Nostalgia & History > I Just Don't See the RR Writing Anymore...

...except for perhaps Fred Frailey in his feature articles in Trains, and his monthly columns, and blog on Trains Online.

I was reading an old 1993 issue of Railfan & Railroad last night (the issue about EMD SD45s) that had a good article by iconic photographer and writer Ted Benson and a companion article by "our" Jack "Hotwater" Wheelihan.

And yes I've got a stack of "keeper" Railroad Magazines, Railfan & Railroads (but mostly before it went to hell in the 1990s), and Trains in the David P. Morgan Era (and I still subscribe to Trains, as well as my free subscriptions to the trade publications Railway Age and Progressive Rairoading, and, sigh...they almost seem one and the same now...with an anti-labor perspective, sometimes anti-passenger train persective). Except for Fred Fraily and Don Phillips. But how I miss those David P. Morgan pieces, and whatever happened to "Selected Railroad Reading" which in years past seemed to have such a lyrical prose quality and often written by working rails, or at least written by folks who had actually had experiences ABOARD trains and loved such experiences? Now it's just: "RR A runs Train X and hauls commodity Y from Point A to B on such-and-so schedule and has such-and-so Operating Ratio compared to last year and such-and-so Return on Investment." This is NOT the Trains of old or of the DPM Era, is it?

I just don't know. I don't look forward to the new Trains issues as I once did. Perhaps it is getting "old and jaded," but I don't think that this is it, and I'd like some response? As I think that perhaps "Classic Trains" might have a bit more in for me than "Trains" now--while still not equaling the Trains of the 1960s, entire decade of the 1970s (ewven with that bastard John Kneiling spewing his anti-labor hatred every month back then), and a good part of the 1980s, and, the lost decade of the 1990s until now.

What is it?, and yes, I've thought about it. That there are no longer as many writing railroaders as there used to be so many of? (And sorry, I'm a RETIRED rail, and so, I don't have as many stories to tell as if I'd have taken such-and-so trip yesterday or last week, so I'm not the answer). But I've noticed the literal content of articles say in Trains, still the best (aside from Classic Trains which I'll probably be subscribing to next, and even it can't match the old David P. Morgan "Trains," now can it?). But what I've noticed is that articles have a map, and the story concentrates on often a spread sheet (often) of a short line's ops, and/or, how long it takes trains to get from Point A to Point B. And/or how many trains are scheduled from Point A to Point B (whether shortline, regional, or Class One, and let's face it...far more stories about shortlines and regionals than Class Ones anymore, hey?), and their Operating Ratio, Return on Investment, perhaps a few dispatching functions, an interview with the shortline/regional President/CEO, and NOTHING that would inspire, say, an 11-to-`7 tear old kid to become interested in the industry either as a worker in TE&Y or even as an "avocation" as a "railfan." And no wonder the National RR Historical Society is on it's last legs? Dear God, you keep feeding into the older crowd and ignore the younger crowd and what works in today's society--and thus--are DYING.

But mostly, it is the writing, the quality thereof, and even the subject matter. Some of those old articles--whether long or short--were almost poetic. And I'm not talking about "technically correct" writing, as everybody now has a spell-checker, plus, that's what an Editor is for, isn't it?!? Is that NOT what an Editor is FOR?!? Nobody and I don't care who you are--can write a magazine article worth a good damn--let alone a book, without a good editor! That having been said, I see little inspiration in today's writing about railroading. And that be whether it's about the most modern scenarios, or even attempting to write about railroading "in the day."

If you want to see what REAL "RR Writing is all about," then go back and look at anything the David P. Morgan ever wrote in Trains. Or that Jim Boyd wrote (or photographed) in Railfan & RR before his death and before that became simply an "ad magazine." Or see a Fred Frailey article from the 1970s. Poetic Prose, that was. And he still does great work, and has a strong voice.

But back in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, even up into the 1980s, even working railroaders were damn good writers! (And often good photographers as well). But mostly good writers that could put you in the cab with them on steam or diesel. Recall Frank Clodfelter, Southern Railway locomotive engineer? Who ran the Southern Crescent (with E8s in green and gold), at other times the "Ashville Special" up through North Carolina with F-Units and SR domes, ran the SR "Kentucky Derby Special" with E-Units, and also ran many of the Southern steam excursion locomotives including the T&P 2-10-4 610, certainly the SR Mike 4501, and all the rest of them?). He was a professional hoghead when they were still treated as such, a good educated man who was a good writer, and a good photographer, and probably SMARTER than 90$ of us that are on Trainorders.Com. And referred to as "MISTER Clodfelter." Now, he'd be treated like DIRT. And be made a joke of because of his photos and written articles and the fact that he was smarter than everybody he worked with--and FOR.

And also digging through my old collection last night, read a nice article from a man that worked aboard NP (or perhaps GN) SD45s & other 2nd Generation Power and such at 80 MPH on regular freights (perish the thought today!), and actually signed his name to the article!

