When I took a sabbatical a decade ago these forums were hopping and very busy. It wouldn't be too long when a post would end up on the second page. Now it seems days can go by without too much activity. I would hate to have our host pull the plug. I feel that this platform is a great resource with very valuable information not only in technical support but also inspiration. Some would say priceless. There are a lot of what I would call master modelers who share their knowledge and techniques freely.
What can we do to increase the participation? How about a monthly poll for modeler of the month? Any other ideas?
Pete.
We've had the Covid nightmare over the last couple of years. This has interrupted our normal supply of trains and layout-building materials. It's seriously curtailed train club activities, and train shows are just now beginning to recover. Sadly, it's even taken forum members from us.
Yesterday, I tried to respond to another post, and was denied by the infamous 403 error. This seems to be symptomatic for the general state of this forum in particular. Our hosts are nice enough to give us this space, but they really are not maintaining it well.
I, personally, am getting on in years, like many others. I have to go over to the Diner thread every month to check the RIP listing and make sure I'm not on it.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
wrench567When I took a sabbatical a decade ago these forums were hopping and very busy. It wouldn't be too long when a post would end up on the second page. Now it seems days can go by without too much activity. ... What can we do to increase the participation?
Well Pete the thing is the whole idea of having a group of model railroading counterparts to discuss things with was still new and different and very welcome, and we had laundry lists of topics we wanted to post and get views on. Now it is old hat. And it is rare to find (or think up) a truly new topic being posted; most are in one way or another a re-hash so the activity level for comment is low. If you have a question you might search for prior threads first rather than just post it like the old days.
It's sort of like having a regularly scheduled breakfast or lunch with retired buddies. Once everyone has heard everybody else's carefully memorized jokes and stories, there can be long silences.
Another thing about the earlier days of these forums is that the age range was very wide. Younger hobbyists probably came to prefer other forms of social media.
These are just my theories. I don't think more polls are the solution.
Dave Nelson
We have also entered the slower time of the year for model railroading. I have been a member since September 2004, and every year the highest level of activity seems to begin in November, reach a peak in February, a slight decline in March, and then the activity level really drops between April and October. Everybody heads outdoors with their free time as the warmer weather takes over.
Rich
Alton Junction
It has been a couple of years since we had very many new members stick around after one or two posts.
Hopefully that will change, and new people will stick around longer now.
Things are certainly improving lately. Hopefully the new mood will attract new participants. New people fuel the topics and discussions.
Since I have been able to post again for the last couple of weeks, the forum seems to be running smoother. Less glitches and moving quicker.
richhotrainEverybody heads outdoors with their free time as the warmer weather takes over.
This is a concept I just cannot wrap my head around? What fool would venture outdoors during the warm months? That is when you should stay inside in the A/C and enjoy modeling.
Go outside in the Winter months when the weather is perfect like a normal person.
-Kevin (Florida Man)
Living the dream.
If you are not allowed to go off topic like in a real conversaion, the forum will die, just the way it is. This is why Facebook works. I am not talking about way off but like when the so called pandemic hit, we were not allowed to talk about it even though it affected most people in some way or another. This forum was never seen as a resourse for MR but just an accomadation.
rrebell I am not talking about way off but like when the pandemic hit, we were not allowed to talk about it even though it affected most people in some way or another.
I remember we had a thread dedicated to the pandemic that Steve allowed with a couple of common-sense basic rules attached.
The thread continued for months, but then it went political, and it was (righfully) locked and gone.
-Kevin
SeeYou190 rrebell I am not talking about way off but like when the pandemic hit, we were not allowed to talk about it even though it affected most people in some way or another. I remember we had a thread dedicated to the pandemic that Steve allowed with a couple of common-sense basic rules attached. The thread continued for months, but then it went political, and it was (righfully) locked and gone. -Kevin
rrebell
There is a similar thread Steve has allowed regarding Ukraine.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
Many of those who used to post even as recently as 2015 have gone to that Great Station. I'm continually amazed when I dig into archival threads going back only six or eight years to see names of members where I went, 'Dang, I remember that person!' But they haven't posted in at least four or five years.
I have been on this forum for 17 years. That's a terribly loooonng time for people over the age of about 50, and a lot of us will have succumbed to something and simply slipped away.
Also, I'm on about six different forums; they're all cyclic and they're all generally quite a bit lower in volume over the past couple of years. The hobby went underground since the start of COVID, as did many activities, and a goodly number of the practitioners have died for a number of reasons. I can't say why their numbers haven't been replaced nearly steadily by newcomers. Maybe it's because the hobby went underground..............
