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  • General discussion about the RAILROAD.NET site, forums, or content ONLY. Please do not post your general railroading questions, please choose an appropriate forum. For help using the site, please post in the Help Using RAILROAD.NET Forum.
General discussion about the RAILROAD.NET site, forums, or content ONLY. Please do not post your general railroading questions, please choose an appropriate forum. For help using the site, please post in the Help Using RAILROAD.NET Forum.

Moderator: Jeff Smith

 #835912  by Roadgeek Adam
 
charlie6017 wrote:
Otto Vondrak wrote:I have a feeling that we are going to merge the CNJ, LNE, LV, RDG and LHR forums into a new Anthracite Railroads Forum.
I'm thinking that's a great idea!

Charlie
I disagree to some degree. The Central Railroad of NJ and Reading are both pretty important railroads. I wouldn't mind the rest, but I definitely disagree on those two.
 #835948  by scottychaos
 
charlie6017 wrote:
Otto Vondrak wrote:I have a feeling that we are going to merge the CNJ, LNE, LV, RDG and LHR forums into a new Anthracite Railroads Forum.
I'm thinking that's a great idea!

Charlie
I disagree to some degree. The LV is a pretty important railroad. I wouldn't mind the rest, but I definitely disagree on that one. ;)

but seriously..
IMO, ALL those railroads are more than worthy of their own forum, and each has its own distinct fan base..I really dont see any point in mixing them together.
IMO, a combined forum would be significantly less "user friendly" than the current separate forums..

as for the LV specifically, rr.net has a large NY state fan base, and we probably have the largest "NY-centric" LV fans of any of the LV forums..
and CNJ and RDG really have nothing in common with that aspect of the LV..just because they all hauled anthracite isnt really a legit reason for lumping them together IMO..the differences are very distinct..

I could see LNE and LHR being combined, because they are quite small and operated in the same general region..but I think CNJ, RDG and LV should definitely retain their own forums..

Scot
 #836982  by Otto Vondrak
 
Enjoy...

Chicagoland Commuter & Transit
http://railroad.net/forums/viewforum.php?f=61

Anthracite Railroads - CNJ, L&HR, LNE, LV and RDG
http://railroad.net/forums/viewforum.php?f=79
 #874965  by Jeff Smith
 
The ongoing transition of Railroad.net continues. Two items of note:

1. You may have noticed new google ads. These are not spam and there is no need to report them. This helps generate revenue to cover the costs of maintaining the site. There may be some further refinements coming to them.

2. As part of the transition, Otto and Mike have given over site admin duties to me. Therefore, any site specific questions should be directed to me. Otto and Mike will continue to be involved behind the scenes.

I would like to express my thanks to Otto and Mike for making this site what it is today; they have done a tremendous job. I look forward to working with everyone to continue the excellence of the site.

Please PM me with any questions concerning this matter.

Jeff Smith
 #875864  by Jeff Smith
 
Hello All,

I know there's been much speculation about the site, the current transition, and ownership.

I must say it's gratifying that there is so much interest in the operation of this web-site; certainly, most of the members feel invested in its operation. Otto and Mike certainly did a terrific job of building the web-site.

While I am not free as of yet to divulge many details, I will try to advise as we progress with the transition. However, I can tell you that I am NOT the owner of the web-site.

Please address any inquiries to me via PM. I am aware of the recent technical issues concerning Java, and a resolution is in the works.

Thanks again for your continued patience and participation.

Jeff Smith
Site Admin
 #877833  by delvyrails
 
There seems to be no specific board for discussing Baltimore heavy and light rail, or am I missing something?
 #877916  by Otto Vondrak
 
delvyrails wrote:There seems to be no specific board for discussing Baltimore heavy and light rail, or am I missing something?
No one has ever asked about Baltimore light rail before, but we do have a MARC and VRE forum...

http://railroad.net/forums/viewforum.php?f=64

-otto-
 #881363  by Otto Vondrak
 
RAILROAD.NET is one of the most active discussion forums on the net, and this NPR mention is proof!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... =131466659
New York-New Jersey Subway Raises Hackles, Hopes
by The Associated Press
NEW YORK November 20, 2010, 01:12 pm ET
Could New York's subway be going suburban? A proposal to extend the No. 7 line across the Hudson River has straphangers atwitter, with some wondering how the new connection might change the character of the city's beloved trains... The proposal set off fierce debates on online transit forums like SubChat.com and RailRoad.net, with many New York posters calling the idea a waste of money.
 #889352  by Jeff Smith
 
I came across an article today and really didn't know where to put it. I wanted a forum a little more specific and with more visibility than the General Discussion Railroad Operations and Facilities Thread. At some point, I may relocate some of the old chestnuts in that forum to this new forum:

http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewforum.php?f=177

In any case, make sure to visit the new topic I posted there on recent STB news:

http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... 77&t=78105
 #892631  by Jeff Smith
 
Hello Members!

