I know I might get scolded by the moderators for asking this, but I've been visiting this website for a long time now. A few months ago, it was thriving, now it seems like most of the regular posters are gone. So I ask, is there a better railroad forum on the internet?
Railroad Forums
Touchy Subject
- Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New England
nope just not much happening and with the crackdown on photography etc people just don't go railfanning as much.
If Conductors are in charge, why are they promoted to be Engineer???
Retired Triebfahrzeugführer. I am not a moderator.
Retired Triebfahrzeugführer. I am not a moderator.
Of course, the fact that the server went down for a day or so a few times didn't help (I am patient in that regard, and simply checked every so often till it was up again - no more freaking out...).
Actually this message board is rather good, especially compared to some other ones I know, and the active forums do get lots of traffic and questions get answered fairly quickly. (The low-profile forums don't get much traffic, but that's the way it has been since the old-old Railroad.net).
Actually this message board is rather good, especially compared to some other ones I know, and the active forums do get lots of traffic and questions get answered fairly quickly. (The low-profile forums don't get much traffic, but that's the way it has been since the old-old Railroad.net).
I have found this forum's format to be far more user-friendly than most of the others - you wind up with diagonal lines of replies, inter-connected till you can't tell where you're going and where you've been. This one is nice and simple, and well organized.
This web site was down several times, a couple of which were for extended periods of several days. It seems to me some folks were driven off by that, especially as it wiped out most of the old posts which had archived quite a bit of information. For instance, I think it was the New York Central forum which had several posts by a retired employee describing the way things were in the old days. Those posts have vanished - and the man has since passed away.
I can't blame folks for being PO'd. Let's hope the bugs are worked out and the site gradually returns to what it used to be.
This web site was down several times, a couple of which were for extended periods of several days. It seems to me some folks were driven off by that, especially as it wiped out most of the old posts which had archived quite a bit of information. For instance, I think it was the New York Central forum which had several posts by a retired employee describing the way things were in the old days. Those posts have vanished - and the man has since passed away.
I can't blame folks for being PO'd. Let's hope the bugs are worked out and the site gradually returns to what it used to be.
Yes, this website is just doing well now. You see, let me tell you a little bit of history here. First, someone ruined this forum which was run then by John Stewart back in March 2002, and then Otto and Mike (current site admins) revived this forum system with new formats and that a couple months later in mid-May of 02. I'm afraid though that failed as well after we had a major massive trolling scandal here earlier this calendar year, and whether that was related to or not, that previous format's server died, according to Otto and Mike. And during that time, there were several outages too with that server during the nearly two years we had that second format. And now we have this new system, with phpp software that they implemented for this board, and so far it been doing good. However, there have been a few minor "hiccups" but this new format has been doing better that the last one, I must admit.
And to Otto and Mike, sorry if I was speaking for you, but somebody wanted to know the history here and I hope Im right and didn't "steal your words"
And to Otto and Mike, sorry if I was speaking for you, but somebody wanted to know the history here and I hope Im right and didn't "steal your words"
Posts do seem to be DOWN.
--- but whats there to talk about? Rail activity gets less and less with the years?
Plenty of history to talk about.
I make a un-scientific guess loss of all old posts might frustrate some and some might come here just to surf history.
There have been many old timers post information thats probably in no printed material anywhere.
I'd also guess somebody HAS SAVED old posts.
--- but whats there to talk about? Rail activity gets less and less with the years?
Plenty of history to talk about.
I make a un-scientific guess loss of all old posts might frustrate some and some might come here just to surf history.
There have been many old timers post information thats probably in no printed material anywhere.
I'd also guess somebody HAS SAVED old posts.
The only reason I'm back (and I've been on RR.net since the original MBTA forum was a single page) is because someone on the HO forum was asking about Boston area RR clubs and nobody had mentioned mine.
The reason I haven't been back since the last thermonuclear warhead wiped out all life here at RR.net is because:
A) There was no warning before it went down, therefore not giving anybody a chance to save some of the work that had been posted.
B) There was no recovery after the wipe out, even in a ROM text-only format, so that people could go and save the work that had been posted.
C) There was that little brew-ha-ha over the acknowledgement of the NHRHTA's NH Forum, which is a spin off of the original RR.net NH Forum. Every time someone mentioned the NHRHTA NH Forum here at RR.net, the post was deleted. The NHRHTA started their own forum because there was no way of knowing if RR.net would ever be back the first time it blew up.
