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Gabe, I too would have to fall into catagory 3. If we all drove red cars, had white houses, watched the same TV show , ate nothing but Captain Crunch, and voted for the same presidential candidate, and collected Frisbees as our hobby, the world would be a very boring place. Humans have a bad habit of looking down on anybody who isn't into "their thing." Say you ran into a guy (or girl, sorry Sarah) who collects and "plays" with Frisbees. He could be a 1,2, or 3. As a 1, he would chastize you because you don't know the difference between an Af-331 and a Af332 frisbee. Our hobby has the same type. Just because we haven't done 20 years of extensive research on some obscure shortline he feels that we are not worthy railfanners or modelers. These are usually the types the general public deal with because they are willing to pipe up at a moments notice to let everyone know just how knowledgable they are on "their" subject. People that do this ( no matter what the subject ) are labeled as geeks or dorks by those listening, because the person makes those around him feel as though they are stupid because they don't as much as him on this subject. I have belonged to snowmobile clubs, 4 wheel drive clubs and many other organizations, and there is ALWAYS one person in the group who was way overboard, knew it all, and was willing to let that be known at any time. Those are the ones labeled geeks or nuts. The general public (or known as the non railroad people) usually has contact with this type at train shows ,etc. so the whole hobby is perceived as being made up of these types. I live close to the Nelson switchyard and even the UP workers call us FRN's. The last two words are railroad nuts. I'll let you figure out the first word. That is only because there is a small amount of guys that sit there all day figuring out and writing down switchlists and watching the action so they assume we're all that way. <br />My point is before I get of my soapbox, my scratch built buildings are never going to be in RMC, and if they were some body would rip it apart and tell me their's is better, my layouts never going to be in MR, and if it was the same would happen, but they are MINE and my standards are the only ones I have to meet. Sure I don't know everything I need to know about Rock Island ( my modeling and fanning choice) but I enjoy what I know and am learning the rest, at my pace. Just because I don't know the roster list for some obscure railroad that you're into doesn't make me any less of a railfan. <br />All I know ( and MAMA ) is that when I go upstairs to work on my chunk of the ROCK or just piddle and run trains is that my blood pressure stays on an even keel and I'm not worried about the problems of the world or if Saddams running around in his underwear, so that must mean I'm enjoying the hobby and that really is the bottom line. If the rest of them want to collect Fribees or whatever, so be it. I'm happy and that's all that matters. [soapbox]
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