IMPORTANT FOR ALL Model RailroadersYOU GOTTA READ THIS.

[Anonymous]

I found this article describing the Psychological makeup of a model railroader.
I guess this explains it all . What do you think about it?


http://www.salon.com/april97/trains970402.html

[GAPPLEG]

Kind of a different viewpoint on why we play with trains, slanted a bit but interesting.

[MidlandPacific]

Here's the link to the first page of the article.

http://www.salon.com/april97/trains970402.html

I've never actually met Jack Burgess, but my impression of his writings is considerably different than "his history of the Yosemite Valley Railroad consists chiefly of numbers," or her assertion that "there's no narrative I can follow."

Yawn. Just more of the same old creative writing seminar condescention.

[Fergmiester]

I know one person who I won't show this to.

Fergie

[cwclark]

and her point is?

[IRONROOSTER]

Very interesting, thanks for sharing.
Enjoy
Paul

[MidlandPacific]

QUOTE: and her point is?

I don't think she has one. I think she meant to provide some "impressions". Those require neither a point nor defensible reasoning. She spends more time discussing her own feelings and impressions than anything else.

[Icefoot]

Sounds like she might be the sister of the woman Tracklayer was talking about in another thread that thought model railroading was boring....

[TomDiehl]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Fergmiester

I know one person who I won't show this to.

Fergie

Only one???

[cwclark]

QUOTE: Originally posted by rripperger

QUOTE: and her point is?

I don't think she has one. I think she meant to provide some "impressions". Those require neither a point nor defensible reasoning. She spends more time discussing her own feelings and impressions than anything else.

LOL..I meant that in a sarcastic way...(shame, shame, shame on me)...her lack of a point is my point exactly!...chuck

[route_rock]

I think she thinks we are all littel kids. however I prefer to look at it as recreating something lost or something in our past. She looked at it as if she could say men were playing with toys and then has to make a remark about being too conservative.
I think she finally got it in the end where she was drawn into the scene.

[MisterBeasley]

Somebody should do a psychological study of people who write fluff articles for Sunday supplements and places like Salon. What a strange, insular world those people live in, huh? She clearly falls into that group that marginalizes and condemns anything that they don't appreciate and understand. Would she do the same sort of piece about Scrapbooking, or Needlepoint? Somehow, I doubt it.

This is one person's Do Not Call list that I'm glad to be on.

[TomDiehl]

QUOTE: Originally posted by route_rock

I think she thinks we are all littel kids. however I prefer to look at it as recreating something lost or something in our past. She looked at it as if she could say men were playing with toys and then has to make a remark about being too conservative.
I think she finally got it in the end where she was drawn into the scene.

Why? Just because "Peter Pan" is in the title? [:D]

[MidlandPacific]

Hard to miss the way she dwelt on divorces, wasn't it?

[Anonymous]

The hobby shop I worked in while in college had this sign in the window.

"The only difference between men and boys is the price of their toys."

Bob DeWoody

[Anonymous]

Too heavy on the divorces wasnt she?

Hmpth. I suppose if my wife had enough of things that keeps me out of trouble I would not want another.

[Anonymous]

Ummmm, kind of a different point of view, but alright.

[tomikawaTT]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cwclark

QUOTE: Originally posted by rripperger

QUOTE: and her point is?

I don't think she has one. I think she meant to provide some "impressions". Those require neither a point nor defensible reasoning. She spends more time discussing her own feelings and impressions than anything else.

LOL..I meant that in a sarcastic way...(shame, shame, shame on me)...her lack of a point is my point exactly!...chuck

You missed the obvious! Or was she wearing a hat?
Can you say 'psuedointellectual?'

[SMassey]

Like many train fans I would speak to, Jack has difficulty tracing the origin of his passion. "All kids love trains and then it gets suppressed. In the teen years they get into girls and cars and then in their 30s, when they have a family and home, they return to the hobby."

Except I still play with girls and cars [;)]

[MidlandPacific]

QUOTE: Can you say 'psuedointellectual?'

No, but I can spell it - "pseudo-intellectual." [:D]

Is a psuedointellectual someone with a pointy head and a fake suede skin?

Sorry, I just couldn't resist.........

Seriously - all you younger and unmarried guys need to read that article. Twice.

[Anonymous]

Bah! just another person who thinks that model railroading is a kids thing. and i say this being 13.

