Perhaps I can shed some light on this, as I'm one of those who loves to talk locomotives, but have not been active here lately.
Frankly, there is too much idiocy. Numerous self-appointed "experts" do not reply immediately to intelligent questions. Instead, they wait until a reply is made, and then attempt to "flame" the earlier respondent(s). One cannot control who joins these forums (I own and moderate one, not surprisingly about typewriters, and so know this all too well) but one can easily control who stays.
As regards the questions being asked, it is my firm belief that the quality of inquiries being lower than some would like is due only to the fact that there is no basis for understanding. The internet universe for American railfanning is rather poor, especially when compared to the voluminous technical data found on European sites. In other words, new railfans find only the "golly gee whiz" railfan press, and the quirky, spotty and mostly inflammatory commentary here, and think that this is the whole of the available substance. There are indeed excellent (personal, not commercial) sites out there, and they are not referred to anywhere near enough. I have constantly directed people to the "Fallen Flags" site, as there is literally enough there to fill years of investigation. We need to tap what resources there are much more fully, and promote those railfan sites built by people and not by companies.
The constant "imagineering" is indication enough that there is great curiosity and intelligence out there. What it needs is a supply of actual fact, and information, which is available in quantity fully sufficient to satisfy it. I have been an active railfan for thirty years, and still am very involved in looking, finding, reading, exploring, and learning.
There is a great deal out there to learn and to investigate. It is the responsibility of those in the hobby for considerable time to take the lead in providing information, guidance and -- yes -- control. Ejection of members who do nothing but flame should be no question. I do this on my forum, and nobody misses those I eject. I do that to ensure a higher quality of the content that does appear; it means not having to wade through a quagmire of garbage to find one kernel of useful information.
In response to a query by Allen Hazen, I have reposted some of the material I formerly had online about GE locomotives. It was very highly technical; perhaps that was its downfall. I have posted a page with more illustration and less text, which may be more "on target." If this proves popular, I can do a great deal more with what I have. And can do it for any make or model locomotive you care to name, all from original manuals, so there's no question of accuracy. Nothing, in other words, duplicated from the railfan press, which serves only as a source of repetition of misunderstanding and myth. To the end I have described above, I am attempting to do my part; backing this up with actual product.
I do not mean to sound overly heavy handed here, but feel that your question was EXACTLY on target and very timely, and hope to generate further intelligent discussion along these lines. None of us wants to see our hobby wither, or become a very distant corner of the internet.
-Will Davis
