Glad to see you still visit a site where people actually get help and advice with their railroads, instead of just posting pictures to brag about what they have done…yours in railroading…
Your buddy / Mike
Mike,I am always interested in pictures of layouts and equipment.Over the years I have found some every interesting modeling ideas,some I have use on my past layouts.Now,a turn off for me is the larger layouts,while their are nice to look at I much perfer looking at the more average smaller layouts to my mind smaller layouts are the back bone of the hobby and you will find more scenery details then the"super" layouts as a rule.Several small layouts come to mind from Model Railroader to web sites.With out these modelers sharing their smaller layouts in pictures,some new modelers would be over whem with the fear of having to build a large layout like you see some times in MR.I also like to see super detailed cars and locomotives.While I do not and will not judge my modeling to their modeling,I still like to see them.So,yes,pictures play a large part in the hobby-always did always will.
I remember your thread. The gist of the responses were that there were other venues to post pictures. I personally would like to encourage the sponsors of this site to allow for the attachment of photos track plans and other graphics. I think that it would be of great interest to the participants and especially helpful to new hobbyists.
I agree,
The Gauge is a huge site, & there should be some thing there to interest any modeler.
Since model RRing is primarily a visual medium, there photo feature is a big plus!
I don’t come to this site as much anymore (nothing against it, it has a lot to offer, but it is slow to load, then there is that photo thing), but I saw a link to this thread at www.the-gauge.com sooooooooooo I had to check it out. While the gauge uses photos in most of its forums I think the gentleman that started this thread is probably refering to the photo forum. While a lot of pics are posted there for the enjoyment of fellow members and guests nobody that I know of brags on their work. True some of the other members might compliment them on a job well done and offer words of encouragement, but the purpose is to share what you have done and enjoy seeing what others have done (and maybe get some ideas for your own layout). But there are a lot of other forums there also. For those needing help try Tech. questions and answers, the Academy, General Talk, Scratching and Bashing (a new one devoted to scratch building and kitbashing) or Track Planning. These also will have photos, but to help explain the text. Believe me working on a track plan for example is a lot easier with pics. There are also forums for n/z, HO and the larger scales as well as real trains. I’m not a moderator nor administrator of the gauge but just a regular member. Like this site its FREE, so check it out, I think you will like it. The vast majority of the people there are very friendly and very helpful. There is everybody from newbies to master model builders (I hope I’m somewhere in the middle there) so no matter your skill level you will be welcome! Will warn you, humor is NOT a lost art there, most everybody realizes its a hobby and people are there to have fun. Please forgive any typos or grammatical errors as I’m not a typist or English major. www.the-gauge.com Try it you will like it!! Keep er’ between the ditches Tyson Rayles
Mike, I for one am glad that people photograph their layouts (or have others do it for them). It’s one of my favorite parts of the hobby. And it should be rather obvious that without layout, diorama, and railfan photos, we wouldn’t have MR or Trains or RMC or NGSLG or FR or RMJ or …
As for the posting of those pictures on forums, I don’t consider it bragging. Some are posted with justifiable pride in the modeler’s accomplishments; others are posted as part of a response to a request for help or advice.
Several months ago, I started a thread on this forum to see if there was any interest in having a "reader’s photo gallery " here. I thought it would be a natural fit for a Trains/MR-sponsored forum. It drew almost no interest from forum members or editors/moderators. So be it. I spend most of my online time elsewhere now.
As I said, photography is an important aspect of the hobby for me.
Vic:
I was just thinking that I hadn’t seen any of your posts recently. I always find your comments insightful–you have a lot of great modelling expertise. See you on the the Gauge.
Jim
Check out the Gauge and increase your fun! 
Been there…Done that…LIKE it!
Matt-Chocolatetown, Pa.
I respectfully request this thread be closed.
I would like to recommend to anyone who is not familiar with The Gauge to check it out at
www.the-gauge.com
It’s a very interesting site, with a lot to see.
There are some real master modelers over there, but also some guys who, like me, are building small layouts, without million $ budgets, & train rooms the size of bowling alleys, who are enjoying the hobby the best they can.
The site allows us to actually SEE their work, & these are people who you probably aren’t going to see in the published press.
Perhaps, Mike, if like you seem to think, there isn’t enough “answers”, or “help”, then maybe you, &/or some of the other regulars here, could come over, & lend a hand!
I would also like for some of the administrators at trauns.com to take a look at it, & maybe get some pointers on how they could make THIS site a better one! (I mean, c’mon guys, just reading through one topic here is an all-day deal!)
I’ve found a lot of help, & inspiration there, & I think it’s helped improve my modeling.
Plus, it’s just a fun, & friendly place!
Please check it out!
Lighten up folks…I don’t object to pictures.They can be very informative , especially when accompanied by a description of how something was done.What I don’t care for, is when a thread is building with info, back and forth, sometimes with pictures, and sometimes not, and then an individual just tosses in a picture only, with a “look what I did” comment.This is obviously someone more in need of attention, than willing to share info that is salient to the thread.I also don’t like being accused of not having a layout, and never having built anything, just because I disagree with something I see. That’s never happened to me on this site, just on The Gauge.
