www.railfan.com/departures


www.railfan.com FOUNDING PUBLISHER


HAROLD H. CARSTENS (1925-2009)


PRESIDENT AND PUBLISHER HENRY R. CARSTENS


VICE PRESIDENT JOHN A. EARLEY EDITOR


E. STEVEN BARRY


ASSOCIATE EDITORS WALTER C. LANKENAU OTTO M. VONDRAK


CONTRIBUTING EDITOR JAMES D. PORTERFIELD


COLUMNISTS N&W 1218 IS GETTING A BATH... THAT SHOULD START SOME RUMORS. PHOTO BY STEVE BARRY. LIGHTING BY LERRO PRODUCTIONS Rumor Has It... RAILFANS LOVE RUMORS. Rumor is the


lifeblood of almost every railfan gathering, email list message, or online web posting. Without rumor, railfan conversation would be reduced to comparing cameras and shar- ing horror stories about fan trips gone wrong. While these can make decent discus- sion fodder, it is the rumor where the cre- ative possibilities are richest.


Rumors, for example, can be about almost anything. What new locomotive type will the Union Pacific be ordering next fall, and how many, and why? What shipper is about to shut down next month, thus guaranteeing the final closure of a branch line? What spe- cial paint schemes might be in the works by the local short line to celebrate the 100th birthday of the Podunk Northern? Is that fa- mous steam locomotive going to be doing ex- cursions ever again? From big national sto- ries to the most mundane of local topics, the rumor can be about anything at all. There is an art to creating a rumor. The


best rumors are about something that has some degree of current interest among the rumor’s intended audience, so starting a ru- mor about the Alaska Railroad’s construc- tion plans probably won't be well received in, say, the monthly meeting of the Tar Heel Railroad Photographers Club. Perhaps the rumor is about a corporate merger, or a long abandoned local branch line route. It’s even better if you were told by someone who works for the railroad. To “protect” your sources, they must never be named. Second, a good rumor should be plausible. Telling people that Amtrak is going to start using steam locomotives isn’t going to be very successful. Telling people that Norfolk Southern’s latest heritage program involves restoring a Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 electric, however, is just similar enough to real events — like the possible return of the N&W 611 to excursion service — that it may be believed.


Rumor artists tend to fall into one of three categories. The first of these is the believer. There is a small but strong contingent of


4 MARCH 2013 • RAILFAN.COM


railfans who will believe, perhaps out of wishful thinking, that whatever rumor they are told must be true. The believer usually does not create rumors, but sometimes em- bellishes, adds to, or exaggerates them in or- der to become more convincing. A believer is the ultimate carrier for a rumor, and gains pleasure from commerce in them: the more rumors a believer can gather and then pass on, the happier he or she is. In the absence of having original information to share, peo- ple are finally paying attention to you! Next is the the rumor purveyor, better known as a gossip. The gossip is different than the believer because the gossip can still be quite skeptical. The gossip knows that ru- mors are usually wrong, and only rarely right, and approaches rumors in search of the truth much like a miner pans through gravel looking for gold. Often the gossip takes joy in sharing their vast knowledge by immediately proving how the rumor cannot possibly be true. Still, the gossip has a strong appreciation for a well crafted, plau- sible rumor, and respects such quality even if it proves false. A gossip is a connoisseur. The last group of rumor artists is the smallest, but perhaps the most profound: the pot-stirrer. A pot-stirrer is to rumors what John Grisham is to the New York Times bestseller list. They are not only ex- perts at crafting good, believable rumors, they are also dealers in fiction and truth, tricksters who use small bits of factual in- formation to provoke reactions. The ulti- mate achievement of a pot-stirrer is to spread fact in the guise of far-fetched fanta- sy, and then get as many skeptical or down- right hostile public responses as possible. But don’t take my word for it. Though I did hear from a friend of mine...


Alexander B. Craghead is a writer, photog- rapher,


watercolorist, and self-described “transportation geek” from Portland, Ore. You can reach out to Alex on our web site at www.railfan.com/departures.


ALEXANDER B. CRAGHEAD THOMAS KELCEC GREG MONROE GEORGE M. SMERK JEFFREY D. TERRY WES VERNON


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RAILFAN & RAILROAD (ISSN 0163-7266) is published monthly by Carstens Publications, Inc., 108 Phil Hardin Road, Newton, New Jersey 07860. Phone 973/383-3355. Henry R. Carstens, Publisher; Phyllis M. Carstens, Secretary-Treasurer. Periodical Postage paid at Newton, NJ 07860 and additional mailing offices.


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