Anyways, some of us had put hours of labor into posting here. To see it all wiped out without even a chance at recovery rather cheesed me off. That's why, to this day, I prefer newsgroups. Nothing to get the way of a good text discussion as long as you ignore the flamers and trolls. Newsgroups do not depend on any one webmaster or company to keep going. All you need is an ISP with NNTP access, or at least www.google.com, to browse the oldest of the discussion groups, like:
nntp://rec.models.railroad
nntp://misc.transport.rail.americas
nntp://ne.transportation
Why should I take the time to post here in any kind of detail when there is every possibility that it will all be for nothing for the third time?
The reason I haven't been back since the last thermonuclear warhead wiped out all life here at RR.net is because:
A) There was no warning before it went down, therefore not giving anybody a chance to save some of the work that had been posted.
B) There was no recovery after the wipe out, even in a ROM text-only format, so that people could go and save the work that had been posted.
C) There was that little brew-ha-ha over the acknowledgement of the NHRHTA's NH Forum, which is a spin off of the original RR.net NH Forum. Every time someone mentioned the NHRHTA NH Forum here at RR.net, the post was deleted. The NHRHTA started their own forum because there was no way of knowing if RR.net would ever be back the first time it blew up.
Anyways, some of us had put hours of labor into posting here. To see it all wiped out without even a chance at recovery rather cheesed me off. That's why, to this day, I prefer newsgroups. Nothing to get the way of a good text discussion as long as you ignore the flamers and trolls. Newsgroups do not depend on any one webmaster or company to keep going. All you need is an ISP with NNTP access, or at least www.google.com, to browse the oldest of the discussion groups, like:
nntp://rec.models.railroad
nntp://misc.transport.rail.americas
nntp://ne.transportation
Why should I take the time to post here in any kind of detail when there is every possibility that it will all be for nothing for the third time?
Well, nonetheless, welcome back, Mr. Cutler. I remember you from the last message board system, and from their MBTA forum. Glad to see you back also. Just about everyone is back at the MBTA Forum too.
To Mr. Cutler- Welcome Back!
To everyone:
- When the site is down- it's down for all of us. You dont get any warning because WE dont get any warning either. We are at the mercy of our providers. Remember that we are users too, and we experience the same frustrations you do when the site is down. When we switched to the new format, again, we had no advance warning that the site would be shut down on us. We took the shutdown as a chance to switch to the new format everyone was asking for (http://railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3).
- The old format is not compatible with the new format. We dont have the time or resources to convert the old information into a usable format for everyone. If we did, we would in an instant. If you know of someone who would be willing to volunteer to go through the years of material and convert it, we would like to hear from you.
- I dont know what the conflict was with NHRRTA. I don't have a problem with them- except for when certain people who claimed to represent the club came onto our boards and told people that posting here was a waste of time and the "real" forum was somewhere else. Truth is, we don't compete with any boards. Many people here are members of several boards. But I certainly do not go on other boards to bash their service of choice, or discourage them from posting there.
- I don't bring this point up a lot because I don't consider it important, and I don't expect thanks or anything else, but I think you should know: we dont make money off this site. We pay for all expenses out of our pockets. Not easy, since some of us are still students, some of us are still starting their careers. We put as much time as we can into this project because we want to create the best FREE discussion resource we can. We also work hard to bring fresh content into our Articles section when we can.
I think posts are down because activity is down in general. These boards are only as active as you make them. If I sound upset its because I only wish people would only come to me with their questions about the operation and policies of the site... I will be more than happy to sit down and answer any questions you have. As some of you know, I often give out my personal number in case email is not enough... let me know how we can help and make your experience here the best possible.
http://railroad.net/about/index.php
-otto-
To everyone:
- When the site is down- it's down for all of us. You dont get any warning because WE dont get any warning either. We are at the mercy of our providers. Remember that we are users too, and we experience the same frustrations you do when the site is down. When we switched to the new format, again, we had no advance warning that the site would be shut down on us. We took the shutdown as a chance to switch to the new format everyone was asking for (http://railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3).
- The old format is not compatible with the new format. We dont have the time or resources to convert the old information into a usable format for everyone. If we did, we would in an instant. If you know of someone who would be willing to volunteer to go through the years of material and convert it, we would like to hear from you.
- I dont know what the conflict was with NHRRTA. I don't have a problem with them- except for when certain people who claimed to represent the club came onto our boards and told people that posting here was a waste of time and the "real" forum was somewhere else. Truth is, we don't compete with any boards. Many people here are members of several boards. But I certainly do not go on other boards to bash their service of choice, or discourage them from posting there.
