I guess I could be considered a charter member. I was hired at Kalmbach in the fall of 2000 to help launch the new trains.com web site. We had a lot of late nights here populating the site before its launch in early 2001. A year later I moved over to the magazine, but still continued with some Web duties. We’ve evolved since then. One of the best changes I’ve seen, and you can thank Erik Bergstrom for this, is the redesign of the forum section to make it more user-friendly.
It’s been a great run so far. I got my first subscription to Trains Magazine as a birthday present when I was 15 years old, and feel very lucky that I get to work on a magazine I grew up with and a Web site I enjoyed long before I worked here.
The variety and depth of the conversations on the forum is thrilling.
I’ve been privileged to meet a few of you at various events over the years (such as Rochelle Railroad Days) and look forward to saying hello to a lot more of you.
I joined in December of 2001 and mostly lurk. You learn who posts interesting commentary, usually those in or very close to the industry, though a few camera freaks like Chris and Chad, for instance, have provided much entertainment as well. The long-timers in the forum who have stayed around and kept discussions on a level course have made this a daily enjoyment. The trolls who come and go are usually pretty obvious and easy to avoid.
I’ve been a member for only a couple of years or so (but read my first issue of Trains in 1967). I’ve also been a member of CompuServe’s TrainNet forum (joined late 1990 - dropped out in 1997 when CIS migrated away from the ASCII interface) and grew to like the threading interface on CompuServe - made it a lot easier to read replies in context.
You and I both agree on this. It’s too bad that the forum doesn’t contain a restricted access folder, where users who enjoy debating the finer points of conflict, can go into to partake. It could be one of those things like where you have to have a certain number of posts AND you agree that certain topics under discussion might be deemed offensive, but you agree to not hold Kalmbach et al accountable for the outrage, etc
That way the mods could just instruct the hot heads among us to “take it to the woodshed” or some such…
Singling it out as a “hobby” might be a bit overboard, I tend to think of it as an additional service that I include with the bundle, at no added cost [:-,]
Gee Murph, so you don’t like colored fonts? I never knew you to be biased, but ce la vie. Here you go, all in a nice lillly white font, just for you. [(-D]
As far as claims of trying to make this a “politics free” environment, well, that’s either got to be a joke, or quite a pantload.[;)] One of the core recreations ongoing here has been the spew of derisive crackpot insults against NIMBYs, BANANAs, and environmentalists…ALL OF WHICH ARE MADE WITH “political” ambition. so if it’s fair game for one, then it should be fair game for all. [dinner]
If I thought politically based commentary was totally and equitably prohibited against ALL sources, then I’d have much less of a problem with it all. [:-^] But obviously it isn’t. The narrow minded types simply object to exposure to points of view running contrary to their reserved outlook, perhaps they simply cannot stomach the WHOLE truth [^]
[(-D] Due to poor eyesight, that’s what I had to do to read the first one!
Mr. TheAntiGates: Once again, you make some excellent points. But, rather than belabor the issue, I’ll just summarize my point, and move on. If this forum becomes nothing more than political hash, it becomes…nothing special.[sigh]
I don’t know if my start date qualifies me as a charter member, but here goes:
Murphy, As long as they remain civil and go point and counter point without the oh,yeah, what about… stuff it can be very interesting and informative. One thing that bugs me is after 25 + pages of facts, examples, and hard numbers, “Can steam come back?”, there are still individuals who refuse to listen to reason or acknowledge any points. Mr. Sol has WAY more patience and good information than I do. He convinced me after about 5 pages [:)] I think that has a lot to do with people who no longer post here like Overmod who could explain the physics of the wheel/rail interface. Even former editor Mark Hemphill had his detractors on this forum. His lucid and rea-life examples are missed.
Pay attention to what you see in here, you just might see the same subject later in the magazine.
As far as changes over time, I remember the tree version of threads. It was a pain as someone could reply to a specific post and “start another branch”. You had to find your way back to follow the original line of thought. So the continuous list is a vast improvement.[bow]
Irregardless of my thin skin, I eventually come back here because I know it is one of the best sources of information on railroading out there.
One last thing. CAN WE GET a SPELCHEKER button on the edit box?, Pleze?
Somewhere I have a screen shot of the old style board where ya clicked on each post to read it. and we walked to school uphill bothways in the snow 4times a day every day all year …
Count me in on that observation. As yet, I haven’t seen any of the threads that drifted into political threads remain civil, interesting, or informative for very long.[B)]
I’m a big fan of all those on this forum that allow me to learn more about my hobby. Nothing beats getting a lesson from someone who understands the subject well enough to explain it to another interested party. The flipside of that, is the guy who can only say “That’s the right answer, because I say so!”. While it may certainly be the right answer, if the guy is that sure of himself, he ought to be able to at least defend his opinion. Either way, it’s all good.[:)]
Actually, I do spend a fair amount of time butting heads at politically oriented forums which makes the assertions of fear somehow being an inhibiting factor, laughable. I guess that certain types just like to imply fear as a motive of their chosen opponents, as a means to stroke themselves. [:D]
Exactly!! that pretty much is the alpha and the omega of it all, since politics is an inseperable part of just about any meaningful event, why play the ostrich gambit forcing head in the sand?
But, it shouldn’t have to, there are many clever people an this forum, and surely they are sophisticated enough to realize that differences of opinion are not only natural, but they are healthy. And merely because someone else feels differently is no absolute deteminant that one party is necessarily right, while the other is necessarily wrong. I think perhaps the failing is the obsession in seein
Been a member for several years now, hard to believe, but wasn’t quite here at the start. Still, my 1000 plus posts are pretty good for somebody who has never owned his own computer!
To everyone, thanks for your replies. I’d like to here from those of you who have been here since 2002 and 2003, hence the subject title change. What’s your 3 cents?
Not to toot my own whistle, but I joined on day 5. According to the member stats, there are only 14 members who joined before me who have posted within the last 365 days. So la di da!
I don’t really remember what it was like back when it was new. I wasn’t an active participant for very long back then, or even now really.