Ben Hom intones

It'll have to come down to the "vesties" literally dying out
for any significant change to take place.

Now, now. How do you know new vesties aren't being born at this
very minute, ready to fill in the ranks of the dearly departed?

I for one am happy to hear that a prototype modeler is involved
at a high level of the society. Maybe there is hope yet. There
are many fine people in the NMRA -- the people who gave us DCC
are examples of that. And I heard RPM was well represented at the
San Jose convention. I would happily have gone, if I'd had the
time...

Timothy O'Connor <timoconnor@mediaone.net>
Marlborough, Massachusetts

Guys,
The wife and I seriously gave some thought to going to St. Louis this summer for the convention/family vacation. While I did not think that I would have some kind of prototype orgasm while there, I did think I would have a good time getting to see a good bit of stuff I've never gotten to see before. (See ya'll, I'm a real rube. It's an hours drive to the nearest hobby shop from where I live. I'd rather go ahead and drive three hours and show up at Al Westerfield's door.)
Instead, I've decided to go and attend the L&N Historical society'sconvention in Nashville, TN. I'll get more out of it. Glenn Farley (who took last year's NMRA best of show award for his completely scratch-built L&N 0-6-0) will be giving a clinic on detailing steam locomotives. I may give a presentation myself, ya never know.

Not a Vestie But a Goober Nonetheless,

Warren Dickinson

Guys,
The wife and I seriously gave some thought to going to St. Louis
this summer for the convention/family vacation.....Instead, I've decided
to go and attend the L&N Historical society's convention in Nashville, TN.
I'll get more out of it.

You made the right decision, Warren. NMRA conventions aren't a total waste
of time, as there is usually some good modeling and some worthwhile
clinics, and the train show affords an opportunity to see new stuff up
close and personal, including many products of small manufacturers which
most hobby shops don't offer. But for many NMRA members, the organization
functions like the Elks Club of model railroading, and you have to wade
through an awful lot of "fraternal order" BS and dodge a lot of aging,
overweight, vest-wearing lodge brothers in the process. Much of what goes
on is therefore, from the perspective of a serious scale modeler,
irrelevant at best and annoying and frustrating at worst. Since you're an
L&N modeler, you're sure to get more bang for the buck at the L&N Society
meeting. On the same reasoning, I'm going to pass on St. Louis this year
and attend the Santa Fe RH&MS meeting in Kansas City instead.

However! Looking into the future, plan to attend the NMRA convention in
Toronto in 2003, as the Canadians are (in their own words) "keen modelers"
who will present a lot of fine modeling and good information, and you can
count on Jim Eager to put on a terrific prototype modelers event. The
lodge brothers will be there, too, but they won't be running the show.
Also, there's a lot to like about being a visitor north of the border,
including a very favorable exchange rate (Unless the US economy goes
totally into the tank between now and then).

Richard H. Hendrickson
Ashland, Oregon 97520

We do welcome visitors but call first. If we're really busy we'll put you
off. Otherwise, come on down. - Al Westerfield
It's an hours drive to the nearest hobby shop from where I live. I'd rather
go ahead and drive three hours and show up at Al Westerfield's door.)

Ben hom wrote:

It'll have to come down to the "vesties" literally dying out
for any significant change to take place.

I noted a vestie in attendance at the RPM meet in Monroeville
(almost Pittsburgh) a couple of weeks ago, and it occurs to me
that this behavior comes out of a very deeply ingrained idea in the
American psyche of what a "railroad" person is stereotyped as,
i.e., a male, likely elderly, with a kindly demeanor and very
practical-minded, but not particularly entrepreneurial. Go to any
museum or event for general public consumption, or a video for
same audience, and you will get this "person" as the surrogate
host or guide or narrator. There are lots of people who are not in
the railroad hobby at all who would immediately identify with this
image, like the five-year-olds who could identify Joe Camel as
easily as Mickey Mouse, and 60-year-old men who volunteer to
play the part, much like playing Santa Claus or Uncle Sam.
I think the vesties are playing into this in the sense that they
think it's the way to "be" more like a railroad person, by dressing
up in an iconic outfit that is referential to, if not a direct match with,
this stereotype. In the Rutland society we have a member who fits
the stereotype very well except that he doesn't put on any of the
kitsch: he really is a friendly, aging, gentle man and a qualified part-
time railroader (whose father was a Rutland conductor). He doesn't
need to wear vests with patches or play any of the other behaviors
because he already <is> the image in reality.
I'm going to postulate that non-modeler railfans play this
stereotype less than those in the modeling community because
they are more voyeurs than players by nature. They watch trains
and don't participate in them like modelers try to do in scale
analogy. Prototype railfans do, however, have the same biasses of
focus as their modeling cousins, in that they know all you could
ever ask about locomotives, signaling, MOW and B&B, train
operations, etc. but couldn't tell you the first thing about freight
cars beyond distinguishing the basic types.
Now ducking for cover,

Jeff English philosophizes:

I think the vesties are playing into this in the sense that they
think it's the way to "be" more like a railroad person, by dressing
up in an iconic outfit that is referential to, if not a direct match
with, this stereotype... [snip] ...

Now ducking for cover

Yeah, you'd better! I never have figured out how to decode your own
very personal style of dress. It's one of the things I like about you,
kinda like having a friend who shares my interests, but also happens
to be from another planet.


(Just kidding. Honest!)


Timothy O'Connor <timoconnor@mediaone.net>
Marlborough, Massachusetts