On the off chance I was the one you are directing this to, thanks for a very thoughtful post. I'd certainly never argue for the preservation of ignorance and limitation of ideas. What you've seen is based on conditions that aren't rare enough, but are starting to get rarer as people with fewer inbred predjudices replace us old guys as we die off - not that we are scared of new ideas, but sometimes we fall into the trap of having lived with some fact for so long we just "know" it without knowing why or how we "know" it, and it never even passes our mind to question it. A lot of what we do know or "know" is valuable but not the entirety, and can provide a fine starting point for brainstorming our collective way into better ways and means. What's missing is the institutional interest in doing so.

I started a new job in a new industry about 2.5 years ago, a lot of my technical skills were immediately transferrable, but learning how to place them into a different venue has been a trial when working with a crew of passive agressive uncommunicative old guard who refuse to compromise the standards and practices they used - and very successfully - when the busines was run by another entity. The new owners want things done differently (on a slim margin) and cut staff by 75%. They also cut expectations, and outsourced specialized work to local vendors. Since the previous employees have all the institutional technical knowledge of the business as it was, and don't like the new universe they work in, they simply refuse to share with me and the other new guy, our boss. So, very empathetic to your POV.

This forum was more a good place to brainstorm before it got as foamy as it now is, but it is still one of the better places to ask for advice. TRAIN / ARM meetings was another, but if you are serious about taking part developing a personal email and telephone list of knowledgeable people is a must. Many expert people with various strengths post here, and most will communicate with you freely - if you ask intelligent questions from a serious and practical POV. Nobody wants to have their time wasted.

Keep up the good fight.

dave

I am a professional educator and have been involved in education at a multitude of levels and topics for nearly 40 years. There are 3 major components in education:

1. Knowledge. Does the instructor know what he is talking about?

2. Organization of material. Is the material well organized for presentation?

3. Inspiration. Is the instructor interesting? Inspiring? Will students want to strive for more???? (or are they satisfied with the minimum?)

Look at those 3 components. It doesn't matter how much knowledge or expertise the instructor has if it is not well organized. Equally bad however is the very inspiring man who wins over hearts but really doesn't know what he's talking about. It is rare to find a person gifted in all 3 areas. That is why a team approach is often most needed. Teamwork in building the presentation is often key to successful education.

Great stuff Tom and John. Tom, I did not know you were also a teacher. Training and refresher training on boiler theory and operation is really important for everyone operating any boiler. I have been doing this type of training for close to 15 years. I know for a fact that many large corporations who have full-time boiler room staff send their entire staff for annual or bi-annual boiler training. This along with a top notch maintenance program makes for a safe, efficient, and reliable boiler room. With many tourist railroads we find steam crews might work only on weekends and maybe only one or two weekends per month. Training for these types of operators is very important. Maybe one day there will be a training standard.

Keep in mind that we fight wars with an army that mostly trains one weekend a month and 2 weeks during the year. The key to keeping our soldiers proficient is that the training standards are well defined so that a soldier in the Delaware National Guard can fight with a soldier from the Army Reserve in California. Obviously the rail preservation movement lacks the organization coordination and resources of the US Army. Some will chime in and say "THANK GOODNESS!!!!" But the point is that you can effectively train on trains one weekend or so a month.