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I've had that happen in (non-RR related) magazine articles I have written as well! I even had one swear he was going to sue me for "pre plagiarism" (whatever that means) for a article he conceded he'd never written at all but was "going to get to eventually". I guess he failed to find a lawyer willing to take that on.
I had been doing research into a book for quite a while now, about a specific guy in WW2, a topic never written about before. Three months ago, I found out someone had already written the book I had been working on. I wasn't angry in the least, especially after reading the advanced copy the author sent me (turns out, my name had come up in his research several times, he told me) and I thanked him for doing a great job and saving me the trouble, as I was only going to write the book I thought should be out there. Thank goodness I hadn't gone to all the archives across the country I was going to, as that was going to be my 'vacation' this coming summer! I told him I didn't care WHO wrote it, only that it got written, and that I thought he did a much better job than I would have had I written it. The funny thing is that I had materials and photos he later wished he had contacted me to use when he was writing like had been suggested to him, as he would have wanted some of my info in his book. In the end, we became fast friends.

One of the classic quotes that I have heard was told to have taken place on the first steam-powered, Super Skunk" train on the California Western. The line was famous for its motor cars that were affectionately called "Skunks."

The passenger train was set up with a public address system and had a shapely female attendant. When the train stopped for the engine to take water, she made the announcement, "We will now stop at Northspur to take on steam."

On an early New Georgia trip, an individual walked up to some of the guys oiling around S&A 750 and said something to the effect of "I rebuilt this engine...I'm Bill Purdie." Strangely enough, Mr. Purdie was ALSO sitting in the engineer's seat at the time.

I recall sitting in the cab of North American Rayon's Porter fireless 0-6-0, I think in 1981 when it was still running. The crew saw me taking photos and let me come up in the cab to look around (I was about 11 at the time and pretty harmless and kept my trap shut). A foamer came up and very rudely demanded to "inspect" the engine. They told him to leave or be reported as a trespasser. As I walked out of the cab after thanking the crew, the foamer looked in and saw that there was no firebox door. He said that the FRA would nail them for "illegally modifying a steam locomotive." I looked at him and said, "You fool, the thing is filled with steam from their stationary boiler, it doesn't have a firebox!"
I distinctly heard one of the engineer yell down to his brakeman at the pilot yell, "That kid's all right, he's the first one who's been up here in years who knew how this engine really works!" The man at the pilot agreed with a laugh. The foamer just sulked away...

Thank you for the clarification. Someone has been spreading a vile rumor that Straburg has commercialized this priceless artifact by repairing it and putting it back in service as higher priced, reserved, 1st Class transportation on some of your trains. I had just called to see if I could pay over the phone with a credit card for reservations for my family. The kind lady who answered your phone on winter weekdays suppressed her laughter and suggested that I call back on a weekend, when the ticket agent could better answer me. Thanks for saving both of us from a bad moment.

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Some of the facts that you point out here are why I, as a historian, have great concern for the future of organizations such as the National Railway Historical Society. Looking at our membership, we are quickly graying and do not appear to be recruiting more new, younger members at a rate to replace those lost to attrition (death, loss of interest, etc.). I fear that the Rail Camp, as well intended as it is, cannot sufficiently serve our organization's need to develop a tool or medium to draw more interest from the general public. Certainly the general perspective that the public at large has of railroad "museums" does not help our cause. We have only a handful of museums that can honestly claim that designation, far fewer than any other industrial preservation movement.

What organizations such as NRHS are most at risk of is the risk of becoming no longer relevant. Once that occurs, regaining status or, in some cases simply saving the organization, becomes a much greater battle. It's not the general public's fault for not recognizing the relevance that American railroads have in the daily lives of our nation. It's OUR fault for not getting out and teaching, for whatever reasons there may be. As a historian, my job is to document the history of my subject field and educate. I specialize in the history of the railroads of southeast Tennessee and adjoining regions and will do whatever it takes to educate any who are interested in that matter. Pride and ego have no place in this business. They are distractions and can become destructive forces that do no one any good.

Back in 1970 or '71, I was on one of the two day long High Iron trips, up the Erie to Binghamton, back to Hoboken on the Lackawanna. Power was the 759. On Saturday morning, one of my friends decided to have some fun. He told me that the 759 was going to Black River after the fantrip, to give 60 time off for some work. By Sunday mornng, that rumor was all over the train-

That trip ran with some NJDOT coaches on which the Dutch doors had been made one piece with strips of stainless steel and Phillips head screws. It was amazing how many Phillips head screwdrivers must have been sold in Binghamton that Saturday evening.

