using spell check

[Anonymous]

Yes my friend, but you forget, we invented the language and no matter from London, Liverpool or Newcastle we all spell the words the same. The only difference is regional accents.
Pop

[Mookie]

well, ok - I can't resist this one -

In Nebraska we call them cardboard, unless they are out of your garden.

Jen

[edblysard]

Hi Blue,
A trainmaster is for the most part, the buffer between labor and top management.
Their function is to make the decisions that affect the train operations on a daily basis, arrange special moves to accomodate customers, make sure a plant order is filled, and generaly be a pain in the but..wait, the morality police are watching, so I should say pain in the keister.
They are to railroading what a district manager is to retail opperations, they give the ok to certain things, and if it works, they get the pat on the back, if it dosnt, they blame the yardmaster, dispatcher, or the crews. They are also responsible for rules compliance, and rule testing, and oversee the day to day operation of the railroad.
Most do come from the rank and file, but, if you ever work in the T&E of a railroad, which is what attracts most people in the first place, its either what you want to do for the rest of your life, or you hate it. Those who hate it either quit, and find another career, or become officers at the railroad, which dosnt require any real skill at railroading, per se.
And, in the six and a half years I have been at this, I have met only one who, although I wouldnt trust him to put his behind on the line for anyone but himself, he wouldnt go out of his way to screw you over, either.
Oh, and trainmasters are the guys who bring you up on charges, and hold the "invistigation" where you are fired, and get to decide how long you are fired for.
Note the regular rules and laws governing business do not apply at railroads.
Stay Frosty,
Ed

[sooblue]

Thank you oh wise one.
As they, whom ever "they" are, say.
A rose by any other name is still a rose. (thank goodness)

As I have traveled around this great land I have come across many American peoples who would be considered the "serial killers" of the English language. Why, I could have hired an interpreter on more than one occasion (if one could have been found)

Now lets look at England and we'll see that there is no difference.

people from London talk one way.
people from Liverpool another way.
Upper class, lower class.
Yet a tomato always tastes the same.
That is one of the endearing things about England.
Sooblue

[sooblue]

Is that really true?
Are there no trainmasters who know the job and have the confidence to do it honestly?
I would have thought that they would be looked up to and respected for their knowledge.
What does a trainmaster actually do?
Sooblue

[sooblue]

Well it doesn't happen often I'll tell ya!
Sooblue

[Anonymous]

I'm from Chicago, we call them expencive.

[wabash1]

im from the south we call them maters

[Anonymous]

I think it was General Patton who once said "Americans and English are two peoples divided by a common language". Evey since America began, English has been written and spoken as Americans felt like it and that is one of the endearing this about this country. MN, how do you spell colour? probably color and how do you say toMAHto? probably toMAYto. So everybody out there murder this common language you see fit. You have my permission.
Pop.

[edblysard]

Careful, the demagogue morality police will report you...
And why would you want to be a trainmanster?
Because, if you come from the rank and file, as most do, at some point in time, the carriers wishes will force you to have to lie to people who were your firends, and do and say things that are not true or honest.
Most of the trainmaster I have met suffer from a ego problem, either too little, and they couldnt cut it as switchmen/conductors, and took the promotion because they couldnt earn others respect anyway, or the opposite kind, way to much ego, and they took the promotion, so they could screw people over at their leisure, for no reason other than they can.
Stay Frosty,
Ed

[edblysard]

Hi Terry,
As to the last statement, not all of us think "foamers" are bad, nor do all of us attack you guys. I like fans, was one myself for years, and still am.
But, most of the old heads went railroading when they were kids, its about the only thing they have ever done. And the attitude comes from being around this stuff for so long, to them, a locomotive is just a tool, nothing more or less.
I mean, you typically dont see airline pilots driving out to the airport to watch planes, or a truck driver sitting on the side of the freeway, checking out Kenworths, do you? So for most railroaders, its just a motor, it makes no difference if its a SD90MAC, or a SD40-2, as long as it works, they could care less what kind of motor it is.
Now, thats not to say a few railroaders are not fans, but are just closet fans, traditionaly, its been looked down on from inside the railroad culture. But, lucky me, as I am both a fan, and a modeler, I get to do some hands on research. Had a old GP7 in the yard yesterday, it was Santa Fe #1373, with a Cleburn cab, but still a GP, in the blue and yellow paint. Went over, climbed up and nosed around, you could see where the Cleburn shop had cut the round roof off, and added plate to raise the roof and make it angled. They also chopped the high short front hood down. But still kinda neat, it had to be around 50 years old, but still in service daily, it is used to do yard transfer work, and short local runs.
Wondering who attacked you on this forum, as most of the railroaders I have met here seem very interested in answering fans questions, and passing on information to you guys.
Well, Stay Frosty,
Ed

