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Wanswheel Silenced?

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Posted by daveklepper on Monday, April 30, 2018 12:31 AM
Also on moderation, I am posting this without seeing a previous posting that says this thread explains why I am on moderation --- because I too posted material copyrighted from another source.  I don’t like just posting a URL, which drives readers from the website.  So here are some ideas to use information from copyrighted material to make it your own for your posting:
Change words, use synonims.   Route – line, relocated - moved
Change sentence structure:   Original:   System ABC’s extension to D opened 44 December 2020.  It uses diesel push-pulls with bilevel coaches made by Osgood Bradley.  Cost of the extension was ten dollars.  Your posting:  On 44 December, the $10.00 D extension saw its first ABC passenger service, using Osgood Bradley bilevel coaches with diesel locomotives in push-pull mode.
Most newspaper and other media articles use excerpts from the press release or speech, scattering the quotes to be inserted where they are directly relevant to particular sentences of the writer.  You can surmise what the total statement was, have just one complete quote, place it where it makes the most sense in your posting, possibly at the start with your writing analyzing what the system spokesman said or wrote.

This is what I am doing and plan to do.

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Posted by Electroliner 1935 on Sunday, April 29, 2018 10:02 PM

samfp1943
BUT having been a subscriber for time longer than that indicated by current posting counters..

I have been reading TRAINS since 1942, one year after Mr. Kalmbach started it. I was seven years old then and my dad had a subscription. He had six articles published in the early '40s.After I moved away from home ('59), I got my own subscription. Whether that makes me the oldest subscriber here is immaterial. I also would appreciate the moderators rational for the Wanswheel notice. 

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Posted by Convicted One on Sunday, April 29, 2018 2:09 PM

Euclid
or was he silenced and blocked, and now been unsilenced and unblocked?

It's now after 3 PM on Sunday, and no further posts from him have appeared since Friday afternoon, so I'd say it's a pretty safe bet he is still under moderation. Any posts he's made in the mean time are likely waiting for review and approval.

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Posted by zugmann on Sunday, April 29, 2018 12:33 PM

zardoz
The truth is out there. Alien

I want to believe.

It's been fun.  But it isn't much fun anymore.   Signing off for now. 


  

The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any

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Posted by daveklepper on Sunday, April 29, 2018 11:11 AM

Now I understand why I was put on moderation.  I hope I do not trouble Kalmbach again.  When a friend emails me information and with the understanding that it is not a direct quote from a published source and that I have permission to share it, I can post it directly and do.  Ditto press releases from railroad and transit systems that want the material distributed.  (Often reformatting to fit the forum windows requires a lot of work.)  But when a friend appears to be sending something taken directly from a trade journal (and then only if of extreme interest) or a newspaper, I rewrite the material completly, changing sentence order and composition, using synonims where possible, and only quoting direct statements by transit and railroad officials, that are clearly meant to be quoted by any media.  If the material is from a newspaper, I credit the newspaper.  If the material is from a competing magazine, I do not feel any obligation to make a credit, because I received the information from a friend, not direclty from the competing journal. I hope this policy meets with Kalmnach's approval, and hopefully some day I'll be taken off moderation and increase both my enjoyment and helpfulness to other readers.  I rarely post URLs because I want people to stay on This Website.

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Posted by Convicted One on Sunday, April 29, 2018 9:47 AM

VOLKER LANDWEHR
What else do you need to know? I for my part don't care. Regards, Volker

 

Well, since someone thought enough of this incident to create a thread based upon it, (and framed it as a populist "cause" no less) my curiouity is piqued.

Like reading any other good mystery, knowing how the story ended is everything.

 

Will Lassie find Ranger Smith in time to lead him back to the well to rescue Timmy? Will Timmy hang tough  and keep his head above water long enough for Ranger Smith to arrive?  And what about that flock of vultures circling ominously in the sky? What becomes of them if everything else turns out alright?  Clown

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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, April 29, 2018 9:10 AM

Here is what wanswheel posted on April 26th:
Something about the Chattanooga Choo-Choo. I posted the text of newspaper article around Sept. 8, which Brian quickly deleted and put me on moderation.

What else do you need to know? I for my part don't care.
Regards, Volker

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Posted by Euclid on Sunday, April 29, 2018 7:44 AM

Complete context:

Firelock76 said:

Hello all.  I've just been informed by a very credible source that frequent poster Wanswheel, who came up with some of the most remakable posts ever seen on the Forum, has been silenced and blocked from further postings.

