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  • Vermont Rail System (VTR, GMRC, WACR, CLP, NYOG)

  • Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New England
Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New England

Moderators: MEC407, NHN503

 #1534038  by Narrowgauger
 
NHV 669 wrote: Sun Feb 16, 2020 12:44 pm Photos have been posted, train locations named, etc. since the collapse. Several of those posters work for the RR itself, and I would think they'd do what's needed to make sure any confidential info that would put their jobs at risk doesn't get disseminated all over the place. They have a sightings/chases page, they don't need foamers posting 50 threads asking where the detours are/what's on them/when will they be here? on a page meant for sharing material later on.

I check that page frequently and didn't see any offending posts, other than the widely circulated tunnel photo in a comment thread about the collapse , so I'm assuming this was the admin acting proactively in this case. There were no insults thrown, just a suggestion of toning down the foam level. No big deal, things are as usual.
Well now. Let me begin by saying I in no way wish to cause a uproar. But I am truly curious about a couple things regarding your reply. I hope you would be willing to educate me since My involvement with railroading was from the administrative end of it. You say several of the posters work for the railroad and wanted to make sure confidential info that would put their jobs at risk doesn't get disseminated all over the internet. How could confidential info get out unless they were the ones putting it out there to begin with?? Along the same lines what could possibly be confidential with a well reported collapse ?? I remember back in 79 some body at the MEC offices mentioning something about keeping the purchase of 4 GP-7s under wraps. People laughed and said I bet they have photographed them the min they were billed to the MEC. And that was before the day of cell phones.
The other question I have is the use of the word "foamers" Are you telling me that a page created for railfans to share info is upset because railfans asking questions are foamers? Wouldn't up to date info be a positive attribute for a site to have? If the idea that railfans would be asking too many questions bother a group, perhaps they would of been better off joining a butterfly collecting group. To insult the very people who your trying to attract seems odd to me. You want to hear 1000000 questions go to a narrow gauge convention!
And one final thing. I never said any body was insulted (except for being called foamers) I said they were going after. Many posts were deleted, for reasons I can not understand. As I stated, my intention is not to be argumentative but to understand why these comments were made.
 #1534047  by NHV 669
 
There's no need to "educate you", I'm merely repeating what the page admin wrote, since you say you've seen the posts I did. Let me be clearer, several employees are members of that page. They may offer an opinion on how something is properly done, what they like/don't like about certain equipment, or a video of a train they caught while off the clock, etc. They are not writing live posts from inside the cabin or putting photos on FB while on the clock.

The NHN page had a local guy (non-employee) posting radio chatter, which is great for someone like me who has never railfanned the line, trying to get a rough estimate of when trains come through. I understand it's not "top secret stuff", but there's likely someone in the front office who doesn't like the idea of their employee movements being tracked 24-7, even if it's a trival thing like dispatch-train communications. Something must have been said, that poster no longer makes such radio-related posts.

I'm not using foamer as a general insult for question-askers, there's a difference between frequent lineside contributors with a good knowledge of the routes and general train times, and the same kid who needs live updates on a train so Mom can get him to the crossing in time. I'm not sure what deleted posts, you're referring to, everyone seemed to get the same idea that the tunnel photo was not company-approved at the times it was posted by several pages. Obviously, they eventually made it public, but that isn't the point. You don't need local joe putting out his own spin on the story, before the company can even put out a press release. I still don't understand who's being "insulted", the admin of that page is a non-employee simply doing the right thing by telling folks not to spread unapproved media.
 #1534109  by Narrowgauger
 
A very good reply, thank you. The problem I see is that we are not talking about the same Facebook page. Max put out a request and I saw that. While I agree with much of your reply, allow me to say a couple things. The kid, while a huge pain in ass is the future railfan. We might cut him some slack. He could be put on "moderator" status.

The NHN case involved more than just posting train times, trust me. NO ONE can can stop people from repeating what is said on public airwaves. If someone in the front office thinks no one is listening then they really have no clue. Thats why there are secure law enforcement and military channels. Can you imagine if CSX told people to stop listening to their transmissions and not post anything they heard on it....They would be laughed out of sight.

As far as any company approved photo , there are many photos out there. Some from the Hoosic Tunnel Society , that show a bigger collapse than before along with some reports of daylight coming thru. Its up to the individual to believe what story is correct. Years ago it took hours for information to get out, now its seconds. People can not and will not wait for "company approved" anything. Just watch your local news. Unapproved media in this day and age is a fact of life, you or I will never stop it. No matter where it comes from.
Last edited by MEC407 on Tue Feb 18, 2020 3:50 pm, edited 1 time in total. Reason: unnecessary quoting
 #1535562  by Dick H
 
NS and CSX got into a dispute on moving auto rack and container trains. So NS and PAR, along with the NECR and the VRS opened a second routing. Begins at Crescent (west of Mechanicville) up the CP (D&H) to Whitehall NY, over to Rutland and Bellows Falls on the VRS, down to Millers Falls on the NECR and east to Gardner and Ayer on PAR. NS assembled five GP38-2 locos and moved 50 autoracks today. NS symbol was 27W.

Thanks to New England Rail for this video at West Royalston MA, 4:24 minutes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdwKElYC1QM
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