We are all of us a little odd

A funny thing has been happening the past few years, the use of modern data collection methods has discovered something many of us have long suspected: we are not a monoculture. Recent data has informed us that America's "national pastime" is not baseball, it's NASCAR. That the most popular type of music in the country is not rock, but country, and that our nation's biggest, most popular hobby - is bird watching. It turns out that we aren't a nation of Disney loving consumer zombies after all. We have other interests.
We have rediscovered the obvious, which we had to do, because so many are actively employed in obscuring the fact. It isn't any grand conspiracy, mind you, it just happened. It happened because of a top down media, and it happened because it's much easier, and more lucrative, to herd everybody into a couple of venues than it is to have them scattered all over the place.
A few years ago we took a vacation in Folkston, Georgia. Folkston isn't what's traditionally known as a tourist hot spot, but that's changed recently. The reason? Trains. Folkston is the site of the "Folkston Funnel," the place where all CSX trains going into or out of Florida, have to pass; it's quite a parade.
But Folkston didn't become a railfan Mecca on its own, it had a little help from the town. For a very small amount of money, the town built a gazebo for rail fans to sit and watch the action. It has chairs, lighting, a picnic table, outhouse, and a scanner built in. My recollection is that the whole thing cost less than $30k. The town promotes the site on the internet. As do local businesses; we stayed at the Western Motel, an old style place, located along Route 1. We got the railfan special discount and stayed an extra day with our savings. There's also some newer chain motels, and some local B&B's for those with more discriminatin' tastes.
We had plenty of company, people were there from all over the country, and a couple from the UK too. And they were all there for the trains, and they were all spending money.
Does this area have a similar location? Yes and no. Perryville, MD is a nationally known "train watchers hot spot." On any given day, you're likely to find some railfans at Perryville, sometimes more than a few. Often you'll find 'em there late into the evening. There's only one difference between Perryville and Folkston: Perryville has no interest in its railfans. There's no designated train watching spots, no promotion of the place, not even an outhouse. Which is too bad, because there's a nice big old station there, which is used only by MARC train passengers - it has no real function, other than as a parking lot. There's even a little museum there, though it's rarely open. But no amenities at all, and train fans are subject to police scrutiny as well - not very welcoming. The same is true of Brunswick, Maryland.
But the news isn't all bad. I remember a couple of decades back when a local coalition of railfans, civil war buffs, and architectural historians were trying to save President Street Station in Baltimore. It seemed like a hopeless case until 1988, when 12,000 reenactors, and 250,000 spectators, converged on Gettysburg, PA to mark the 125th anniversary of the great battle. Local governments and business interests suddenly woke up. A quarter million civil war buffs in one place? Why there's money to be made off these weirdoes! President Street Station is now the Baltimore Civil War Museum.
Are you one of those weirdoes? Do you like railroads, or history, or airplanes, or old buildings, or cemeteries, or jousting, or geo-caching, or old diners, or bird watching, or any of a thousand other pastimes? Well join the club, you aren't alone. Perhaps it's time we spoke up.