As I read and post to the MR Forums, it seems to me that every so often I run across an idea, read it and then cannot relocate it, no matter how much effort I put into the search effort. I “know” I read it only a few weeks ago or even, a few days ago, but come up empty-handed in my searches.
As things become- or remain- more expensive, I have tried to look at alternatives that are economical- modeling procedures or solutions that make sense as well as save dollars. I am always window shopping at Home Depot, Michaels Crafts, Wal-Mart etc. for things that make my model railroading more effective on a budget.
Would it be possible for the Forum moderator(s) to open up a new category, where tips, trick, money-saving ideas, jigs, etc. could be localized- like the old column in MR years ago?
I know I keep coming up with them and try to share my ideas on the General forum, but I always am on the lookout for others’ ideas as well and perhaps a new category might be the answer.
Unfortunately, the forum administrators never fufill our requests for additional forums.
What I do when I come across a good tip or technique is to print off a hard copy and store it in a file that I maintain.
Some of the best tips that I have saved include Soldering 101, adjusting coupler heights, working with flex track, especially on curves, reverse loops, wiring turnouts, etc.
A “Tips, Tools, and Techniques” section would be nice, but I fear the tips would get buried in a long list of tip threads just as in the regular forum here. Unless one knows what key word for a tip to type into “search our community”, one may never again find the tip one was looking for.
I have, on AOL, a “favorites” section of bookmarks solely for train stuff where I bookmark threads here or elsewhere or links to sites under different headings such as “equipment”, “buildings”, “trackwork” “tools” “tips” etc.
It allows me to quickly access something that I wanted to “keep”. I also have a MS Office Word document with interesting tid-bits listed on it I can refer to.
Just my thoughts, opinions and experiences, others may vary.
I have a special folder called “Tips and how-to’s” in my “Model Railroading” folder in my bookmarks/favorites folder for my browser (I use Firefox). I just bookmark that tip and save it in that folder.
One thing that was noticed a long time ago is that the more a forum is split into smaller/narrower segments, the less useful it becomes. Also, there are still those befuddled souls who will post wherever, ether unknowing or uncaring that they are in the wrong place. (Ask the moderators how many times I’ve flagged threads that were obviously in the wrong Forum…)
As for the “Search” function, it has been successful - but sometimes TOO successful. You remember something about benchwork. Enter “benchwork” in the box and get back a week’s worth of reading, most of it non-pertinent, a lot of it contradictory and all but a few posts totally useless to the question at hand.
I have had Forumites post to me that they were printing out something I had put in the forum. One gentleman even asked for permission to publish a useful hint in an offshore magazine. If you have a file cabinet and an ample supply of hanging folders, that is the ultimate answer. Print it while it’s hot, and you won’t lose it when it’s not.
I have more or less been doing just what has been asked for, that is, a website of Hints and tips from the pages of this forum. In fact, some of you have generously given permission to use the hints submitted in the past whcih may be useful in the future.
I have found that for whatever reason that the supply is “drying up”. I have published over 300 on my site so far at http://www.xdford.digitalzones.com/hintsandtips.htm which is the collated tips from the British www.mremag.com. I actually have a bank of well over 1000 to be submitted in the long term so maybe I have reached a saturation point.