Atlas Forum

[dharmon]

Paul,

The comments weren't directed at you or any one person in particular. It was based on comments made in threads here and other forums. I'm all for folks expressing opinions, but just as I (as you I'm sure) get tired of endless polls, I also get get weary of "blah, blah blah..I can't wait til Atlas is back up." And it's not just here. Again, not directed at anyone in particular, but my opinion would be take each forum for what it is, or not. That's all.

[Paul3]

dave9999 wrote:

QUOTE: Page 2 and counting, mostly with people knocking a FREE forum (no charge to join or post).

Now with that said, a lot of you "Atlas folks" showed up over here when that forum shut down, and now you want to pick this forum apart. Well I don't get it.

To be fair, I also complained about both of the old Trains.com forums and waaay back, I know I didn't like the limited nature of the original "post your comments online" part of modelrailroader.com (back then in the mid-90's, Andy Sperandeo would post a question every month and people would write their response; but there was no discussion really, only opinions).

I figured that Model Railroader and Trains should have the best web forum around because they have the widest draw in the business. Finally, after years of difficult forum use, MR & T upgraded their software to something acceptable, but it is still not the best, yet. Hopefully comments like mine will lead to a faster loading and better discussion forum for all. Because if nobody complained, how would anything get better?

QUOTE: This forum has been the way it is before you came and will remain the same if you leave.

Actually, I was here long before it became like this. While the MR & T forums have come a long way, I hope that they will get even better.

BTW, I don't think Atlas is the "best" forum/group, either. The newsgroup rec.models.railroad is free, uncensored, unmoderated, and doesn't get shut down for summer vacation. [:)] Most people are scared off by the "wild west" nature of it (which is understandable, it can get pretty rough), so one has to go where the discussion is. Atlas, MR, and T are some of those places.

dharmon wrote:

QUOTE: If you don't like it here. Don't post here.

I never said I didn't like it here, I just like other places more than this one.

And hey, on a completely different note, I spent two days this past weekend hanging out with "Siderod" (Andrew Reid) from the Atlas N-scale forum. Seems he is the cousin of a friend of mine, and he was down here in the USA visiting the family. Since my friend is also in my RR club, we spent a couple days railfanning here in New England. Nice kid for an N-scaler. [:D][;)]

Paul A. Cutler III
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Weather Or No Go New Haven
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[dharmon]

I mentioned before that each of the forums has it's own unique character. This one does to have a tendancy to be more juvenile at times, but then again, as Dave pointed out, many of the posters are juveniles.......not just adults acting juvenile [;)].

There are many fine forums out there, Atlas being one of them. But few of them as are accomodating to the the younger crowds as they are here. Not to say that they are not welcome at Atlas or other places, but the level of discussion and the heated discussions tend to intimidate newer or younger folks.

Since the shut down of the Atlas foums, those folks that primarliy posted there have migrated to the other sites. But a common thread that seems to be prevalent is ..."How much I miss Atlas", or "this place is fine, but Atlas is better" or downright bashing the the new forum because it's not Atlas. No one is forcing you to be here or any of the forums and IMHO it's kind of insulting to the hosts. I'm not trying to pick a fight with the Atlas regulars, as I post and enjoy the Altas forums as much as anyone. When I'm there I play by Atlas' rules, here by MR's, etc.....and I don't use one to to beat up the other. As a user of several, I see them as complimentary not competion.

As far as moderation goes. I don't think everyone can be pleased. Bergie and Co, try to let this forum police itself, in most of the time it does. Atlas and others are much quicker to intervene. The price of the freedom though, is having to seperate the wheat from the chaff.

If you don't like it here. Don't post here.

[bcammack]

Well, we certainly wouldn't want to presume that our generous hosts are interested in having the best forum possible for their "customers". Better to presume that they are certain that they have the best forum in the world and aren't interested in the perceived positive and negative attributes of their's or competing forums. After all, if it's all ready perfect, then that discussion must be criticism! [}:)]

[Anonymous]

well with all that's happened this summer, i'm not sure if i'll be modeling much in the near future anyways, But i do miss my home. the atlas forums were the best, just can't get the same feel on this or any others forum (although this was the first forum i signed up on).

Hopefully it'll be up, i miss the gang, lot's of good people scattered about now. to bad brakie's disgruntled, i hate disgruntled brakemen [:P], hopefully he'll get some good coffee and come back home too, when it's rebuilt.

Jay

[dave9999]

Page 2 and counting, mostly with people knocking a FREE forum (no charge to join or post).

