Dear trains got another hit Sunday evening about 23:00. These 504s are so tiring.
blue streak 1Dear trains got another hit Sunday evening about 23:00. These 504s are so tiring.
Ditto
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
I never go to the MR or CTT forums, just Trains and Classic Trains. With the magazines having subscription in the many tens of thousands, is it really worth it to keep the forums up and running when there's only about 25 regular posters and some of them don't subscribe?
Backshopis it really worth it to keep the forums up and running when there's only about 25 regular posters and some of them don't subscribe?
The 'fair' thing to do in that case would be to 'reimburse' the frequent posters or useful idiots with credit equal to the time and effort put in, applied toward their "$6.95 per month" in the month(s) that contributions are present. Now that we can expect more funding the Kalmbach 'experience' to be provided in the new organization, I suspect there would be members of staff who could make a fair evaluation and provide a sensible accounting of how that might be done.
There is the additional question whether merely reading threads on the forum, referred from all the Google and other bot 'indexing' (some of which is remarkably fast, indexing and providing links to posts that in some cases are only seconds old!) should be allowed to people who haven't signed in (or paid dues). There are plenty of examples where Google displays text that cannot be searched or read when actually trying to reference a given source...
I wonder how many of the primary posters plus non-posting regular readers would pay for the dubious privilege of entry to a dying forum?
It would work for me as part of the "unlimited" membership benefits.
Or it may be because of all the recent technical problems that are limiting participation. So I think that before trying to solve the operation problem with an entirely new system, it would be better to first find out what the current technical operational problem actually is. Why not have the problem professionally diagnosed and then get a price quote to fix it? Then fix the problem and maybe the participation will shoot back up to pre-2020 levels.
Participation is down due to a number of bannings and a number of deaths with few if any new participants coming on board.
The slipshod operation of the board's software has made it problematic for anyone to withstand the aggravations.
I suspect the decline in forum participation is something beyond just this one. I follow a couple of forum topics on railroad.net, and that forum site software works near flawlessly. 10 years ago there would be at least several posts a day and several new topics per week. Now it is common to go several days between posts, let alone new topics. People seemed to have moved on to other types of social media, I.e Facebook, Instagram, etc.
A once active firefighting forum hasn't had a post in months. People have passed, moved on, or whatever.
It's funny, in a way. The stuff we complain the most about on fora is the very same thing that generates activity - posts with some form of controversy.
I suspect, too, that at some point, most of the questions that could be asked have been asked (as has been pointed out when a newby does ask a question). With only six Class 1's now, regional interest lags, too.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
BaltACD Participation is down due to a number of bannings and a number of deaths with few if any new participants coming on board. The slipshod operation of the board's software has made it problematic for anyone to withstand the aggravations.
tree68 With only six Class 1's now, regional interest lags, too.
With only six Class 1's now, regional interest lags, too.
Euclid But I don’t see why bannings and deaths would cause a trend of falling participation because deaths and bannings should be occurring at an average, consistent rate over time. So I would think their effect could also be consistent over time. What has not been consistent over time is the forum technical operation.
I think the random nature of deleting active threads because of some arbitrary sliding ruler of what's on topic hasn't helped this site over the years either. But let's be real: just about all forums are dead. So many other platforms out there.
I get it, moderating a forum is like herding cats with a garden hose, and some people can get a tad worked up, but the times where the heavy hand ruled hurt participation, IMO. I know I am less likely (read: not likely) to put much effort into creating actual original content anymore. You can keep the $6.95.
Even if you want to, who knows if it will post or you will get an error.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.
zugmannthe heavy hand ruled hurt participation, IMO. I know I am less likely (read: not likely) to put much effort into creating actual original content anymore. You can keep the $6.95. Even if you want to, who knows if it will post or you will get an error.
The repeated removal of many posts and threads that had strong participation killed the interest of many. I don't know if that policy was out of ignorance of the effect or not, but the damage was done.
I think the content of Trains magazine itself may have something to do with it. It has turned into an industry-lite news article mag. WRP has more interesting magazines for railfans.
Backshop I think the content of Trains magazine itself may have something to do with it. It has turned into an industry-lite news article mag. WRP has more interesting magazines for railfans.
You're missing my point. I'm talking about articles with executives and when they pushed EHH. When's the last time that they had an actual "get out there and do it" article like JDI and DPM used to do? You can tell that their current product isn't working. Just compare the paperstock used on Trains vs that on TRP. They got sold because they hit the iceberg and needed a rescue ship.
