Railroad Forums 

  • Welcome to the New England Railfan forum! >>>Please Read<<<

  • Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New England
Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New England

Moderators: MEC407, NHN503

 #391728  by NHN503
 
Welcome to the New England Railfan forum on RAILROAD.NET!!

For those of you new to the forum or have been a participant in the past, I'd like to welcome you and encourage your participation and input.

As a moderated forum, there are a few guidelines I'd like to ask for your cooperation with. Most of these guidelines have been in place for some time; some are simply clarification points.

View Disclosure -

All views expressed on this forum are strictly those of the author, and not that of any railroad (Unless a railroad administrator posts), the Moderators, or the Railroad.Net staff.

Topical Discussions – New England Railroading & Railfanning -
This forum is meant for the discussion of railroad-related topics pertaining to the New England Area, past and present. Questions regarding a specific railroad line are more than welcome; however we do have several forums for many of New England's railroads where you may get a better answer. Threads that stray from “on topic” will be asked to be brought back on topic. If the off topic tangent continues, the tread will be locked.

Thread titles may be edited for content and clarity at the Moderator's discretion –
To make the forum easier to browse for users, we ask that your thread titles be as specific as possible while remaining short. Moderators of this forum may edit titles to better reflect the content of the tread posts.

Quoting
Only use the Quote function when necessary. Do not quote excessively or unnecessarily. Do not use the Quote button as a substitute for the Reply button. See also: http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... 7&t=161125" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Treat others with respect -
This is a discussion forum, and as such there will be disagreements between participants. Discussion, disagreement, and questions are welcomed. Disrespectful, harassing, and inciteful language is not. If you find yourself responding to another post with the word "you" in it, stop and read what you are writing before you hit "submit". It's OK to challenge a statement, but not the individual who posted it. It's also OK to ask a direct question: "Can you help me by sharing more information?"

Personal problems with administration or employees of the railroads should remain just that, Personal. Calling out employees by name over personal issues or disagreements, will only cause others to view your posts as hostile. Problems with employees should be brought up with the employee off list, or via the railroad.
Additionally, ad hominem attacks are subject to removal without notice.

"Me too" posts subject to removal -
If you have something to add to the discussion, please contribute! If all you want to say is "I think it's a great idea" or "I don't like that" please try to add more to it to explain your position.

Facts should be facts; opinions should be opinions; Confidentiality -
Statements made as "fact" should be verifiable. "Facts" which aren't facts only open up the discussion to challenges and other situations. Opinions are welcome here. If you are quoting a fact or an opinion from another source, please state as such.

Things said to you that may be confidential, should remain that way. Railroaders or railroad owners may have stated something to you that they are trusting you to keep on “on the DL” (down low) that may affect how their business runs. While this is not meant to be a scare tactic, the railroad is an industry where something that “slipped out” at the wrong time could ruin business deals and contracts.

Trespassing -
While I do not see the issue of trespassing here among our members, the issue should be addressed.

Posts that contain information about trespassing (railroad property or not) may be removed. The person who trespasses and gets caught, puts a black mark on our entire hobby, and may ruin future experiences for others.

There are certain areas in New England that we all know that crews are fine with us hanging out at. If you are asked to leave by any employee, thank them, and do so immediately. Please do not make a scene, get upset, or state "well so and so lets me". Remember that when allowed in that area before, it was a privilege, and not a right.

If you notice anyone trespassing, try to do something about it, like speaking with the subject. If you are not comfortable approaching the person, notify the local police department. Railroads are generally understaffed in the police side, and they can't be everywhere, so do your part. Trespassers cause railroads lots of money in repairs (such as from ATV's) or in PR campaigns (such as after a trespasser gets struck by a train), money that could be better spent elsewhere.

Private Property (Non Railroad) -
Please respect peoples private property. You may not like someone just walking across your property, so try to view it that way. Posting of private property is different in each state, so try to be familiar with the laws where you are railfanning.

When in doubt, try asking the property owner. They may find our hobby interesting and allow you access, and may even tell you others are welcome, and adding a new hot spot to our maps! If a property owner wishes that you do not enter, please

Photo posts are permitted -
We welcome photos in all of our threads, as long as it pertains to the thread topic. Many times a photo can better explain a location for a member, than text alone. PLEASE keep all photos a reasonable size; do not upload full resolution photos.


DO NOT FEED THE SPAMBOTS OR TROLLS –
Regardless of attempts to stop SPAM and trolls, some does get through. We ask that you follow the following guidelines

a) Do not reply to any thread after a spambot has posted. This is a Railroad.net sitewide policy.

b) Please report the thread by email or private message to a moderator. As moderators, we have access to tools which can help the site admins do their jobs of running our Forum.

c) Please do not reply to posts or threads by “trolls”. Trolls post only to stir up controversy and to cause threads to go off topic.

Copyright and quoting material from other sources. -

When quoting from an outside source, to link to another website, as well as to quote a short passage from the original source, please cite the source and the name of the author, so as to give credit for those who put a lot of effort into their work.

Proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation -
I ask that your posts are written with proper grammar, spelling and punctuation as much a possible. Not only does it make it easier to read, it helps others to respect what you are writing.

With great word processing programs easily available to everyone these days, please feel free to use them. If you know you have horrible spelling, try writing your post in Word and then posting it in the forum reply box after corrections have been made.

For those of you who feel comfortable with modifying your web browser, there are web browser extensions available for to help you with spelling.

Please do not POST YOUR TOPIC IN ALL CAPS or iMPROPPER cASE; it is considered “shouting”.

Guidelines are subject to change at any time -
The Moderators reserve the right to add, change or remove from these guidelines as necessary to ensure the success of this forum. Any post to this forum is subject to review and may be edited or removed if necessary, should the post not meet the guidelines or is otherwise found to be inappropriate for the forum by any means.

Private Messaging -
While we don't discourage members from initiating or participating in outside communications via PMs or E-mails, please note that some members may not wish to receive private communications. If a member does not reply to your PM in a reasonable time, do not harass them by sending additional PMs. Remember, politeness goes a long way. Several of our members have very hectic home and job schedules, so they just may not have had time to respond to your PM/Email.

Road Side Court –
All decisions made by the moderators are FINAL. Arguing with the moderators in threads is unacceptable as we do not hold road side court. If you are not happy with the decision of a moderator, please do not try sending PMs or E-mails to the other moderators asking them to reverse the decision, or try and make a stand for your point. Speak with the original moderator in a respectful manner off list to see if you can work the matter out. If you find yourself so upset at a moderator’s decision, you are free to voice your complaint with Railroad.Net’s site admin via his PM.

Questions, Concerns, Comments? –
Any questions or comments about the operation of this forum or the site in general can be addressed via PM. We feel that we can be open to every one here, so feel free to contact us regarding anything you may have for me, and we will get back to you in a reasonable amount of time.


Guidelines Last Updated: 10-07-2017
Last edited by MEC407 on Sat Oct 07, 2017 10:41 am, edited 1 time in total. Reason: Updated 10-07-2017