How to get lynched at a model railway show

[The Johnster]

Which one?

 

The first doesn't have the clearance to have a cap.

A cap wouldn't be visible on the second.

It might actualy improve a third one!

And a fourth one just wouldn't look right - unless it's painted GWR Green to match!!

 

All four were in BR days, to their considerable improvement

 

I'll get my coat...

[The Johnster]

Ways to get lynched,

1. Well as a male show up in a full drag queen outfit behaving very effeminately.

2. As an exhibitor run a steam era layout with every express passenger loco on a goods train and vice versa. To keep the GWR fans happy have a King shunting complete with a shunters truck at either end.

3. On a DCC layout be very absorbed and when someone is filming, then start saying in a loud enough voice the "ch" "ch" sounds and "toot toooooooot!!!".

4. On reaching the counter of a trade stand start a conversation on your mobile phone telling the person behind the counter to stop talking whilst your on your phone, or text endlessly.

5. On reaching a major manufacturer's stand say in a loud voice that their products are over priced rubbish.

6. Tell the exhibitors of a finescale railway that their toy choo choo trains are lovely.  

 

Point number 3... I do this all the time during operating sessions.  Luckily, I live alone or anyone living with me would be calling in the men with the white coats.  I also make what I like to think are approximations of GW whistles, crosshead driven vacuum pump noises, and other little sounds that I think add to the experience.  I try to convince myself that it is to achieve scale speed running by chuffing in sync with quarter revolutions of the driving wheels, but, really, I'm just a bit of a sad sack.

 

D'you know, I feel better now that I've told somebody...

[The Johnster]

Perhaps tarring and feathering or riding out of the hall on a rail for minor offences, or, for persistent offenders, a scold's bridle?

 

A code 75 rail, presumably?

[The Johnster]

Expert Modeller: Someone who can open a bottle of liquid poly with one hand

 

Andi

 

I can do this!

[The Johnster]

Perhaps you mean, too long?

 

Well, anyway, not the right length...

[The Johnster]

I wonder if this difficulty for some people to comprehend that a model is of a fictitious place is related to autism/aspergers. I don't know much about ASD, but wonder if for a person somewhere on the autism spectrum, when presented with a "real" model, they can see the model is "real", so it must be "real" - but then they are told it is "not real", a made-up place ...

 

And to make things worse it uses a real name or one close to a real name. If your brain struggles to process the ideas, the links between real/not real, that most people have no problem with, then you end up looking daft. Perhaps.

 

You might be on to something; autistic and aspie people are wired to believe what they are told without subjecting it to the same instinctive scrutiny that norms do without even consciously being aware of it.  If they presuppose that a model of a railway must be a representation of something real, only to scale, because that is what they have been told it is, it might well be that they experience difficulty making the perceptive 'leap' to account for a model of something that is imaginary and fictitious, and not real at all.  People on the spectrum take things absolutely literally, and see matters that have subtle shades of meaning or significance in a much more polarised, black or white (but no grey and definitely no colour sort of way).  As an example, if I used that last sentence in a conversation with someone autistic, they would point out that their colour perception is as good as anyone else''s...  They are incapable of dishonesty or deceit, and bad at detecting it in others and in situations where interpretation is required, and is some ways, a model railway is a deceit, in that one must suspend a degree of disbelief to be convinced by it.

 

Railways as a hobby seem to attract autistic folk more than most other pastimes, and I have always suspected that it is because railways are a closed and defined world with it's own internal rules, in which everything (usually) happens in a set sequence, at a set time, and in a specific and predictable way, an ordered world which is 'safe' in comparison with the unpredictable and chaotic nature of life outside the ticket barrier.  It is significant that numbers, whether of locos and stock, or in a timetable, are important on railways; numbers work in a very specific and predictable way, which I think is reassuring for those with autism or asperger's.  The appearance of an unusual loco on a train will delight a 'normal' enthusiast, but to an autistic person it is remarkable for being wrong, out of course, upsetting, a disturbance of the usual order; they would much prefer to see the usual loco.

 

I am no expert, but an ex is an aspie; I got quite good at allowing for it, but she'd often catch me out with a literal interpretation of a situation that I'd failed to anticipate her reaction to.  Wasn't railways with her, but sudoku; again a predictable structure with a defined set of rules to operate by.

[The Johnster]

And what does it do for the other half of the time?

 

TBH - all layouts are train sets............

 

Cheers,

Mick

 

Part time traffic signals or occasional tables?

[BR60103]

I managed to offend a young fellow at a show with my garage. Inside is an LED representation of arc welding, and I had a sign in front warning not to look at the welding without protective glasses. I even supplied glasses -- a set of cataract sunglasses. He was very offended that they were not proper welding glasses, more than at the fake welding.  I don't know how he reacted to steam locomotives with electric motors inside.

[luckymucklebackit]

......Railways as a hobby seem to attract autistic folk more than most other pastimes, ....

 

I recall being down at my local Health Centre a while ago and there was a poster on the wall about autism, the symbol associated with the condition was the classic steam loco as you would see on the level crossing warning sign.  I remember being a little offended by it but reading this it now makes some sense.

 

Jim

[5050]

sudoku; again a predictable structure with a defined set of rules to operate by.

Really!?  That's probably why I have difficulty with doing them.  Rules are, as the saying goes, "for the observance of fools and the guidance of wise men".

 

If that's correct, I'm not sure which category I fit into

[The White Rabbit]

Perhaps the difference is about seven pints? 

[C&WR]

 

I am now looking forward to our scenic threads picking this one up and giving us handy hints on the shape and colour of the deposits and the range of scatter of the toilet paper. Well perhaps 'picking this one up' is not quite the right turn of phrase. It's only (good) dog walkers that do that.

 

Lots of tomato plants in order*, I gather.

 

*Or in ordure, I suppose

[The Johnster]

Perhaps the difference is about seven pints? 

 

I have a gay friend who reckons 7 pints is the difference between a straight football fan and a gay one...

[guillemot]

.....autistic and aspie people are wired to believe what they are told without subjecting it to the same instinctive scrutiny that norms do.....

 

.....People on the spectrum take things absolutely literally, and see matters that have subtle shades of meaning or significance in a much more polarised, black or white (but no grey and definitely no colour sort of way).  As an example, if I used that last sentence in a conversation with someone autistic, they would point out that their colour perception is as good as anyone else''s...  

 

They are incapable of dishonesty or deceit, and bad at detecting it in others and in situations where interpretation is required

 

Railways as a hobby seem to attract autistic folk more than most other pastimes

 

Autistic people are all individuals as much as any group of people are. Many of us (Asperger's in my case) spend an awful lot of time analysing why we seem to experience the world in a rather different way to everyone else, which gives us an interesting perspective on many things. Analysing things tends to be something we like doing.

 

It took me a long time to learn that it is not a good idea to believe everything you are told, but we are very good at learning, and now I subject absolutely everything I am told to intense scrutiny, especially as it turns out that so many people are in fact dishonest about so many things. Now I default to assuming that people are being dishonest until proven otherwise.

 

Taking things literally has positives and negatives. Negotiating small talk and social chit-chat is a nightmare for me, but I work in the rail industry and interpreting rules and procedures literally is a good thing. That is how they are meant to be interpreted. It can be very frustrating when some people seem to think that 'rules' are optional or flexible.

 

As for dishonesty, I cannot see why anyone would want to be dishonest. Out of curiosity I have on occasions tried to wind people up at work (not literally of course!) by making things up, but they always see through my rather pitiful attempts.

 

Most Aspies have an obsessive interest in something, but the stereotype that we are all obsessed with trains is not really accurate. Animals, nature and science are the commonest interests, with transport systems being a bit further down the list. Birds are my real interest. Trains are secondary to that. Actually they are even further down my personal list than secondary.

 

Anyway, this isn't intended as a criticism of the post I have quoted but I just wanted to add a few comments to the points raised based on my own experience. I am sure I am not the only Aspie on this forum and others will no doubt have very different perspectives to mine. As I said we are all individuals.

[rue_d_etropal]

With one of my sons AS, I have observed the condition over the years. With my own interest in railways, and havin worked in IT, I have realised that there are a lot of people out there with certain AS symptoms. Most are probably not diagnosed as such, and it seems to only be when an induvidual is having some sort of problem,that it even comes up. Most cope well, but there are quite a few people who obviously are on the spectrum and carry on as though there was nothing wrong, but can still be very difficult to deal with. It almost certainly account for some of the misunderstanding on online forums.

AS became a trendy condition to work with a few years ago. We certainly had one child psycholgist who was more interested in what it could do for their own career. When we moved, the local schools were better at dealing with all levels of Autism, as the Autistic Society had a big local unit.

 

The thing is, we are all individuals, we are all different, and it sometimes does more harm to put labels on people, although in some cases it can bring help. AS should not be used as an excuse. It is better to help someone, rather than letting them retreat. Chances are that everyone will gain then. Some people have thick skins so can take a lot of flack, but that just allows those who treat ohers badly to get away with it. treat everyone well, with respect and you will have fewer problems, especially when their next target(yes they are nothing better than bullies) is AS, and vulnerable.

Edited January 6, 2017 by rue_d_etropal

[Coryton]

 

but car is the generic name for both passenger and freight vehicles in American English (where it wouldn't be confused with automobile).

 

 

No but it could easily be confused with car, which is what Americans generally say instead of auto or automobile.

 

Somehow despite the fact that most of us are exposed to plenty of American television and films in which I'm sure people talk about cars at some point, it's easy to completely fail to notice the fact and believe that Americans still generally call them autos (I certainly thought so until I actually lived in the US).

 

I offer a couple of web pages as evidence that the word "car" is widely used in the US:

http://www.cartalk.com/ (an excellent radio program, at least as US radio programs go which isn't all that far)

http://www.aaa.com/PPInternational/PurchasingVehicleExport.html (From the American Automobile Association, where the document uses the word "car" throughout).

 

For some reason you buy cars from used car lots, but have them serviced by an auto mechanic.

Edited January 6, 2017 by Coryton

[TheQ]

No but it could easily be confused with car, which is what Americans generally say instead of auto or automobile.

 

Somehow despite the fact that most of us are exposed to plenty of American television and films in which I'm sure people talk about cars at some point, it's easy to completely fail to notice the fact and believe that Americans still generally call them autos (I certainly thought so until I actually lived in the US).

 

I offer a couple of web pages as evidence that the word "car" is widely used in the US:

http://www.cartalk.com/ (an excellent radio program, at least as US radio programs go which isn't all that far)

http://www.aaa.com/PPInternational/PurchasingVehicleExport.html (From the American Automobile Association, where the document uses the word "car" throughout).

 

For some reason you buy cars from used car lots, but have them serviced by an auto mechanic.

Maybe it's because most american cars are Automatics, ours are mostly manual ( place little yellow ball with tounge firmly in cheek here)

[Edwardian]

I used to date an Aspy girl, so, though I cannot imagine quite what it must be like to have them, I am very familiar with some of the difficulties she faced, e.g. reading facial expressions.  She was intelligent, articulate and outwardly confident to a high degree, but certain things just stumped her.  She could not 'read' the expressions of actors in films, and animated films were worse; I remember trying to explain to her what was happening during Shrek because she simply could not follow it.  Of course, it is a spectrum and people on it vary enormously.     

 

I also used to do pro bono work for the National Autistic Society.

 

Some of the dirtiest morally bankrupt fighters I have ever come across in litigation have been Local Authorities trying to wriggle out of their statutory obligations to fund statemented/special needs kids, so there is certainly a need for free legal representation.

 

Anyway, the NAS were very keen that we understood all about the spectrum, but while watching the training videos, it came to me that at least some of the range of characteristics could be attributable to most of the people I knew, including myself.  With regard to certain partners I'd worked for, in particular, I scanned the room thinking, "well, she's on the spectrum, and he definitely is ...!". 

 

Rightly or wrongly I see people not as either 'normal' on the one hand and Aspergic/autistic on the other, but everyone on a single continuum, but with most of us so mildly affected that it barely or hardly impinges upon our daily lives.  That might not be a clinically sound or politically correct viewpoint, I don't know, but it means that I do not regard people who have different or enhanced needs as fundamentally different from me. 

 

I sincerely hope that none of the above has caused anyone any offence, it was not intended to.

[TheQ]

I would like to thank those who have explained AS, the cases you see on TV are the extreme ones. You don't realise the range it can cover without those explanations.

 

It explains a lot that has happened to me over the years. I can remember about 50 years ago being interviewed by the school psychologist. You probably know the routine, the pretend foot inspection, while asking all sorts question that even as a child I recognised as psychological questioning. Nothing changed at school, I was still bullied a lot.

 

Even today when when SWMBO says put the kettle on that's exactly what I'll do, then I'll wander off. It will only some time later I'll remember what she wanted was a cup of tea.(If I haven't had my ears bent by then) I'm always getting my ears bent by her for doing / taking things litterally. I also have always hated crowds, and generally found it hard to make friends.

[F-UnitMad]

Even today when when SWMBO says put the kettle on that's exactly what I'll do, then I'll wander off. It will only some time later I'll remember what she wanted was a cup of tea.

Matey, what SWMBO says and what she actually means is an un-navigable minefield for ALL men.!!

[Edwardian]

Matey, what SWMBO says and what she actually means is an un-navigable minefield for ALL men.!!

 

Never was a truer thing posted on RMWeb.

[TheQ]

Matey, what SWMBO says and what she actually means is an un-navigable minefield for ALL men.!!

True but you'd have thought. I'd realise what put the kettle on means after 35 years together!!!

[Baby Deltic]

I say, does the replacement bus have DCC sound too?

[Colin_McLeod]

At a P4 layout ask if the bullhead track is the new Peco or DCC Concepts.

[davknigh]

At a P4 layout ask if the bullhead track is the new Peco or DCC Concepts.

It might get you a patient look, but a lynching? Nah....

 

Cheers,

 

David