Hello. It has been almost 12 years since I did any modeling. The Lord has blessed with the resources to begin again, well except that one thing - never enough time.
I'll have a dedicated space in a couple of months. I started looking and was surprised at the lack of materials available. I was modeling MKT in Texas in the 50's.
Looks I'll have to switch to another road name serving Taylor, Smithville, Houston area.
But I'll stop complaining - just happy to start back up again. I feel the zeal when I first started in 2008 :-)
Tom
I can see a few reasons for it. I was on here when the other alternatives were largely the yahoo groups. There were some others as well. Today much has migrated to Facebook groups. I would say one major factor is ease of use. Copy and paste a photo and you are done. Here you have to add a photo to a hosting site then link to it. In this mr does not have a unique issue in ease of use. Others have varying issue with it such as reducing the photos size or putting it in an album and then linking it. It is a lot simpler to copy and paste which fb facilitates. The groups in Facebook have grown at a much greater rate. I am the moderator in the Colorado and Southern narrow gauge FB group and I have been shocked at how the group has grown. It is over three times as large as other C&S groups (and I belong and will post in most of them.) That being said I do like this group I just do not post as many photos here.
SeeYou190 richhotrain Everybody heads outdoors with their free time as the warmer weather takes over. This is a concept I just cannot wrap my head around? What fool would venture outdoors during the warm months? That is when you should stay inside in the A/C and enjoy modeling. Go outside in the Winter months when the weather is perfect like a normal person.
richhotrain Everybody heads outdoors with their free time as the warmer weather takes over.
A pretty good portion of the country is homebound during the winter when it is freezing cold, snowy, and dark outside as early as 4 PM. So, model railroading takes on renewed interest each November.
I hear ya on Florida. I spent my first winter down in Fort Myers after I retired. By April 11th, I had to get out of there because it was already hot and humid. But speaking of fools, you would be one to live in Forida year around. Same for states like Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
I think social media has had an impact on the forum and its participation since I joined here in 2003. It has drawn some folks away and brought others here who primarily are more interested in posting to social-like threads and little else. Course, that's their preogative. We all have our own various & sundry reasons for participating here on the forum.
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Well part of the problem is facebook. Everyone uses it and if you don't like the rules of the group, you just start your own. I can't even think of how many train modeling groups there are.Plus it's easier to post photos and videos as you don't have to know archiac codes, and find a 3rd party hosting site.
But in terms of QUALITY post, I respect the advice here. There are a ton of friendly, reliable faces with good advice. Plus this forum is easily searchable.
Don - Specializing in layout DC->DCC conversions
Modeling C&O transition era and steel industries There's Nothing Like Big Steam!
tstage I think social media has had an impact on the forum and its participation since I joined here in 2003. It has drawn some folks away and brought others here who primarily are more interested in posting to social-like threads and little else. Course, that's their preogative. We all have our own various & sundry reasons for participating here on the forum. Tom
Darn it Tom, you beat me to it.
richhotrainDems fightin' words, Kevin
richhotrainBy April 11th, I had to get out of there because it was already hot and humid.
I am looking so forward to the seasonal residents leaving. Unfortunaltely the Northern cold snap and the perfect weather we have right now is making them stay.
2020/2021 was the lock-down Winter, and we did not have them come down. This Winter has taken a lot of getting used to.
Also, working retail and dealing with seasonal residents has been an unexpected experience. I could go on for days and days.
SeeYou190This is a concept I just cannot wrap my head around? What fool would venture outdoors during the warm months? That is when you should stay inside in the A/C and enjoy modeling.
it was interesting to learn how covid affects the south in the summer when everyone is inside and the north in the winter when everyone is inside
greg - Philadelphia & Reading / Reading
I'm going to offer some more simplistic answers:
1. Over on some other forums there have at times been some very contentious posts and disagreements. The net result is that some really fine modelers at times have gotten angry or hurt and have simply left those forums, leaving a smaller number of members, who at times it seems are very hard to please. Every time a certain manufacturer's name is mentioned we see a rehash of people hating them because of a decision they made, rightly or wrongly justified, it doesn't matter--some people just never ever let it go, and it becomes tiresome to read all the time, and some people just have moved on as a result. (I'm not going to sit here and say I'm perfect either, because I'm not.)
