I find it difficult to believe that I was the first one here to notice this:
http://www.fox29.com/news/50059423-story

Has anybody mentioned this to the Honorable Member from Wakefield?

Some of you may recall a discussion two years ago on this very topic:
http://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=36028&start=0
Thomas 'to blame for lack of female train drivers'?

GME

The marketing savvy in using a human interest story to raise awareness of an upcoming event, in this case a DOWT, illustrates why an operation like SRR is so successful. A great way to increase market enthusiasm for the history and the equipment is to cultivate public interest in the people behind the history and equipment. Well done.

I'm less interested in her gender than in her age. Anybody except other old white guys is who we need to work on bringing in.

I had chance to meet Andrea when I visited Strasburg this past July, and I was very impressed. She's passionate about steam and really knows her stuff. (My understanding is that she has her own steam traction engine which she takes to shows, so she even plays with steam on her days off.)

I took this photo of her running 89 there in September:

There's a young woman running steam in my neck of the woods, so it's not quite a 'news' item for me.
Like it's been said before, I think the age is more noteworthy than the gender. We all know how few young people, regardless of skills, get such an opportunity.

When I see this headline, I actually think of this article:

http://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/girls-l ... d=35252414

Interesting read - considering I just took my nearly-two-year-old daughter today to her first "Day Out With Thomas" event in Strasburg and she cried whenever we started to walk the opposite direction of Thomas or Percy because she wanted to go in THAT DIRECTION...

I saw a lot of little girls there at the event in addition to little boys, so if you're going to start the kids enjoying trains when they're young (like my girl does), then I think adding girls playing with the trains to the photos catalog (and for the love of all things clothing - not every Thomas & Friends girl's shirt has to be pink!!!!!) is a fantastic start.

Big Jim's comment reminds me of the "Lady Lionel" train set made by the famous toy train maker back in the 1950s. Seems some of their market research revealed that girls liked to play with trains, too, so Lionel made what became an infamous train set aimed at the female demographic, complete with a pink locomotive and pastel colored freight cars. It was a huge sales flop at the time.

Why? Because girls who like trains like them for the same reasons boys do, which is because they are trains! B&O historian John Hankey is on film saying trains are impressive "like dinosaurs"--big and loud. At the same time, aren't they also still friendly, or at least not threatening?

I've mentioned this a long time back, but I'm also reminded of a father who took his 5-year old boy to a drag race and to Strasburg. The boy didn't like the drag race, asking his dad, "Why are those cars so angry?"

He didn't feel that way at the Strasburg, going up to No. 90 and touching it, petting it. He wasn't afraid of it. His father said the "personality" of No. 90 was like that of "a big friendly horse."

Oh, if only we could get some Class I managers to understand!

Ok, I am going to age myself, Does anyone remember the show Real People that used to be on NBC if the brain is working. There was a segment on Marty Fisher who worked for the C&TS in the eighties. Her husband or Earl Knoob can speek to the exact dates. Tragically she died recently in a auto accident. The fishers worked for a while when Grand Canyon Railway first started. I never heard a negative comment about her skills. When GCR trained another female for engine service there were a lot of surprises when we mentioned that she was not the first female to be in the operating department. The R&LHS recently mentioned in their national newsletter that the Southwest Chapter was the first chapter to have a female as it leader. While the chapter is right they missed who it was by about twenty-five years. The Southwest Chapter had it first female president in 1985 not 2010.

The first female engineer for the Santa Fe is retired. Her stories are interesting for both of those who worked against her but also for those who supported her. I have found that those who discriminates against a certain person from doing something because of race or sex have personal issues that need to be addressed. In today's society it frustrates me that you have to look at me to be an inspiration. I see the accomplishments of Madam Curie, the free soldiers of the Union Army, and former Senator Daniel Inouye's service in spite of the adversity they suffered. We will not grow until we look at a persons skills and not their sex or traits. These articles do nothing to help that. On the other hand it is good publicity for the Strasburg railroad.


Robby Peartree

Yeah, but that doesn't make it any less true.

Sorry if I didn't make it clear - being an old white guy, I see mostly other old white guys working on this stuff. I'm thrilled to see people who aren't either old, white or guys getting involved since broadening the base is going to be necessary in the future if we are to continue to evolve in any way other than towards oblivion. The new smaller crops of other old white guys will show up anyhow, but in ever decreasing numbers while we current more numerous old white guys die off. And, the comment was as sexist and ageist as it was racist, which given my point truly isn't any of them at all. Any particular reason *you* zeroed in exclusively on race? For the record, I'm against emotional foamers trying to manage businesses, those who are proud of their own ignorance, those who are too dumb to be ignorant, irrational decision makers and those who have never dealt with difficult things second guessing those who are in a position where they have to. If you are none of these I welcome you.

If somebody shows up to help, let 'em. Don't worry about what they look like. The standard hints apply: don't assume a girl only wants to sweep up and cook and a guy won't; don't assume an older man is automatically more qualified than the college kid; do straighten out anyone who isn't being safe after they've had the protocol explained, regardless of age or gender. Other than that, hands are hands and muscle is muscle.

Also, if someone with a disability shows up, and you happen to have something they can do, let them. I can't do a lot of stuff any more, but I can catalog items, be a parts runner or document work stages...and incidentally, I don't mind sweeping up and love to cook, so that's OK by me :)

Agreed - I love to sweep and cook so much I bought a small restaurant!

Eric

RPCA is looking to attract young people to the industry regardless of gender. 2016 RPCA Conference theme is 'Paying it Forward - Getting the Next Generation aboard',
with an incentive to attract the 30 and younger population by offering flat $50 registration to attend the conference in Tyler, TX.

Dave wrote:

"I'm less interested in her gender than in her age. Anybody except other old white guys is who we need to work on bringing in."

"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."

-George Orwell, Animal Farm

Any bias is acceptable in the service of eradicating bias.