Euclid said:

So, was this claim that Wanswheel was silenced and blocked untrue; or was he silenced and blocked, and now been unsilenced and unblocked?

tree68
 
Euclid
So, was this claim that Wanswheel was silenced and blocked untrue; or was he silenced and blocked, and now been unsilenced and unblocked?

 

Does it really matter?  

If he did something from which the rest of us can learn, he might decide to share it.  If not, who cares?

 

 

 

Yes of course it matters. 

 

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Posted by CMStPnP on Sunday, April 29, 2018 3:24 AM

One other item I will mention is use of links and website linked material.   Also not completely harmless but better than cutting and pasting.    When you use website links you are redirecting traffic off of Trains.com to another site.    Why should you care about that?

Because Trains.com has it's own news department (this is why you see Brian spending lots of his time to post links to trains newswire.....BTW).   The longer and more time you spend on Trains.com, the more they can charge for website advertising as it impacts your dwell time on the website.    When you post a website link to another site and it is a competing source to Trains Newswire, you hit the magazine twice.    First you impact and reduce dwell time for hundreds or thousands of website users as soon as they click on the link they are off the website and redirected elsewhere.    When you link to competing news source it presents Trains with a delemma.   Why do they have and pay for their own news gathering content department if users are voting with their feet (#1), and the other area your hurting them in is the business relationship between the news content supplier and Trains because your providing direct competition to what they thought was a exclusive content providing agreement with Trains.    So in effect your eroding their base as well.

These were all problems with the website at Monster dot com as well and eventually what they did was shut down the discussion forums at Monster dot com and brought them back in a very, very limited format (comment only medium.......little or no discussion betwen posters).    Most regular posters and moderators left after Monster.com redesign.    The lack of discussion between posters really turned a lot of people off.     The comment only approach increased the internet trolls significantly along with the one time only posters.

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Posted by CMStPnP on Sunday, April 29, 2018 2:42 AM

wanswheel
Something about the Chattanooga Choo-Choo. I posted the text of newspaper article around Sept. 8, which Brian quickly deleted and put me on moderation.

Speaking as a former moderator for a Monster.com military discussion website, your offense if the above is true is reproducing content from another website without their permission.    You should always use links.   Cutting and pasting of text verbatum is a big no-no.   Sometimes you can get away with it if you snip the article in critical places vs posting the entire content of the article.......though that does not always work.

I posted this a few times before and folks started to argue the fair use doctrine which I have to tell you DOES NOT APPLY.    People that rebut me on this point were never in a Moderator position for a large website and are just speaking as arm chair legal experts.    That is beside the point.    If you want to argue about the fair use doctrine, do it when your financial future is at risk and don't bet the financial future of another publishing company.

Believe it or not most average to large sized websites are scanned or looked at by trail lawyers (actually, typically a subordinate) for violations by the public of copyrights or in this case in the use of another websites published material.   They find a violation they notify the owner of the content and offer to represent them via a court challenge for a fee or a portion of the legal settlement.   All of the suddent the website owner finds themselves with a cease and desist order or i it is a repeat occurence...........a court summons.

I know on the website I was moderating we not only had trial lawyer firms, we had news reporters attempting to get anonymous quotes on military stories along with official Pentagon scanners making sure the Special Forces troops were abiding by their confidentiality agreements.     So we had multiple layers.   The Pentagon had ghost accounts where they did not have to wait for moderators they could zoom in and censor immediately if they found a violation.   I remember Monster.com admonishing us not to tell the public the Pentagon had ghost accounts because they did not want to spook the participants on Active Duty.

This is what you get on the internet with private websites.   A lot of users think private websites are 100% free and reality is different.   Depends on who the website participants are and what is being discussed.    Remember that anything you post in TRAINS on this website, almost immediately is picked up by the Google Search Engine and also appears in Google search results...........and usually into hands of people you did not intend to read it.

Additionally, in my work history I supported Verizon Superpages.com for like 8 years in their IT support and content publishing departments (when the site was owned by Verizon and a little after).    Again, I know what I am talking about in regards to Trial Lawyers and what you can and cannot do in a discussion forum.    Just thought I would post that because there is always some guy that wants to challenge what a ex-moderator says in this respect.   Trial Lawyers are not only the big plums when it comes to internet and published advertising they are also the biggest pain in the arse when it comes to publishing content.

