Has public romanticism faded from the railroad scene? I was thinking this morning about the late Ted Rose, David Plowden, and other who have recently passed from the scene...and I was just brooding over the possible merger of BNSF and CSX resulting in the calamity of a moniker like BNSFCSX. or If NS merged with UP we would be stuck with NSUP.. Alternative names like Big Railroad or Everywhere and Nowhere In Particular RR won't do. If this were the sixties I would suggest Windup and Rundown RR. But with the increasing share of names being disassociated with reality such as IPAD or Platinum, or Google, I cannot help but recall some wag's comments on the disappearance of reciprocating steam inasmuch as he predicted the alternative was as fascinating as watching a conveyor belt.
Yes the NS has re-envisioned it's heritage in a quasi manner with a pale version of Claytor's vision while some of the best examples of steam lie dormant, preserved in amber and then I thought of perhaps a loss of pride, perhaps the loss of the great enterprises of our country and the preservation of our heritage is as important perhaps even foundational to the future.
I was thinking of a 21st Century Railroad Fair, with the latest technology and the great remaining steam engines in one place. Remember the name of the T-1? .American Railroads...Is it time for the public to reengage with the railroads as vital to the past as the future?
I think it is overdue.
Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of it than he already has.
wallyworld Has public romanticism faded from the railroad scene...Is it time for the public to reengage with the railroads as vital to the past as the future? I think it is overdue.
Has public romanticism faded from the railroad scene...Is it time for the public to reengage with the railroads as vital to the past as the future?
There seems to be a tendency for most people to only be concerned that things work, not how they work.
How many people have no idea how thier computer works? Or their car? Or their phone? As things become so technically specialized, it is nearly impossible to keep up with the technology.
Why bother carrying tools in your car? There's not really anything you can do to fix them if you have a problem enroute. Other than changing a fuse, or pulling the battery cable to reset all the computers, or using a bit of wire to hold up a dangling tailpipe, what else is fixable without a trained tech (note they're no longer called 'mechanics').
Most people don't care how their microwave oven got to the Walmart shelf--they just want it immediately available. It would likely never occur to them that the train they are waiting for at the crossing is carrying the coal to make the electricity that makes their microwave function, or that the stack train is actually carrying their soon-to-be-new microwave.
Unless the product has an immediately-identifiable use to a person, many are just not interested. Unless it's a car show or an electronics show--then they come in droves.
So while most of us on this forum would likely find a 21st century railroad tech show immensly interesting (I know I would), it's not likely to happen.
People still visit railroad historic sites and parents point out to their kids when they see a train coming, so there still is some romance left. I mean for some reason, it is hard not to watch a train go by no matter who you are.
With railroads now starting to advertise themselves again, it seems there is a small growing interest in them again, but most seem to be oblivious about what the modern industry does.
As far as mergers go now come on, it is going to be BNSF buyout of NS and a UP buyout or merger of/with CSX.
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