Backshop You're missing my point. I'm talking about articles with executives and when they pushed EHH. When's the last time that they had an actual "get out there and do it" article like JDI and DPM used to do? You can tell that their current product isn't working. Just compare the paperstock used on Trains vs that on TRP. They got sold because they hit the iceberg and needed a rescue ship.
Flintlock76 Backshop You're missing my point. I'm talking about articles with executives and when they pushed EHH. When's the last time that they had an actual "get out there and do it" article like JDI and DPM used to do? You can tell that their current product isn't working. Just compare the paperstock used on Trains vs that on TRP. They got sold because they hit the iceberg and needed a rescue ship. My thoughts exactly. The last issue of "Trains" I saw had 54 or so pages. My most recent issue of "R&R" from WRP has 82 and with the weight of the paper stock it feels like 100.
My thoughts exactly. The last issue of "Trains" I saw had 54 or so pages. My most recent issue of "R&R" from WRP has 82 and with the weight of the paper stock it feels like 100.
A couple of other Posters on this Thred have mentioned it, as well:
The Moderation. In the past, some of the Moderators have veen 'envolved'...
They seemed to participate, in discussions, the were available, the would respond, and they seemed to hold ratonal positions, as to the discussions that took place; Diuscuyssions tghat were wide-ranging at times.
Most of the ' regulars' knew who the 'agitators' were; as well as, who the one's who could hold an 'adult conversation', without use of ' ad hominem' assaults.
In other words The Moderator's, MDERATED!! They werer good at their tasks, and were all pretty well liked, even after they dropped oiut of their offiucial roles of mederation...... Those were certainly different times, and those times are missed; as is seen by, the drop in FORUM participation......
samfp1943Those were certainly different times, and those times are missed; as is seen by, the drop in FORUM participation......
Very true!
Over on the model side, Steve Otte says the building that houses the servers has to be vacated by July 15th.
So unless Firecrown decides to start their own forums (I wouldn't bet on it), this place is almost dead on the law. Shall we meet in 5 years under the clock at Grand Central?
For more context:
Steve OtteThe Forums are currently hosted on a physical server that's housed in a building that has been sold to a third party and must be vacated by July 15. Firecrown's purchase of MR, Trains, and the other magazines did not include these servers. Firecrown does everything "in the cloud" using services like Google. So the three options are: 1) launch a new Forum with new software; 2) ditch the Forum altogether; or 3) copy the current buggy Forum to another server in the cloud somewhere. Now, I'm not privy to Firecrown's internal planning, but if I had to guess I would think those three options are arranged in decreasing order of probability.
In theory, the part of the forum 'framework' that can access, format, and serve past posts could be ported to an appropriate VM in the cloud. But this might not have the exquisite back-end opportunities that the Telligent platform offered. Might be different if there was still access to the original install or configuration package...
I think by sometime first week in July, we all exchange such e-mail addresses here as we might want to use to contact each other....
OvermodI think by sometime first week in July, we all exchange such e-mail addresses here as we might want to use to contact each other....
I'd shoot middle of June, myself. If it lasts that long...
You just volunteer yourself for head of the committee?
zugmannYou just volunteer yourself for head of the committee?
I could also host one or more servers if they sell them 'provisioned'. I have a five-room office I only use two rooms of, fully wired for Cat 6e and emergency power...
As much as some people hate Facebook - there are pages there for a variety of topics, including railroads. Come up with a suitable name, pick a couple of people to be mods/etc and let her rip.
tree68As much as some people hate Facebook - there are pages there for a variety of topics, including railroads. Come up with a suitable name, pick a couple of people to be mods/etc and let her rip.
My son is coaching a girls soccer team for his daughter and others. They have a Facebook location and they stream the games from a semi-fixed cell phone camera.
A lot of people use Facebook for a lot of activities.
This site may be going to another 504 incidents. Every slected posting is now giving a "HMM cannot reach site" for about 10 -14 seconds the finally connects.
Sad to Hear.
Thank You.
BaltACDMy son is coaching a girls soccer team for his daughter and others. They have a Facebook location and they stream the games from a semi-fixed cell phone camera. A lot of people use Facebook for a lot of activities.
On Facebook, there are many rail sites, such as Passenger Train Enthusiasts I and sites for specific railroads. Pictures are easy to post directly.
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Definiterly 504 is back as of Sunday 0600. hope IT can fix. This post just by luck!
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