Oh well. So now, we're left with spreadsheets in "Fan Mags" of when trains come and go, partial maps, and what they haul for the most part each week on regionals and shortlines. How thrilling?!? It puts me to sleep better than a Lunesta, Ambien, or a "What Have You."

Heck, I still have some old issues of Pacific Rail News from the early 1970s that went into such detail about early Amtrak ops that it literally spoke of the mechanical condition of the ex-SP F-Units out West! Now that was on the "techie side" and perhaps not the "Great Writing" that I speak of, but it sure as heck was interesting, wasn't it? But you know what I'm talking about, especially the David P. Morgan Era, and all of those wonderful stories written in the old Railroad Magazine and mostly by rails. One wonderful one that I cannot find about early Amtrak: "Railroading in the Cab at 90 MPH." I'd love to be able to reread that one. About a transcontinental journey aboard E9s, SDP40Fs, and mixtures thereof. On the National Limited and the San Francisco Zephyr as I recall, and every sound, sensation, and puff of smoke was documented! As well as the ride quality of each unit and the trackacge of each host railroad. Now it's just "We arrived at such-and-so time, an hour late or on time" or whatever. Duh. BORING!!!

And I've concluded two things: (1) The average High School graduate of this older era was indeed more intelligent, more "book-learned," and certainly a better writer than today's dumbed-down college grad, and (2) that there are so very few RR writers left today that know what in the hell they are talking about that how are the modern fan mags to "inspire" the younger generation? (Clue: "Classic Trains" is a good one, with stories from either now long-dead writers, or, those few left that are now very old). And I welcome the attacks that may come my way, or, perhaps some suggestions to "make things better." Maybe some of you out there could write some good articles? Yes, you.

I also have to say that TO.Com here does fill a void that a lot of the old magazines used to fill, I will say that. So that all hope is not lost.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/14 03:44 by Red.

I was brought into the hobby as a 9- and 10-year old delivering newspapers to a small drugstore in a small town in Michigan, where I first saw a magazine called "TRAINS", and I was captivated by "The Professional" whoever he was who wrote in a style so far above anything I knew, complete with all the "i.e."'s and "e.g."'s. Of course the guy I was trying to understand was John Kneiling, "The Professional Iconoclast". Soon, I incorporated what I was learning reading Mr. Kneiling in TRAINS into my writing in school, and teachers thought I was some kind of genius. My English grades in school were propelled into the stratosphere, and served me well in journalism class and life in general. The railroad paid better, so I never became a journalist, but a Locomotive Engineer on BN by age 22. === === = === JLH

The one person that you talked about, Jim Boyd, in my opinion was NOT professional at all. Here's why. Back in 1980 when the Chessie System started to operate the "Chessie Safety Express" steam train with ex-C&O 614, Mr. Boyd deliberately wrote an incorrect article about this train in that he praised a certain group for their outstanding work in getting the air-conditioned passenger cars ready for these trips. He was told by a gentleman from the correct operating group, RailRoad Passenger Cars, Inc. (RRP) that it was their RRP air-conditioned cars that were in the consist for those trips and not the other group who was supposed to have their cars there. This other group had violated their contract with Chessie and even though RRP was to supply some cars, the "Chessie Safety Express" wound up using all RRP cars in place for several months that season until another new group took over to finish the rebuild of the other cars. The reason why RRP could not supply all the cars was due to their contract with Maryland DOT as their cars were used in daily operation of the commuter trains on the Chessie System. Anyhow, I was on the first trip with the 614 and I heard an official with RRP tell Mr. Boyd about the fact that they (RRP) were supplying the air-conditioned equipment. Mr. Boyd shunned this man entirely and deliberately wrote an article in his next magazine praising the incorrect group and never mentioned anything about RRP. Mr. Boyd was also blatantly nasty towards the RRP personnel during the entire trip as I witnessed that day. RRP had a great working relationship with the entire Chessie System people as they had been supplying cars for all kinds of excursions for the last 10 years. Mr. Boyd and his magazine never covered this private group at all during their time of existence even though their cars were always being used for all kinds of passenger trains on many rail lines.
I also know that the president of the RRP group wrote a letter to Mr. Boyd and to his magazine asking for a correction and it was ignored. Mr. Boyd, may he rest in peace, was NOT a nice person at all and I lost all respect for him at that time. He wrote slanted stories to please himself and I assure you that he just did NOT care.

