Railroad Forums 

  • How railfan groups treat industry people

  • General discussion related to all railroad clubs, museums, tourist and scenic lines. Generally this covers museums with static displays, museums that operate excursions, scenic lines that have museums, and so on. Check out the Tourist Railway Association (TRAIN) for more information.
General discussion related to all railroad clubs, museums, tourist and scenic lines. Generally this covers museums with static displays, museums that operate excursions, scenic lines that have museums, and so on. Check out the Tourist Railway Association (TRAIN) for more information.

Moderators: rob216, Miketherailfan

 #738400  by Otto Vondrak
 
GSC wrote:
CassFireman wrote:
I think we were talking about the interaction of railfans with industry professionals...
Oh crap, reduced in rank again. :(
"How Industry People Treat Museum Volunteers"

We don't count, I guess.
Not in terms of this conversation! I think we were pretty clear what the topic was... unless you're paying into Railroad Retirement, you are a museum volunteer. Don't take everything so personally.

Want to start a new topic about how railfans and the public abuse museum groups and other preservation volunteers? Have at it, I got a bunch of stories for that one!

-otto-
 #743151  by Arrestmespi
 
i've been treated to people telling me how to do my job, demanding me get a train list from the dispatcher, demanding stuff I own that has the roads name printed on it.
On the other hand I have met some very respectful fans, who will listen and ask intelligent questions. And of course kids, I was a kid once, who loved trains, so I love talking to a kid about trains and making sure they stay safe while watching them.
Also I have a great amount of hate for certain museum d-bags, one's who question modern safety equipment, rivet counters, the guys who take pics and never spare a dime or some time.
 #743380  by mxdata
 
Yes, the ones who take pictures, find fault with everything, and never buy a ticket have been an issue in this hobby for as long as I can remember. They think they know everything and they contribute nothing.

There are also the related crowd that find it necessary to issue caustic comments making fun of of other peoples areas of interest, they think that the things that they like make them better or more important than everybody else.

I have seen a time when a railroad employee was asked to come in and teach a class at a museum, and a railfan-staffer stuck their head into the class and announced over the teacher "this looks interesting but I don't have time to stay, leave me a copy of your presentation". Rudeness obviously is not limited to outsiders or the general public.

I also saw several instances of groups asking an industry person to come in and substitute for a speaker who cancelled, then they never bothered to put any announcement of the new program on their website, even with several weeks of advance time to do it. In one case the group actually ran an after the event posting that credited and thanked the person who had cancelled rather than the one that provided the substitute program. Wonder how much help they will get the next time they need it.

MX
 #747837  by Otto Vondrak
 
I have a problem with museum groups who ignore safety issues, then get upset when you try to help them out and correct the issues... Ever wonder why insurance premiums are so high?
 #747890  by byte
 
mxdata wrote:Yes, the ones who take pictures, find fault with everything, and never buy a ticket have been an issue in this hobby for as long as I can remember. They think they know everything and they contribute nothing.
This is a growing, legitimate threat to anyone who runs big steam on class 1 rails, or any type of "touring" steamer. It can probably be traced to the popularity and competitive nature of a certain railroad photo database on the internet, although I would be hesitant to place any direct "fault" there because I'm sure this wasn't a trend which was intentionally started. Purchasing a ticket for a fantrip/museum train and riding on board has seemingly become second in popularity to loading up your car with as many railfans as you can fit, and chasing the train for ten hours from point X to point Y while never contributing a dime toward the organization through ticket, gift shop or food purchases. The end result is that many non-paying participants get photos posted online, while the organization running the trip/event has to worry about the financial shortfall that comes with not selling seats.

Most museums can more or less deal with this by setting up a fare-paid area and ensuring that anyone in it is either working there or has bought a ticket, but on a larger scale, I think it's becoming less and less feasible to have a full-on barnstorming tour with something like the Leviathan because too many attendees are getting something for nothing.
 #748438  by mxdata
 
And that is to some extent an outgrowth of the hobby usually being a pretty picture contest where 1/1000 sec. of work done once in a while awards you celebrity status while decades of effort put into preservation of equipment usually earns no recognition at all, unless of course you happen to be the owner or operating manager of a big steam locomotive.

I remember when people used to call it "Kodachrome Worship" but I guess that description is outdated now.

A lot of "organized railfanning" is getting more and more like political events. The participants are often loud, rude and inconsiderate. Nobody in the industry "has" to do anything for railfans, it just isn't part of the job description. When the railfans are argumentative and inconsiderate it is a perfectly good reason to not help them at all.

MX