I have updated the site with some new content.

One of our most respected members, George O'Keefe, i.e. member "gokeefe", has contribued an article on this very topic, which I have posted to our articles section: http://www.railroad.net/articles/column ... entury.php

Take a gander at it, and if you feel like commenting, please do so on this thread: http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... 46&t=78323

We also have a new column by one of our regular contributors, "Tuch", Hot Times on the Hot Iron Here: http://www.railroad.net/articles/column ... 201011.php

"Tuch" contributes on a semi-monthly basis, so make sure you catch up on his articles!

I am working on adding some additional content contributed by other members, so keep an eye out!

I also want to remind everyone of our Events page, which can be accessed by clicking on the Events icon at the top of any railroad.net page. Lots of new events have been posted.

Thanks for being members of railroad.net!

Jeff Smith
Site Admin
 #893514  by Jeff Smith
 
I wanted to clarify one thing a member pointed out to me: Tuch's article was submitted in November. We have another in the pipeline. George's article is new. It just took a while to post Tuch's article, so while the date is November, it's actually new to the site.

Sorry if that wasn't clear.

Jeff
 #895288  by Jeff Smith
 
FORUM REORGANIZATION

Esteemed members,

Upfront aside: Realize, I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel here. Otto and Mike had very good reasons for organizing the forums the way they did, whether via creating forums or consolidation thereof. This in no way implies anything other than how I can best provide a forum in an evolving environment for all members to effectively post their railroad-related thoughts and questions, read interesting articles, view railroad events, and learn about railroads while moderators and admins can efficiently moderate the site.

Thanks to John, Otto, Mike, and all of the moderators past and present who've made Railroad.net what it is today. I hope to continue that tradition.

I've been consolidating and reviewing some of the threads from the News forum. Many of these threads had to do with establishment/disestablishment of forums, and the forum index. I'm still reviewing some of the comments and posts to inform my decision on how best to manage forums.

It's apparently a "touchy" subject as I have found out. ;-)

However, one thing I've done is simplify the board index, where all of the forums are grouped and listed. I've moved commuter railroads to the top (very heavily trafficked), and followed those with Class I, II (new grouping), and III, Regions, Fallen Flags, Equipment, Employment, Railfanning (more work to come on that later), and General Railroad (a lot of the one-off groupings that we had).

Hopefully, this will make your search for a forum somewhat easier.

I've also added two forums, one as noted above for general dicussion of Class I railroad operations not pertaining to a specific Class I (thinking in terms of FRA, STB, and competition topics). I've added another one today in the same vein for Class II. There already was one for Class III and Commuter. This way, we're consistent accross all categories.

I'm continuing to assess the situation with potential new or previously consolidated forums. At this time, if you want to give some input, I'd be happy to hear it. Please post here, not via PM.
 #895917  by morris&essex4ever
 
I think the Amtrak forum can be placed higher since it is the most trafficked forum on rr.net. It can be in its own category "National Passenger Railroad" or something like that.
 #896094  by Gilbert B Norman
 
Mr. Morris&Essex, Amtrak is recognized as a Class I railroad and holds a full AAR membership reflecting that status. They are, however, exempt from some filings with the Surface Transportation Board such as the Form R-1 Annual Report, as Amtrak was specifically excepted by RPSA '70 from regulation by the Interstate Commerce Commission, or as predecessor to the STB. No other rail commuter agency can make that claim; although several hold Associate Memberships with the AAR.

Therefore, the Amtrak Forum is quite properly categorized.
 #896140  by mtuandrew
 
With due deference to Mr. Norman, I would prefer to see Amtrak grouped with other passenger railroads, rather than in its current Class I spot. It seems to be a more natural split - Amtrak stopped handling more than nominal amounts of freight after the M&E experiment in the 1990s, and it has a very different mission and ownership than the other Class I railroads. Its mission is much more in line with commuter railroads. As for Class I status, in theory New Jersey Transit would qualify as well, with FY 09 rail division revenue of $472.4 million - I didn't check on Metro-North, the LIRR, MBTA, Metra or any of the others, but NJ Transit may not be alone. Granted, NJT's rail division expenses were $700.7 million for FY 09, but if profit was the sole deciding factor Amtrak wouldn't be a Class I railroad.

As for traffic to the respective forums, Amtrak sees the most of any on RAILROAD.NET in terms of threads started and posts made, closely followed by the other major passenger providers (a few regional railfan forums are heavily trafficked too, but I don't advocate moving them.) The freight railroad forums have much less traffic, primarily employees and a few railfans. It makes sense to group the freight lines together, but not to put Amtrak with them.

Above all, thanks for keeping the site open and vital!