John in White Marsh, Maryland

ClubCar Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The one person that you talked about, Jim Boyd, in
> my opinion was NOT professional at all. Here's
> why. Back in 1980 when the Chessie System started
> to operate the "Chessie Safety Express" steam
> train with ex-C&O 614, Mr. Boyd deliberately wrote
> an incorrect article about this train in that he
> praised a certain group for their outstanding work
> in getting the air-conditioned passenger cars
> ready for these trips. He was told by a gentleman
> from the correct operating group, RailRoad
> Passenger Cars, Inc. (RRP) that it was their RRP
> air-conditioned cars that were in the consist for
> those trips and not the other group who was
> supposed to have their cars there. This other
> group had violated their contract with Chessie and
> even though RRP was to supply some cars, the
> "Chessie Safety Express" wound up using all RRP
> cars in place for several months that season until
> another new group took over to finish the rebuild
> of the other cars. The reason why RRP could not
> supply all the cars was due to their contract with
> Maryland DOT as their cars were used in daily
> operation of the commuter trains on the Chessie
> System. Anyhow, I was on the first trip with the
> 614 and I heard an official with RRP tell Mr. Boyd
> about the fact that they (RRP) were supplying the
> air-conditioned equipment. Mr. Boyd shunned this
> man entirely and deliberately wrote an article in
> his next magazine praising the incorrect group and
> never mentioned anything about RRP. Mr. Boyd was
> also blatantly nasty towards the RRP personnel
> during the entire trip as I witnessed that day.
> RRP had a great working relationship with the
> entire Chessie System people as they had been
> supplying cars for all kinds of excursions for the
> last 10 years. Mr. Boyd and his magazine never
> covered this private group at all during their
> time of existence even though their cars were
> always being used for all kinds of passenger
> trains on many rail lines.
> I also know that the president of the RRP group
> wrote a letter to Mr. Boyd and to his magazine
> asking for a correction and it was ignored. Mr.
> Boyd, may he rest in peace, was NOT a nice person
> at all and I lost all respect for him at that
> time. He wrote slanted stories to please himself
> and I assure you that he just did NOT care.
>
> John in White Marsh, Maryland

I hear what you are saying. I never met Mr. Boyd, and yes, God Rest His Soul. I guess looking back he was primarily a "good photographer," and didn't release some of the best of that until around 2002 or so--I'm thinking of a rare issue of R&R which I'd long stopped buying (after it had long since become an "advertising mag/rag") wherein Boyd had a cover story about a week or so he spent in Texarkana, TX as an EMD delivery man--all in color--back in the 1960s but when most of the psgr trains were still running through there including the KCS Southern Belle and Flying Crow and the MP/T&P Texas Eagle, and all of those MP/T&P Mail Trains that came through there on the AR/TX State Line with all of those mixed power/mixed generation loco consists. Mostly a wonderful color pictorial with captions. (And I've gotten off subject here, and I doubt many on here were even subscribing to the mag at that late date, and I just chanced on it back when Books-a-Million was still in business down the street).

But the writing. Oh Lord, for the lack of the good writing. And yes, I'm "freewheeling here" while burning the midnight oil. I remember a detailed story in Trains called "Power for the People" about Amtrak's loco power when there was still a lot of variety but the new SDP40Fs were still coming online, but lots of interviews with locomotive managers and the top dog/VP of loco operations (and yes, he incorrectly stated that the E-Units were "highly in favor" and would be around for a long time to come and being rebuilt at a heavy rate--that part was correct at least), but very interesting. And a nice trip report in the late 1970s aboard the AMTK Floridian with a shot up in the cab of an E9 leading a brand new SDP40F. And how the speeds and track quality varied all the way up and down the line (can't recall which author that one was, but it put you right on the train, both up in the cab and in his sleeper).

Now it's just such-and-so RR handled X-amount of cars in 2010, and it has grown to Z-amount of cars as of 2013! And it connects to A, B, and C RRs and the "future is bright!" Gag me with a spoon, but thanks for helping put me to sleep, thank you very much. That is NOT what attracted ME to railroading as a profession. Sorry. And I'm not saying that such articles aren't well-researched and hard-worked. But where is the inspiration?

I'll tell you some good inspiration: anything written by David P. Morgan and especially as he was riding the passenger trains. Another that comes to mind would be Fred Frailey's two-part (a rarity in Trains history) 1979 article of KCS in the Deramus Era. Or the articles that he wrote on the Cotton Belt Blue Streak Merchandise about the same time or just before he came out with his book on the same train. Or the articles on the T&P 610 in BOTH Trains and then the simply Railfan Magazine as the Southern was first getting a taste of Superpower Steam. Or, Pacific Rail News and the detailed accounts (from the cab) or the 4449 and especially the high-speed jaunts up the ICG at 80 and 90 MPH, and, NIGHT OPERATIONS...of the American Freedom Train. That Pullman Conductor that wrote so many stories in Trains. There are too many to count, but I haven't seen anything like that in a decade or more. And no, it's not just because I'm getting "old." It is indeed the quality of the writing and what is focused on now. And the trend to "get away from the crews that run the trains," and to just jawbone with the shortline and regional CEOs and what they are hauling and such--I get enough of that in the TRADE PUBLICATIONS Railway Age and Progressive Railroading!