Now with that said, a lot of you "Atlas folks" showed up over here when that forum shut down, and now you want to pick this forum apart. Well I don't get it.

This forum has been the way it is before you came and will remain the same if you leave. I am able to open a topic (especially one of those silly poll topics) and simply chuckle to myself and shake my head. I then close it and move on to something with some substance.

I admit that there is some juvenile content here, but I suspect that is because there are some juveniles here. And going back to the forum being free, they have as much right to be here and post silly topics and polls as the next guy. Yes it can get annoying, but that is the "price we pay" for a free forum. If you want to discuss model railroading without all the nonsense, pick up the phone, email, or write a good old fashioned letter to someone you enjoy talking with. Then you can have a conversation without swimming through all the BS.

And Paul3, I broke this down into paragraphs so it will make it easier if you choose to respond. [;)][:D][:-^] Dave

[Anonymous]

Among the Atlas features I think has been over looked is it is broken down into the three
scales & DCC not to mention again it's much faster to open up their pages. Even at 1.25 Mig
this site stalls on me . For anybody on dial up, it must be like waiting for a 55 car fright train to pass.

[Paul3]

robmik wrote:

QUOTE: And Paul3 types who like to pick apart other folks' posts, and respond with snotty comments, one paragraph at a time. ...VERY Atlas of you, Paul3.
They aren't needed here, either.

And personal attacks are very "Blue Train" of you, Mike Robertson.

Actually, my quoting of people, then typing my reply, is very much like a newsgroup post. It's considered good netiquette to quote the person you are responding to, credit whom you are posting, snip out the irrelevant parts of the post, and post your reply to the quoted message immediately below it. I'm sorry if my being polite is a problem for you, but I'm not about to change just to please you.

Besides, my multi-quote post in question on this thread was actually in response to four different posters. I suppose next time I could quote their entire message in four different posts just to pump my post count, or I could simply not quote any of it and let other posters scroll through 30 some-odd posts looking for clues as to what I was talking about. Finally, I could decide not to post at all, which would no doubt please you. Sorry to say, but none of the above is about to happen any time soon.

QUOTE: I sometimes miss a bit of the jousting with my favorite targets over at Atlas, (like shermanhill, smudgeloco, and Paul3 ), but not enough for me to go back there any more.

Gee, thanks. I always thought the point of forums and groups was to discuss and debate the subject matter at hand, not to joust with "targets". Silly me.

QUOTE: Don Gibson has a very valid point too...this forum tends to be excessively redundant and juvenile.

Now that is something we agree on (bet you never thought I'd say that). [:D]

Paul A. Cutler III
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Weather Or No Go New Haven
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[Anonymous]

I agree with Larry....Brakie if you like. I stopped visiting Atlas before the shutdown.

Also:
The Atlas forum has way too many malcontents, rivetcounters, and know-it-alls for my taste.
They aren't needed here.[xx(]
And Paul3 types who like to pick apart other folks' posts, and respond with snotty comments, one paragraph at a time.[B)] ...VERY Atlas of you, Paul3.
They aren't needed here, either.

I sometimes miss a bit of the jousting with my favorite targets over at Atlas, (like shermanhill, smudgeloco, and Paul3 ), but not enough for me to go back there any more.

Don Gibson has a very valid point too...this forum tends to be excessively redundant and juvenile.[:o)]
I just spend way less time with forums any more.
regards
Mike Robertson
(was Mike R, and Blue Train at different times with Atlas)

[CBQ_Guy]

Someone mentioned how slow this Forum is to load, and I've noticed that too...and I've got broadband cable Internet service! I'm not saying this Forum is s-l-o-w, but many times it seems somewhat less than brisk, shall we say. Just enough to become irritating to me.

Also, what has turned me off to a LOT of the other Forums I have visited, is that they are split up into WAY too many categories. It would seem to me to be awfully time consuming to have to look into each one to see if anything of interest is even in them. I like it here and Atlas where I can quickly scroll through each page in a couple main categories, and glance at a topic's subject line. Same reason I receive Digest versions of all my Yahoo Group's messages.

[Anonymous]

As a newby, I really appreciated the photos on Atlas, especially Sunday Night Photos. You can really get some great ideas. There aren't nearly as many photos on this forum and you usually have to go somewhere else to see them.

[Anonymous]

I'll go back to the Atlas Forum, as well as hang out here. I agree with the rest of you though; the polls are kind of annoying. Plus, you can also find me at Trainorders, even though traffic over there has slowed to a shadow of it's former self.




