Re: GUNZEL

[pcc@ocean.com.au (Les Brown)]

Railway Rasputin <bob@fastlink.com.au> wrote in aus.rail:

>Les Brown wrote:
>
>>
>> I seem to remember asking (or trying to ask) guards a few questions.
>> If I could get a vocalisation of anything better than beery grunt, I
>> thought I was doing real well. Basically I gave up asking rail staff
>> any questions because most of them, the non-railfan, the "I'm only
>> doing this 'cause it's a job and it's better than being on the
>> friggin' dole"- type railman was one of the most ignorant and useless
>> life-forms you could come across this side of herpes and cockroaches.
>> Apart from what they had to do, they knew SFA about anything else.
>> Breathing seemed too much of an intellectual exercise for some of
>> them.
>>
>> The railwayman-railfan, on the other hand was a really good find. He
>> could have been Rail Motor Driver, SM, Caretaker, Signalman or Ganger.
>> He answered all your questions, no matter how stupid (better to ask a
>> dumb question and be a fool for five minutes, rather than not ask and
>> be a fool for life) and pointed out, without prompting, all the points
>> of interest as one railfan would to another. It was a joy to find
>> someone keen and interested in their job. The goodwill that these
>> enthusiast railwaymen created between the railways and the public was
>> priceless.
>>
>> Now I don't doubt that most railwaymen are in the middle between
>> seaweed and sainthood. Finding the right person was tricky, often I'd
>> take my son with me because he found them better than I could - most
>> railway men love kids. But I haven't got the time for any railwayman
>> that's so up themselves that they regard a grunt for an answer as an
>> adequate response to a question. As they say; dumb-looks are free and
>> some railwaymen are very free with that kind of advice.
>>
>> No wonder why Victoria got rid of guards.
>>
>> Les Brown
>
>Fair enough but its a bit rich when they ask you a question and when you answer it
>they tell you its wrong, especially when you are trained and know the answer.
>like this one:
>
>What train is this?
>An S set.
>No it isn't, its a K set.
>No it is a series 4 Goninan S set.
>Aw, you don't know what you are talking about. (he walks off)
>
>Never mind the S target on the from and back.
>
Yes, I've seen similar scenes before. Fortunately most railfans
respect MOST railway men for their professionalism. Dickheads do exist
everywhere though but.

Les Brown