Yes, absolutely right on. The Kalmbach editors seem to have taken on a peculiarly spiteful attitude toward this forum. It is as if we have a set of rules to abide by; and then another unwritten doctrine of correct thinking that must also be adhered to.
In the past, if moderators locked a thread, they at least extended the courtesy of explaining their reasons. And if a thread was locked, the moderators always told us that we were free to start another one, and they often recommended it. That was because the point of locking the thread was the not the topic, but rather, some of the exchange in the discussion that violated the rules. Therefore, nothing prohibited re-starting the discussion in a new thread as long as it stayed within the rules.
However, now it appears that starting a new thread on the same topic is taken as a personal affront by the moderator who locked the first one.
I do not understand why totally civil threads like the crossing three (whose subject is not politics, graffiti or hobos) need to be locked. Some members object to circularity by repeatedly 'Beating that Dead Horse' almost every time there is a thread that concerns an issue and it has sufficient interest to cause many members to go back and forth, sometimes even argue their particular viewpoints. If that offends those members so strongly, why don't they simply ignore the thread, as Greyhounds and others suggest? There are many equally civil threads that go on and on about allowed topics many of us find uninteresting or worse, yet no one runs to the moderators and demands a lock. By the logic used lately, repetitious threads involving Happy Thanksgiving or Merry Christmas should also be locked for 'Beating a dead Horse'? I for one, would like an explanation from the moderator as to his reasoning on this.
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
Well folks, it seems very simple to me (a non-railroader but railfan just the same)...IF the news reports I've read many times are correct in stating that the crossing bells and lights were working and the gates were in the process of coming down when the "float" driver proceeded to enter the crossing...it does NOT matter how the signals were timed...IF the driver ignored the lights, bells and lowering gates...then HE is at fault...PERIOD. However, until the results of the formal investigation are known to us all...he is innocent until proven guilty...because that is a hard and fast rule of our legal system.
Please, not Paint!
There have been many discussions about paint has it relates to railroads, real and model elsewhere, that have been known to have gotten way out of hand. Some of them made our worst threads look tame by comparison. (Although lately the tameness seems to have nothing to do with it.)
Jeff
It's the "yes, but..." stuff.
Ie, "the sign was three feet across, octogonal, and had large white letters on it a foot and a half high that said 'STOP'."
"Yes, but if the sign had been FOUR feet across..."
Reminds me of the days of futuremodal.
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...
What is the point of a discussion forum if you can discuss anything - circular discussions are the hallmark of discussions with differing viewpoints of what is being discussed.
This forum has lost, or probably more properly, run away a wealth of accurate railroad knowdledge with the policy of holding discussions to kindergarten levels of decourm; and even when those levels are adhered to threads still get locked.
I am about at my limits in dealing with this place after 9, soon to be 10 years of active participation.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Well, this topic has been going around and around and round and around and around and around in circles.
Crossings are going to be an issue every time someone tries to cross in front of a train. Come now. We all know that it would not matter how long the lights, horns, crossings gates, metal barriers would turn on when a train approaches. We have a few crossings here that leave 30 seconds and STILL we get people trying to cross...even 15 seconds...nothing will stop somebody from trying. And notice I do not accuse this fellow of anything..I was not there when it happened, and neither were any of us as well...
Do you guys have the perfect system to keep people from doing harm to themselves and others?
No? Yes?
Didn't think so....I'll let this one ride....for now
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...
http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/
Wondered about that myself. No one was ridiculously condemning the truck driver or the parade organizers. No one was just vomiting political opinions. No one was being anything other than reasonable, rational and inquisitive. What gives?
OK (not!), we were discussing railroad crossing signals, their timing, and how they work.
The discussion was railroad related and nobody was flaming anyone. And it was locked.
I'm beyond tired of this. If members cannot civilly discuss railroads on this forum, why have the forum? Any member who is annoyed by any discussion can simply opt out and not read posts on the subject.
There were forum members with an interest in the subject. And those members, myself included, were discussing it in a respectful and rational manner.
Then some moderator decided we should cease. I guess we can't talk about such things on this forum. So, just what can we discuss? Paint?
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