- I don't bring this point up a lot because I don't consider it important, and I don't expect thanks or anything else, but I think you should know: we dont make money off this site. We pay for all expenses out of our pockets. Not easy, since some of us are still students, some of us are still starting their careers. We put as much time as we can into this project because we want to create the best FREE discussion resource we can. We also work hard to bring fresh content into our Articles section when we can.
I think posts are down because activity is down in general. These boards are only as active as you make them. If I sound upset its because I only wish people would only come to me with their questions about the operation and policies of the site... I will be more than happy to sit down and answer any questions you have. As some of you know, I often give out my personal number in case email is not enough... let me know how we can help and make your experience here the best possible.
http://railroad.net/about/index.php
-otto-
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Moderator: New York State Railfan :: New York Central :: Toy Trains
NYW&B Fan Site :: A Magazine I Read Often :: A Museum I Volunteer At
Moderator: New York State Railfan :: New York Central :: Toy Trains
NYW&B Fan Site :: A Magazine I Read Often :: A Museum I Volunteer At
Otto:
Also, is the old archive in text-based flat file(s), or does it only exists as database dump(s)?
Otto Vondrak wrote:To Mr. Cutler- Welcome Back!I remember several people asking about this (converting archived material to current format) when you converted over, and at the time I thought the response from railroad.net was no. I distinctly remember a fair number of people offered to help convert, and I'm just wondering if there was a change in rr.net perspective.
- The old format is not compatible with the new format. We dont have the time or resources to convert the old information into a usable format for everyone. If we did, we would in an instant. If you know of someone who would be willing to volunteer to go through the years of material and convert it, we would like to hear from you.
Also, is the old archive in text-based flat file(s), or does it only exists as database dump(s)?
Outages happen to everyone, sooner or later. However, it's how this site deals with the outages that concerns me. So far, RR.net is 0 for 2 in restoring years of data when it returns from a long absense. Who's to say it won't happen yet again?
As far as I know, RR.net on both occasions could have restored the old forums for a week or even just a day, something (anything) to allow those who wanted a chance to save theirs or other's hard work. But that didn't happen. Now, maybe it was truly impossible to restore the old data for even a limited time, but that has not been said by anyone at RR.net. All I've read is that RR.net chose not to do it, which means (to me) there was an option.
About this new format: while I do like the ability to bold text, etc., I think avatars are a waste of time to download and the ability to post pictures is vastly overated. Most people who do so are "hot linking" to a photo on a website that doesn't belong to them, and are therefore "stealing" bandwidth (which is just as bad as copying a newspaper article, IMHO). On top of that, it can slow the forum down to a crawl.
As far as the NHRHTA goes, IIRC, the message was more of the "if you're looking for where everyone has gone, we now have our own forum at..." not of the "RR.net is a waste of time, don't bother to post here 'cause we're gone". The NH Forum at the old RR.net was one of the top 5 in traffic, only behind Amtrak, NJ Railfan, and maybe 1 or 2 others. We had a thriving forum going on (admittingly on someone else's nickle). And when it disappeared, the NHRHTA made their own. It only seemed fair to tell the people that had not gotten the word that our community had moved elsewhere.
Heck, you guys ought to be glad we moved, as it must save a lot of bandwidth for this site.
As far as I know, RR.net on both occasions could have restored the old forums for a week or even just a day, something (anything) to allow those who wanted a chance to save theirs or other's hard work. But that didn't happen. Now, maybe it was truly impossible to restore the old data for even a limited time, but that has not been said by anyone at RR.net. All I've read is that RR.net chose not to do it, which means (to me) there was an option.
About this new format: while I do like the ability to bold text, etc., I think avatars are a waste of time to download and the ability to post pictures is vastly overated. Most people who do so are "hot linking" to a photo on a website that doesn't belong to them, and are therefore "stealing" bandwidth (which is just as bad as copying a newspaper article, IMHO). On top of that, it can slow the forum down to a crawl.
As far as the NHRHTA goes, IIRC, the message was more of the "if you're looking for where everyone has gone, we now have our own forum at..." not of the "RR.net is a waste of time, don't bother to post here 'cause we're gone". The NH Forum at the old RR.net was one of the top 5 in traffic, only behind Amtrak, NJ Railfan, and maybe 1 or 2 others. We had a thriving forum going on (admittingly on someone else's nickle). And when it disappeared, the NHRHTA made their own. It only seemed fair to tell the people that had not gotten the word that our community had moved elsewhere.
