I am happy to report that the Canada Southern Railway web site is back up and running. The following is Terry Link's explanation on that web site.
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I would like to thank all those who have contributed to this website over the years, either in material or via cash donations. Without material, there would be no website. All cash donations have gone directly to purchasing more material that has been posted ( the most recent donations have purchased more copies of the New York Central Lines Magazines from the 1929-1930 timeframe which have just arrived and waiting for me to scan). February 14th was the renewal date for the hosting and domain name. I had some thoughts of not renewing the website at all, however, a few generous donations made me rethink this and as a result - I have renewed the hosting and domain name for another year.
So, why is the website down ??
A few days before this renewal, I had some discussions with a couple of the photo providers to the site. Unfortunately, things are not as good as they had been in the past. One provider stated that he had people tell him point blank they didn't need to buy his high quality prints as they could just download a copy from this website ( despite the fact that the photos are very low resolution). He has noticed that some of his photos have not been selling recently and as it turns out - the ones not selling all appear on this website. This has him concerned about allowing new material to the site, including some prints I had him recently print from my negatives. I've decided NOT to post these new images on the site at this time so that he can possible sell a few copies to recoup his time and material costs. When will they appear ? I'm not sure. He has lots of high quality 1940's era material that is off limits to the website as a result prior agreements with the original negative owners. I've recently seen for myself, people displaying copies of photos taken directly from this website at local train shows. I've also heard rumours that someone may be selling CD's of images - some of which may have come from this site as well. I have no proof of this at the moment - so if anyone knows of something like this happening - please let me know.
So, all this copying has now brought on a situation where there may be no further photo additions to the site. I may end up removing some photos as a result.
But, what should I do ?? Should I remove all the photos from providers who sell prints as part of their personal business ? They have a right to earn a reasonable rate of return from their investment in purchasing large collections of negatives and the time involved in offering prints for sale. Another option is to greatly reduce the size of the photos on the site - maybe down to just the small thumbnails that are currently on the site ?? Maybe add awful looking watermarks to all of the photos ?? All images on the site do contain hidden data in the jpg files that note that they originate from this site.
Until I can make a decision that best suits everyone involved - the website will remain down - this may last a couple more days, maybe a couple of weeks. It is not dead, as I have some paper material to scan and will be added to the site - so I will be working behind the scenes adding material so that when it does go live again - there will be some new material.
A secondary issue that has me upset is the constant attacks on the various email groups and forums in regard to new products that have arrived on the model railroad marketplace ( primarily in HO scale ). Over the years, I have helped a number of manufacturers attempt to produce accurate New York Central models. Despite providing accurate information, some of the manufacturers have made the decision not to use the material and go on their own and have made some mistakes in the process - yet surprisingly - I've heard virtually no complaints about these inaccurate models. However, when a model hits the marketplace that is nearly perfect ( within limitations of current technology, as well as tooling costs ), there are a constant drone of complaints about various issues that are baseless. So, I am confused with this. Do you modelers want accurate products or products that "look good" but completely bogus ?? At this time, I've decided not to lend my assistance on future model projects as it appears what I want is different than most modelers want.
I posted the following quite sometime ago, but for the most part, I haven't seen much evidence of anyone reading it. I would really like to add more timetables, more Headlights, more NYCLines Magazines. I can't possibly buy up everything out there to add to the site. I have lots of webspace, so I could easily add every Headlight, every timetable, every Lines Magazine if I had access to them. I would much rather have materials either loaned or scanned for use on the site than cash donations