[Mookie]

Hey slick! You snuck that one thru pretty neat!

Jen

[edblysard]

GET A ROOM!

[sooblue]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you don't really get to be a trainmaster with out mastering the train do you?

Or a yardmaster with out mastering the yard

Or a masterbaiter with out knowing how to hook your worm.

I mean...its not like you can sleep your way to the top in RRing is it?
I know you start off on the bottom, but eventually you should end up on the top...if you are good.
Sooblue

[sooblue]

*lol* Understood and agreed with Ed.
I'd like to see some story sharing. I can't get enough TRUE tales.
Spelling matters not. Someone on another post had said that they couldn't get spell check to work that's how I got the idea for this posting.
I think I'm still getin feedback on it too.
Sooblue

[wabash1]

thanks ed

sometimes i write so fast so i dont lose the thought and it looks like i am mad. when you work the hours i do sometimes you just say it with out caring how it comes across. im not like misouri in that the only thing that keep me from high school was grammer school.

[wabash1]

HA HA HA HA HA ..... this is good ...... this man is a instant unihead.... soory blue. he got ya

[mnwestern]

I like apples — most any kind, except crab apples.
Anyway, I know that not all railroad people care so little for the words they use and how they present them. The vast majority, I suspect, are very literate and well-read. In fact, one of my best friends, a CP engineer, is both, and to a high degree. Just goes to show you don't have to be a dropout of the "Evelyn Woodhead Sped-Reddin' Course" to be an engineer.
By the way, why do so many railroad people attack those of us on these forums as "foamer" railfans and model railroaders who don't know anything. Isn't Kalmbach's main audience for TRAINS and Model Railroader, after all, both of those groups?

[Anonymous]

Only somebody from MN. would think this is such a problem. Perfect TRAINMASTER material.


Tom
retired switchman

[vsmith]

Did it occur to anyone that this is not as "insant Message" forum and that all you have to do is simply re-read your message BEFORE you hit that "post reply" button. Seams a lot of errors could get caught if spelling is that big issue for you. Just a random thuoght.

[edblysard]

But it does, in a way, affect the way you come across. And I like the way you write.
Ed

[wabash1]

OH BABY....

[Mookie]

Wabash: I love it when you talk caps to me!

Jen

[wabash1]

ED

NOW THAT YOU PUT IT THAT WAY, I JUST NEVER THOUGHT IT MENT SO MUCH TO SO MANY PEOPLE THAT I NEVER USE CAPS, PROPER GRAMMAR, OR THE PERFECT SENTANCE STRUCTURE. ENGLISH WAS A SUBJECT I HATED EVEN THOUGH I RECIEVED A "B" FOR A GRADE.

BACK TO THE SUBJECT AT HAND I WAS UNDER THE IMPRESSION THIS WAS A RAILROAD FORUM SITE. IN WHICH WE TALK RAILROADING NOT GRADE SCHOOL GRAMMER. THANKS FOR YOUR TIME

WABASH

[eolafan]

Them apples? I think, sir, that you have proved the points of all those you lambaste very, very well. Nothing more needs to be said about this issue.

[wabash1]

it seems to me that the other railroaders understand what i am saying regarless how i spell it. railroading has a language of its own. and since you are on a railroad site maybe you should be learning how we talk instead of trying to convert us. in other words we talk like we write and you people dont have problems understand us on the radio.

