What dont you like about this hobby

[nachoman]

What I have found is a tremendously helpful and gracious bunch of people who are enjoying and sharing the hobby. And, I would LOVE to hear some factual occurences of all this oPpResSioN that apparently is running rampant in the hobby.

Definitely not on this site. But other model forums definitely yes. That is why I post here, but rarely elsewhere. A good example may be one of several prototype narrow gauge railroad forums. If you post *anything* that disagrees with the accepted history, or even hint at a political viewpoint that disagrees with the majority, you better wear a flame retardant suit . Unfortunately, political discussions are inevitable on such boards because many discussions have to do with the preservation of historic trains, and that may mean public monies being used, environmental concerns, or historical accuracy discussions. On the other hand, you will be applauded for posting a viewpoint that agrees with the majority. I have seen flame wars escalate to nasty name calling and nearly to threats of violence. Yeah, that bad. I would consider that an oppressive environment towards minority viewpoints. Unfortunately, if you are seeking honest information or discussion, i do not know of any narrow gauge discussion boards that readily welcome alternative views.

Example #2 - go over to the Model Railroad forum and post a subject like "how to add graffiti to my trains", or "how best to clean my track". The graffiti thread will get angry responses until it gets locked, and the track cleaning thread will get you several "use the search function" or "google is your friend" responses. If you were a newbie and genuinely had track cleaning issues or genuinely wanted graffiti painting techniques, then I would consider that forum to be oppressive.