How about letting the younger generation "live the dream?" Inspire them, as well as us older folks that already have done so?

I think diesel locomotives were Jim Boyd's bag rather than excursion trains.

Boyd had way too big an ego to be a good editor/writer, and had a bad habit of running too many of his own photos instead of publishing a variety of photographers, probably to save money. I did buy his magazine occasionally but had little use for most of his own material, but I do have to say I enjoyed his EMD stories.

The bigger picture here; it's not just railroad writing but the art of writing in general has declined to the point that there's just not much out there. This makes it a true joy to find the occasional piece (in any forum) that's well written.

We can go on and on about DPM's writing; he was a one shot deal never to be repeated and we can be truly thankful that we ended up with him in the railfan press, and that he was so prolific. He was truly a blessing to railfans. I know he was a big defender of Kneiling who was pretty over the top most of the time but that was part of his style, and whether you liked him or not I think the exposure was good and many of his ideas have come to be seen in service more or less.

The art of good editing is going the same route as the writing; a good editor should be able to make a crappy story readable and that's not happening like it should.

Andy

AndyBrown Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> The bigger picture here; it's not just railroad
> writing but the art of writing in general has
> declined to the point that there's just not much
> out there. This makes it a true joy to find the
> occasional piece (in any forum) that's well
> written.

I think Andy has hit the nail on the head here, at least for a good part of the problem. I spent 23 years as a journalist, albeit in broadcasting. The overall quality of journalism today is very upsetting to myself, and to many other "older" journalists I have talked to. Times have changed so drastically that owners of magazines, newspapers, and other media (radio/tv etc) just don't/won't invest in hiring and training good, quality staff.
As for the content, there is so much emphasis today on operating ratios, return to shareholders etc, that business is not what it used to be. There was a time when senior management of a business, whether a railroad, truck line, corner store or big manufacturer, took a longer-term view of business and their investment in it. Today, senior management has been pushed into a situation where they can only look to the next quarterly report. If profits are not higher, they are in trouble. As a result, they do everything possible to maximize immediate profit, at the expense of the longer-term future. Today's investors are interested in quick returns on their money. They don't want to wait three, five or more years. They want the return in 90 days -- come hell or high water.
Granted, there are some companies that need to be "shaken up" at the senior level, but sometimes good competent managers are being second-guessed by a quick profit/return driven investor, who cannot see the long-term image. The type of investor who doesn't understand how a particular business operates, and when they don't get what they want fast enough, replace the experienced, but cautious management, with people who will focus only on the quarterly report.
Unfortunately, that is the situation we face today - a decline in journalism standards, along with a greater emphasis on short-term profits.
In my personal case, I find it harder and harder, month by month, to find publications worth reading. My local daily newspaper is a good example. At one time it was quite a good local paper. Today, I think they expect me to do the proof-reading on their website. There are times that I post several comments in one day, along with emails to the editor about glaring mistakes in spelling and grammar!

Will MacKenzie
Dundas, ON

Red Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> And I've concluded two things: (1) The average
> High School graduate of this older era was indeed
> more intelligent, more "book-learned," and
> certainly a better writer than today's dumbed-down
> college grad, and (2) that there are so very few
> RR writers left today that know what in the hell
> they are talking about that how are the modern fan
> mags to "inspire" the younger generation? (Clue:
> "Classic Trains" is a good one, with stories from
> either now long-dead writers, or, those few left
> that are now very old). And I welcome the attacks
> that may come my way, or, perhaps some suggestions
> to "make things better." Maybe some of you out
> there could write some good articles? Yes, you.
>
> I also have to say that TO.Com here does fill a
> void that a lot of the old magazines used to fill,
> I will say that. So that all hope is not lost.

I think you hit the nail on the head there. As a society we have "dumbed down" everything so nobody feels "left out" or "slighted". Everybody passes in school and graduates, doesn't matter if they can read and write well or not. In my job there is a lot of writing and most of the new people we get cannot spell and have no clue when it comes to grammar, yet they are college grads.

I think another issue is the prohibition of cameras or any electronic device in the cab of a locomotive, along with the possibility management is reading these same stories. That ends quite a bit of stories since you can't take a picture of what is happening to write about it later, plus if it is anything that isn't 100% within the rules (which the most entertaining incidents are not)then the writer has to worry about punitive action.

I find my favorite reading is here on TO on the Railroaders' Nostalgia board, it has what those older magazines used to have, also posts from guys on Nostalgia and history (Lance Santafe199 and Dennis DDG among others) are prime examples where they have a quick story and photo to go with it from when they could have a camera with them.

The excuse that " language is dynamic and you're resisting change" has worn out for me. The best rant I've heard on that is from another Morgan, namely G.T.:

"If you let the roof of your house go without maintenance and let leaves stay up there, they rot, and it weakens the roof. If you let a heavy snow stay up there, the roof starts to sag. You don't look up and say 'How dynamic! My roof is changing.' It's collapsing. You fix it." (He's about to turn 25, by the way.)

