Reluctance to Change
Photo credits: Jerry Huddleston Creative Commons 2.0 licensing source
Railfans are traditionalists.
I do like to joke about the difference between railfans and the New Urbanist movement since both groups like trains but have strongly different opinions on them. There is a strong traditionalism which permeates the railfan hobby to its core which is a defining aspect of the hobby. How often have you seen the following in your own personal experiences:
A model railroader strongly defending their choice to operate their layout using DC power, or their choice of horn hook couplers?
A railfan lamenting the way things used to be, pointing at an active commuter railfan and remembering when it used to be a lightly treaded secondary freight branch?
A desire to return to steam or early diesels for the aesthetics?
Glossing over the ugly sides of historic railroading (deadly accidents, Jim Crowe laws, environmental impacts, conflicts over wages and strikes, etc.) to create a rose tinted view of the glory days of the past?
At its core, I do think a sense of traditionalism is not always a bad thing, it can lead railfans to greatly savor history and spiritually revive railroads which may be long gone through modern adoration. There is nothing more valuable in this hobby than seeing somebody who through determination and grit has become a master of the arcane past, an evangelist of our shared railroading history. But oftentimes this traditionalist streak can have a detrimental view of modern progress with quick judgements from armchair quarterbacks.
This happens all the time, look at the knee-jerk reactions that come in left and right regarding battery locomotive proposals nonstop right now (I am not saying battery locomotives are the future myself, but that until they are tested and piloted in real railroad situations we really can’t so quickly discount them either). The railfan world has a strong reluctance to see the value in new technology and progress.
We saw this cycle when Metra fielded their refurbished SD70MACH locomotives. Often I read people say “six axle locomotives don’t work in passenger service” and “why waste money refurbishing a freight locomotive instead of just buying a new passenger locomotive?” I have never seen these claims backed up with more than just strong opinion and anecdotal evidence.
The armchair critiques have not seemed to have any major bearing on the success of the locomotives on Metra, the SD70MACH plies the rails fine regardless of what frantic railfans on Facebook and Twitter suggested.
Learning to use some sense of traditional attitude to cultivate some healthy cynicism is good (we want to avoid railfans getting duped by the next Holman Horror) but remember to balance it with a willingness to see innovation, and the humility to recognize one’s own limits to their knowledge. Remember the power of the Man in the Arena when observing real railroads try new things, and be willing to observe cautiously how these new ideas turn out; you might be surprised to see a few of them work.
Photo credits: amtrak_russ Creative Commons 2.0 licensing source
*Yes I know that is not an SD70MACH