just what I was thinking. If I was a first time user here, I would have ben turned away. I sure wasn't born smart, and I'm still learning at 44. Most people in the know always say "there's no dumb question"

In a far away land and time, I was a Nissan Tech. One day working at the training center I saw a final report on customer opinons and word of mouth advertising. Nissan spent a couple million in mid 1980's dollars to find this information out. It was very exacting research. The long and short of it was:
One happy customer will tell 2.5 others about a positive experiance were as a unhappy customer will tell at least 10!

Make 10 peole mad you have the chance of 100 knowing only the bad about you.

Make 10 happy and if you lucky 25 will know a good thing.
Sure is an uphill battle!

In the restaurant industry, the generally regarded numbers are three and eight: Positive experience, you'll tell three people; negative, eight.

One of the drawbacks of insulated, special-interest forums such as this is that there is a natural tendency towards us vs them - and people being people, "us" generally end up being pretty good folk, dedicated to our interests, while "them" tend towards the raving idiot side of the spectrum. What bothered me about the railfan thread was not so much the sense of mean-spiritedness which developed after the initial poking of fun and telling of amusing tales, but rather the lack of reflection on how the preservation community often contributes to its own problems when it comes to the uninformed or semi-informed. It's nice to see a bit of that occurring here.

Keep in mind that for every amusing or obnoxious foamer tale that can be told, there's likely an equivalent tale of woe about someone within the fraternity. For example, often those working/volunteering in museums and similar operations have the same unfortunate tendency as do know-it-all railfans at not wanting to admit that they "don't know" when asked questions. But the damage they can do is far more significant.

If you're gonna have an occasional laugh at others' foibles, you'd best be willing to look inward and be willing to have a chuckle or two at your own expense. And be open to learning from both.

Scott

I can certainly think of stories from within the fraternity-not that I would repeat them here necessarily.

On the other hand, presenting a positive presentation can enhance visitor experiance and gain you new recruits. One of our new motormen is such a case. He came down to the car barn on a weekend that we were not running due to mechanical problems. It was a Sunday and I was the only person there. I was in the middle of making some repairs to our Belgian tram, but took a few minutes to greet our visitor and show him around. At the end of the visit, he expressed interest in joining as a volunteer. We always keep a few volunteer applications handy and I discussed the various opportunities with him. He wanted to become a motorman and already had the required commercial driver's license with endorsements. Net result-he mailed his application in within a week and within two weeks was starting motorman training. How we conduct ourselves and interact with our visitors is key to developing positive public relations.

Before a special event at one museum, the Operations Superintendent was giving the morning "tailboard" and safety meeting. He mentioned that a vice-president from the local Class I railroad was likely to visit, and asked "does anyone know what he looks like?" When nobody did, he went on "that means we should treat everyone like they were the VP of the (big railroad co.)"
Unless we're in the middle of some critical operation, we should always have time to explain railway operations and technology, adjusting our comments to the level of interest and/or age of the person inquiring. If we are too busy, we should explain courteously and if appropriate suggest coming back later (e.g. "We should be done by the time the train comes back, and it's loading in a few minutes"). Safety issues should likewise be addressed courteously if at all possible--yelling at people should be a last resort.
One day I was replacing a tie on our demonstration railway. A father and his two sons approached and I explained what I was doing, and even had them help a bit. I'll bet those boys had something to talk about next day at school! Another time I was running a streetcar, and a father and two daughters were on the car. After the trip, they asked some questions, so I lifted a motor trap to show them one of the traction motors and explained how the controller worked. Education should be a major goal for everyone involved with railway preservation.
We've had some "dumb questions"--here's an answer that was rather embarassing: We were running school charter for a group of 4th grade students, and one girl came up and asked, "Do you know what day this is?" and I said "May 10th, why?" and she continued "Do you know why it's special?" I said "Uh, no." Whereupon she advised me "It's Golden Spike Day!" Ooops!

I am glad "brother Mitchell" started this thread, because it reminds me how far we need to go in our personal and professional demeanor. Steve Barry's comment also hit home, since it was during Steamtown's RailExpo '98 that CP 4-6-4 2816 was being prepared for movement across the country. Since he has covered both the 2816 and Steamtown in R&R since that time, I breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn't us... but it still could have been.

Just as it takes more than one person to run a train, it takes everyone involved in a museum/tourist rr/railroad experience/ to present that face to the public. You might not want to pose for the camera while you are doing your work, but it is better than giving your guests a lasting image of your scowl instead. We all have bad days, but it is rarely the visitor's fault.

Thanks again for the humbling moment. Everyday gives us a chance to start over.