Update on the 1225

[johntheliteguy]

check out our facebook page for updates on the 1225.

steamrailroadinginstitute

[johntheliteguy]

Facebook.com/steamrailroadinginstitute

[OldReliable]

One would think that someone into steam locomotives would know there are still people who

do NOT use facebook, twitter, etc.

The old fashioned Chuck Peck

[Fla RailFan]

Use of Facebook has gotten a lot of bad "press" sometimes and for some very serious reasons.

Having said that, there is a huge following of railfans that just want to see and learn about the lost era of steam as told by those who lived the experience. Feel free to look around and share your thoughs with 100's of railfans from around the would every day. What a great way to pass these images and stories on to our future and current rail fans.

http://www.facebook.com/TheRailroadNation

[Sunnyland]

There is a huge railfan community on Facebook. I have connected up with many of them and have learned a lot.They can look at a picture of a diesel engine and identify the type immediately. I only know the E and F series. And some of them are into model railroading and will share pictures of their layouts as they are being assembled.   Some of them are retired railroad workers, one guy is retired BNSF engineer and must have carried a camera a lot when he worked, because the pictures he shares are great.  The pictures than an regular railfan would be unable to capture because they are taken from inside the cab or other places off limits to anyone other than RR personnel. 

And I was surprised by the number of Frisco fans on there. Many of them are young people who were not even alive when Frisco was still running.  I have met some of them on railfan trips or when #844 and #765 came to town.

So Facebook is a valuable tool for other than just socializing.  I'm glad I was able to connect up with so many people who share a common of interest of trains. I have not talked this much about them since my Dad died and I was disconnected from the day to day running of a railroad. 

[Sunnyland]

I found I was already linked to Steam Railroading Institute and just linked to the Railroad Nation.

[Deggesty]

OldReliable

One would think that someone into steam locomotives would know there are still people who

do NOT use facebook, twitter, etc.

The old fashioned Chuck Peck

Quite true.

[johntheliteguy]

OldReliable OldReliable One would think that someone into steam locomotives would know there are still people who One would think that someone into steam locomotives would know there are still people who

do NOT use facebook, twitter, etc. do NOT use facebook, twitter, etc.

I guess with that logic we shouldnt be using computers, cell phones, or ipods! Facebook and the web is easier for us to post multiple pictures cheaply. When your trying to raise funds to restore a milion dollar steam engine, its hard to justify the cost of putting high quality pictures on a website and eating tremendous amounts of space on a webpage. Facebook is a free medium to share the restoration of a very popular steam engine. Its also a medium used by many kids for whom we are trying to reach. At the institute our goal is to educate kids and adults on the history and significance of steam. As one of the volunteers getting dirty working on every inch of the engine, we have very few young people volunteering. And of the few that we do have, most can tell you everything there is to know about a railroad. Differant engine types, routes, how they operate, but cant tell which side of a screw driver is the working end, and get lost in our machine shop. We are in the process of updating our website, which will have a few pictures on it, but as i said mentioned as long as facebook is free that will be our main location for telling our restoration story. To date as the one posting 95% of the restoration pictures, i think we have close to 2000 pictures up. Because now of all the welding and torching we are doing our chief maintanance officer has closed our shop to the public. Just too many chances to get hurt if you dont have any idea whats going on above or around you. So until the shop is once again open to the public, the only way to see any update will be through our facebook page. I replied'to this with my xoom, maybe should have used a fountain pen!

[Overmod]

Facebook is useful for social purposes, just as indicated, and 'social' can be much more than the usual stupidity that a Facebook page becomes after a while.  As he noted, communities of railroaders are much more easily found and kept in contact via online social media than any other method I know.

On the other hand, Facebook itself is insecure as hell, ridden with ads and sneaky little data-mining tools, and (to me, at least) not worth the hassle over what I can do with Yahoo groups.  You will not find me signing up or participating in it, by choice, and I am perhaps the anti-Chuck in that I have been participating in online 'social' communication (via things like reflectors) since long before it was even practical to view large numbers of pictures or multicast media.  The issue is really not about the content being on Facebook, it's that even someone who just wants to see the pictures has to sign up for an account, with all the proven problems that brings.  At least some places allowed you to view Facebook content without having to be a 'friend' or whatever.

Do I find it irritating that people are essentially posting significant content behind what amounts to a nincompoop paywall?  Well, frankly, yes.  My opinion is basically that only amateurs use Facebook and my_.   This may be the 21st Century, but 'shiniest' does not equate to 'best'. 

But by the same token I am happy that the Facebook 'thing' works better for the 1225 people than it has for the 643 people, and I am happy that it is a tool that allows the pictures and commentary to be posted at all.   It is true that people who are not as concerned with security as I have to be will find the interface and access to pictures in particular to be optimized via a Facebook wall or whatever.

[Deggesty]

Johntheliteguy, saying that there are some people who do not use the social media is not the same as saying that none of the advances in communication should be used.

[selector]

You won't catch me on FB, too much weird data-accumulation and conclusion-drawing from it over which I would have zip control if I were a member...and I have never registered!  Even so, my wife and children have provided that outfit with plenty of information about me, including what I look like in imagery.  Yahoo news page has new reports out every week about what facebook isn't announcing it's doing with their mined data.    Nuff said about that place.

A good PR/comms/announcement programme will have a broad reach.  True, many people who would be keenest about steam restoration and such are not going to be users of IT, but many are, and of those, they'll notice and think about what they can do to help, even if it is just to go for a paid ride in the future.  And, like FB or hate it, millions upon millions use it to keep in touch, including with grandchildren.  Grandpa invites his two grandsons, okay and granddaughters, to accompany him on Easter Weekend on the RagTag Central's newly restored 2-8-0 excursion, and he promises hot dogs, ice-cream, and a large soda.  What's not to like about that, even if they have to endure a train ride to get them?

Crandell