I think that you have misinterpreted some people’s intentions on The Gauge. There are several of us who have participated on the board for a long time, and we have developed a certain amount of familiarity. So, naturally, we are excited to see someone post pictures of their work. (We don’t have the luxury of going over to each other’s houses. We are, afterall, scattered all over the world.) If you had perhaps taken the time to review the posts of a few new members, you would quickly learn that we are always excited to see “new faces,” and naturally we are interested in seeing what they have. It’s not a requirement, of course. It’s just a way of welcoming newcomers into the fold. Part of the problem here, though, is that the post you made on bulding trestles was taken by many as being self-serving and overly critical. And the fact that you flamed another member didn’t help matters. We’re not used to that sort of atmosphere at The Gauge. We are there to help and encourage one another (and your trestle post WAS helpful, BTW, even if it was a little sharp in its wording), and to enjoy each other’s work. Just my two cents (1.3 cents Canadian). -Rory
Fair enough, Rory.That 2 cents US is actually worth 3.1 cents Canadian, so it’s a deal. The Canadian Peso value is having a nasty impact on many of the basic staples we need up here, especially model railroad products…regards / Mike
First off it’s kinda hard to accuse anybody of not having anything on a text based site like this cause there is no way anybody could prove anything one way or the other. Second in my earlier posts I said I was ASSUMING you didn’t have because after the way you were talking down your nose at everybody in your first two posts you would have proved your point with indisputable prove, a picture of said “perfect trestle” I would think. I was sincere when I said I would like to see a pic of said trestle cause I do have to build one in the future and while I’m not a rivet counter I would like to do a good job on it. All that aside there was no excuse for your final post (the one that admin. deleted). As you know you did not attack me or anybody else personally. Had you attacked me I would have let it slide and went on my way. Instead you attacked everybody which is what ticked me off. I am the first to admit you may have a very nice layout and just don’t want to share it with anybody, although that is a little hard to believe that you wouldn’t want to. I think everybody from newbie to master model builders bring something to the table and that includes you. You made some valid points in that and a few other posts that I saw. But I and most people I know want to see pictures and its really not that big a deal if they aren’t all that salient to that particular post, better a picture out of context than no pictures at all. I’m the first to admit I still have a lot of learning to do and am not (and maybe never will be) a master modeler. If you are my hats off to you, though it makes your hang up about pictures even harder to understand. If you want to bring your knowledge and/or talents back to the Gauge but leave the Osma Bin Laden charm school act behind I’ll be the first first to welcome you.
Mike,
There is a difference between “counting rivets”, and being a “rivet counter”. When I start a project that is supposed to represent a prototype, I will “count the rivets” so I can produce as accurate a model as possible. When I see the work of others, I will compliment them on their efforts, and if it APPEARS APPROPRIATE, I’ll ofer suggestions on how to make it better the next time. I will not,(and I do have to watch myself),berate their efforts( be a rivet counter).
Posting photos? Whenever I travel, I bring along a sample of my work, in the way of an introduction to the level of skill I am at, so that any comments I make have a frame of reference. I use the photo option of “the-gauge” for basicly the same purpose. I gives the suggestions a little more credibility, and the praise a little more meaning.
I’m sorry that you have not found help and advise on “the-gauge”,I have found THAT, and some friendships that I never found here, which is why I have been absent from this forum for quite a long time now.
Pete.
P. S. I can be confrontational, ask my congressman what he thinks about the Email I have sent him.
P.J.
Your points were taken and I was going to acknowledge them as such…up until your reference to my “Osama Bin Laden charm school act”…that reference was absolutely uncalled for. You think my approach is that of a terrorist, a murderer, and a coward ? How simplistic can anyone be ? Maybe my position wasn’t all that off-base after all.
Mike Meaford,
I am familiar with your post on The Gauge about “Trestle Construction”.
I was following the post until it was closed by the admin.
Unless I’m mistaken, all the photos posted in that thread were indeed of various trestles made by some of the members.
Therefore, I’m having trouble understanding your complaint about photos not being “salient” to the subject.
Granted, somethmes threads can wander off topic, & I’ve probably been guilty of that myself.
But isn’t that a characteristic of real conversation? Someone always brings us back. And it doesn’t require some moderator chewing people out, like I’ve seen on some sites.
The way I saw it, those modelers at The Gauge were only trying to defend their own efforts after you had critisized certain modeling techniques, & then proceeded to insult some of the members.
In your topic here, you said it’s nice to have a site where one can find answers, & help.
Well, perhaps you could provide people with answers, & help without so much critisizm, & condecension.
Ya know, when I did that calculation I got the numbers backwards. That should have been 2 cents Canadian! :o) Oh, well. My mathematical mind has developed a few bugs in the lookup tables. Pentiumitis, I suppose…
-Rory
O.K. Mike I’ll agree with you on this one. When I answered your previous post I was in a hurry, trying to eat lunch with one hand, type with the other and be out the door for a cross county meeting in 45 minutes. I was looking for a name the denoted a less than desirable attitude or personality and that name came to mind on short notice. For the record I don’t think you are any of those things, that was over the top and I apologise for the remark. It wasn’t till I got home and reread the post that I realized I hadn’t even signed it. That said it wasn’t any worse than your deleted post because I was at least addressing one person and for a reason. Your remarks were aimed at over 500 people, most of whom you never even had any contact with. However two wrongs don’t make a right so my apology still stands. Tyson Rayles