Both Verizon and Monster dot com had a rather slippery clause in their terms of use which stated they were NOT responsible legally for poster content.   Which in most cases means if a lawyer has an issue with what you post they have to sue you vs the Corporation.    However, another side to this is the Corporation cannot be seen as doing absolutely nothing to enforce content or copyright laws or else they can be sued.....and this is where the trial lawyers usually nab them without your knowledge on something you may have reproduced.    Because lets face it the Corporation is who the trail lawyers are after because of the deeper pockets.

So poster beware.    BTW, if you have any doubts on what I say above you can confirm with any Trains moderator.    They will not refute it.

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Posted by zardoz on Sunday, April 29, 2018 12:47 AM

zugmann

 

 
Euclid
So, was this claim that Wanswheel was silenced and blocked untrue; or was he silenced and blocked, and now been unslienced and unblocked?

 

The world may never know.

 

The truth is out there.

Alien

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Posted by tree68 on Saturday, April 28, 2018 8:26 PM

Euclid
So, was this claim that Wanswheel was silenced and blocked untrue; or was he silenced and blocked, and now been unsilenced and unblocked?

Does it really matter?  

If he did something from which the rest of us can learn, he might decide to share it.  If not, who cares?

 

LarryWhistling
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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...

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Posted by Miningman on Saturday, April 28, 2018 10:30 AM

Euclid---You can send a private message to him yourself. 

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Posted by zugmann on Saturday, April 28, 2018 9:56 AM

Euclid
So, was this claim that Wanswheel was silenced and blocked untrue; or was he silenced and blocked, and now been unslienced and unblocked?

The world may never know.

It's been fun.  But it isn't much fun anymore.   Signing off for now. 


  

The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any

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Posted by Firelock76 on Saturday, April 28, 2018 9:07 AM

Euclid
 
Firelock76

Hello all.  I've just been informed by a very credible source that frequent poster Wanswheel, who came up with some of the most remakable posts ever seen on the Forum, has been silenced and blocked from further postings.

 

 

So, was this claim that Wanswheel was silenced and blocked untrue; or was he silenced and blocked, and now been unslienced and unblocked?

 

I had it on the best authority (won't say who, it was private) it was true.  As for the sequence of events to the whole episode you'll have to ask Wanswheel.  I'm going to do so by private message.

And it looks like he's back and in fine form!  WE did it folks! All of us! Looks like someone listened and reacted.

I'm proud of you, all of you!  Well done troops, "Semper Fi" to you all! 

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Posted by Euclid on Saturday, April 28, 2018 8:17 AM

Firelock76

Hello all.  I've just been informed by a very credible source that frequent poster Wanswheel, who came up with some of the most remakable posts ever seen on the Forum, has been silenced and blocked from further postings.

So, was this claim that Wanswheel was silenced and blocked untrue; or was he silenced and blocked, and now been unsilenced and unblocked?

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Friday, April 27, 2018 10:33 PM

Murphy Siding

 

 
samfp1943

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

    

Wanswheel is now back in charge of research, and Balt and Murphy Siding are now,acting hall monitors.  In charge of spelling and grammar! Huh?

 

 

 

? How did I get into the middle of this? I'm not a big tickler for spilling or grammer. I just need to be able to understand what's being said.Geeked

 

 

Whoa! Double post! 'Haven't hit that bullseye in a whileStick out tongue.

Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.

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Posted by zugmann on Friday, April 27, 2018 10:31 PM

Murphy Siding
? How did I get into the middle of this? I'm not a big tickler for spilling or grammer. I just need to be able to understand what's being said.Geeked

Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. -- Willie Shakespeare

It's been fun.  But it isn't much fun anymore.   Signing off for now. 


  

The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Friday, April 27, 2018 10:31 PM

samfp1943

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

    

Wanswheel is now back in charge of research, and Balt and Murphy Siding are now,acting hall monitors.  In charge of spelling and grammar! Huh?

 

? How did I get into the middle of this? I'm not a big tickler for spilling or grammer. I just need to be able to understand what's being said.Geeked

Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Friday, April 27, 2018 10:29 PM

samfp1943

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

    

Wanswheel is now back in charge of research, and Balt and Murphy Siding are now,acting hall monitors.  In charge of spelling and grammar! Huh?

 

? How did I get into the middle of this? I'm not a big tickler for spilling or grammer. I just need to be able to understand what's being said.Geeked

Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.

