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. :) ]