# The Sociology of Model Railroading



## 876 (Dec 27, 2007)

deleted


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

I've seen that before, IMHO the writer is as much as a grumble-pants as the fuss-pots he rails against.


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## Homo Habilis (Jul 29, 2011)

To me, the Wikipedia entry for the initial quote by Christopher Lasch is a bit more interesting.

p.s. I'm thinking of changing my nom de plume to "grumble-pants"!


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## Homo Habilis (Jul 29, 2011)

Ferroequus:

Sorry, I didn't mean John Bruce, I meant Christopher Lasch. I've corrected my entry.

Mark


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## Dr Rivet (Jan 5, 2008)

HH

John Bruce IS the author of the incredibly opinionated whingey piece. Christopher Lasch is just the self-styled "fill-in-the-blank" who is quoted at the very beginning.

I know that I personally hold strong opinions on almost every item he raised in his incredibly long winded diatribe, but in many areas he showed that he was at least as prejudiced [as opposed to biased] as those he complained about. I really should have read this while consuming an adult beverage [or two] as I found it pretty tiresome. At least I won't have to worry about meeting him at an NMRA or any other convention, let alone a train show.

That said, I am sure that there are many who know me who would immediately accuse me of being the "pot calling the kettle black". I offer no defense. LOL!

I presume the OP has a secret desire to torture us in some way.


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

Dr Rivet said:


> HH
> 
> John Bruce IS the author of the incredibly opinionated whingey piece. Christopher Lasch is just the self-styled "fill-in-the-blank" who is quoted at the very beginning.
> 
> ...


I presume his POV may be like my own, as someone who likes LS precisely because alot of the extreme 'rivet counting' and the 'its my way or the highway' gerfufeling that seams to permeate the smaller scales is, for the most part, mostly absent in large scale. We are a very much a more open minded 'live at let live' scale... compared to the others. So reading something like that makes us appreciate what we are doing in LS, that's just my perspective


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

> the 'its my way or the highway' gerfufeling that seams to permeate the smaller scales is, for the most part, mostly absent in large scale.


Vic, I'm not sure I agree. Given the number of people modelling in the smaller scales, you can be tightly focused on one aspect (e.g. proto-48 standards for PRR modelling in 1947) and still find someone to talk to. In Large Scale, if you get too aggressive about one topic, you will find there aren't many people left who want to chat with you!


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## Garratt (Sep 15, 2012)

No time to read all that! 
I have a live steam train to catch...

Andrew


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## kormsen (Oct 27, 2009)

a long text - with lots of gall in it.
if i would believe even only half of it, i would leave the hobby.


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## CliffyJ (Apr 29, 2009)

Wow, what a massive whine, you could almost power a methane generator off of it. The only actual sociological content there is a first-person demonstration of industrial-grade victim-hood.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Yeah, it's someone's magnum opus... and you can see he has had a few scuffles, but I did not see where he took any responsibility for part of them.

That sure was a lot of work.

Greg


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## denray (Jan 5, 2008)

All I can say is, Thanks to you guys that read it, I trust your view and glad I did not waste my time reading it.
I built a new bridge instead .


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## Chris Scott (Jan 2, 2008)

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.

RE: Christopher Lasch, "The Culture of Narcissism":
"Jimmy Carter was so taken with Lasch’s ideas that he invited the academic author to advise him on the famous “malaise” speech of July 1979."

"It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt."
(Mark Twain)


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## Chris Scott (Jan 2, 2008)

denray said:


> All I can say is, Thanks to you guys that read it, I trust your view and glad I did not waste my time reading it.
> I built a new bridge instead .


Ok, some people are just smarter than others.


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## Chris Scott (Jan 2, 2008)

Ferroequus said:


> deleted


Why go and delete the link. It's mildly entertaining in a demented and self abusive kind of way.

The Sociology of Model Railroading... http://www.trainweb.org/lfnwfan/html/Sociology.htm


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Holy Twisted Knickers, Batman!!!

You ever watch a move that's just so bad that you have to keep watching to see how totally, ridiculously awful it can actually get? 

Yeah... like that... except I forgot to make popcorn.

Shoulda built a bridge.