-John Zuna

[egmurphy]

Well I'm hardly the most prolific poster here so it probably doesn't matter much what I do, but since you asked. I'll be glad to see the Atlas forum come back as I did enjoy the info there. Since it went down I have found (or started reading) several other forums, including this one. I plan to continue with my participation here such as it is (mostly Coffee Shop), as well as resume activity at Atlas. And I'll try to keep up with one or two others of the forums I have found. But then again, since I'm retired I have more time available than a lot of you.

Stupid polls here or bashing at Atlas never bothered me much. Even though I'm not particularly computer literate, I have learned how to easily skip threads or posts that don't interest me.

Yeah, the Atlas forum seemed to load faster on my dial-up connection too. Think I'll try that tip someone posted back at the start of this thread about editing your profile to keep from having to load all the signature stuff. Anything to speed this machine up.

Regards

Ed

[BRAKIE]

Paul3,There is another wrong with wishful thinking about locomotives coming out in ones favorite road name.Yes,I was like most modelers against RTR cars..Now I really like them..[:D] BTW look how many times I ask for a GP39.[:D] And I have 4 Kato GP35s that I traded for and I have no complaints about them-see how time changes things?
No,the Atlas forum was getting out of hand on the personal attacks and other attacks.Even Paul Graf stated to stop the bashing of other companies but to no avail.And those that whine about a missing road specific or other minor detail part(s) that can easily be added by adding a aftermarket detail part(s) this is smoke and mirrors bashing of a other wise fine product..Savvy?
I also feel that the forum was shut down for cooling off of the members..

[Anonymous]

When Atlas returns I'll monitor both forum's as I did before.

What I really miss from the Atlas Forum was the Sunday Photo Fest. I know it was tried on the MR Forum but it just was not the same. Hopefully it will be back soon![:)]

[Don Gibson]

I agree with Paul III, J. Murray, & Chcuck Walsh. Too much 'What's your favorite" tthis and that, and the polls = Amateur night..

I have just been waiting for a Poll: "What engine runs the fastest?"

I commend MR for their endeavor, pain. and suffering. ... At least people here don't openly critcize MR's articles - that don't subscribe.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by wt259

It's up, it's down!!! . Besides, Verizon's phone lines up here were hung by guys who worked for A.G. Bell. Don't think they've been upgraded since then either.

Quest out west isn't any better, maybe worse. I think SBC leads the pack for the bells.

[wt259]

It's up, it's down!!! I'll be glad when it's back up. It loads a whole lot faster. I have a dial-up connection, no one is interested in providing up to date services out here in the hinterlands. Besides, Verizon's phone lines up here were hung by guys who worked for A.G. Bell. Don't think they've been upgraded since then either.

[orsonroy]

Oops; it's down again.

I guess we AF addicts need help, right?

[Anonymous]

It's up intermittently maybe? Seems not available right now.

[Anonymous]

I just checked. And it appears that the Atlas Forums are back up.

[orsonroy]

Speaking of which, it looks like it's back up. Dind't see anything different, tho...

[Anonymous]

I don't post much on Atlas and even less here, so when Atlas get's their Forum back up, I guess y'all will see alot less of me here. Besides, I realized about a year ago that I spent way too much time reading and responding to the Forums in general and not enough time actually modelling.

[Anonymous]

I will be using both the MR and Atlas forums, with Atlas being the first choice, but I enjoy the MR forum also, lots of nice folks here, and I have enjoyed my time spent here, I hope that in my 70 or so posts, that I have added some constructive content that will help fellow modelers, and I very much appreciate the welcome that everyone here gave me when the Atlas forum went down, so I won"t be saying good by, I just may not spend as much time here after the Atlas forum returns, one reason being, my 56K modem works much faster with the Atlas forum. Cheers to all.


Mac

[JPowell]

<----- Does not post on the Atlas site cause I don't have any use for Atlas products. I only have a Atlas account cause I decided to download the RTR Software, which I have not even used since I installed it back in April. All of my posting is done on here, so I'm staying put. Besides, I get some good laughs off of some of these threads!

[Anonymous]

It does (I guess it wouldnt be over 70 pages if it didnt), just does not suit me. Perhaps I should have been more clear on that. Apologies. Anyway, really its just a matter of taste. I still post here every now and again when something piques my interest.

Matt

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by marcmr

Atlas N scale forum all the way! Lots more insight, motivated conversation, and even stupid arguments. Most of all, as others have mentioned, not as much "Whats your favorite..." Plus, Atlas is moderated, so you lose some of the "crud" posts that really dont pertain to model railroading (70+ pages for a coffee shop?) or are just plain obnoxious. That, and its all N scale (no offence to HO modellers or anyone else for that matter, I am just one heck of an avid N scaler). So as much as this forum has to offer, it just does not suit me and I am looking forward to Atlas coming back online (and their new NS SD60Ms in the new NS paint scheme).

