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Tourist railroads, train shows, and Covid-19

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  • Member since
    June 2007
  • 8,892 posts
Posted by riogrande5761 on Thursday, April 1, 2021 4:21 PM

mlehman

 

 
riogrande5761
Just got Pfizer number 2 yesterday. Planning on going to the GSMTS (normally at Timonium) on April 10... But will still take standard precautions of mask, hand washing and distancing as much as possible.

 

Yeah, that's where I'm at, all vaxed up, but no place to really go...except the wilds of Indiana, which seems to have held train shows all along...at least the ones that weren't cancelled. Being a native Hoosier, I'm in no hurry to expose myself to that. Instead, I plan to take the precautions and go to shows around here when they start happening with a new confidence now that I have the vaccine.

Being an Air Force brat I am not a native to anywhere but have a bit of roots in the Hoosier state having lived at Bunker Hill (later Grissom) AFB from age 3 to 7, and then came back to finish undergrad school 1983 and left for Texas in 85 with my BS in Geology, and returned again for grad school 89-94 for my Masters - which has been useless as now IT pays the bills.  For a few years myself, my ex, my 2 sisters and their spouses, all six of us, were students at IU Bloomington at the same time.  Back Home again as the license plates used to say.  My ex had wanted a title but she never finished her PhD to be called Dr. but I heard recently she is vice mayor of the town she grew up in, so she finally got that title she's always craved.  Honerable!  Bow

Now if I can just get a date confirmed for our local show...I suspect this time next year is just a little too far out for making a commitment, but I'm willing to settle for a preliminary date. 

I do remember a small local show in Bloomington at the American Legion Hall.  With the pandemic and being everyting shut, I've been wishing I could get to a show too.  It was a surprise announcement when the Timonium people announced their show in the same area in Maryland only a few weeks ago, but this show is in a Hotel Ballroom this time - maybe they'll be back to the Timonium fair grounds come Oct/Nov.  When I was "back home" in Indiana, the shows I mostly went to were the GATS shows, one in Louisville and the other in Indianapolis.  I made a pilgramige up with some fellow hobbyists to Hawkins in Lafayette once.  Heard he finally closed a few years ago.  As far as I know, Chuck Macklin who was part of our round robin group in Bloomington was still selling train books.  He had a loop of track in his coffee shop in Bloomington, The Daily Grind.

Rio Grande.  The Action Road  - Focus 1977-1983

  • Member since
    February 2002
  • From: Mpls/St.Paul
  • 13,892 posts
Posted by wjstix on Thursday, April 1, 2021 4:26 PM

Autonerd
 
wjstix
It's been normal in Asia for many decades to wear a mask when you have (or are just getting over) a cold or flu so you don't make someone else sick. It's considered a common courtesy to other folks. It would be nice if that became the norm here.

 

I travel a lot for work and used to think the people who wore masks on planes were being overly cautious. I also used to get 2-4 serious colds a year. Since I've been home and not traveling, I've had 0 colds! I think when/if I get back to flying, I'll seriously consider masking, pandemic or not.

Aaron

 

 
One problem we've had in the US re masks is people don't seem to understand wearing a mask isn't designed to protect you from breathing in other people's germs. They're designed to keep you from spreading your germs to other people, especially by coughing or sneezing. Unfortunately that means one person who's infected - especially one who's asymptomatic - but refuses to wear a mask could spread their illness to many other people...even if those other people are wearing masks.
Stix
  • Member since
    June 2007
  • 8,892 posts
Posted by riogrande5761 on Thursday, April 1, 2021 4:30 PM

wjstix
One problem we've had in the US re masks is people don't seem to understand wearing a mask isn't designed to protect you from breathing in other people's germs. They're designed to keep you from spreading your germs to other people, especially by coughing or sneezing. Unfortunately that means one person who's infected - especially one who's asymptomatic - but refuses to wear a mask could spread their illness to many other people...even if those other people are wearing masks.

Well, you can't cure stupid.  Even my sister, a well educated woman with her JD (working as a lawyer) refuses to wear a mask.  Lucky her she does all of her work from home.  But my daughter is getting married May 1 in Ithica NY and masks will be required.  I think it is sad my sister wont' suck it up for just this event and will miss it because she is so stubborn.  But she has been stubborn all her life. Sigh

Rio Grande.  The Action Road  - Focus 1977-1983

  • Member since
    January 2019
  • 2,572 posts
Posted by John-NYBW on Thursday, April 1, 2021 5:55 PM

I have heard lots of excuses for not wearing a mask and they don't make much sense to me. In another online discussion group one guy told me he didn't wear a mask because he thought it gives people a false sense of security and makes them less likely to take other precautions that are more effective against spreading the disease like social distancing, hand washing and sanitizer. It's not as if we have to choose from among these measures. Why not do all of them. There's no way to know which one might save your life. Putting on a seat belt doesn't make me more prone to drive my car recklessly. I wear a seat belt AND drive safely. 

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