Forums for Rail Enthusiasts

[jonty14]

Are there any forums for railway enthusiasts only where no one gets slagged off? I find on this forum that too many professionals are against enthusiasts. Or how about an enthusiasts only dun forum.

 

[ComUtoR]

What about the enthusiasts who are professionals ?

 

[telstarbox]

Why not set an enthusiasts only forum up and let us know how you get on?

This forum is interesting precisely because there are staff from TOCs and Network Rail who give their time and contribute their expertise and view 'from the inside'.

 

[IanD]

Are there any forums for railway enthusiasts only where no one gets slagged off? I find on this forum that too many professionals are against enthusiasts. Or how about an enthusiasts only dun forum.

Are there any forums for anything where no-one gets slagged off? I doubt it - and you are very naïve for thinking there might be.

 

[Juniper Driver]

Are there any forums for railway enthusiasts only where no one gets slagged off? I find on this forum that too many professionals are against enthusiasts. Or how about an enthusiasts only dun forum.

I have no problem with enthusiasts.I believe I am still an enthusiast even though I have a job on the railways.How lucky I am.

 

[Greenback]

I'm not speaking officially as a member of staff here. I just want to give my personal perspective.

I looked at, and even joined, a number of railway forums before I began posting regularly here. what I found most interesting about this one was the wide range of topics being discussed, and the wide range of people who were making contributions. It was a real positive for me compared with other sites.

We're all different, though, and if you would prefer to use a more specific and focused site, that's fine. I don't know of any that provide exactly what you're for, but maybe there are one or two out there. I imagine that it would be pretty small scale compared with many forums, though. In my experience the less general and more niche any forum is, the less traffic it has.

That's not necessarily a bad thing, depending on your interests and point of view, but there is no guarantee that any forum will not have disagreements between contributors.

 

[telstarbox]

Some of the posts on this thread are worth reading in relation to the professional/enthusiast 'divide' (and yes, as above it's possible to be both!)

 

[Dave1987]

My passion is for aircraft and I love nothing better than to go down to Heathrow or Stansted with my radio scanner and watch the constant stream of aircraft landing. I am also a flight sim enthusiast and fly a desk. I have spoken to many pilots and have a lot of knowledge of how aircraft work. Some Pilots don't really like people like me but others are more than willing to chat about how things work in the real world. Its just the nature of the beast really we all have our hobbies.

 

[Johnuk123]

Are there any forums for railway enthusiasts only where no one gets slagged off? I find on this forum that too many professionals are against enthusiasts. Or how about an enthusiasts only dun forum.

I think you'll find the great majority of rail staff who as you call it slag enthusiasts off do it out of frustration.

Nobody is worse then an amateur who knows everybody else's job inside out but in reality is largely an ignorant know-all.

 

[wensley]

i believe i am still an enthusiast even though i have a job on the railways.how lucky i am.

Plus 1!

 

[PaxVobiscum]

...I find on this forum that too many professionals are against enthusiasts...

That is not my impression.

I am far from convinced that all the participants here can be separated into either (a) enthusiasts or (b) professionals with no possibility of being both – or indeed neither, but let that pass.

There have been occasions on this forum when industry professionals have posted intemperately, possibly in haste, sometimes perhaps even rudely, but this is in my view has to be offset against a number of at best immature or ill-considered, and at worst, inflammatory posts by others. The forum rules should prevent persistence of either and I believe generally they do. A fair number of people have been sent to the virtual "naughty corner" over the years and it is always possible for any individual to block from their own view the posts of any member to which one has developed an aversion.

A well presented argument should not involve ad hominem attacks, which I think might be what is meant by "slagging off" in this context, but lively and even heated debate is healthy although participants need to be careful not to take personal offence.

I trust you will not take offence at my not agreeing with you, and hope that I have presented my case politely, though possibly not convincingly enough.

 

[talltim]

I doubt that any rail professionals would be on an open-to-all rail forum without also being an enthusiast at some level.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

Are there any forums for railway enthusiasts only.....

