Steam & Excursion > A new complaint about a steam engine

Well, you knew that it would happen sooner of later.  A friend of mine was just up in Cumberland and he and another friend rode the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad behind the former C&O #1309.  He really enjoyed the trip, the engine pulled the train without any problems even with a light rain falling.  He advises everyone who loves steam and who enjoys mountain railroading to come up to Cumberland ASAP to ride up to Frostburg and back.  Anyhow, while up in Frostburg, he and his friend walked around the town to eat lunch and on the way back down to the Frostburg Train Station there was a guy with his bike, and he was complaining that he hates having to deal with this big steam engine blowing out all that smoke, especially when he and his friends were peddling up through Brush Tunnel because of all the smoke in the tunnel causing them to cough and choke.  He went on that they should not be operating the steam engine when all the bike riders and people walking the path go through that tunnel and he went on and on, according to what my friend told me.  What can we say?  These people could easily wait a few minutes for the train to pass through; however, they feel that their rights are being violated because of the smoke from the steam engine.  You knew that someone would complain no matter what.  As for him, that trail is the most important thing even though the rail line has been there the longest.  What a world we live in today, folks.
John in White Marsh, Maryland

Well, you know what they say:  You can't fix stupid, but you can elect it.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

It's inevitable that there will be humans that feel they're at the top of the pyramid and their "rights" or "life requirements" far exceed those of us mere mortals.
And as a life-long cyclist, I encounter other riders who feel put-out by the rest of fellow citizens in autos who are on the road when they are. 
These are also the ones that feel that traffic laws (and sometimes common sense and courtesy) don't apply to them - blowing thru stop signs, traffic lights, or taking up a lane by not riding single file.

John, no logic (such as waiting a few minutes for the smoke to dissipate) will ever convince them to alter their hard-held beliefs that the train is infringing on their world.

2-10-2

I don't think this is a new phenomenon, people like to complain and I think people also always had a sense of entitlement. This is a silly example but think of the Muppets, back when I was a kid in the late 70's I loved watching them and two of the funniest were the grumpy old men that would complain about everything. Nobody would take them seriously and everyone laughed at them as just silly old men. So this behavior is not new.

What has changed over the decades though is that now everyone listens to the grumpy old men, the grump young men, the grumpy young women, the grump bike riders, etc. For the most part this is a good thing, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but its that last part that seems to get lost these days. Its an opinion not a fact, if there are 100 people and 80 of them have the same opinion then it still doesn't make it a fact. What it does make it though is something that is important to a large majority of that group. The mistake we constantly make these days is to amplify the opinion of 10 of the 100 and ignore the opinion of the other 90. In addition somehow these days the opinion of the 10 becomes a fact and the opinion of the other 90 becomes false. 

As others have said we've somehow lost our ability to become civil and respect others opinions. 

All of the above is my opinion, I could be completley wrong :) 


 

ClubCar Wrote:
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> What can we say?

Everything above perfectly addresses the issue!

On a side note, how does he think the animals
(nature) feel about all those annoying bikers, lol.

/Mitch

 

I get tired of dodging bikers who don't think the rules of the road apply to them.

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

Tell him "Don't inhale"...

If the railroad hadn't been there first, there wouldn't even be a trail for these entitled bone heads to ride on.

MWPerkins

Posted from Android

EMD2024 Wrote:
> If the railroad hadn't been there first, there wouldn't even be a trail for these entitled bone
> heads to ride on.
> MWPerkins

Exactly right.
/Ted
 

I would have asked gim why are you trespassing in the railroads tunnel.

2-10-2 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's inevitable that there will be humans that
> feel they're at the top of the pyramid and their
> "rights" or "life requirements" far exceed those
> of us mere mortals.
> And as a life-long cyclist, I encounter other
> riders who feel put-out by the rest of fellow
> citizens in autos who are on the road when they
> are. 
> These are also the ones that feel that traffic
> laws (and sometimes common sense and courtesy)
> don't apply to them - blowing thru stop signs,
> traffic lights, or taking up a lane by not riding
> single file.
>
> John, no logic (such as waiting a few minutes for
> the smoke to dissipate) will ever convince them to
> alter their hard-held beliefs that the train is
> infringing on their world.
>
> 2-10-2

As a fellow bicyclist I know what you speak of. I just shake my head.

As a life long motorcyclist also it seems that riding safely on the road has always been paramount for most motorcycle riders.

I’d say at least 75% of bicycle riders seem to think that they take precedence over any other vehicle on the road. It’s embarrassing.

Regards.

Posted from iPhone



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/14/22 12:53 by Drknow.

Is the real issue the burning of "fossil fuels"?
 

TomG Wrote:
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> I would have asked gim why are you trespassing in
> the railroads tunnel.

The bicyclist was not trespassing.  The trail which next to the rail line passes through the tunnel.

It’s been at least ten years since I last rode the WMSR but, I have a vague recollection there were signs on the bike path warning walkers and cyclists not to enter the tunnel when a train is approaching.

CW

Posted from iPhone

I think I saw those signs on some recent visits as well.

Juniata Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It’s been at least ten years since I last rode
> the WMSR but, I have a vague recollection there
> were signs on the bike path warning walkers and
> cyclists not to enter the tunnel when a train is
> approaching.
>
> CW
>
> Posted from iPhone

MaryMcPherson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well, you know what they say:  You can't fix
> stupid, but you can elect it.

....and too many people have

Chris

Juniata Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It’s been at least ten years since I last rode
> the WMSR but, I have a vague recollection there
> were signs on the bike path warning walkers and
> cyclists not to enter the tunnel when a train is
> approaching.
>
> CW
>
> Posted from iPhone

Yes, I was just reading an on-line guide to the Great Allegheny Passage Trail which notes there are signs advising people to avoid being in the tunnel when a train is approaching.

Some of the anti-cyclist replies in this thread are all too predictable.  There have been in the past and there will always be in the future people objecting to smoke from locomotives regardless if they walk, bike, ride trains or drive.  

The trail has been around when the 734 was running and I would not be surprised if some who ignored the warnings complained about smoke from that locomotive.  There will be probably be a some more such complaints in the future.  That said, the vast majority if the cyclists and walkers using the Great Allegheny Passage have not complained.  This OP has made a Mountain (4-8-2) out of a B & O Dockside (0-4-0ST).

 



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 05/15/22 20:25 by RuleG.

2-10-2 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> These are also the ones that feel that traffic laws (and sometimes common sense and courtesy) don't
> apply to them - blowing thru stop signs, traffic lights, or taking up a lane by not riding single file.

Just be glad that you don't live in Oregon where the state law says that bicyclists are not required to stop at stop signs or flashing red lights.
 

They don't anyway everywhere else. We don't have many cyclists here in Mojave because of the wind.

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

How does he feel about the T1 project?
SR