[csxengineer98]

first of all..i dont have one in reach...second of all..if you want me to have one...send me some cash so i can put one within reach....third of all... how do you know its not just bad typeing skills..and not bad use of spelling... i dont read eveything that is being typed..becouse im to busy looking at this keybord.... so i only see a few words when i look up now and then.... forth....i dont profread nor do i care too.... i get my point across well enought i would think.... fith... you dont need to know how to type when opporating a train...we are moving freight..not writing a friken book..... sixth.... most of my postings are in the wee hours of the morning and im tired... seventh....and most importaint....i just dont give a ***...
so how do you like them apples
csx engineer

[edblysard]

Not huffy, but just wondering.
Like I wrote, so many of us have gotten into the number of rivets on a old NYC gondola, that quite a few seemed to miss seeing the whole train in the first place.
Plainly put, we seem to get wraped up in the M&M garbage, and spent a inordinate amount of time, myself included, paying attention to their crap, and cabforwards, than discussing railroading, trains, and other stuff. Not to say only railroading should be discussed here, I am dieing to know why Kev was in the bathroom while his girlfriend was taking a shower( as if I didnt know, but I want him to say so).
But we have allowed these three individules and their problems to overshadow everything else. And now, it seems the most pressing thing we can come up with is spelling and punctuation?
I wasnt attacking you, personally, just teh concept that we need spell check to amuse ourselves, or make the postings correct, by some standard. While that may please a nit picker, it takes away the flavor from the postings.
I sat in on one of my wife creative writing classes, and when everyone writes a "perfect" papre, and then pass it around for peer review, its get boring to read them, they all sound the same, regardless of the content.
You can speed read them because every sentence in every papre that starts the with the same phrase, end with the same phrase. Numbs the mind.
I like reading Kev's stuff, I get a kick out of seeing where j gets a little POed, and his writting reflects it, he forgets to use the space bar, and you know he was typing like mad, trying to get it all down before he cools off.
If we all wrote the same, you might as well take the names and monickers away, and lable us as person #1, person #2, so forth and so on.
And I said exactly what I meant in the last line of my reply, if someone wants to critique' my spelling and grammer, fine by me, I have better things to do than worry if I missed a comma.
Stay Frosty there Blue,
and trust me, you will know when I get huffy.
Ed

[sooblue]

Now don't go getin huffy Ed. I really did write this only to give all you old heads somethin else to jump on besides RR crossings.

I could have said that you could train a chimpanzee to drive a modern diesel engine. It takes no talent at all. Even NASA sent a chimp into space before men went.

But I didn't say that. I guess I cut deeper with the spelling crack.

What would happen if I mixed the Spell check with the Crossing thing? CROSSCHECK OR CHECK BEFORE CROSSING, or something.
Sooblue

[edblysard]

Funny, But I doubt anyone has missed the content of my postings, or the intent, not only of mine, but of those as brokenly written as Kev's, who has english as a second language, and writes the way you would expect him to.
Read through the rest of the replies to this, and it sounds like a bunch of guys watching a steam locomotive passing. All of them are argueing about wether it has 82" drivers, or 79" drivers, and have gotten so involved in the debate that they couldnt tell you what number was on the locomotive that just went by. They missed the big show, debating a moot point.
The spelling, grammer and punctuation question seems to come up regularly, to the point I have begun to wonder if people are reading the postings for the information they contain, or as a excersise in English Language 101.
Does it really matter that j never uses caps, has bad grammer and punctuation, or thet Kev appears to have a dislexic keyboard?
If it bothers you, dont read my postings or replys, I often add in a extra e where it dosnt belong, and spell badly.
And I can, and do handle a mile long train, even though I can't spell aluminum with out looking it up in a dictionary.
Personally, I don't read these postings for any other reason than I like the content. If all you are interested in is style, spelling and punctuation, and the context and content are secondary, you are missing the big show.
And its a blast, trying to figure out what Kev is trying to say, adds a little fun to the mix.
Now, all you english lit majors can go over this reply, find all the miss-spelled words, point out the missing punctuation, and carry on about the fact that I didnt structure this the way my high school engli***eacher taught me to.
While your busy doing that, I am going to go read some more postings.
You guys Stay Frosty,
Ed