We both see a lot of wrong words used with no apparent sense on the writer's part that anything is amiss. "Definitely" and "defiantly" do not mean the same thing. Neither do "lose" and "loose." Autocorrect mangles things occasionally, but when an article goes to print, doesn't anyone check it these days? I defiantly think I'm going to loose my mind some days over our local paper's grammar. (Yes, I have seen both mistakes in a single sentence on the front page.) We do realize it's difficult to catch every error. Even with spell check and two sets of eyes proofreading, we still missed several typos in last year's collection of short stories. Most of them were extra spaces or, in one case, a repeated word where a last-second edit didn't quite get the job done. My point is that a lot of print media look as though no one even tried.

As for the article content itself, a lot of mainstream media looks like a string of ad copy, We have reverted to a century and a half ago, when coverage was so slanted that it was best to read, say, both of Wheeling's newspapers and split the difference to see what had actually gone on. So many people now are incredibly isolated and ignorant, despite having multiple college degrees, that it's hard to explain anything to them. Here's my worst story:

Several years ago, our neighborhood was having flooding problems because the main channel of the creek had been plugged by an unwise reclamation project. A presidential candidate's staffer arrived and cheerfully told us that Candidate would get us all moved into low-income apartments in the nearby city. Leaving aside the idea that none of us were low-income, I asked her why. " No one needs to live more than five miles from a city center."
"What about farmers?"
"They'll be able to buy their food at the grocery store just like everybody else. Won't that be great?"
This person was a college graduate--Ivy League, at that--who did not understand that farmers were not forced to grow everything they ate or wore. We had to explain that food is not manufactured at the grocery store, that not everything we eat comes from China, that meat comes from animals...
No, seriously, that really happened, and it's still happening. That's why we get articles about the train failing to swerve away from a car on the tracks. Not only is common sense uncommon now; common knowledge isn't.

I subscribe to Classic Trains, but that's the only one of the railroad magazines.

I also subscribe to Model Railroader and RMC. I think MR has gone steadily downhill since the '60s but for some reason I still subscribe. If we had a shop close by where I could check and see if there was anything good in the current issue, I probably would do it that way.

MR in the '50s-'60s IMO was a far better magazine for me because it presented more content for scratchbuilding and great articles by Robert Darwin on the Art of Superdetailing Steam. His series is what started me really trying to detail brass and build what I wanted with more confidence. I wish his articles would have continued longer, but for some reason they were stopped. If he's still active, I'd like to thank him for starting me down the road.

As for the writing, I think the previous posts covered that accurately and no need for me to add to it. I grew up reading the old Railroad small pulp magazines and enjoyed both the articles and the fiction writing in them. E S Dellinger, Harry Bedwell and others entertained me with their stories. I wish my Dad had been a writer as his 47 years in engine service on the Frisco would have provided volumes. He was a great story teller.

I'm afraid I've just gotten old and crabby and really sad at how everything has seemed to go to hell in a handbasket in America.

Red Wrote:
> I just don't know. I don't look forward
> Trains issues as I once did. Perhaps it is getting
> "old and jaded," but I don't think that this is
> it, and I'd like some response?

I have also noted a decline in my personal interest with Trains magazine, As I no longer have a subscription, I now go to my local hobby shop and buy only the issues that have some sort of meaningful substance for me. If you look into the magazine some issues seem to struggle for quality substance. Maybe becoming an every other month publication would improve things.

But, in their defense, they are dealing with an industry that has consolidated itself into only a handful of big players, two primary locomotive manufactures and technology changes that are repeatedly reported on to a point of boredom.

I buy old copies of Trains, primarily from the 50's and 60's, just to read the poetic style of reporting on such an interesting era and industry. Writing that made you feel your actually there participating or witnessing an event. Writers today...that's a topic I will avoid and I understand your feelings.

You brought up some well thought out concerns that I find hard to disagree with, thanks!

Classical writing style isn't taught in many elementary or high schools. And, the art of foreign language translation is largely unknown with many of the lower grade modern language school courses.

David P. Morgan wrote of his fascination with Latin, and often peppered his articles with Latin based words. And had an older, more flowery, longer use of sentences. Years ago, I put a few paragraphs of his 1950s articles in a Fleisch test (measures the reading level required to understand a paragraph) to see what would happen. Not surprising to me, he was off the top end of the chart, with a college education required of today's reader. Lucius Beebe, another writer of the era, came out about the same. Contracts and advertising are often required to be presented at an 8th grade reading level.