Back in my brief stint working/volunteering at a museum: "where is your roundtable?" It's easy to find, just look for King Arthur, he is usually next to the turnhouse..

I was at the Strasburg RR a few years ago, and the engine kept popping off its safety valve. Quoted one concerned parent: "why does the engineer keep doing that? It is scaring the kids!"

Then there are the railfans. One hot day last summer (I'm talking about 105 degrees hot) I got called to take a train from Bethlehem. My engineer and I groaned when we saw our assigned power. It featured in the lead an old Conrail standard cab GE (C39-8 I think) with NO air conditioning. The newer NS 70M-2 was in trail of course. Yes, us diesel guys are wusses. Anyhow, was a pretty decent trip, windows open, earplugs in, barely able to hear the radio, and we passed a bunch of railfans at Macungie. When I got home I did a check of the local yahoo groups to see if I can find a photo of it. Sure enough, out pops a photo of ol' blue. Of course the caption said something akin to "how great to see an old Conrail C39-8 leading in this day!"

Ummm.... yeah.

I think I just "rofl'd" in real life. This thread alone is enough to keep the weary and faithful in stitches for days.

KL

I also have a few favorites, some of which may suffer from over-verification:

1. The gentlemen who were trying to force the padlock on the fireman's door of of a U-boat who later explained to the constabulary that it was permissible because they were railfans.

2. The gentleman who turned up at a manually flagged highway crossing (Translate that as having your conductor run out into six lanes of traffic waving a red rag while you pray nobody hits him) and, with his spouse and offspring in tow, climbed up on said U-boat and explained that he was going for his Master Model Railroader certificate and wanted them to be able to ride on "a real Fairbanks-Morris" (his pronunciation).

3. When 142 was a Susquehanna operation and not a Tech Society project, Walter was in the habit of sending a couple of special agents with it on its off line travels. When it was being used for a two day series of excursions on New Jersey Transit some enterprising photographer set up his tripod inside the gage of one of Transit's main tracks. The two gentlemen from the NYS&W tried to reason with the photographer, explaining that this was just not a good place to be. The situation declined to the point where the two Susquehanna officers were faced with the choice of either taking direct action or facing the possibility of having to do the paperwork resulting from little bits of photographer being scattered over the landscape. They opted for direct action. What clinched the photographer's visit with the magistrate was when he started trying to explain that the two officers could not arrest him because he was in New Jersey and they were from New York.

4. A gentleman who I believe that Brother Mitchell and at least a few others of you have met who likes to lead off a conversation with "Hello all. I am ____ _. ____ and I am an important railroad executive."

5. My all time favorite - Many years ago when I was a graduate student I worked on several excursions run by one of the major organizations as it was the only way I could afford to ride. A young lady with no interest (or so she thought at the time) in trains or railroading had purchased tickets on one of our trips for her father as birthday present and had expected that her younger brother would go with him. As it happened she went. The poor girl was bored stiff and probably did not understand ninety percent of the conversation around her. I did my my best to explain things to her as did her father and after a while she seemed to be having a good time even if she was a bit overwhelmed by it all. I believe to this day that she somehow had the mistaken impression that I was the only other sane person on that trip. At one of the photo stops, while her father was actually climbing up on a signal mast so she could take his picture (there was no way she was climbing it in a skirt), she turned to me with an exasperated look that I would get to know very well (Our older daughter would come to describe it as the "Mom thinks you're from Mars," look), and asked, "Why on earth do they act this way?" My mouth went into full automatic and I answered with, "Why don't I try to explain it over dinner sometime." The rest, as they say, is history.


GME

[edited to fix one minor typo and to correct my daughter's quote.]

My wife had accepted my invitation to a railfan event to which several of us had decided to invite spouses and significant others. I did my best to explain some of the behavior of the "usual suspects". After the event my wife confessed that she thought I was being unkind in my advance descriptions, but confessed I was quite accurate in my portrayals.

Wesley

I just wanted to mention at this point in the discussion that the issues mentioned by Alan Walker in his posting (Jan. 16 at 11:49 PM) are a concern to many of us. The topic he brought up is a core issue of tremendous importance and deserves a discussion in a string all by itself.

MX (Obviously Not My Real Name)

I agree with MX. Trying to stay ahead of the curve and remain relevant is a huge challenge. An organization needs to constantly be looking ahead. A friend who is a pastor has been at his church for almost 30 years. He recently said that the congregation is now on its third version of itself in terms of the organizational structure and programs that support its mission and core values.

Wesley