Possibly, but I'm not really sure what you would gain from it, or how good it would be.

.....where no one gets slagged off?....

I would imagine most forums where people don't get "slagged off" have a smaller number of members and that could be reflected in the level of knowledge amongst the group. It's not necessarily a bad thing, it's just not necessarily a good thing either. The more people you have, the more chance that some won't get along, or will have strongly opposing views.

....I find on this forum that too many professionals are against enthusiasts....

That's weird, because I tend to see it the other way around.....

 

[DaleCooper]

Are there any forums for railway enthusiasts only where no one gets slagged off? I find on this forum that too many professionals are against enthusiasts. Or how about an enthusiasts only dun forum.

How would a forum enforce an "enthusiasts only" policy? Any attempt to do so would probably attract trolls, the opposite to the intended effect.

As for myself I am neither a professional nor an enthusiast I just find many of the threads interesting but what convinced me to join was the standard of English which is generally much higher than on other forums I've visited.

 

[Mike395]

(As per Greenback I am replying in a personal capacity here - not as a member of forum staff)

I think for me, anyone who has an interest in railways, whether staff, enthusiasts or just passengers who have any level of interest about the rail network are equally likely to join a forum about that interest - and to police it so that certain roles above are excluded is likely to be detrimental to the quality of the discussion.

Also, I agree with what hairyhandedfool says about the number of members in a community naturally being proportional to the number of disagreements, at least to a certain extent (although there are other factors that influence this too).

 

[Juniper Driver]

I have worked for the railways for many years but I can still learn things from enthusiasts (and I have) and pick up some useful info and interesting stuff.Cheers.

 

[QueensCurve]

What about the enthusiasts who are professionals ?

About 30y ago I travelled on a Liverppol to London train diverted to St Pancras Sunday. On the way I sat with a fascinating railwayman whose name I won't disclose but I will refer to as PM.

PM was a fascinating source of knowledge about all things rail. I later mentioned him to my father (39y with LMS and BR) who said he knew PM "but he was always more of a Rail Enthusiast than an Enthusiastic Railwayman".

Plus ca change.

 

[carriageline]

I'm not against enthusiasts on the whole, they can be helpful and I have learnt many things from people who take an interest in such things.

What I don't like is enthusiasts:

Telling me how to do my job, questioning why I made a decision or pulling apart a decision in hindsight

Telling other people wrong information as fact, and then cannot take it when proven wrong.

Thinking they deserve some sort of special treatment, or should be privvy to certain Information.

Enthusiasts using information they should have (control logs) etc as some sort of bragging right (ie I know what happened, and it wasn't nice! I cannot say though...) that one really winds me up

Think they can go up to the SPT and ask why a train hasn't arrived yet! Bore off, I won't tell you anything. (This happened today...)

I would say I'm fairly laid back, I'll help anyone out, and help along who doesn't know much about my job and what we do. I'll happily explain all the technologies and such we have and use, in fact I enjoy doing so. I enjoy my job!

 

[yorkie]

Are there any forums for railway enthusiasts only where no one gets slagged off? I find on this forum that too many professionals are against enthusiasts.

Many people employed in the rail industry are actually enthusiasts themselves. Numerous forum members subsequently become rail staff (you can look at the careers section to see examples). If any professionals are "against enthusiasts" they would also be 'against' their colleagues and bosses in some cases!

'Slagging off' shouldn't happen. As we state in our Forum Rules " if any content causes you concern, please alert us to it, by reporting (

) it", so hopefully now you know about this facility you can let us know of any concerns you have.

On average we get approximately 1,000 posts per day (far too many to read them all) so it's best to assume we won't have read any particular post unless it's been reported to us.

Or how about an enthusiasts only dun forum.

Feel free to make one.

 

[455driver]

Are there any forums for railway enthusiasts only where no one gets slagged off? I find on this forum that too many professionals are against enthusiasts. Or how about an enthusiasts only dun forum.

