As on any forum, there's always a few people whose personalities cause issues like this.
- That guy (not being sexist; they're usually guys) who feels they are the first and last word on anything. No matter how obscure the topic, he has to jump in with his rarified opinion to tell you how wrong you are (because, well, he says so). We have a couple of those on this forum; most of you know who I mean
- The type who look for something to be offended by so they can 'school' others
- I call them "forum cops", but they are the ones who must correct others for the most trivial things (such as hyphenating PRR engine classes that was brought up earlier in this thread). You know the guy asking a question on a PRR road numbers 3750 or 1361 meant K4 when he typed K-4. Does it really matter he put the hyphen there? And do we really need to beat people up over small spelling errors?
- Let's not forget the "I know this, so you shouldn't ask the question" types. Someone asks a question because generally, they don't know the answer. Must people beat up on them for asking? Just because you know the answer doesn't mean they already do. Would they be asking otherwise?
- Also, the "this isn't the answer you asked for," type. On another forum, someone asked what kind of equipment would be on a stateside 1952 military train. I posted what I know about the era and what the military equipment by models would likely be, and how they would be painted, grouped together and secured on flat cars. Yet so many others went into the stuff they saw (or heard of) in much later eras. They probably mean well, but wouldn't it better to just not post a non-answer to the question? He had been specific about the time and load types he was looking for, what good does it to do going into something 20 years (or more) later or on another continent?
