I think it's safe to say that with the internet, often time the railfans have a better idea of what is going on then management.

Right. Put a foamer in charge of a railroad's media relations. I'm not saying that the "stereotypical railfan" need apply, but get someone that actually spends (spare) time to get the facts straight, relays the proper information to the media outlets, and voila! I can sit back knowing that at least some thought went into how the railroad wants to be portrayed. The railroad doesn't care about if a boxcar is a gondola, but there has to be a better person to fill those shoes. A lot of railfans would jump at the oppertunity to be media relations for a railroad. They would be self-motivated to do research, and make sure the facts are straight- even the unusual facts.

You dont remember your first pair of aces, you remember your first Royal Flush.... Does that make gamblers thrive off the extraordinary? YES! Everyone has their passion. Some people even like "birding", for some strange reason. If you had a question about hummingbirds would you go ask your mechanic?

Police where I live have a media officer that always answers questions to the TV and newspapers. That's thier full-time job. It's strange to see them at 5:00 in the morning at the scene of a head-on on the interstate, then the next piece shot at 2:30 that afternoon about a bridge jumper halting traffic with suicide threats. It must be a tough job to do, but this guy knows about everything there is to know about the situations involving police in this community.

Too bad the railroads might not care enough about informing the public properly. That could be a reason that there are so many car/train accidents.............