Ooh, ooh, ooh, this is funny!! It's just GREAT!! Only a woman would be so creative!!

By any chance, is there a link to the article somewhere?

We're seeing about franchising two locations. If the details work we'll locate the 2 near our busiest recruiting offices. That way if we get an otherwise outstanding candidate and the only thing wrong is a small tattoo we can offer them the option of getting it removed.

That won't work of course if it's someone like some of the guys I see in the Y where I work out who are covered head to toe with all manner of "skin art".


Ross Rowland

I work in a corporate office I'd venture to say about 25% of the white collar staff under the age of 45 have visible tattoos and that includes at least one on the executive team. Most professionals understand that there are times when their tattoos need to be covered and plan accordingly. I also find that most are very tasteful, have genuine meaning to the individual and are perceived positively. A blanket exclusion of anyone having a tattoo is definitely going to exclude a lot of talent these days.

You're no doubt right that our prohibition of tattoos costs us some otherwise talented people. Same can be said for drug users and heavy drinkers but we don't hire them either.

So far we've had ample choices of plenty of tattoo free candidates.

Ross Rowland

Yes, and while drug users and heavy drinkers can potentially impair someone's job performance, the amount of "skin art" someone has doesn't affect the way someone does a job, whether it's good work or bad work.

I'd argue that conflating people with tattoos with drug users and alcoholics is a false equivalency in 2023. There may have been a time when this was the case, but those days are long gone, and tattoos can be found on people in every professional field from doctors to mechanics. Tattoos are also extremely common among active duty members of the armed forces and veterans, and have been since WWII.

The notion that people with tattoos are somehow untrustworthy or lacking in character is not only a stereotype, but one that is outdated and should be left behind. Besides, I can almost guarantee that the number of organizations that don't have any tattooed members/volunteers/employees is zero or damn near close to it.

How sexist of you.

It's always nice to see someone fly their true colors. Ross, your comments the past few years have really lost you respect, and relevancy in the 21st Century. But you do you, keep digging your hole.

Sorry you feel that way Boilermaker. I've been blessed with a small number of foundational principles that have served me well for many decades and I'm not about to abandon any of them to be in line with newly evolved standards I feel are wrong.

I have always felt that tattooing ones body is a sure sign of low self esteem ( please look at me) and for sure poor judgement. Both sign posts flashing a warning to not go there.

Just my opinions, your mileage may vary. Ross Rowland

When you find yourself in a hole and you are not digging a foundation or mine shaft, the first rule is TO STOP DIGGING.

Certainly, racists, misogynists, homophobes, anti-Semites, and other bigots have over the decades or centuries found themselves repeatedly on the defensive, and continued to justify their bigotry with increasingly weak and outdated stereotypes. But, eventually, they found themselves on "the wrong side of history."

As a certain participant here already is, and refuses to acknowledge.

At least when he keeps digging, the young people in preservation get some laughs out of it. The comments here have already been screenshot and posted on a number of popular Facebook railfan groups that probably have more followers per group than RYPN as a whole. So, there's a whole wave of preservation interested people who weren't around in the HICO days that mainly know him for claiming to lock some kids up for a day or so before calling police in the Pacific Wilderness RR days, the "are the blacks capable of governing themselves" and "women don't belong in the cab" circus, and the 21st Century Ltd/Yellow Ribbon Express/AFT2. Some of them probably only come in here for the single purpose of grabbing screenshots to share on social media.

Do you guys just stay home? Everywhere I go I see tons of young people - Tennessee Valley, Illinois Railway Museum, Henry Ford, Durango, Cumbres….

I see "tons" of young people trackside at certain locations as well. Usually they're all taking videos with tripod-mounted cell phones. and/or sitting and shooting the bull or scrolling on their smartphones in between trains.

But do we see them behind the counters or in the shops at museum operations? At the model train shows? At the railroadiana-collector shows? Running the trains or trolleys? Volunteering in the archives, scanning photos or sorting books/files?

Everything I've just mentioned up there, in my experience, skews too heavily towards the "geriatric" crowd.

Rather than hear what subjective rationale there may be to hire or not hire a "young person" based purely on superficial observations, I, and I'm sure others, would love to know what people are doing to recruit and mentor.

Who are you training to be your replacement and how are you doing it?

What under-45 people are in command of the organizations or teams or crafts or businesses you are a part of? What is your succession plan? Who is waiting in the wings?

If you can't answer these things or point to shining examples that you are closely allied with, then critique of potential applicants or otherwise worthwhile individuals is kind of for naught



Gonna have to echo CZ here because the pearl-clutching is very similar to what one may observe with one eye covered over at TrainOrders. There are literally under-40 people running steam, raising millions of dollars, machining, firing, conducting, switching, dispatching, and selling swag all over. The generational transition has started -- and is usually aided by good mentors and cohorts. The more generation X, Y, or Z's I can get on any of my trains means the recruiting pool is broad – I just need to go fishing.

In the places I mentioned I saw young people operating the trains and working in the shops. If you want able bodied 18-25 year olds scanning slides in a back room you have weird priorities.

TVRM bragged about have a complete train crew of 25 and under one day. (Engineer, fireman, conductor, trainman) - I think maybe IRM did too?

And of course Strasburg has the all female engine crew which is awesome to see.