Eastern Railroad Discussion > Merger question

This post is not totally rail-related, but does have some connotations to railfans...


If and when American Airlines and TWA merge, will there be nuts (like us) who go out searching out the last TWA-painted airplanes?

Back in the late seventies, I got to Bryn Mawr Jct. (CNW/MILW RD) next to Ohare airport, Chicago, on a yearly basis. I saw more planefans than railfans. When I first encountered one of them, I asked if he knew of anything coming. He looked at me kind of strange, I was talking about a train he was thinking about a plane. We finally realized we were talking about different forms of transportation. He was somewhat surprised that anyone would travel hundreds of miles to see trains. Actually I started to look at planes in a different way after that, so many paint jobs and colors. Kind of what train watching used to be.

Yes - I know several people who shoot and trade slides of planes. There are several magazines dedicated to that hobby, as well.

Unlike rail carriers, the airlines will repaint in a relatively short time. American will want their name in front of the public, especially in those markets where TWA dominated, as soon as possible.

Rail carriers have always interchanged equipment and locomotives so fully repainting a fleet isn't a high priority. Saves money too. It's easier to patch than paint.

peddler

When the NW and Southern merged it was estimated it would take a full 8 years to repaint both railroads units to NS

I guess my first impression is that planes would be much tougher to chase than trains!

But they will get into the yard a lot faster.

How can anyone read the hull number on an aiircraft without a telescope?
In my opinion, this is what kills the hobby of photographing planes.
You really can't tell what one your looking at.

A few years ago, I was returning a rental car at Toronto's airport, and entered by a back road. As I drove past the end of a runway, I saw all these people with their cars parked and barbeques set up. My first thought was utter bewilderment, and then I thought about how I like to spend my spare time. To each his own.

Photography must be a special challenge for aircraft. Railfans are constantly striving for new views, and often can use height (bridges, mountains) to our advantage. I can just imagine an airplane slide show: all these belly shots of planes taking off or landing. At least you could see the numbers.

I see airplane buffs parked alongside SAA's Chemical Coast Secondary by the south end of the Portside Triple Crown terminal watching the planes landing/taking off at Newark International. I also see them in the IKEA/Toys 'R Us parking lot too. Newark still hosts the occaisional 707 or L-10-11, and those must raise quite a stir.

Boy do the get pissed when we come by with our double stack cars and block their view... <g>

Someone mentioned earlier that is must be hard to get numbers, and such. Not always the case! Airfanning (or whatever it is called) is extremely popular in europe, about the equivelant of railfanning here in the US, with camera adds and magazines aimed at them, etc. Especially prevelant in the UK. Anyhow, the first time I was introduced to this breed, was while flying as a crewman on C-130 "herk's" We flew into RAF Mildenhall (a bit outside of london) to drop some cargo, have a few pints, get rest, and continue on the next day home to Germany. Anyhow, it turned out we had 24 hours off due to weather at Ramstein, and me and the Flight Engineer took a walk down town Mildenhall to do a little shopping, and waste the day. having a mild interest in modeling, we walked into a model store, and immediatly inside was a dry erase board with call signs, aircraft types, landing times, where arrived from, when leaving, and where going! And these were military planes, of all shapes and sizes! These guys had it all down, and were extremely accurate. They had our tail number, call sign and everything right down to a T......except under expected departure time, and destination. We were going home in 19 hours, not going to SOuth Africa in 12! We pointed this out to the clerk in the shop, and he replied with a sly grin "I'd do me a spot of wash if I were you mate! might be a while yet till you get home to your maytag!" We laughed, and bought a few things, and went on our way. After returning back to the billeting, we found a note from the Aircraft Commander concerning a slight chang of plans.......Sure am glad I washed some socks! By the way, Pretoria is lovely in the spring! lol
So, they are good, as good as any railfan out there, I would wager.
TR
Savannah Ga