Maligned and misunderstood, it’s a hobby few admit to yet many have a sneaking fascination with trainspotting. Now the National Railway Museum is presenting an exhibition showing the adventure, mischief and drama of this once widespread hobby. MATT CLARK took along his notebook and pencil.

IT would take a heart of stone not to be moved by the roaring, hissing majesty of a passing steam train. To some it brings back memories of the good old days, while others revel in the sheer exhilaration of such raw brute force.

For children, locos such as the Flying Scotsman represent wide-eyed wonderment, so no wonder trainspotting was such a popular hobby for young lads during the 1950s and 1960s.

Today, though, the word has become synonymous with anoraks and Thermos flasks. People now seem to believe that hanging around on chilly, rainy platforms is decidedly weird – as, too, are those who collect train numbers.

But would those who do down trainspotting really turn away if they saw Mallard pelt by at full tilt? Andrew Cross doesn't think so, which is why the self-confessed trainspotter replied to the National Railway Museum's (NRM) request for an artist to create a fresh interpretation on a topic he calls the final taboo for dinner party discussion.

"I see trainspotting as one of the last remaining radical stances you can take," says Andrew.

"You can confess to all manner of things and no one will turn a hair, but if you were to say you like trains, you can see a palpable disquiet among your fellow guests."

Andrew is looking to challenge perceptions of men clutching notebooks on station platforms or cheeky schoolboys sneaking into engine shed.

To do so, he has collated personal memories of a childhood spent travelling the tracks, notepads, pictures and maps, together with contemporary film work. The result is Parallel Tracks, an alternative look at trainspotting that reflects his instinct to record in both visual and written form, as a trainspotter, music fan, photographer and artist.

Andrew has also drawn on his experiences of train watching in the USA over the past 20 years. It is the adventure of journeying,the sights and sounds of a particular location, whether in the Californian desert, the Swiss mountains or rural England.

"Many people are trainspotters of one sort or another," he says. "If you listen to the way people talk about the Glastonbury line-up or, indeed, visiting art exhibitions, it's generally the ticking off of a list.

"Yet for some reason trainspotting has remained a metaphor for something that is not only derided but actually unsettles the comfortable majority."

That might all change thanks to the NRM's new exhibition, which includes fascinating artefacts from the museum's archives, such as the world's first recorded trainspotting letter written by Jonathan Backhouse to his sisters and describes the opening of the- Stockton and Darlington Railway in September 1825.

You can also read Yorkshire poet Ian McMillan's commissioned piece for the exhibition called Love Me Tender; there will be live theatre and, of course, Super Spotter trails in Great Hall and Station Hall.

Every visitor, young or old, who completes the trails will receive a Super Spotter badge.

Three-year-old Elizabeth Stockton from York has already won hers and many more are there to be won during this half term.

Also worthy of note are the curator talks that will take place every Thursday at 2pm. One of them is called Who Was Sir Lamiel? because trainspotters collected names as well as numbers and this is a chance to learn who these people were and why they were chosen.

Perhaps the most fascinating exhibits are the Spotter Stories displayed on boards dotted around the museum. They were donated by ordinary people with a common interest and tell of the highs and lows, of finding that long-elusive number and, like anglers, tales of the ones that got away.

Mike Reynolds recalls the day he went spotting with his childhood pals – without a permit.

"The leader of our group told us that we needed to creep past the shed foreman’s office by stooping below his view.

All 30 of us made it into the tiny shed. All the numbers pencilled in our notebooks, and ready to go, before half a dozen footplate staff waving shovels emerged from the smoky gloom. The chase was on. 'Head for the coach,' was the call in the confusion.

I headed towards the way out, only to find our coach speeding away, lads in chase. Half a mile later I climbed aboard. Gradually one by one we all made it back, the air full of foul verse against our leader for abandoning us to the peril of the footplate mob."

A selection of Spotter Stories like this will be brought to life in the Great Hall and best of all the locomotives will be linked to these tales from the tracks for Locos in a Different Light, part of Illuminating York, this Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evening.

So whether you like trains or not, the latest NRM exhibition is a must-see. A nostalgic meander through station waiting rooms on brisk autumn days, pen and pad in hand, all the time seeking the thrill of the chase in this much misunderstood hobby.

"Trainspotting is an inexact science, often full of idiosyncrasy and missed opportunities," says Andrew. "I have plenty of memories but very little in accurate records. In some respects, most of us weren't that good at it, but that wasn't the point."

Trainspotting runs at the National Railway Museum until March 1, Entry, including to Locos in a Different Light, is free.


Trainspotting Terms

Crib: To cross off a number in the Combined Volume or Locoshed Book without actually spotting the engine.

Cab: An engine that has been 'cabbed' means the trainspotter has stood in the cab of the locomotive/unit.

Cop: To see an engine for the first time.

Bunk: To visit a shed without a permit.

Fudge: To claim a sighting nobody quite believes.

Bowler hat: A railway official unsympathetic to spotters.

Name: A named locomotive.

Nonker: An unnamed locomotive.

Clag: A smoky exhaust.

Gripper: The ticket inspector.