What do you notice in a glance?

[ezdays]

To only have all that knowledge that those rivet-counters do...

I'm curious what you mean by this. I'm not sure rivet counting is necessary. Besides, I'm more looking into exactly what the title says (what people remember when they see something briefly). I just picked this train example since I figure most people here would have been familiar with the scenario.

I guess I should have said, "rivet-counters want you to think they know". When I see a loco go by, about all I can remember is the road name and herald, giving me a hint as to age. We're close to the BNSF main line and I see everything from the old SF Warbonnet to the new BNSF design. I'm surprised when I see a CN, UP or another line, but I'll be darned if I could tell you whether it was a GP-20 or 38 or a dash-8. A rivet counter might ID that before they even notice the road name, or so I would think. It would be nice to be able to do that, which was my point.