So, we are expected to write for folks who deal in 140 characters or less. U C what I mean? 4git

thehighwayman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> AndyBrown Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >
> > The bigger picture here; it's not just railroad
> > writing but the art of writing in general has
> > declined to the point that there's just not
> much
> > out there. This makes it a true joy to find
> the
> > occasional piece (in any forum) that's well
> > written.
>
> I think Andy has hit the nail on the head here, at
> least for a good part of the problem. I spent 23
> years as a journalist, albeit in broadcasting. The
> overall quality of journalism today is very
> upsetting to myself, and to many other "older"
> journalists I have talked to. Times have changed
> so drastically that owners of magazines,
> newspapers, and other media (radio/tv etc) just
> don't/won't invest in hiring and training good,
> quality staff.
> As for the content, there is so much emphasis
> today on operating ratios, return to shareholders
> etc, that business is not what it used to be.
> There was a time when senior management of a
> business, whether a railroad, truck line, corner
> store or big manufacturer, took a longer-term view
> of business and their investment in it. Today,
> senior management has been pushed into a situation
> where they can only look to the next quarterly
> report. If profits are not higher, they are in
> trouble. As a result, they do everything possible
> to maximize immediate profit, at the expense of
> the longer-term future. Today's investors are
> interested in quick returns on their money. They
> don't want to wait three, five or more years. They
> want the return in 90 days -- come hell or high
> water.
> Granted, there are some companies that need to be
> "shaken up" at the senior level, but sometimes
> good competent managers are being second-guessed
> by a quick profit/return driven investor, who
> cannot see the long-term image. The type of
> investor who doesn't understand how a particular
> business operates, and when they don't get what
> they want fast enough, replace the experienced,
> but cautious management, with people who will
> focus only on the quarterly report.
> Unfortunately, that is the situation we face today
> - a decline in journalism standards, along with a
> greater emphasis on short-term profits.
> In my personal case, I find it harder and harder,
> month by month, to find publications worth
> reading. My local daily newspaper is a good
> example. At one time it was quite a good local
> paper. Today, I think they expect me to do the
> proof-reading on their website. There are times
> that I post several comments in one day, along
> with emails to the editor about glaring mistakes
> in spelling and grammar!

Indeed the case with newspapers (a dying industry--or at least one desperately find a sustainable business model). But what of Trains? Really all that we have left in hard print for railroaders that love the industry, for railfans, and IMHO--hopefully--that which shall inspire the younger generations. What is THEIR "Business Model," and is it sustainable? To cater to the investor-class who are also "semi-railfans?" (and some who will tell you that they aren't even railfans and never one time in their lives wished to be a rail?). And no, RRing isn't for everyone, but a heck of a lot of railfans that I've known at least had "the itch," or have had the fantasy. And at least under the older business model of Trains could at least vicariously live "the life." Of either a railroader, or, one of the elite railfan photographers, etc. If one wants to simply read about the operating ratios or return on investment of this or that shortline or regional (or, say, how the current CEO of such did such a wonderful job after inheriting the property from Dad), then I say, "read the damn Wall Street Journal!" Or Railway Age and Progressive Railroading. Am I WRONG in expressing this point of view?

I guess that I'm expressing an opinion both with regard to subject content AND the quality of writing. And not that I do not want at times to be put into the office of the CEO of a Class One or on his business car (that is often very fascinating for an inside look and what they are thinking, etc.).

It is also true, unfortunately, that the stories of old are no longer possible--the bootleg cab rides and so forth and so on. And that even the working rails can no longer write what they once did and take pictures or have photos taken of them. Frank Clodfelter comes to mind of the Southern Railway, running the Southern Crescent or Kentucky Derby Special with green & gold E8s, or the Ashville Special with FP-7s. Sad. But there are still a few high-clout insiders with passes that could spend more of their time describing the experiences of a working crew rather than just to say: "We had two SD70Ms and an SD70ACe. We left at 8:00A and arrived at 6:00P. And we met 8 trains along the way." What did it FEEL like? How did the units perform? How did the units ride? Did they produce very much smoke along the trip? What did it feel like to accelerate? To slow down? Was air used in the slowdowns or dynamic brakes? What did that feel like? Sound like? What did the cab interior look like and feel like compared to older power the author had ridden in--or--newer power? What did the crew THINK of the power? That sort of thing.

And if a passenger, what was it like to sleep on the Amtrak such-and-so? How was the food (down to the last detail). What was the ride quality? How was the service? How did this train compare to others? PUT US THERE ON THAT TRAIN WITH YOU, Author!!! Not just "I got on the such-and-so train at 9:45A and I was two hours late getting to Point B." Do it like David P. Morgan did! Or as Fred Frailey still does most of the time.

