Thoughts about a new forum

[Rene Schweitzer]

The Capt. has made a suggestion to have a forum dedicated to the daily operations of everyone's railroads. What does everyone think, and would you participate?

My biggest concern would be that we would start to have too many forums, possibly segmenting our group. A thought would be to eliminate the "design and construction" forum or possibly the gardening forum, since those (sadly) as the least visited. Most people seem to post their questions in the general anyway.

Comments?

[Tom The Brat]

Yea, you probably don't want bunches of fora. Even now, you have some interesting ones that I never get around to reading.

[bman36]

Hey Rene,
Maybe take a poll to see which forum should be removed. Personally these days I don't seem to have too much time on hand for posting. Less to me is better. Keeps the group more concentrated I think. The "General" forum is where I spend most of my time these days! Later eh...Brian.

[Marty Cozad]

You can always try it. I post in the general thinking more folks read there than the other forums
Some forums I only read when I get lots of extra time. Say winter.

[Anonymous]

I simply though it might be a good idea for there to be a place to put the stories and the fiction...where we talked less about the mechanics of building and focued more on the fun part...the running of trains, pics of scenes and backstory.

A place where a few minutes could be spent writing and reading GR Literature...rather than the non-fiction. Don't get me wrong...I love the building and the talk of building. It is the largest learning pool around.

However, if it is of the opinion of the forum that this might cause more factionalism...I cannot allow that. I will thus withdraw the proposal should it be shown to be a bad idea.

I can always get the same results by posting the Two Trees Time here and we can treat it like a "coffee shop thread."

[Capt Bob Johnson]

I don't buy the "Coffee Shop" premise, keep it trains!

Both my wife and I do enjoy reading the stories some post about thier railroads, ie. The CD&St L with Buck the Wonder dog, the old lady who makes the moonshine, the stingy president and CEO of the railroad, and the arrival of it's first "Dismal" engine; the stories Scott Slueski writes(The snoplow disaster was a real good one), the happenings at the "PeePee Falls Bridge", and the like.

One of the major fora has an "Off Topic" category, while another has a "whimsey" one; and a lot of these things are posted on them.

I notice that whenever something of that ilk is posted it always gets a lot of hits, even if it does not generate a lot of comment; therefore, I would indeed support a "Storyline" category. I'd love to see more of these continuing saga, (soap opera) type things on a continuing basis. It would be kinda neat to be able to refer back and pick up the thread of what has been going on with this stuff!

I feel that while gardening is indeed a big part of our hobby, it is also very localized in it's very nature. Plants that do well in SE Penna just 100 miles away won't do well at the De and NJ shores! It is localized by climate, soil, local conditions, amount of sun on the layout, and geography. What works well in the mountains of Tennesee won't very often work well here at the shore. Certainly Ian's stuff in the land down under does not work in Minnesota! I think that these are some of the reasons why that section of the forum is not very popular, and is perhaps a candidate for elimination.

A longwinded justification for saying I'll go with the flow!

[Anonymous]

coffee shop........aaaarrrrrrrggggghhhhhhh.
Hang on ... coffe......................erhguithrgrilu5tghtruynhsol.dtyj'
Bullsh..........tnkrftgftgcflktgnmctfgykcm
endless cra....................................................p
Do whatever you want.
I just wanted to know about sound systems.
I give up.

[Capt Bob Johnson]

You should also consider that such a "storyline" will not get a whole heck of a lot of postings because it takes time and talent to come up with this stuff. That's one reason I read them, I am in awe of the talent from which they come! Not a lot of folk have the time to sit down and do this and come out with the well polished stories that I mentioned in my prior posting! I love them and wish I could be that creative!

It would be nice to have an outlet for those who are inclined to take the time to write and illustrate such stories on a more informal basis than a publication. They would have the freedom to do it when they felt like it or the mood struck them.

To reiterate, I'm for a "storyline" but against a "Coffee Shop"!

[Anonymous]

Once upon a time my tram went out for a run.
It picked up some people
It took them to where they wanted to go.
They paid some money for the transport.
The giant cat ate them!!
It rained giant raindrops and everyone drowned.
I'm sorry.
Sometimes I cannot resist.
Is it just me?

