We have on here at least 8 members that bang on for multiple paragraphs on any topic thats started like they and only they know the answers to every problerm.

What i would like to know is what drives this need to tell everyone else how wrong they are and how right the long winded expert types are, is it a autistic thing or are they just trying to show off, this is the only website that i have run across this phenomenon on as most of the other sites people are just straight to the point with minimum of words used so im just wondering if its more wide spread than on here or not?

I personally would prefer to read a well worded post than a simple "You're wrong. Deal with it". Nothing wrong with a bit of background. Waffle, however, is a completely different thing, and a few people here are guilty of it from time to time. Nothing wrong with a bit of background/supporting facts. Something wrong with a lot of words used to flesh out a nothing argument though.

I personally would prefer to read a well worded post than a simple "You're wrong. Deal with it". Nothing wrong with a bit of background. Waffle, however, is a completely different thing, and a few people here are guilty of it from time to time. Nothing wrong with a bit of background/supporting facts. Something wrong with a lot of words used to flesh out a nothing argument though.

Yes thats it indeed and you even showed me up in being straight to the point in a nice and sensible way, its a pity some of the types do not follow this style.

It's easy to get long-winded if you are dealing with something you are passionate about.  It's also easy to ignore if you don't really care!  There are also a lot of armchair experts on Railpage - some are obviously knowledgeable and it's good to hear what they think.  Others are just full of it and, yes, it can be painful at times, however it all goes to make up the rich tapestry that is the internet.

One thing I have noticed recently on Railpage is that trolling isn't as common; there were a few prominent offenders who got permanently banned and I think that helped.  It's a shame that they have to resort to banning these people because some of them were quite knowledgeable and interesting - however the personal vindictiveness and name-calling was really hard to understand.

I'm inclined to agree that we need to differentiate between thoroughly-composed posts, and plain waffle. I do agree that it's fine if we're going on about something deep - like risk assessment of detonators - but if we're waffling purely to draw attention to ourselves then something's off the rails.

like risk assessment of detonators

If I'm on the wanted list, which wouldn't surprise me due to certain views and habits of mine, I'd just like to say before my execution that

• authority and consensus do not represent truth,

• opposing views are useful, even if we don't agree with them and they drive us mad, because they encourage further discussion that can be productive, the testing of our own views and rechecking of available facts,

• just because a post might seem wildly off topic at first glance does not mean it really is - it might just present a fundamentally different and unpopular view or be in response to an earlier post,

• speculation about the future, a popular activity on Railpage, is limited in accuracy by the assumptions underpinning it; anything built upon flawed foundations is likely to be off the mark; if people have reason to disagree with the tacit assumptions that are being made about the future they should be encouraged to challenge them and present alternative possibilities that can be supported by rational argument or evidence, and

• certain industry information cannot be safely mentioned here which leads to patchy, unbalanced and misleadingly consensual coverage of some topics

We have on here at least 8 members that bang on for multiple paragraphs on any topic thats started like they and only they know the answers to every problerm.

What i would like to know is what drives this need to tell everyone else how wrong they are and how right the long winded expert types are, is it a autistic thing or are they just trying to show off, this is the only website that i have run across this phenomenon on as most of the other sites people are just straight to the point with minimum of words used so im just wondering if its more wide spread than on here or not?

Every poster is different because we are not clones. No member is forced to read any post if they believe its off-topic, waffle, poorly written or any other reason. RP has new members coming all the time, so some people will repeat the same questions and yes the same answers.

The post/response may also reflect the back ground and profession/trade/skill/experience and general level of care of the individual. I for one cannot give half hearted short answers at work and normally expected to give technical detailed response or I get creamed/misrepresented etc.

So enjoy the diversification, read what you want, don't read what you don't want and enjoy.

As God says, and I think rightly....

HeadShunt has hit the nail on the head.

Often, a long reply will show a small detail not previously mentioned that will bring on a "d'oh" moment of answer for OP, but also can generate a diversion of the discussion in a good way.

I am grateful to the many helpful folk on rail forums who go to the trouble of answering my many questions. Quite a few use multi paragraph answers as they include the extra bonus of explaining the background to the situation.


One of those helpful souls I will be forever indebted to was a former Railpage member who was a track worker but was later banned. He used to use wonderfully detailed multi paragraph replies to explain the intricacies of the actual track for me. One of this chap’s replies explained how he used to de-stress rails.