Society Spy: Steamin and a Rollin

Trainspotting: minus the drug habit and the incomprehensible Scots dialect.

Cambridge Cambridge University College Comedy Fitzwilliam College Freshers Japan Railways Society Spy Student Students the tab Train

This week Society Spy joined the Cambridge University Railway Club. At this moment in time, we’re not sure that we can say much more than the above as we’re still feeling the aftershock of the realisation that a night spent with this Society was one of the best Friday nights we have ever had!

It has to be said that we were rather unenthused about going to a meeting where the theme was Japanese railway and expected to spend an evening with Roy Cropper wannabes discussing the numbers on the front of trains or whatever it is that train spotters are commonly assumed to discuss. This apathy increased when we realised that we would have to chug all the way over to Fitzwilliam and given that it’s now week seven, we felt we were running out of steam. By the end of the night, however, we were more shocked by the rebuttal of our presumptions about ‘train spotters’ than Halle Berry was at receiving her Oscar in 2001.

The first thing we were entirely off-track (oh no we didn’t…) about in our assumptions was that people with an interest in the railways wear anoraks, scribble in notebooks, spot trains and don’t discuss anything of importance. In fact, across the term, the Club has a variety of speakers who are experts in their field and discussion relates to engineering, politics surrounding infrastructure and transport law. Of about a dozen people who turned up on the evening that Society Spy visited the Club, only three were undergraduates. We don’t understand why more people from related subject backgrounds don’t turn up, you could learn a lot! After all, people turn out to the ‘financial debate’ at the Union…

And a night with the Railway Club guarantees a real laugh at the same time as learning something useful. Everybody can relate to the situation where a pensioner speaks their mind in the way that only the older generation seems to be entitled to do, says something totally outrageous and leaves you choking in uncertainty as to whether you’re allowed to laugh or not. The members of the Railway Club ensured that we were left with this feeling for the whole night. Who other than a senior citizen would get away with telling the speaker that he was talking too much, asking him, ‘Are you not hoarse yet?’ and complaining about the footage that he had gone all the way to Japan to shoot because he had not captured any of ‘the ding-dong sounds’ as announcements are made on the platform? This was before we got started on questions about the particulars of onboard toilets! These OAPs are more bullet train than steam engine speed too; one 65 year-old member is doing a law degree and a physics PhD as, ‘little extras’.

Despite going on for longer than anticipated, the presentation on Japanese Railway taught us a lot and it was obvious how much passion the speaker felt on the topic. When he spoke of his engineer friends who had made major contributions to railway development in Japan and how he was involved in commemorating them, we were actually quite moved as it was the first time we have conceived of railway as a human work of art, just as much as other human achievements that are celebrated. He also taught us about Japanese writing and culture, which all the members expressed interest in too. However, when we were informed about the custom of train staff wearing air-hostess type uniforms and a picture was provided as an example, we were not sure whether the exclamations of, ‘Oooooh very nice’ were directed at the uniform or the pretty, petite lady wearing it!

The Cambridge University Railway Club has been operating since 1911, making it the third oldest society of its kind in the world. It has a publication called ‘Eagle’ and regularly organises events and speakers. In this strange city where everybody goes out on a Tuesday or Wednesday night, we have to conclude that this really does provide one of the best Friday night experiences possible. Railway Club members are better company than the swooning idiot sometimes sitting opposite you at a Friday night formal swap and Wetherspoons is always out of the question, as you generally can’t make it past the carpet of broken glass lining the entrance. So if you’re interested, get on board!

Best moment: when discussion turned to toilet roll supply on Japanese trains.

Worst moment: when after one hour and thirty minutes the speaker announced, ‘Well I’m nearly at the end of THAT film’.

Quote of the night: ‘The buildings tend to be made of unsubstantial material, so it isn’t uncommon for young couples to go to a ‘love hotel’.’ (Speaker) … ‘Or old gits.’ (Society member, over the age of 60 and with a twinkle in his eye).