Good to hear they got it fixed. Got to meet your grandfather once on an NMRA bus tour in 1984 I think it was. Such a nice man. He even took time to talk track planning with my friend while on the bus.
Jim
kasskaboose Your grandfather remaims a pioneer in this hobby. Wikipedia has weird rules.
Your grandfather remaims a pioneer in this hobby.
Wikipedia has weird rules.
Much appreciated.
This community did not disappoint; it seems like the issue has been resolved.
Happy model railroading all.
A search at Trains.com returns no fewer than 31 results that at least mention Mr. Armstrong. He was and is regarded by many, including me, as one of the most prolific and respected model Railroader's and track plan designers in recent memory. Not to mention the things he did for our Navy. I'll always wonder if my father-in-law ever met or worked with him.
Mark C.
WP Lives
SD70Dude Looks like whatever Xboxtravis did worked, I don't see any template when I open his Wikipedia page.
Looks like whatever Xboxtravis did worked, I don't see any template when I open his Wikipedia page.
Rich
Alton Junction
Greetings from Alberta
-an Articulate Malcontent
richhotrain I have read the Wikipedia article a few times. I believe that the problem is one of content and references. Regarding content, there really isn't much there to substantiate John Armstrong as a "creative professional". I get the impression that the article was prepared by a single individual with little source material. It really needs to be beefed up. Regarding references, there are only two. The first reference results in a 404 Error. The second reference is a link to a brief obituary. I am sure that Wikipedia is looking for an abundance of references to John Armstrong's professional activities and accomplishments. Rich
I have read the Wikipedia article a few times. I believe that the problem is one of content and references.
Regarding content, there really isn't much there to substantiate John Armstrong as a "creative professional". I get the impression that the article was prepared by a single individual with little source material. It really needs to be beefed up.
Regarding references, there are only two. The first reference results in a 404 Error. The second reference is a link to a brief obituary. I am sure that Wikipedia is looking for an abundance of references to John Armstrong's professional activities and accomplishments.
Yep, I would sum that up (as somebody who has been editing Wikipedia articles for a while now) as being the main issue.1) The notability template was placed in 2011, and the article has not been removed in the 11 years since that was placed up! I'm going to step in and remove the template anyways since its clear in 11 years it hasn't accomplished its goal of either proving a need to delete the article or improve it with better sources.2) Sources, sources sources! This is where things are clearly very lacking in the article and need some buffing up. Wikipedia has to rely on publically sourced material, be that magazine articles, online websites, etc. But it can't use forum conversations or social media (outside of say, Tweets from prominent people) as sources. So clearly more specific sources and references to who John Amrstrong is and what he did are needed to clean up the aritcle, and I would say a "More Citations Needed" template is in order.
I did not know he was a Boilermaker. I did get to see him present at a train show in Dallas a long time ago; he was humerous and informative.
Wikipedia probably tracks the visits to assess popularity. Just clicking on the link probably helps.
Simon
It is difficult to imagine even the hacks at Wikipedia deleting Armstrong's page. He is probably far more famous and influential for 'The Railroad: what it is, what it does' than he is in modeling: if the 'Gray' in Gray's Anatomy merits a page, then so should Armstrong...
At the very least, some of us could comment on the 'talk' page with suggested edits (this has been my preferred way to make consensus edits ultimately come about in the wiki community, from its initiation).
Several of the forum members have the knowledge, the integrity, and the writing skills to establish the necessary collateral on the page to get the notices taken down. I think you are right that the presence of editorial interest alone would establish preservation of the page.
I think there should be footnoted reference to the 'four patents' (with the Google Patents hotlinks to them provided in the reference section. Cites for the publications should be separately made and footnoted as well.
I would think he would meet the criteria for "Creative Professionals:"
Authors, editors, journalists, filmmakers, photographers, artists, architects, and other creative professionals:
I'd say he fits under 1 and 2. Perhaps model railroading isn't all that important, but I think there should be room for John Armstrong in Wikipedia.
Gary
Looks like they want articles and such from newspapers or tv news and such. Not just hobby press. But if enough articles from hobby press were to be presented on how he effected the hobby, that might work too. Also any stories of his notable impact on navel ordinace or nuclear subs would be viable as well.
shane
A pessimist sees a dark tunnel
An optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel
A realist sees a frieght train
An engineer sees three idiots standing on the tracks stairing blankly in space
Hello all,
My name is Thomas Armstrong, and I think most of you are familiar with my grandfather, John Armstrong.
I recently came accross his Wikipedia page and saw the following:
"The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's notability guideline for biographies. Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention. If notability cannot be shown, the article is likely to be merged, redirected, or deleted.
Find sources: "John Armstrong" model railroader – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (September 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) "
You can access his Wikipedia page here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Armstrong_(model_railroader)
I knew him as "Grandpa Choo-Choo" and grew up with him showing my brother, cousins, and me his model railroad layout, which was always the highlight of our visits.
Who knows how imminent the deletion of the article is, but I think this community might be our best chance to keep the page alive.
I would be so thankful if anyone here is willing to take a look at his page and see if you can add something in the way of news, newspapers, books, etc. to bolster its chances of sticking around.
Thanks, and best wishes,
Thomas