And so disappointed am I in those authors given cab passes on this RR and that (and on shortlines, regionals, and Class Ones...and very little input from the crew...as if they are just part of the cab interior like the control stand or something). What do they think of the power they are running? Example: I recall when the old CSX F-Units were briefly assigned to Roadrailer trains in the late 1980s in a power crunch. And the author quoted the hoghead: "These units are assigned to this train to my displeasure. They are vastly underpowered for this service." OK. Maybe not what the typical "railfan" would like to hear, but a valid opinion from a working operating man! It informed the reader. (And I can't even recall which magazine it was in, but I vividly recall the quote). Just as I recall a then (probably now-retired) newly set-up hoghead who the author rode with on the 4 WP F-Units on their last stand. And he was obviously (the new hoghead) a "buff," and how he'd been so excited to catch the four on his first solo trip. How often does one read stories like this any longer?

And aside from on here, how often does one read of what BNSF hogheads think of the EMD SD70ACe P4s or the GE ES44 GEVO "C4s?" Their performance compared to straight 6-axle DC motors or AC motors? Do those that still have the credentials to ride trains and write stories even CARE what they think? Does anybody recall the RR author Kip Farrington, who rode the head ends of new steam and diesel locomotives coast to coast and made detailed trip reports on each trip in several books? Yes, Virginia, there is still a lot of variety out there in this modern age. (One of Kip Farrington's books was titled "Railroading the Modern Way," and he had cab rides, but also discussed CTC technology, new yards, new bypass mainlines, you name it in several of his other books).

But maybe all that people care about are the OR and ROI on the particular RR being written about. That does interest me but should be but a footnote. And a young fan? They will care not a damn about such stats, and ton-miles and train-miles and how many new ties said RR installed in Fiscal Year 2013. That's not going to do much for a lot of oldsters, either, other than as I said above other than to do a better job than Lunesta, Ambien, or a good stiff drink towards putting them to sleep. As a cure for insomnia.

No you are not crabby Don, although your are old, just like me.

I also declare that Classic Trains is better than Trains. If it were not for Fred Frailey I would drop Trains magazine. I did drop MR quite a while back due to loss of content.

Frailey has the "magic" of David P Morgan and he is a straight shooter to boot. I have mentioned that more than once on T.O. Some think I am wrong but, I don't.

On the contrary, I believe TRAINS has some great articles, but just not enough of them. I especially love the monthly maps.

I think perhaps the root of the problem that Red describes is that railroads are far less diverse than in the past. There are some fascinating things going on out there, but they just aren't always that exciting. During the recession for instance, railroads didn't have this influx of traffic, and they were able to run what they had with a fair amount of consistency and predictability. That is great for the industry but hard for a journalist to find a good angle.

Let's face it, the level of traffic today is something that managers and fans alike could only have dreamed of, but we have lost so much of the uniqueness, e.g. funky paint schemes, ancient signals, pocket yards all over the place, towers, yard offices, secondary routes, etc. It is hard to tell whether a train on CSX belongs to the UP or some other RR. They often look the same. Even the shortlines are often under one big banner.

I would love to find an archive of Kneiling's work. Does one exist anywhere? It seems that hump yards stayed relevant after all, but I think the deciding factor was the increased capacity of the cars and pulling power of the engines, which was not entirely foreseeable decades ago.

"These units are assigned...to my displeasure" (no good way to quote on an iPad)
I'm grinning because that's a nice translation from Railroad to English.

There's another problem: increased profanity and decreased variety. There's one note on that modern piano, endlessly plinked. The original use of blue language was to express, and I mean EXPRESS, displeasure with equipment, if not to warm up a firebox with sheer force and volume. Most youth can't cuss a fusee alight if they soak it in gasoline and use a flamethrower. The best hope I've seen for colorful language came from a young NASCAR driver who grew up nowhere near the South, but ended a remarkable string with " ...egg-sucking (dog) that ain't worth the rope to hang him or the powder to blow him to H$&@!" If you know the significance of an egg-stealing dog in old farm days, it was a threefold way of calling the other competitor not only ineffective but actually harmful. While we should all be nice to one another, sometimes we aren't, and endless one-note choruses are monotonous more than insulting.

--Becky (can turn the air blue in two languages, prefer not to most of the time)

tomstp Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> No you are not crabby Don, although your are old,
> just like me.
>
> I also declare that Classic Trains is better than
> Trains. If it were not for Fred Frailey I would
> drop Trains magazine. I did drop MR quite a while
> back due to loss of content.
>
> Frailey has the "magic" of David P Morgan and he
> is a straight shooter to boot. I have mentioned
> that more than once on T.O. Some think I am
> wrong but, I don't.

One other benefit of still subscribing to Trains is Fred's online blog, isn't it, Tom? ;-)

Red, I'm in accordance with you on the general-save-a-few lack of depth in contemporary RR writing, but while this might be attributable to our societal rush away from a classical education in favor of pre-employment training (I don't take this lightly, as I taught the social sciences before going railroading), I assess that the fundamental issue is that trains and railroads have become so far-removed from our societal center.

