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hubie [soylentnews.org] writes:

Aided by station-mounted cameras, fans are breathing new life into America's forgotten railway towns [theguardian.com] – online and IRL:

The world of railfans and trainspotters is hardly new. Since the advent of the railroad, hobbyists and professionals have taken photos of local trains, traveled to see their favorite railways, and simply passed the time sitting on platforms to enjoy the view.

But the community saw a digital boost during the pandemic, when the act of watching livestreams of trains soared in popularity. Many say they were drawn in by the community around the feeds, the romantic lore and history of rail travel in the US, and the regularity of trains passing through at a time when the world felt chaotic.

"A lot of people said during lockdown the camera really saved their sanity, because it was a way to connect with people they weren't able to see in person at the time," said Robert Scott, a railfan who volunteers as a moderator for a live camera in Chehalis, Washington. "Some people keep the feed on 24 hours a day in the background because they like the familiarity of the regular passing of trains."

Today there are an increasing number of live rail-stream hubs, including RailwayCams, RailStream [railstream.net], and RailServe.com. One of the most popular is Virtual Railfan [virtualrailfan.com], founded in 2009 by a lifelong train obsessive named Michael Cyr. Cyr said he was sitting on the platform of a rail station in Folkston, Georgia – a small town with a big local railfan culture – when he realized his hobby could be brought online, allowing more people to engage. The following year, the first Virtual Railfan camera was set up in Folkston and attracted a few dozen viewers, a crowd that eventually grew to several hundred.

The company advertises itself as offering one of the most realistic online trainspotting experiences, featuring live audio and 1080HD cameras – many of which can be moved to see different angles of the incoming locomotives. "We wanted to bring the whole experience," Cyr said. "If you can't be there, we're going to be the next best thing." Virtual Railfan takes in revenue from paid memberships that offer additional features like playbacks of older streams and advertisements from its YouTube channels.

[...] All this virtual trainspotting has created unexpected real-world impacts, bringing a much-needed boost of tourism to struggling railroad towns as fans journey to see their favorite locations in person.

[...] After a popular stream set up at their local station, more than 500,000 viewers began to tune in each month. That interest has translated to an influx of tourism dollars, as thousands of fans have journeyed to Ashland from locales as far away as the UK and Germany to see the station in person – and, often, wave to their friends on the online stream.

Some online fans even plan "cam hopping" vacations, where they aim to stop by as many streams as possible across the US. Abbott said this year's Train Day, an annual celebration of the town's rail history that once hosted just a handful of participants, had brought in upwards of 20,000 real-life visitors.

[...] While viewers come for the trains, many stay for the community. Often the bulk of the minutes and hours involved in online trainspotting are spent waiting for locomotives to arrive. In the meantime, people use the accompanying chatrooms to get to know one another.

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