Matt

But I thought that was the reason for the coffee shop. To keep the chat there.

[Anonymous]

Atlas N scale forum all the way! Lots more insight, motivated conversation, and even stupid arguments. Most of all, as others have mentioned, not as much "Whats your favorite..." Plus, Atlas is moderated, so you lose some of the "crud" posts that really dont pertain to model railroading (70+ pages for a coffee shop?) or are just plain obnoxious. That, and its all N scale (no offence to HO modellers or anyone else for that matter, I am just one heck of an avid N scaler). So as much as this forum has to offer, it just does not suit me and I am looking forward to Atlas coming back online (and their new NS SD60Ms in the new NS paint scheme).

Matt

[Paul3]

locomotive3 wrote:

QUOTE: A 56 k modem on this forum must be like climbing a 4% grade.

You have no idea. It's especially lovely when people post pics. [:)] All of it makes it difficult to surf all the active topics here on a daily basis, so I tend not to. On Atlas, I usually read most threads because I can zip right through them.

FundyNorthern wrote:

QUOTE: There seems to be too many on this forum with nothing much to add or who don't have any real questions, so they resort to such "favorite" questions. This has been turning me off for quite some time. Way too childish for me. Also way too many silly polls - what I'd like to see is a separate forum for polls only. Then those with plenty of time could spend it answering the polls. Maybe I should start a poll on this idea?

[;)] Great idea. Do you think I should set up a poll to see if you should have a poll about having polls? [:D]

And I don't know if I call all these "favorites" postings "childish" so much as they tend to be lacking in substance (for me). Hey, it's great that John Smith in Mattawaumkeg, Maine likes PRR paint schemes, N&W J-classes, SD9's, EMD, and John Allen, but then nobody really debates these choices. They just list their own opinions in response. Other than finding out what other people like, what's the point? And not to say Atlas didn't have these kinds of threads either, but it is much more common here.

der5997 wrote:

QUOTE: Paul3: Have you been tot he coffe shop. I understand that there is more chat, less topic there. What I like about this forum is that one can get questions answered.

Yeah, I've seen it, but I don't want to slog through 73 pages of comments to read it all. [:)] And while you are correct about it being a "chat" kind of thread, it's also about non-model RR topics. What I was talking about was like this thread right now is (hopefully) turning into. So far, we have the initial post, some respones to it, then (even better) responses to the responses, and so on. Kind of like a conversation or debate. From what I've seen of the latest edition of this forum, this is not all that common here.

Brakie wrote:

QUOTE: I will check the new forum but,will not take a active part..To be honest I was just about to quit when Atlas pulled the plug.There was just to much BS and smoke and mirrors bashing of products...

Oh, c'mon, Brakie. What I saw more often than not was that people would complain that cars were painted incorrectly for the prototype, that details were wrong, that RTR didn't actually mean RTR, etc. There was no rampant, out of control "bashing" of products that I saw. Even CurtMc didn't criticize without merit (at least on Atlas).

I know I took Con-Cor to task several times on Atlas for their truly weak attempts to model the New Haven's stainless steel cars (roof should be black, not light gray; trucks should be black, not silver; orange window band should not go over the doors, etc.). Does that mean I'm "bashing" Con-Cor because they can't get it right?

Or how about all those times you came out against RTR and the lack of GP9's in your favorite road? Was that "bashing" the model RR companies?

Your concerns about RTR and GP9's are just as legitimate as my concerns about Con-Cor, so where are the "smoke and mirrors"?

QUOTE: I also expect it will go back to the way it was before the shut down for upgrades and cooling off and no doubt to be shut down again..

My guess is that it was the UP vs. Athearn, Lionel, and the world that set off the latest shut down. And it wasn't even that bad (threre's been far worse; remember the DCC wars?). If they had just slapped a lock on the offending threads, that would have been the end of it. It is very, very rare that someone starts a replacement thread once the original has been locked (at least for a while), but Atlas didn't do that. So, like others, I assumed that it was still alright to dicuss the topic of UP as long as I conformed to their wi***hat all future discussion take place without speculation and only with facts. Next thing you know, the whole place is shut down, with no warning and no reason.

But then, they did have a BOD shake-up soon thereafter, so maybe it was just a business decision or something. (shrug) I dunno...

Paul A. Cutler III
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Weather Or No Go New Haven
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