[Train 284]

QUOTE: Originally posted by bman36

Hey Rene,
Maybe take a poll to see which forum should be removed. Personally these days I don't seem to have too much time on hand for posting. Less to me is better. Keeps the group more concentrated I think. The "General" forum is where I spend most of my time these days! Later eh...Brian.

Took the words right out of my mouth Brian!

[ttrigg]

Even though I do enjoy writing fictional story lines about the Rosebud Falls Scenic Railways, I don't think we need another category. If we were to establish a completely new forum, then each GRR would post their continuing saga under their own heading. Otherwise we would have a forum with only one thread. I say lets establish The Two Tree Times in the "General" forum and keep that one thread completely fictional. As for myself, my web site is completely devoted to this fictional tale of the Rosebud Falls Scenic Railways. (Yes I know Rosebud Falls is serviced by the D&RGW, but rumors abound that the D&RGW is about to become the victim of a "Hostile Take Over") the saga continues!

Some of us get our entertainment from running "serious operations schedules", others enjoy simply "driving the train", others enjoy the vegetation side, yet others get maximum enjoyment from scratch building. Our hobby has something for everyone. Rail fiction is simply one more aspect to our hobby.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: I say lets establi***he Two Tree Times in the "General" forum and keep that one thread completely fictional.

I will second that motion!!!

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by troybetts

Once upon a time my tram went out for a run.
It picked up some people
It took them to where they wanted to go.
They paid some money for the transport.
The giant cat ate them!!
It rained giant raindrops and everyone drowned.
I'm sorry.
Sometimes I cannot resist.
Is it just me?

Troy, you forgot the best part. "the cow licked the track"[:D]

[Anonymous]

I say leave them in the general forum, and let the author /owner of the said railroad update as needed. I enjoy them, but I don't believe it requires a seperate forum.

[cacole]

In my opinion, there are enough forums already. If you create one for that, someone else will come along and want one for another topic, and then what will you do? To me, the fewer, the better.

[RhB_HJ]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Rene S

The Capt. has made a suggestion to have a forum dedicated to the daily operations of everyone's railroads. What does everyone think, and would you participate?

My biggest concern would be that we would start to have too many forums, possibly segmenting our group. A thought would be to eliminate the "design and construction" forum or possibly the gardening forum, since those (sadly) as the least visited. Most people seem to post their questions in the general anyway.

Comments?

Hi Rene,

How about "Design and Operations" combined. After all one influences the other to a very large extent, i.e. the better the design, the more interesting the operations.

At least this is how it works for me.

BTW I also have a tendency to consider "running in circles" as not much of an operation.[;)][:)][:D]

[ttrigg]

Cappy;

Sorry, but it looks like the issue of a seperate forum is DOA.

[powlee]

Likewise, I do not get time to read everything, interesting as it probably is. I would personally like just the General Discussion Forum. I have asked technical Q`s on the other Forums and got no answer but they always get a response on the General.

Ian P

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ttrigg

Cappy;

Sorry, but it looks like the issue of a seperate forum is DOA.

The people have spoken!!!

[underworld]

The Two Tree Times idea does sound interesting.

underworld

[:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]

[Rene Schweitzer]

Ok, we won't add another forum but Capt. you are free to have your fictional newsletter in the general forum. Thanks, everyone!

[CandCRR]

I see nothing wrong with more forums. I belong to another forum (not GRR related) that has over 40 forums. What it does is break the subject down in to specific areas of interest so you are not wading through pages just to find the topic you have an interest in. It makes it sort of like an Encyclopedia. And topics that have no posts are dropped or combined with others. The forum eventually becomes a big data warehouse where one can find what they want quickly and easily.

Jaime

[vsmith]

I created my "Saga" thread just so I could keep all my posting regarding my layout under on topic, I try to post anything related to the building or operating of my layout there. Its easier to create, edit and view.

Cappy I'd do the same with your Two Trees Times, use it to update all of us on the goings on there, you can still post seperate topics on model making, etc. Later, Vic