dknelsonThe sad fact is, that if you know -- really know -- something about any particular topic, then the treatment given that topic by the media, be it TV or movies or popular fiction or frankly even the news media, is likely to send you off the deep end. Indeed it might be that railroads are treated rather better than most specialized topics. Artists and musicians and other creative people are particularly disdainful about how the "creative process" is portrayed in popular media. But from my perspective, business, legal, and financial topics are easily handled the worst. But then I am closest to that world. Model railroaders or toy train fans are handy metaphors for eccentrics -- either the lovable kind or the sinister kind. Next time some manufacturer gets the grills and vents wrong on a GP38-2 model, read the resulting comments on various forums and chatrooms etc. and decide whether we are being unfairly treated! Some of the flame wars on this and other forum sites would not exactly refute that characterization of eccentric. Dave Nelson
Artists and musicians and other creative people are particularly disdainful about how the "creative process" is portrayed in popular media. But from my perspective, business, legal, and financial topics are easily handled the worst. But then I am closest to that world.
Model railroaders or toy train fans are handy metaphors for eccentrics -- either the lovable kind or the sinister kind. Next time some manufacturer gets the grills and vents wrong on a GP38-2 model, read the resulting comments on various forums and chatrooms etc. and decide whether we are being unfairly treated! Some of the flame wars on this and other forum sites would not exactly refute that characterization of eccentric.
Dave Nelson
Boy, Dave, you nailed that one. I'm always infuriated at how the engineering profession (the building-designing one, not the train-driving one) is portrayed. We're always weak and crooked, either in the back pocket of a corrupt builder or corporation, or taking bribes to overlook inferior construction.
Jim
"I am lapidary but not eristic when I use big words." - William F. Buckley
I haven't been sleeping. I'm afraid I'll dream I'm in a coma and then wake up unconscious. -Stephen Wright
Jumijo "The Men Who Built America" episode about Edison showed a die cast Lionel locomotive running on a circle of 3 rail track in Edison's shop - some 50 years before it was made, and roughly 15 years before Lionel Corp. even existed.
"The Men Who Built America" episode about Edison showed a die cast Lionel locomotive running on a circle of 3 rail track in Edison's shop - some 50 years before it was made, and roughly 15 years before Lionel Corp. even existed.
Let's be honest: Edison would never have anything that was powered by Westinghouse's Alternating Current technology!
Joe Staten Island West
The one that always kicked me was the movie Pearl Harbor. That movie alone is FULL of flaws that I can't even begin to get into. As far as the trains go, they appear to get onto an old train, but in the background are Amtrak diesels, amfleets and modern automobiles!
Modeling Conrail, Amtrak and NJ DOT under the wires in New Jersey, July 1979.
I remember an episode of Happy Days, where the family travelled to a dude ranch by train, pulled by a GG1.
I saw the Big Bang Theory referenced and found it very funny (Sheldon's "HO: it's half the size but twice the fun"). My kids consider me (yes, an engineer w/o a train) a bit of a nerd and I'll accept some of that. People are different!. I've infected my grandkids with trains; e.g., the oldest one with a 4' x 6' layout and the younger grandson with Thomas. They know my grandpa was a UP (real) engineer and my other grandpa built steam engines at the Baldwin loco works. And they all (yes, the girls, too) wanted to run the trains each day they were here over Thanksgiving. It's addicting and bonding; e.g., when the older grandson and I had two shots at chasing the UP #844 across Texas.
I take the jibes as kidding, not criticism. If it were criticism, I'd just blow it off, not whine. "Each to his own" or "whatever fits your pistol". It's a hobby (for Pete's sake) and they need to be enjoyable, not make sense to everyone. Heck, Rosey Grier liked to needlepoint. No need to defend it if I like it. Doesn't hurt anyone, helps the economy, etc. I like trains, old cars (GTO) and boats. Others like x,y,z which may not interest me.
Just my reactions.
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
I really like to kick the banter up a notch when I find out the person busting me for liking trains, is a NASCAR fanatic. Oh, boy.
betamaxLet's be honest: Edison would never have anything that was powered by Westinghouse's Alternating Current technology!
Edison desinged the electric chair to run on AC
Vincent
Wants: 1. high-quality, sound equipped, SD40-2s, C636s, C30-7s, and F-units in BN. As for ones that don't cost an arm and a leg, that's out of the question....
2. An end to the limited-production and other crap that makes models harder to get and more expensive.
Packer betamaxLet's be honest: Edison would never have anything that was powered by Westinghouse's Alternating Current technology! Edison desinged the electric chair to run on AC
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam