Comments on: Train Quest (2001)

By: Felicity

Felicity — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 05:00:56 +0000

I don’t think that trains will ever be a “hobby which has so far outlived its brief historical niche that most people don’t realize anyone still engages in it.” I’ve noticed that there’s a powerful attraction to trains among a certain breed of geek, autistic, or systematizing intellectual. It must be all the complex interconnected parts. It’s not for me, but I can easily imagine a train aspie seeing the box for this movie on the shelf at the dollar store, perking up at the word “Train” in the title, discovering that it’s also a genre film, and grinning as they carry it to the cashier.

But then, from the previous two comments in this comments section, it sounds like you already knew about train fandom, or do now. :-)

By: Nathan Shumate

Nathan Shumate — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 00:32:06 +0000

Gosh, thanks for not using the word “stupidity.” (And yet you did! How sly of you!)

It’s called “ribbing.” Get used to it. Every specialized interest gets it, even in polite company, unless they’re a federally protected class — comic book geeks (I’m one), Mormons (I’m also one), etc. Republicans do it to Democrats, Democrats do it to Republicans, and both do it to Greens and Libertarians. It sometimes staggers me that the internet has been in common use for over a decade, and yet people are still being shocked — shocked! — to find that there are things written on it that offend them! (Just imagine if Trekkies were as thin-skinned as you are — it would be the Rodney King Riots with Spock ears!) And while my swipes at the scarcity of model train enthusiasts were exaggerated for comedic effect, if the asides in my review can “undermine” this hobby, then it’s almost as weak as I portrayed it to be, isn’t it?

But hey, feel free to ignore my review and conclude that, since I offended you, the movie must be great. In fact, seek it out! You deserve it!

By: ddelora

ddelora — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 23:40:48 +0000

Ahem…pardon me, but your ignorance is showing. I shall remain kind and not use the word “stupidity”. Apparently, you chose to say “if you are in fact one of the seven remaining model train enthusiasts in the continental United States”, without benefit of the slightest bit of research to back up this statement.

You may not like the movie (I have never seen it), but if your opinion is as true as the above statement, it must be a GREAT movie! There are, in fact, millions of model train enthusiasts throughout the United States, and there are hundreds of model train shows held all over the country, and attended by thousands of people.
Many, many publications dedicated to the subject are in print, as well as a staggering quantity of model train stores and online businesses (Walthers.com, just to mention one).

Your point can be made quite satisfactorily without grossly understating the facts and negatively undermining a hobby shared by millions of people.