Be The Rain Train Gets An Ugly Reaction
Well this falls into the category of unbelievable, folks. Neil, as an avid train model buff, has been a major player in Lionel Trains for sometime.
OK, so now Lionel has a model train based on Greendale. So now that's cool, right?
Well, apparently not if you're a model train buff. Awful, nasty stuff being posted on Model railroad discussion board by folks like Train Tracks:
"That's all well and good... but, is model railroading the appropiate venue to propogate his views on life, sex, murder and politics... especially, with a Lionel train set... meant for children?
Hmmmmm, X-Rated train sets? I wonder in what department they would sell that in Sears? Do they come in a 'plain brown wrapper'?
Would Neil Young buy this train... for his son?"
Pretty sad that folks who love trains have turned on Neil afterall he has done for the industry. Lionel trains would probably be Chapter 11 now, if not for Young. And to say nothing about Neil's love of trains and for his son, Ben.
While a number of railroad hobby fans have rushed to defend Neil's music and the right to express his political views in music, others seem content to dredge up discredited information, such as the Carrie Snodgress article in People Magazine in 1983.
Granted, the discussion has directly linked to Thrasher's Wheat's article but the poster conveniently left out the disclaimer at the front of the article -- much less followup events. Thrasher considered removing the article after Carrie's death earlier this year, but decided against it much along the lines of the original thinking when it was posted back in 1996.
It's getting ugly out there. And Thrasher is MAD. Folks dragging Carrie & Ben into a discussion about model railroad trains and Greendale.
Sad, sad. Shame, shame, shame.
[UPDATE - Aug. 20, 2004 - The thread on the model train discussion board has been pulled by the moderator. No reason for the deletion of a 6 page thread with over 100 posts? I guess they don't like too much dissent in their community. Another shame and example of the tyranny of groupthink.
Fortunately, a few posts were saved on the Greendale Comments page. Those who don't like history sometimes try and rewrite it to their liking. Here at Thrasher's Wheat we're trying to capture history as it happens.
Comments on the "censorship" below. Please add your thoughts. I promise won't delete. :) ]
by thrasher@PermaLink: 8/11/2004 04:52:00 PM
12 comments
>> Pre-Order on Amazon.com << 
Human Highway
Concert Review of the Moment
This Land is My Land
FREEDOM In A New Year
*Thanks Neil!*
![[EFC Blue Ribbon - Free Speech Online]](http://www.thrasherswheat.org/gifs/free-speech.gif)
The Unbearable Lightness of Being Neil Young
Pardon My Heart
"We're The Ones 
Thanks for Supporting Thrasher's Wheat!
This blog 
(... he didn't kill himself either...)
#AaronDidntKillHimself
Neil Young's Moon Songs
Civic Duty Is Not Terrorism
Orwell (and Grandpa) Was Right
What's So Funny About 
12 Comments:
This is pathetic! I hope Neil never puts out another dime into Lionel with that sort of appreciation.
ps - I understand the train set sold out immediately and is already a collectors item.
Both a Train & Neil fan
Neil is flogging Greendale for all it's worth. Neil how bout the first vol. of the archives. Get back to the music!
This set is a total embarrassment. Look closely and you will set that it is selling for $600.00. Price gougeing to the extreme. Shame on Niel for supporting this.
Speaking strictly as a designer, the photo of train set is kind of cheesy looking. Perhaps a stronger industrial design team could have developed a more handsome package on theme.
Then again, it could look great at set up.
Well, Well, Well...
The dictator... oh, excuse me... the "owner" of the OGR Forum... Rich Melvin, has, once again, proven that freedom of speech is disallowed if it
envolves legitimate controversy.
The Form thread "Neil Young Set" at
http://ogaugerr.infopop.cc/eve/ubb.x?q=Y&a=tpc&s=63160042&f=57660482&m=9881032211&p=3
has been deleted.
Did the powers that be at Lionel start turning the "advertising screws" to quash it?
So, can it now be said... that Lionel, too... is against freedom of speech and the First Amendment of the Constitution?
And the call the OGR Forum... a "Forum"!
Yeah, a "Forum" for the timid, narrowminded, pablum fed, model railroader.
What a joke and disgrace to the word "Forum".
How sad!!!
It's a free market and there are a few people with enough doe to buy the Greendale collector train. I feel the price is too high for me and probably most people in the world. I would advise Line-o-Neil to lower their prices to a more affordable range. I would also encourage new catalogue lines covering train songs, e.g. Peace Train, Mystery Train, Train of Love, Soul Train. Collectors prices should not exceed $200.00.
"Lionel trains would probably be Chapter 11 now, if not for Young."
I hate to tell ya'll this, but Lionel IS in chapter 11. The investment firm that is controlling Lionel is running the grand old company into the ground, I'm sorry to say.
OGRR Forum has gone to the dogs. Too much censorship and attempted mind control.
On the www.modeltrainjournal.com forum, OGR is known as North Korea. How appropriate!
I assume that Neil has done more for the American Farmer than most people in this blog. Am I wrong? He is a true hero to Lionel and America.
Not bad for a model train though.
$600 trains aren't for children. Really who are we kidding? My (and the general consensus) opinion is Neil saved Lionel for all of us. Trains through time have been different strokes for different folks, but like pizza even the bad for some is great for others. I am therefore in favor of anything that benefits someone who has done so much for our hobby. Oh, and good luck getting one if you don't already have it-
Post a Comment
<< Home