2. My participation on these forums has waned for a few reasons. In some cases, I get tired of explaining or trying to explain answers to the same questions (where they pertain to real world civil/railroad engineering: horizontal and/or vertical curvature, grades, superelevation, spiral curves, how bridges are built, angles between bridge spans on a curve, etc.) so now I just let others explain those topics.
In other cases, there is one well known member of these forums, who imo always has to have the last word, and he's always right in his mind, and pretty much everything I ever say is just plain wrong, and he likes to constantly talk about his layout and how he does things on his layout or with his roster, to the extent that he's implying everything I do in this hobby or any opinion I hold is just plain wrong, because I don't do anything "his way" but instead I have my own ideas. I get tired and beaten down from even dealing with him, and on some topics, once I see that he is on the thread, I am out, done. So I am much more reticent to say anything, period. He gets too hostile too fast, and I simply HATE dealing with him in any way. Even when I have tried to offer my opnion nicely and state up front that I know some people will not agree with it, it gets turned into an argument anyway, and at that point the thread is dead and most others just drop out of it.
Imo people similar to this one individual are negatively affecting multiple online train forums. Many people don't like to read arguments or argumentative topics.
Newbies ask questions they legitimately need answers to--without perhaps knowing that others have faced the same issue, or they don't know how to search the topic properly to find the answers they need. Maybe they just don't know any better. Kudos to the folks who try to help them out.
Respectfully submitted--
John
Kevin.
I hear you. I live in a northern vacation area. Let's just say, it's quicker to drive to the hobby shop during a blinding snowstorm than a nice sunny day. My job was 20.3 miles from my house. Average time in the early morning 25 minutes. After work average an hour to two.
A couple of hobby forums is the extent of my social media. I lost a son partly because of FB and Twitter BS. They should be called unsocial media. To me they are a rotting festering disease that will accelerate the collapse of decent society.
Just my opinion.
Pete--
So sorry to hear. My kids are on social media way too much, and I fear a similar result for them.
Both my sons are on the autistic spectrum. People in my town were NOT accepting of them, so much so that my older son doesn't even want to come home from college but wants to be outta here. In high school, some people thought he was stupid and not worth playing in sports. So 8 of his classmates played over him in baseball and all thought they were above or better than him, yet (due to travel baseball) he is the only one that actually made it to a college team (and is actually playing a little). It also appears that one or more of his baseball high school teammates actually hacked his Instagram account, sent inappropriate content to a prospective female student at my son's university, and as a result very nearly got my son kicked out of the university. (Finding and prosecuting the dirtbags would be a challenge, but I've personally overheard members of his high school team talking about him in a negative manner about the time this occurred, so I'm pretty sure they did it but we can't prove it. Weird timing coincided with him getting his first start as a college pitcher.)
So he hates our town, in particular our school district, and just wants to be gone, to never see most of his classmates again, etc.
In an interview on the Tonight Show some years ago, Liam Neeson, when asked about social media and his participation indicated in his own words that they were "utterly inane" and that he avoided using them.
Interesting topic.
I've only been in the hobby for four years, so I was not around years ago when evidently there were a lot more posters.
I'm no longer on Facebook, I never was on Twitter, and I've never found other forums.
I came to this forum when I subscribed to the paper edition of the Model Railroader magazine.
I love this forum, and I have learned countless things about building a layout. I've also gotten a lot of encouragement when I made mistakes or asked questions.
I appreciate the moderation, which some people don't like. I feel the moderation is what keeps this a very civil forum.
As far as increasing readership, increasing the number of posters, and increasing the participation, I'm not able to answer. I always try to welcome and encourage new posters, and I know that some of you also do the same.
This forum fits my needs, and if I knew any other modelers, I would encourage them to join.
York1 John
John.
Thank you. I hope your son finds it within himself to look at the positive side of life and environment. It's easy to miss warning signs and children know how to hide things from the people that love them. When they stare into the darkness it's easy to miss the spark of light that can brighten the world. I wish you and yours the very best.
I post occasionally.
I think as was mentioned, many topics are discussed already, so sometimes we can find (if the searches cooperate) without needing to post.
And, unlike FB, this site has excellent mods, who I feel do a great job of keeping everything "on track". (Pun very intended.)
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
I think I might be able to offer a reason why. It has nothing to do with the hobby or any faults of these forums. Message board traffic is down all over the place. Originally they were the single source place for information, tips and inspiration. But now people can get all that far more easily through YouTube and instagram. Some vendors offer turorials and advice. It's just dilution that has contributed to a lot of message board decline. I've seen it happen in a lot of other places.
