Railpace Editor @ NCTM / NS Heritage Event

nsrlink · July 05, 2012, 12:26:59 PM

So, anyone wanna talk about the childish & asinine conduct displayed by the Railpace Editor during both days at the NCTM / NS Heritage Event? Screaming at the staff, yelling at people to get out of the way, having a general hissy fit and a loud meltdown when Tuesday's sequence of events changed, etc. Not a good way to portray the publication you represent in a professional manner. (Way to show your ass.) :

Kudos to the staff, volunteers, & NS folks who did put on a great event, despite someone needing a WHAAAAMMMbulance. :

Ponce de Leon · July 05, 2012, 01:16:47 PM

I was there, and I understand there were a couple of fights where security had to deal with it. Who was the guy from Railpace?

Honestly, I drove down to Spencer without any illusions that I would get stunning photo ops. If you have that many foamers roaming around, there's no way you'll come away with a good shot.

Case in point:

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=402483&nseq=0

Southern6482 · July 05, 2012, 01:45:12 PM

Ron, at least "your" child is popular in school and appears to be one of the cool kids at the prom

I think it's great that there was this much excitement over starring at 20 diesel engines. Of course, they were gorgeous. But fights? Wow.

Backyard · July 05, 2012, 04:02:51 PM

Sounds like some people don't know how to handle the heat...!

...and had a GEVO melt-down moment!

Badhorse79 · July 05, 2012, 04:51:34 PM

They must have asked "Raise your hand if your blocking the way " in your pic there Ron ...I can't believe I missed this

E.M. Bell · July 05, 2012, 07:14:02 PM

Carmon and myself are safely back at home after yet another 3 days on the road to the big NS birthday party in Spencer. It was great to meet so many folks from Jreb while there, and put some faces to names finally! It seemed that more people knew us and not the other way around.. On Tuesday it seemed like it took 45 minutes to walk from the parking lot to the roundhouse...every time I looked up someone was stepping out to say hi or "hey, aint you"....

I wish we could have had the time to put together some type of small meet and greet for all of our members during the event, as I don't imagine so many of us will be in the same place at the same time again.

All in all, I think NS did a amazing job of pulling this all off. The amount of work and planning it took to organize and execute something of this size is staggering, and that job fell on the shoulders of just a few people. While there where some glitches here and there, and things didnt always go as planned or on schedule, I personally think they are all to be commended for the effort and dedication...after all, they didnt have to do any of it!

I have to say that the worst thing I saw either day was the absolutely appalling conduct of the railfans. This was a family event, and there LOTS of young children there along with the so called adults, and yet the yelling, cursing and fit throwing was enough to make a sailor blush at time. The majority of those attending where well behaved and worked well with each other. Then, you had the others who where pushing people out of the way to get a shot, or yelling and cussing and generally acting like morons. Sadly, this seemed to come from mostly the OLDER railfans who should know better.

The younger generation on the other hand seemed to be much more interesting in soaking it all in and just enjoying being there. For the most part, the most positive interactions I had or saw involved those younger folks who where happy to share a photo line, move out of the way ect. It great to know that those young fans are the future of our hobby, because its the rest of the jerks that give us a bad name.

NSyorktown · July 05, 2012, 08:27:04 PM

My son and I were only on the grounds for 5 hours on Tuesday, so we was paying more attention to the locomotives than the crowd. Yes, I came back with a few pics of the back of someone else's camera. In a digital age, no harm / no foul. I moved around a lot, including being up on the photo platform about 6-7 different times (all to get the clearest viewpoints). I didn't hear some of the language, but then that might have fired-up as the heat built in the afternoon. It was very warm, and I could see emotions changing as a result. Both of us talked to railfans from across the country . . . . including at an Appleby's in Statesville the evening before. We are glad we made it to this historic event and have approx. 400 "good" images to treasure. RDS

chipallen16 · July 05, 2012, 10:09:03 PM

It was really nice to meet you and so many others, EM. I'm sure as far as respect goes that I got in a few photos, but with so many cameras, it's hard not to. It was really nice to meet folks and take in all of the history that I didn't get to live, though I still feel a connection to it.

Seeing a time-lapse of day one, it looked like it was run a lot differently than day two. What went differently, and which day was better?

-Chip

mbgphoto79 · July 06, 2012, 01:40:16 AM

I had a phenomenal time, meeting many and gathering as many good RAW files as possible. Got to meet Wick when he popped into the Choo Choo Shop for a visit. I overheard him in the book room talking about how Ron Flannary had some nice works available!

The only time I witnessed a blowout was during the night session. I was talking with another railfan from the Arlington, VA area over by the N&W/SOU merger setup when an older man turned around from the photo line and yelled at us "HEY DUMBA$$ES! QUIT USING YOUR FARKING FLASHES!! YOU ARE RUINING IT FOR THE REST OF US!!" We turned to each other and broke out in a laugh, as neither of our Canons were equipped with flashes.

Ponce de Leon · July 06, 2012, 08:58:31 AM

Quote from: mbgphoto79 on July 06, 2012, 01:40:16 AM
I had a phenomenal time, meeting many and gathering as many good RAW files as possible. Got to meet Wick when he popped into the Choo Choo Shop for a visit. I overheard him in the book room talking about how Ron Flannary had some nice works available!

Scott Lindsey and I talked with Wick earlier. He's writing the foreword for our Southern Railway all-color book to be published by White River (with graphic design by Dale Sanders, and also co-authored with Dave Oroszi) so this was the first time we had been able to talk about it face to face. Wick asked if we could include a shot of the "Southern" unit in the book now that it's painted ("Absolutely!").

I should have stayed around for the afternoon photos, but my traveling companion (Tom Sink) was a little worn out (as was I)----so we headed for home. I'm sure there were many other JREB folks there that I didn't get to see (such as EM and Carmon, for example...). Still, it was a pretty amazing event.

thpbears · July 07, 2012, 06:39:11 PM

That must have been the guy that yelled at me. After I told him to shut up I felt bad. I should not have let a idiot make me say something that was not good. One elderly male fell to the ground and instead of helping him up some just walked over him. The NS Staff as well as the Museum staff were great and could have not been more mannerly and professional . There were a few idiots running around being rude and such but now days you just can not help but to run into those type. Anyways don't know if it is the same guy but who cares. My family had a great time as did many. Again thanks to everyone including the Jrebs that kept us informed. It was well worth the trip and heat. ;D

tarnett · July 09, 2012, 12:56:59 PM

I was at the Lawmen's tent when this guy (red Railpace shirt) ambushed the volunteer (the narrator, a good friend of mine) and it was a childish tirade. It was explained to him numerous times that the museum and the volunteers are (were) at the mercy of NS. In no way was the museum dictating the schedule of events and yet this guy, along with several others could not comprehend this. One of the others taking part in the ambush was a railroader and he should of known the circumstances. Imagine that.

Because of this, I don't think you will ever see a Railpace magazine in my possesion.

Yes, the volunteers did great work and I appreciate the efforts of all involved. A great two days despite the 1% of idiots.

Tarnett

Quote from: nsrlink on July 05, 2012, 12:26:59 PM
So, anyone wanna talk about the childish & asinine conduct displayed by the Railpace Editor during both days at the NCTM / NS Heritage Event? Screaming at the staff, yelling at people to get out of the way, having a general hissy fit and a loud meltdown when Tuesday's sequence of events changed, etc. Not a good way to portray the publication you represent in a professional manner. (Way to show your ass.) :

Kudos to the staff, volunteers, & NS folks who did put on a great event, despite someone needing a WHAAAAMMMbulance. :