504 Gateway time out is back

[Erik_Mag]

I'll be 70 in October.

I'm ~5 years too young to have any memories of mainline steam, but old enough to remember dozens of class 1's, pre-Amtrak passenger trains and loose car freight. There is generally less variety in the industry with the possible exception of comuter rail.

Dramatic changes in the industry pre-date my existence in this world, with one example of Lucius Beebe's Mixed Train Daily documenting aspects of railroading that was rapidly disappearing after the end of WW2.

Having said that, what got me hooked on reaading Trains was the article about the D&H high pressure experimentals in the June 1967 issue of Trains. I also get a kick out of reading the old issues of Trains in the magazine archives, e.g. the article on the East Broad Top written when it was still a going concern in 1941.

[Flintlock76]

I'll be 71 in August.

For what it's worth the current editor of "Classic Toy Trains" Rene Schweitzer says there's no plans to drop the various former Kalmbach Forums. 

[charlie hebdo]

We could survey the dozen or so of us lingerers?  

I'm 77.

[diningcar]

charlie hebdo

maybe well north.

Does 92 apply?

[charlie hebdo]

tree68

The lack of activity predates the current accessibility issues.  As has been mentioned, a lot of the old timers have passed on or moved on.  And most of them were very active.  And users come and go on any forum.   

Very true. The Trains fora are populated (in terms of posts) by a handful of old timers.  I suspect the median age is north of 70, maybe well north.

[tree68]

charlie hebdo

Looking at the Trains Forum this morning shows it is pretty moribund in terms of activity, even though it is working well.

The lack of activity predates the current accessibility issues.  As has been mentioned, a lot of the old timers have passed on or moved on.  And most of them were very active.  And users come and go on any forum.   

Charlie Hebdo

Time to pull the plug?

I wouldn't go that far, as long as the fora are kept on-line.  With so many options for on-line activity (FB, Instagram, the list goes on) it may be difficult to re-harness users.  Some promotion in the magazines, newsletters, etc., might help.

[BaltACD]

charlie hebdo

Looking at the Trains Forum this morning shows it is pretty moribund in terms of activity, even though it is working well.  

Time to pull the plug?

It is working, but is far from well.

[tree68]

At least it works some/most of the time.

Ham radio's "Logbook of the World" got hacked several weeks ago and still isn't back on-line.  It's one of the tools hams use to keep track of their contacts.  Dissatisfaction with management is much stronger there than it is here, trust me.

[Erik_Mag]

Not sure if it is time to pull the plug as the website was being erratic a couple of minutes ago. It almost made it to a 504 timeout before responding - I minimized the waste of time by making use of browser tabs to read another website during the time to respond.

Edit (12 hours later): Website came up promptly, but wondering if I jinxed things by writing that....

[charlie hebdo]

Looking at the Trains Forum this morning shows it is pretty moribund in terms of activity, even though it is working well.  

Time to pull the plug?

[Euclid]

adkrr64

 

 

Euclid

I think it is noteworthy that Kalmbach has not offered any explanation for the technical problems with this forum, and no indication of an intent to repair these problems. It is as if they don't even know about the problems. 

 

 

Not true. A Kalmbach IT person posted some commentary about the forums and the problems associated with them some time ago, early in 2024 if I recall correctly. He acknowledged these forums run on old software that is no longer supported. He said the likely solution was to switch to a modern forum platform (like phpBB or similar). He solicited input about the need to transfer existing posts into a new system, or start the new system from scratch.

This person has not posted in some time, and may not even be with Kalmbach or the new owner at this point. But while it was still under Kalmbach ownership, somene there did know the forums were a problem and was at least scoping out potential solutions.

 

I do recall that person you refer to that was posting maybe 10 months ago, and was apparently tasked with solving the technical problems with the forum.  I took it as a ray of hope.  But I do not recall any formal announcement by Kalmbach staff that has offered any plan to solve the problem.  Their most recent comment that I recall was to inform us that the problem was being caused by malware on our computers. And that response was framed in the context of the “problem” being the presence of pop-up ads on the forum display.  Nothing was said about the time-out failures to load.

 

There are two problems that result:  The obvious one is that people are prevented from posting, and so they leave the forum and forget about it.  The less obvious problem is that people who linger on are less inclined to post because they sense no reception for their comments.  This issue is that even if the software was made perfect today, it would take a long time for the participation to return.   

