had basically made it his lifelong goal to be the first to spot every single train in England. I can't imagine why anyone would take on a hobby like trainspotting, but I do know a number of railroad buffs who can't get enough of looking at trains and learning about trains, so it doesn't seem that strange that somebody might take this up. Some people like to stand near airports and watch airplanes fly by, so why not trains?

Anyway, is Travaglia joking, or is trainspotting really illegal? If it is, WHY? It certainly seems innocuous enough a hobby. I searched on Google, but it's dang near impossible to search for anything containg "trainspotting" that doesn't have to do with the movie specifically. A search on "trainspotter" revealed a little more info, but nothing on if it's illegal and why.
 
A

AUMM

Diamond Member
Mar 13, 2001
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i see no reason why it would be illegal, thats just wierd though
 
S

SuperTool

Lifer
Jan 25, 2000
14,000
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I guess you didn't get the memo. :)
If you did, you would know that it's the role of any government to find out what the people enjoy and either tax or outlaw it, to keep us in constant misery :D
 
Hayabusa Rider

Hayabusa Rider

Admin Emeritus & Elite Member
Jan 26, 2000
50,879
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Why isnt it obvious? To keep the Nazis from learning about troop/material movements. Geeze, havent I taught you anything? ;)
 
C

crypticlogin

Diamond Member
Feb 6, 2001
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Wasn't 'trainspotting' also slang for injecting heroin? :confused: I was half asleep during the movie so the explanation might have blown by me.. :(
 
E

etech

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
10,597
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Re: Define "trainspotting"

"The title trainspotting comes from a British practice of, well, "spotting" trains. There's a hobby here of marking down all the engines in the land (they have numbers and names marked on them) and you can often see these sad types at the end of platforms with wee books full of numbers.

Irvine Welsh (who wrote the book the film's based on) has said that he called the book Trainspotting as it's all about addiction."



I don't believe the orginal type of trainspotting is illeagal. I believe the word has taken on a new meaning since Welsh's book came out and the term now refers to doing heroin.
 
crab

crab

Diamond Member
Jan 29, 2001
7,330
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Originally posted by: AgentofEvil
Planespotting sure as hell is illegal. Hold on while I find a link to a story.
Click to expand...

In Greece, YES, and those people knew it...

In the US it's not...Which photography falls under:

This is straight from an e-mail from the FAA

Film/Photography
Some questions have been raised about photography in and around airports. We'd like to clarify that neither the Security Directives (SD) that have been issued over that past few months nor Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 107-airport Security, and Part 108-Airplane Operator Security, contain restrictions or prohibitions on photography. We encourage you to keep abreast of any regulatory proposals for enhanced airport security to ensure that the concerns of professional photographers are considered fully.
 
J

Jzero

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
18,834
1
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Originally posted by: AgentofEvil
Here it is, pretty scary if you ask me.
Click to expand...
LMAO. Planespotting on a military base in Greece by foreign nationals may be illegal. Would it be illegal to loaf around near Gatwick airport and do it if you were a UK citizen, though?

Tenchim:
Wasn't 'trainspotting' also slang for injecting heroin? I was half asleep during the movie so the explanation might have blown by me..
Click to expand...
Definitely not. At least not as defined in the book or film. Maybe people stole it after that, but I've rarely heard anyone use the word 'trainspotting' outside referring to the movie, and I've never heard it used as slang for shooting heroin.
The movie never EVER mentions trainspotting, nor does anyone use the term. There is one single fleeting shot of a train as they head out to the Scottish countryside with Tommy to reflect on what it is to be Scottish.
The book comes slightly closer in which Renton encounters Begbie's (or was it Tommy's?) estranged father in a deserted train station. He's drunk and raves a bit about trainspotting, but only says a few sentences, nothing to do with heroin at all.

etech:
I don't believe the orginal type of trainspotting is illeagal. I believe the word has taken on a new meaning since Welsh's book came out and the term now refers to doing heroin.
Click to expand...
Again, I've never heard trainspotting used that way. Maybe I don't know enough junkies?
Either way, if you read the BOFH column in my first post, they mention a mailing list for trainspotters and finding a bunch of railway schedules. Doesn't sound like heroin....
Also, since it's a humor column, I can see him making fun of a silly law against monitoring trains.
 
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