Heck, you guys ought to be glad we moved, as it must save a lot of bandwidth for this site.
Paul its easy to critisize but there were quite few changes, different provider, new owners, first software not stable etc. for a free service you got a lot of complaints about all your input thats missing, were all in same boat, but how about the owners input, how about the moderators input, how about all their hours. stop complaining
If Conductors are in charge, why are they promoted to be Engineer???
Retired Triebfahrzeugführer. I am not a moderator.
Retired Triebfahrzeugführer. I am not a moderator.
As far as I know, RR.net on both occasions could have restored the old forums for a week or even just a day, something (anything) to allow those who wanted a chance to save theirs or other's hard work. But that didn't happen. Now, maybe it was truly impossible to restore the old data for even a limited time, but that has not been said by anyone at RR.net. All I've read is that RR.net chose not to do it, which means (to me) there was an option.Sorry if we gave the impression that it was an option. I should not rule out the possibility entirely... if someone out there would like to volunteer their time to restore the years of data lost, let me know. But the scope of the project rules out "spare time" volunteers. Also- what do we do with the data once we get it back? If someone has ideas on either front, I am entirely open to them. It's simply not a practical option. And there was no way to "bring back the old forums for just a week..." It's not like we are back here turning some giant master switch on and off. From the Blues Brothers: "Those lights are out for a reason."
About this new format: while I do like the ability to bold text, etc., I think avatars are a waste of time to download and the ability to post pictures is vastly overated. Most people who do so are "hot linking" to a photo on a website that doesn't belong to them, and are therefore "stealing" bandwidth (which is just as bad as copying a newspaper article, IMHO). On top of that, it can slow the forum down to a crawl.I think the new format stinks, if you ask me. However, this off-the-shelf solution gives us the security features we were looking for (notice we've been relatively troll-free since start-up?), the formatting features the users were asking for, as well as these silly avatars and smilies (I personally do not care for them). The software also comes with a support and development community we can draw from to improve the boards as time goes on. I would like to see us migrate this board more towards our own look and feel... but that is a ways off.
I'm always more than happy to discuss the hows and whys of this board, the "secrets" behind it all and whatnot... but I really do prefer questions directed to my mailbox instead of the board... only because my responses arelong-winded and boring. And can sound like a rant. Frankly, I'd rather talk about trains.
-otto-
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Moderator: New York State Railfan :: New York Central :: Toy Trains
NYW&B Fan Site :: A Magazine I Read Often :: A Museum I Volunteer At
Moderator: New York State Railfan :: New York Central :: Toy Trains
NYW&B Fan Site :: A Magazine I Read Often :: A Museum I Volunteer At
DutchRailnut wrote:Paul its easy to critisize but there were quite few changes, different provider, new owners, first software not stable etc. for a free service you got a lot of complaints about all your input thats missing, were all in same boat, but how about the owners input, how about the moderators input, how about all their hours. stop complainingNicely put. How many people have contributed many more posts than Paul only to see them get deleted by the two wipeouts? How many still stuck around? Alot of people. I for one had many posts that were deleted, fully 10% of the MBTA forum's total posts yet I am not complaining. It's a free site and you have to expect things will happen. Alot of information may have been lost but much more has been brought back. Old discussions that died out are now heating up again. Old threads that were still relevant are brought back anew with new input. Sometimes it's good to start over with a clean slate, especially when the starting anew brings new life to things. The forums have improved for the better twice now. From a glorified newsgroup to forums with order to one where the people in charge can actually make changes when they need to happen.
That's right, Ed, things havew gone better since the last forum crashed.
(notice we've been relatively troll-free since start-up?)
Yeah, you're right about that, that's good, none of them old people coming back such as Ray Transittrain Taylor, nor Tom Nee Rocks, or the variants of "I Hate Steam" or even the counterfeit 0770 \/0|\||)|24|<. Those guys were really causing headaches, including the last two, who especially invaded my old Teen Forum on the last railroad.net.
Thank God they won't come back, hoepfully.
(notice we've been relatively troll-free since start-up?)
Yeah, you're right about that, that's good, none of them old people coming back such as Ray Transittrain Taylor, nor Tom Nee Rocks, or the variants of "I Hate Steam" or even the counterfeit 0770 \/0|\||)|24|<. Those guys were really causing headaches, including the last two, who especially invaded my old Teen Forum on the last railroad.net.
Thank God they won't come back, hoepfully.