Yeah its not like there are any 'enthusiasts' on here that slag staff off is there! :roll:

The fact that we (as in staff) are on here is because we are enthusiasts as well but lets not let that small fact get in the way of a good moan shall we!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

What about the enthusiasts who are professionals ?

He is obviously one of the those with a 'them and us' mind set.

 

[me123]

It's been a few years since I've been on other forums, but despite what you might think I find this one to be the most friendly towards us enthusiasts/interested others.

On lots of other forums, enthusiasts were truly seen as a lesser species; welcome to lurk, but contribute at your peril. Know your place. The big boys are talking real railways, you go play BVE.

Now, of course it's not just down to the forum, it's the members that make the forum. And there have been moments here where I've seen staff talking down to enthusiasts. But on the whole, I've found this forum to be the most welcoming to enthusiasts. Questions are generally answered with respect, and enthusiasts can and do join in in most if not all discussions.

As has been said, the biggest strength of this forum is the variety of members from all walks of life, and segregating the staff from the enthusiasts will serve only to weaken the forum.

 

[Greenback]

I don't see a great deal of 'slagging off' here as I'd define the term. Yes, some threads get a bit heated, (especially those involving strikes) and some posts are reported as being outside of the forum rules, but by and large, considering the number of posts made here, on average, every day, I think it's a very small percentage that are really worth that description. I believe that we get very few instances of real bad behaviour rather than just a vibrant and robust discussion.

I think a forum without vibrant and robust discussion might be a tedious place!

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Are there any forums for anything where no-one gets slagged off? I doubt it - and you are very naïve for thinking there might be.

Oh the irony! (I've bolded the ironic bits. I guess the 2nd bold phrase is evidence for the first one )

 

[DaleCooper]

Oh the irony! (I've bolded the ironic bits. I guess the 2nd bold phrase is evidence for the first one )

Calling someone naive is hardly slagging off.

 

[IanD]

Oh the irony! (I've bolded the ironic bits. I guess the 2nd bold phrase is evidence for the first one )

Perhaps it was meant to be ironic and you may be naïve for thinking otherwise.

 

[Kingsbury Jn.]

I think you'll find the great majority of rail staff who as you call it slag enthusiasts off do it out of frustration.

Nobody is worse then an amateur who knows everybody else's job inside out but in reality is largely an ignorant know-all.

I think that you just illustrated his point!

 

[Antman]

Are there any forums for railway enthusiasts only where no one gets slagged off? I find on this forum that too many professionals are against enthusiasts. Or how about an enthusiasts only dun forum.

You'll find disagreements on just about any forum but I've always found this one generally quite civilised

 

[RichmondCommu]

Are there any forums for railway enthusiasts only where no one gets slagged off? I find on this forum that too many professionals are against enthusiasts. Or how about an enthusiasts only dun forum.

There are times on this forum when members who are not railway professionals make suggestions or claims which even I can see as a commuter are just plain daft. When railway employees then point out that what they've posted is a bit wide of the mark / silly / unfeasible they are then accused of slagging people off when in fact all they are doing is being realistic. The point is that without railway professionals this forum wouldn't be half as enjoyable or more to the point useful.

I often wonder whether those members who complain about being criticized are perhaps members of the younger generation who don't like to be corrected. It would be rather naive to think that you could go through life without at some stage being corrected.

 

[Johnuk123]

I often wonder whether those members who complain about being criticized are perhaps members of the younger generation who don't like to be corrected. It would be rather naive to think that you could go through life without at some stage being corrected.

Nail on the head moment.

 

[carriageline]

There are times on this forum when members who are not railway professionals make suggestions or claims which even I can see as a commuter are just plain daft. When railway employees then point out that what they've posted is a bit wide of the mark / silly / unfeasible they are then accused of slagging people off when in fact all they are doing is being realistic. The point is that without railway professionals this forum wouldn't be half as enjoyable or more to the point useful.



I often wonder whether those members who complain about being criticized are perhaps members of the younger generation who don't like to be corrected. It would be rather naive to think that you could go through life without at some stage being corrected.

That sir, is what we call a nailhead/hammer interface moment!