[SpaceMouse]

That gentelmen, is what is known as the female writing voice. It's not really intended for a male audience, although I doubt she would say they are excluded. It certainly does not appeal to the male culture, tell me what you are going to tell m, tell me, and tell me what you told me. Rather she is writing touchy-feely, impressions, hinting at conclusions wihout actually drawing any since it it is not her job. Women can relate to this. She reports in color, not black and white.

We are kind of eaves-dropping as we are not her intended audinece.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by MisterBeasley

Somebody should do a psychological study of people who write fluff articles for Sunday supplements and places like Salon. What a strange, insular world those people live in, huh? She clearly falls into that group that marginalizes and condemns anything that they don't appreciate and understand. Would she do the same sort of piece about Scrapbooking, or Needlepoint? Somehow, I doubt it.

This is one person's Do Not Call list that I'm glad to be on.

That pretty much covers how I think about it.

It reminds me of the Feminist elites I have read about high up in the educational system
who feel giving Ritilin (sp) narcotic to young boys to medicate them, just because they are acting a little rowdy as boys normally do.

Also "ELITEISM" like this permeates the media and society, and it's not just women who write like this,. There are elitist men too.

They all think they know the "psychological roots" of being a regular person, and of course, "they know better".

[brothaslide]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Safety Valve

Too heavy on the divorces wasnt she?

Hmpth. I suppose if my wife had enough of things that keeps me out of trouble I would not want another.

Look at things from her perspective; one of the interviewees quoted stated that he was working 40 hours a week on his layout while going through a divorce. Additionally, he stated that he would work 40 hours a week on his layout while trying to raise his kids single handed. If the kids got into an argument, he would just use the intercom to communicate with them. I don't want to be critical of Burgess (I think that was his name), but not too many folks are going to look with respect on that particular situation, especially a women (imo) who is infamiliar with our hobby.

[jfugate]

QUOTE: Originally posted by JohnLat
They all think they know the "psychological roots" of being a regular person, and of course, "they know better".

Where it goes to seed is when you get writers like this one who writes in condescending tones and slants the writing to make the person look really odd if they don't fit the mold. Let's lean on the scales and make model railroaders out to be a bunch of whackos who don't have a life, shall we?

I know Jack Burgess and if this same writer met Jack out on the street, he'd seem as "normal" as can be.

I'd love to see Jack write about *her hobbies* in the same tones and then let's see who is the odd one. [swg]

[selector]

I think she was astute in her description and in her observations. I found no condescension in either her tone or her language. Of course, as a woman, she was trying to fathom what is very much a male-dominated passtime, so her writing is from a woman's perspective. However, I choose not to see it as condescending, but as an attempt to understand...and she was consigned to doing that with the skills and style that she had developed to that point in her career.

FWIW, I felt the creepiness that she described when buddy grabbed her note pad and childishly refused to give it back. It would have put ME off, too. What a geek.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Contrary to my fears, I'm discovering that this all-male culture isn't peopled with insensitive brutes or power-hungry patriarchs so much as with the quietly driven makers who have created the material world we live in. They're conservative, yes, but also eccentric and oddly idealistic. They believe in life-long learning, in getting things right. They practice a discipline unrelated to their careers. And they believe in the intimate and important link between personal narrative and community history

......and....

QUOTE: A phrase from Nietzsche flashes through my mind: "Man's maturity: to have regained the seriousness he had as a child at play."

That's about all I got out of it.


More people need to remember that life IS the prize. Live it, enjoy it, make the most of it. Life is the prize and you get a new one everyday.

I don't need any pseudo-intellectual babble to try and put it in perspective.

I'm a single dad and I have an intercom...what's your point? [8D]

[grayfox1119]

Another frustrated woman, probably jilted by a MRR'r.

[loathar]

Seems like she likes hearing herself talk. So many words that say nothing....
Somthing tells me her (I'm guessing) Ex, was more turned on by a nice new shiney loco than by her.

[rolleiman]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jfugate

QUOTE: Originally posted by JohnLat
They all think they know the "psychological roots" of being a regular person, and of course, "they know better".

I'd love to see Jack write about *her hobbies* in the same tones and then let's see who is the odd one. [swg]

I'm sure he has too much class to waste the time with her. Her tone brought back some pretty dark memories in This reader..