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Posted by BaltACD on Friday, April 27, 2018 10:20 PM

zugmann
 
zardoz
(Father to his son on the farm): Help your uncle Jack off his horse. This indicates that the son is to assist his uncle in dismounting his steed. The replacement of the J in Jack by a "j" suggests a completely different procedure. 

I think I should comment on this, but I won't.

In either event the horse will feel more satisfied.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by zugmann on Friday, April 27, 2018 9:33 PM

zardoz
(Father to his son on the farm): Help your uncle Jack off his horse. This indicates that the son is to assist his uncle in dismounting his steed. The replacement of the J in Jack by a "j" suggests a completely different procedure.

I think I should comment on this, but I won't.

It's been fun.  But it isn't much fun anymore.   Signing off for now. 


  

The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any

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Posted by zardoz on Friday, April 27, 2018 9:13 PM

BaltACD
Make it readable, I don't care about spelling or grammar.  I suck at both!

But grammar is important.

To wit:

Let's eat, Grandpa.
Lets eat Grandpa.

The top line invites Grandpa to a meal.
The bottom line suggests Grandpa is the meal.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

(Father to his son on the farm): Help your uncle Jack off his horse.
This indicates that the son is to assist his uncle in dismounting his steed.

The replacement of the J in Jack by a "j" suggests a completely different procedure.

Mischief

Grammar is important!

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Posted by samfp1943 on Friday, April 27, 2018 8:54 PM

BaltACD

 

 
samfp1943

 

Wanswheel is now back in charge of research, and Balt and Murphy Siding are now,acting hall monitors.  In charge of spelling and grammar! Huh?

 

Make it readable, I don't care about spelling or grammar.  I suck at both!

 

Done! Smile, Wink & Grin Just checking!Mischief

 

 


 

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Posted by BaltACD on Friday, April 27, 2018 8:35 PM

samfp1943

 

Wanswheel is now back in charge of research, and Balt and Murphy Siding are noe,acting hall monitors.  In charge of spelling and grammar! Huh?

Make it readable, I don't care about spelling or grammar.  I suck at both!

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by samfp1943 on Friday, April 27, 2018 6:47 PM

wanswheel

 

 
SD70Dude

creating a new account

 

 

Sir Dude, for me to abandon wanswheel screenname I would have to abandon all the material I posted about my father and my grandfather. I cannot.

 

 

     Wanswheel(Mike) said:"...Sir Dude, for me to abandon wanswheel screenname I would have to abandon all the material I posted about my father and my grandfather. I cannot..."

  Just my thoughts:  Yeah YIPPEEEE! Wow 

It seems we have weathered that 'little blow'! 

Everything seems to be getting back on an even keel!

  Hopefully, we can all put the 'little kerfuffle' in the rear view mirror, and get back to the business around here of "NORMAL"?? [ Whatever that is?]  Whistling

Wanswheel is now back in charge of research, and Balt and Murphy Siding are now,acting hall monitors.  In charge of spelling and grammar! Huh?

 

 


 

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Posted by SD70Dude on Friday, April 27, 2018 6:02 PM

wanswheel
SD70Dude

creating a new account

Sir Dude, for me to abandon wanswheel screenname I would have to abandon all the material I posted about my father and my grandfather. I cannot.

I posted that when I thought that your account had been locked forever, as my old one was.  Very glad that was not the case.  

Great to see you are alive and well online.  Keep those posts coming!

Greetings from Alberta

-an Articulate Malcontent

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Posted by kgbw49 on Friday, April 27, 2018 5:55 PM

To paraphrase the Back Street Boys, "Wanswheel's back. All right!"

Check out the Chicago as a railroad hub thread.

Posted by wanswheel on Thursday, April 26, 2018 9:38 PM

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Posted by Firelock76 on Friday, April 27, 2018 5:50 PM

K. P. Harrier

You know guys, businesses and those entrusted with making others money are often so focused on an issue that they become blind to other important things, and eventually get blindsided because of those other important things.  There appears to be a loose end dangling in the wind now.  A very, very loose end at that!  And when someone is forced to see it, ultimately after all the dust settles, someone (“someone”) could become a very adept singer singing one of Johnny Cash’s famous songs, the one about Folsom, if the forum knows what I might be alluding to …

 

Well I'm not sure what Wanswheel did, but I'm very sure he never "...shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die..."

I'm a Johnny Cash fan from way back, before it was cool for Yankees to be one!

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Posted by BaltACD on Friday, April 27, 2018 2:50 PM

zugmann
huh?

Business = my lawyer can out shout and out motion your lawyer!

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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