You and I are of the Lionel generation. We grew up when railroads were as much of a sociological phenomenon as they were heavy industry. There still were tracks to everywhere, manned (I use the term advisedly) by country station agents, tower operators, scads of roundhouse workers and, of course, noble but cranky engineers. This enormous human subculture, coupled with some darn-mesmerizing machinery and railroading's central presence in daily American life, was bound to attract great writers and writing.

The three generations of writers that have grown up subsequent to ours have naturally-enough gravitated towards the things that predominate in their own lives - and that ain't trains, Jack. My grandson began iPhoning grandpa when he was two years old, and at three, he is immersed in technological gadgets and is on the cusp of the Internet. Technology has replaced trains as the 'main attraction'. And with technology has come a 1's and 0's way of thinking which is not conducive to grand and glorious literature. The same goes for railroading, which has necessarily replaced its labor-intensive, "romantic" ways of doing things with the lean and sterile, if you will, presence of technology.

So, in many ways, what you have is writers nursed with 1's and 0's writing about railroads whose most fascinating contemporary aspects may indeed now be 1's and O's. Railroading, in the traditional sense, is dead, and so too is the manner in which we used to regard them.

I probably could have described this more succinctly merely by noting how our generation loves Cary Grant movies, and can't stand "heroes" action movies that come across to us as video games. It's the same for younger generations, except in reverse. We're gettin' old, buddy.

-E.O.

It's not all bad. At least we now have three NFL games a day.

We have become a nation that caters to the lowest common denominator.

This basically sums up in a nutshell what all these posts state. It is not going to get any better soon with "No Child Left Behind" the basis of our public education system. Schools were a whole lot better when they were locally driven instead of driven by Washington. The county I grew up in has basically the same number of students enrolled today as when I graduated in 1980. However because of federal regulations the school board is 4 times the size today than it was 34 years ago.

As far as financial performance of companies being short term, look no further than Washington for the cause/affects for that. Remember a few years ago when the the punitive tax rates were put in place for anyone making more than, I believe, a million dollars a year? That is when the stock options became the payment route around this roadblock of compensation. Now the executives of companies make quarter to quarter or annual to annual results of their companies stock performance paramount because the stock option is only valid if the performance has improved.

Jay

BTW, forgot to add, reporting and writing is not going to get any better soon because the current crop of reporters and writers came about for the most part before the influx of electronic gadgets that are so common place today. Most of the school age kids, from middle school up to college, have learned how to write in short clips that fit on Facebook, tweets, or texts. This is only going to degenerate the writing quality further when they become employed.

Beyond the basics of writing, the depth of writing today in very shallow. One of my favorite saying is "If Watergate was going on today, we would never know about it" as there are no longer any quality investigative reporters to serve as an additional check and balance on the powers-to-be. The cause can range from the media wanting to protect their favored party or staff cuts, either way the American people are ultimately the ones harmed from the decisions.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/14 09:02 by garr.

ClubCar Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The one person that you talked about, Jim Boyd, in
> my opinion was NOT professional at all. Here's
> why. Back in 1980 when the Chessie System started
> to operate the "Chessie Safety Express" steam
> train with ex-C&O 614, Mr. Boyd deliberately wrote
> an incorrect article about this train in that he
> praised a certain group for their outstanding work
> in getting the air-conditioned passenger cars
> ready for these trips. He was told by a gentleman
> from the correct operating group, RailRoad
> Passenger Cars, Inc. (RRP) that it was their RRP
> air-conditioned cars that were in the consist for
> those trips and not the other group who was
> supposed to have their cars there. This other
> group had violated their contract with Chessie and
> even though RRP was to supply some cars, the
> "Chessie Safety Express" wound up using all RRP
> cars in place for several months that season until
> another new group took over to finish the rebuild
> of the other cars. The reason why RRP could not
> supply all the cars was due to their contract with
> Maryland DOT as their cars were used in daily
> operation of the commuter trains on the Chessie
> System. Anyhow, I was on the first trip with the
> 614 and I heard an official with RRP tell Mr. Boyd
> about the fact that they (RRP) were supplying the
> air-conditioned equipment. Mr. Boyd shunned this
> man entirely and deliberately wrote an article in
> his next magazine praising the incorrect group and
> never mentioned anything about RRP. Mr. Boyd was
> also blatantly nasty towards the RRP personnel
> during the entire trip as I witnessed that day.
> RRP had a great working relationship with the
> entire Chessie System people as they had been
> supplying cars for all kinds of excursions for the
> last 10 years. Mr. Boyd and his magazine never
> covered this private group at all during their
> time of existence even though their cars were
> always being used for all kinds of passenger
> trains on many rail lines.
> I also know that the president of the RRP group
> wrote a letter to Mr. Boyd and to his magazine
> asking for a correction and it was ignored. Mr.
> Boyd, may he rest in peace, was NOT a nice person
> at all and I lost all respect for him at that
> time. He wrote slanted stories to please himself
> and I assure you that he just did NOT care.
>
> John in White Marsh, Maryland


He rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. His style