[tree68]

It would be a shame to lose the old content, and therein lies the rub.  I've been involved in such transitions before and they are a royal pain.

[adkrr64]

Euclid

I think it is noteworthy that Kalmbach has not offered any explanation for the technical problems with this forum, and no indication of an intent to repair these problems. It is as if they don't even know about the problems. 

Not true. A Kalmbach IT person posted some commentary about the forums and the problems associated with them some time ago, early in 2024 if I recall correctly. He acknowledged these forums run on old software that is no longer supported. He said the likely solution was to switch to a modern forum platform (like phpBB or similar). He solicited input about the need to transfer existing posts into a new system, or start the new system from scratch.

This person has not posted in some time, and may not even be with Kalmbach or the new owner at this point. But while it was still under Kalmbach ownership, somene there did know the forums were a problem and was at least scoping out potential solutions.

[Euclid]

Has the new owner indicated any intention of keeping all, or any of the forums in operation?  I think it is noteworthy that Kalmbach has not offered any explanation for the technical problems with this forum, and no indication of an intent to repair these problems. It is as if they don't even know about the problems.  

 

 

[charlie hebdo]

I agree.  Trains managed to find the worst social media software and server in existence.

Way to go, guys!

Perhaps we should reconsider OM's offer to host?

All of us?  <10 members?

[BaltACD]

It is still 504 ing.

I go to many sites - and only get 504's here

[zugmann]

Or it's an old site that gets barely anything put into it? 

[tree68]

blue streak 1

Wonder if he US is being hacked by Russia and China>???? 

I think that's a daily occurance...

[blue streak 1]

Yes!! Coming and going!!  Now has migrated to News Wire at time although trying to type anything in news wire unable to type normally.  Wonder if he US is being hacked by Russia and China>???? 

[tree68]

It comes, and it goes...

[diningcar]

Working fine for me today.

[BaltACD]

I have also been getting '403 Forbidden' errors

[NKP guy]

The principle of variable reinforcement makes it so hard to simply wash one's hands of these fora and never return. 

After all, they might be working again in a few more hours; just like the slot machine has got to hit again and before long, right?

Flintlock may have the right idea regarding this situation

[BaltACD]

There are times when the forum acts as it should - and then more times it devolves into 504 errors and all the various errors we have identified over the months/years that the site has been wonkey.

[charlie hebdo]

Overmod

Overmod wrote the following post 2 days ago: Biaggini and, I think, Menk were notorious for making riding conditions and amenities as miserable as possible to spur train-off petitions.

Biaggini definitely.  Louis Menk was rumored to have said the point of setting up Amtrak was to have it fail within a few years. However, NP and BN passenger trains seemed to remain at a pretty high level of passenger amenities as late as 1968 when I last rode the combined NCL/EB diner Chicago to East Dubuque.

[Erik_Mag]

I've been getting 504 tieout errors for the last few days, but the site came up promptly this morning.

[Paul of Covington]

   I have just witnessed a miracle!  The site was very sluggish, taking much of the minute to respond and occasionally going past and giving me the 504.  Then shortly after midnight CDT, the logjam broke loose and I started getting instant responses.  Ain't that sump'm?

[BaltACD]

Today - D day 2024

I have had serveral 504 time outs and several occasions when the forum responds like it is supposed to. ?????

[Overmod]

Biaggini and, I think, Menk were notorious for making riding conditions and amenities as miserable as possible to spur train-off petitions.  Expense of vending machines/'automat car' is one thing; intentionally providing miserable food in them quite another...

For sheer conductor nastiness it would be hard to beat some of  the Erie-Lackawanna commuter routes in northern New Jersey.  When someone threatens to put Karl R. Zimmermann off the train, you know it's tyranny.

[Overmod]

Biaggini and, I think, Menk were notorious for making riding conditions and amenities as miserable as possible to spur train-off petitions.  Expense of vending machines/'automat car' is one thing; intentionally providing miserable food in them quite another...

For sheer conductor nastiness it would be hard to beat some of  the Erie-Lackawanna commuter routes in northern New Jersey.  When someone threatens to put Karl R. Zimmermann off the train, you know it's tyranny.