Later,

K


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## stevedenver (Jan 6, 2008)

dooooood!!!!!my head hurts and I need a cuppa.
I read/perused/read/ scrolled that tome.

As a lawyer, when something is verbose , and I recognize it, that's saying something.

Varney, Penn Line, Mantua, gone and forgotten.....what is he going on about?

Malcolm Furlow as some sort of demon????? Allen, Olson, and Furlow were inspirational for me, as the sorta, kinda, not a rivet counter, but I might wanna be, (when im in the mood) guy. LOL

Even the Conclusion left me befuddled. Methinks he doesn't fancy train people. Methinks he should learn to ......make a point and condense.

And there are some of us, who more or less play alone, and, when we do play with others, are nice.......

And, those Great Train Show outings, typically for me on a cold, pre thanksgiving sunday afternoon, are simply wonderful, if only to get out of the house, alone, and take my time, or not, looking at the amazing inspirational layouts, buy something I would never otherwise eat at the food vendor, or not, and look around at all the things I might just NEED........gotta have one more for the pile.....and, someone selling it to me who understands......LOL


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## Homo Habilis (Jul 29, 2011)

It appears that Ferroequus "has left the building" as the op is now identified as 876 Guest. A search of his member name results in no recent posts.

Curious!


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Ahh, and he deleted 5 of his 8 posts.

Reminds me of another ex-member who came on and promptly proclaimed he knew everything about a particular subject (which turned out to be true), when all did not kneel down and recognize his majesty, he left.

Greg


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## Garratt (Sep 15, 2012)

I've watched this unfold over the last few days and here is my take on it, reading between the lines. 
I suspect the OP was trying to make a point here regarding: *Online forum bullies* which was in a section of the linked document above. 
As a relative newcomer to large scale who had only made a few previous comments on MLS, he recently made a one line comment in another thread that was old and was rudely invalidated by: 'guess who?'. He then started this thread. I suspect his point regarding bullies was missed in such a large bewildering linked document which would also be invalidating so he deleted the link to it and later changed his user name and deleted his comments from other threads unrelated. 
I think he got his nose out of joint because of the unexpected brashness of a single user. 

Andrew


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## Chris Scott (Jan 2, 2008)

It could have been about, "Some Reflections on Clergy in the Hobby"

91 pages and 42,162 word ramble. Is it worth speculating what it's about at all? 

The author's website http://trainweb.org/lfnwfan/

The OP is from 2012, and the last time the website is the same date in 2012. This all beating a very dead horse.


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## CliffyJ (Apr 29, 2009)

Well, Ferroequus, if you're reading this, I'd have posted that link too -- just for it's various interesting qualities. 

If Garratt is right, which I expect, I hope you don't let one rude guy speak for the rest of us here. Please keep posting. 

Very cool moniker, "Iron Horse." I liked it.

===>Cliffy


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## Garratt (Sep 15, 2012)

Cliffy, I followed the bread crumbs from the beginning but said nothing earlier as it was awkwardly speculative. The deleting of other unrelated threads I suspect is an act of sheer frustration.

Chris, it's not about the linked document. Yes, the OP did join some time ago and made a few posts in 2014 when he said he was a newcomer to large scale and purchased some small cars. All his recent thread comments have been deleted and a user name change.

I hope he does come back too. Perhaps he now feels vindicated and has a tougher skin for what most regular users have gotten accustomed to.

Andrew


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## CliffyJ (Apr 29, 2009)

Chris Scott said:


> It could have been about, "Some Reflections on Clergy in the Hobby"


Yeah, that was the weirdest section for me. Like, Protestants and Catholics and all others might disagree, sometimes violently, on who God is, salvation, behavior, everything. BUT, they ALL agree that model railroading is proper way to spend one's time, and that Mr. Bruce is a moron.

Hmmmm.... On those last two points, I agree!

Now, he could have said that Protestants like rail power, Catholics like battery, not sure about live steam... I, of course, wouldn't go near such an argument in a million years. But it would have made about as much sense!


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

I tried several times to read the essay. Each time I fell asleep part way through. Since I'm in my second childhood, my attention span isn't what it used to be.

Chuck


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

And Ferroequus is no more too...

Greg


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