OK, I’ll say this…
The forum Dough and I have been posting about is lacking active users. so to get you interested, here are just a few of the forums:
B&O
Chessie
CSX
RR tools
Safety
Locomotives & Railcars
NS, N&W, Southern
UP & Western Roads
BNSF, AT&SF, BN
etc.
There are also email/message groups such as:
Trains.com members
NS & predecessor fans
International road fans
CSX & Predecessor fans
Western Road fans
Conrail fans
Etc.
And all forums allow polls.
the URL, as is posted in my signature, is www.brrm.net/forum and is hosted by the Brunswick RR Museum!
Hey, I’ll go take a look…
What makes the Trains.com forums so popular?
- It’s tied to it’s magazines.
- There are fewer subdivisions that at other forums (i.e. some forums seperate forums per railroad company or per region)
- Easy to use, easy to register.
- Not as many rules and restrictions as other forums. Basically a comman code of conduct is expected.
- Friendly, active staff.
I’ve looked at other forums and I just can’t get myself interested in them. I’m already familiar with this one and it’s patrons. I don’t know if the other forums have developed the comradery that this one has. Most of the other RR forums I’ve looked at are slow going.
This is not a slam on your forum, and I looked at it, but I’m just going to stick with this one. I have enough trouble keeping up with all the topics here as it is.
It’d be interesting to know how many people are active on multiple forums, but I’m not.
Also, keeping as few divisions in topics as possible is probably part of the success of this site. I went to railroad.net and there were 4-5 subdivision per topic. Everybody’s divided and there’s no gereral discussion. I find it easier to talk about something specific in the general discussion area as opposed to posting in specific discussion areas because in that case you are divided into differnt “rooms.” It makes one feel segregated. A CSX fan would feel he or she would have little in comman with a BNSF fan and that’s why seperate rooms for each don’t really work out that well.
I’m interested in posting something in the MKT section, for example, but I’m not sure how many people would see or if someone doesn’t care about the MKT why woud they even go into that area? If I post it here in the general disscussion area everyone will see it and most will look at it out of curiosity and maybe someone who has info related to the comment or question could answer it, rather they are fans or not of that railroad.
It’s nothing personal, but I’ll
I am a member of two different forums because I like the variety. Cats rule,dogs drool.
Point well taken IHM! (of course I could make a “General Discussion”) I have read on a few topics here comments on the fact that their should be a few specific forums, and that’s where I got the Idea.
For those of you who are members, Talbanese pointed out thas this needs attention:
The login is tricky. you must MANUALLY TYPE your username and password, or it may not log you in. plus, if your username isn’t where the login link had been at the top, you need to try again, the login didn’t work the first time in that case.
Yet the Trains.com forum lascks two essentials
You can’t Chat between memebers, send them Instant messages, or Private ones
You can’t post pictures…
Thsoe are two major problems, that should be solved
I’m on a lot of forums big and small and each has its good and bad. Personally I think that the small forums are a good asset because your posts do not get burried and you can find the people that share your same intersts and can best anwser your question. The specific forums also provide a nice place to find the “experts” on a particular system.
So come next door and give it a try…[;)]
Edited to add directions:
psssst wheres next door…?
Friendly, 100%. But i do wish Mr. B was more active.
Dough should give the url. its www.brrm.net/forum.
Have you ever heard of a ghost forum? We need some more topics posted to get things active. Can you still tell I’m impatient
Well that site won’t let me access my avount!!
i’m still an invalid member, and I have to activate it using my e-mail, how long does it take to get that e-mail… I filled in the form 10 minutes ago…
It took about ten for me to activate my trainheartedguy acount (other is the initial BRRMNET one). sorry, if I had a choice, I wouldn’t use the email thing, but it came with the program!
looks like a good site
Just in case you didn’t get your email, I activated the account for you
NICE! thanks!
nope, still didn’t get my E-mail.
well, so far we have 16 members. most if not all from this forum!
I think that trains.com forums are fine as it is.
I would like to thank the 16 of you who have joined. But if you need this thread accessable to get there, why not bookmark it. The activity has, well, died. It should get interesting though if the Museum’s Presedent joins. Big Santa Fe fan.
And Kevin. I now have a Temporary chat. No membership needed, just need to type in a screenname and your on.