There is a magic solution to drive up traffic. People love photos. Less stuff described and more visuals. I know the forum can't host images as they would be cost prohibitive But encouraging more photos of peoples work and progress really makes reading threads more interesting.
I have participated off/on in the MR forums. They are excellent resources for support and encouragement in MRing. My MRR folders have many pages of quotes from the forums addressing a wide range of topics.
These days, I first search with google by listing model railroader first then my specific question. I only ask a question on the forums if I need further information.
Other times, I'm looking for opinions and find that model RR'ers are very willing to share opinions and make suggestions! Having been around for years, I do know posters that always provide great information and I always read their posts. I am open-minded so will read others as well. There's a few that just want to catfight... Frankly, I find it frustrating when MR'ers who are awesome support to newbies get sucked into a catfight... I appreciate that they stand up for the truth because it is too easy for a newbie to get mislead but sucks life out of the forum. I don't know how to fix that issue.
For me personally, I picked one MR'er to be my "goto guy", Randy Rinker. He always had time to help, was a great teacher, and if I did what he suggested, it always worked. I miss him, RIP my friend. A very long list of others have helped me too, I treasure the forum for their assistance!
My suggestions: 1) improve the search engine, 2) make posting pictures easier and retain, 3) answer the question asked without diversion, 4) stop the catfights, and 5) develop friendships with new members.
I was a fairly active member on the Flyfishnewhampshire forum - basically I learned how to fly fish from it. Several promenant members died and/or disappeared, posts petered out, and it disappeared completely a couple years back. I think this forum is great, I've started a new layout and come here often for advice - I hope it continues and agree that more pictures of peoples layouts, progress and projects are wanted.
NorthsideChiMessage board traffic is down all over the place.
This is exceedingly true. Message board/forum style online interaction is very much a 1995-2010 animal.
richhotrain SeeYou190 richhotrain Everybody heads outdoors with their free time as the warmer weather takes over. This is a concept I just cannot wrap my head around? What fool would venture outdoors during the warm months? That is when you should stay inside in the A/C and enjoy modeling. Go outside in the Winter months when the weather is perfect like a normal person. Dems fightin' words, Kevin. A pretty good portion of the country is homebound during the winter when it is freezing cold, snowy, and dark outside as early as 4 PM. So, model railroading takes on renewed interest each November. I hear ya on Florida. I spent my first winter down in Fort Myers after I retired. By April 11th, I had to get out of there because it was already hot and humid. But speaking of fools, you would be one to live in Forida year around. Same for states like Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. Rich
Dems fightin' words, Kevin.
Well, I will be the double contrarian.
I live in he Mid Atlantic, and if you like summer this as a good a place as any for golf, boating, swimming, fishing, or just hanging out at the ocean.
And if you like winter, we have mountains near by to the north and west with plenty of great ski resorts.
And if you like the mountain lake kind of thing, we have that too, and camping of all sorts is a popular activity around here.
But winter or summer, none of it controls my modeling habits.
I own a very high quality garden tractor because I don't like yardwork..... the idea is to make it faster and easier. Back in the day the GRAVELY ad slogan was "power verses drudgery".
I did enjoy snow sking years ago, but the second wife never mastered the skill.
I never really enjoyed the ocean - except Cape May, I love the houses......
There are reasons why men invented central heat and central air conditioning.....
I like the spring and fall......
I like the solitude of cutting the grass - on my 1,000 lb, 23.5 HP toy:
But I do just as much modeling in summer as winter, sometimes more.
Sheldon
ATLANTIC CENTRAL But I do just as much modeling in summer as winter, sometimes more.
richhotrain ATLANTIC CENTRAL But I do just as much modeling in summer as winter, sometimes more. So, then, why does forum participation decline in the non-winter months, which it does? Rich
So, then, why does forum participation decline in the non-winter months, which it does?
I'm not disagreeing with you regarding some people, but for me, and a number of other modelers I have known, season had little to do with their modeling.
But then again, I can only think of one of them who played golf.....
And none who owned boats, or liked to fish, etc.
In fact, back in the day, the Round Robin group I was involved with did lots of summer activities.
Personally, I hate the hot, muggy, dead of summer in July and August, good time to be in the climate controlled layout room.
I'm just no longer the outdoor type I guess.