More forums for you.....

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

I’m looking for opinions here. From time to time, discussions, or sometimes just quick statements, pop up, about some threads that do or don’t belong on this forum. Beyond what’s spelled out in the rules at the top of the page, you would think most everything railroad related would be welcome. But then, sometimes, we can have some pretty nasty little tussles over the little things. Do you think something like this would be of any help?:How about asking Bergie to simply add another forum? I’ll snitch a name that someone else mentioned (solzrules(?) ), and call it “Trains Lite”. I would see it as more of a light & fluffy side of the Trains forum. I wouldn’t expect to find anything earth-shattering in there, but I would expect to see a lot of the more human-interest/personal threads in there. To corral all those similar threads in one spot, would not be, in my opinion, perceived as anything but good. Off the top of my head, I can see it as a home for: The Diner / Where is it threads / Trivia threads / CP2816’s “On this day in railroad history” thread / My Book nuts thread / and a host of others. All valueble threads-what better place to put them?

I’ll admit, we may need a better name for that particular forum, bu

2

When I want to peek at another of the forums (Model Railroader-General Discussion, for example) it’s kinda annoying that I have to follow a link trail to find the right forum and then dig for the thread. Separate threads/forums that are not within a single click of each other may divide the potential participants for each which may eventually result in lower numbers of users reading/participating in the forum.

Just my [2c]

3

I actually kinda like the idea.

And there are ways around playing “follow the link”, especially if you’re using Firefox- you can set up each of the forums that you want to frequent as a separate tab on the browser. Then all it takes is one click on the tab, and you’re there!

4

Unless you can’t switch browsers. I feel like it’ll become an ‘us vs them’ situation. I, for one, feel like this would exclude someone like myself who enjoys reading the ‘serious’ threads and learning a lot from posting there for fear that my post isn’t ‘serious’ enough or I’m not qualified to post in the ‘grown-ups’ forum.

5

Work PC? I have the same problem on this machine.

6

Not just at work. The warranty on the computer at home also reflects the software configuration.

7

Sounds interesting (and I probably wouldn’t visit “lite” too often), but oh, the humiliation if you told somebody that his thread belonged over on Trains Lite instead of the “serious” discussion!

And it takes someone special to see the light side of an otherwise serious situation.

8

[:P]

I’d download it anyway. What the heck, it’s free. And there’s no rule that states you can’t have more than one browser loaded on a PC. I have both Firefox and IE on my PC at home- comes in handy when some websites act screwy with one or the other. Here at work, our ever-diligent IT dept. makes sure that it disappears not long after you load it.[:(!]

9

I’ll check into it. I didn’t think I could change anything like that tho.

10

Murphy,

Please take this as an example of me playing Devils advocate and not picking on you…but where would it end?

Didn’t we kinda go through something like this before, but in real life?

I mean, do we make the Lite posters drink out of separate water fountains…post signs that say, “Serious posters only”…maybe make them all post to the back of the forum?

I know, they can’t use Upper Case letters or smiley faces…[}:)]

And, as Carl pointed out, heaven help the Lite poster who dared to post or reply to anything one of the Serious posters put up…they would be ridiculed, harassed and chased out.

And who gets to decide who is who?..is Edblysard a Serious or a Lite?

Maybe I am a half and half, which leaves me out in the cold with no group to belong to…

Would we have to submit all our replies or threads to a censor first, so the Posting Police could decide where the reply or post gets to sit?

Would you have to take a test to see which side you had to join?

What I am getting at is that something like that would tend to polarize the forum in to truly separate groups, each with its own agenda, and each doing its best to do away with the other…right now, all of us in the General Discussion section have to get along, we have no choice…but break it up into “groups” and the entire thing would slowly destruct.

Again, not picking on you at all, just letting my rambling thoughts out on this subject…Oh, and a reminder…one of the biggest, and (at the time) most popular posting, Mookie’s “Yellow Thingies”, was posted by a lady that some of the content police would classify as a Lite…yet it managed to get, by my count, eight real railroaders to make their first replies, generated a lot of interest, and answered several “serious” folks questions, continued on into several pages about couplers, EOTs, red flags on yard movement,

11

Thanks to those who have responded so far. As I mentioned, I’m looking for opinions. Isn’t that what forums are for?[;)]

Ed B: I certainly won’t take it personal. I’m just thinking out loud, about whether there is a way to make everybody happy at the same time. What’s interesting, is your reference to “segregating” certain people or threads on the forum. I had it in my mind as more of a “special place” for a lot of themes that tend to get lost fast. As it is now, there are approximately 15(?) seperate forums already, so seperating them, in itself is not as much the issue I think, as seperating them more.

More later. My teenage son is looking at his first car! He is heading to the mechanic’s shop to have it checked out. He called and wants me there, because Mom is driving it now-and it’s a stick-shift!![:O]

12

Would a different name for a different forum be any less, or more objectionable?

13

Yeah there’s lots of different rooms as of now, but could too much of a good thing be a bad thing? I still say it will do more harm than good especially with how some may perceive the split to have been delineated.

14

True, there are different forums, segregated by topic…and notice how fast a model railroader who makes a post on the general discussion forum, or any other forum besides the model railroader forum is asked to leave?

Although I have noticed they are politely re-directed, it might be they are asking here to get the info directly from the source…but it seems they are still somewhat not welcome.

Segregating by topic is fine…steam junkies have no interest in diesels or such…most garden railroad modelers care less about the fine scale guys…passenger train nuts could give a hoot about freight trains, and locomotive junkies care little about the reporting marks of the cars or who builds the cars …natural segregation occurs by the simple fact that the posters interest draws them to a given location or forum where the rest of the group has similar interest…which is what has happened in the Depot Diner…they have segregated themselves by choice.

Which is fine by me…I rarely go to the modeler’s forum, even though I do model in HO scale, because my interest in the full size version outweighs the other…

But forced segregation by personality, or knowledge level, or “train related seriousness” of the question or statement is what I see will happen.

I already see it with the modelers who post over here, what would keep the same thing from happening when a “Train Lite” forum is opened?

In all honesty, some of your questions, from way back when you first started posting would qualify as “Lite”…even though you prefaced your questions with “I know this might be a dumb question” if there had been a “Lite” forum, you would have been chased over there quite quickly by the folks who cant abide the diversity that exist now.

But you were lucky, there wasn’t a “Lite” section, and most of the people here are of the same mind, there is no “dumb question”, other than the one

15

Ed: Well thought out post! I can see your point quite clearly. I was thinking of a way to limit (?) the number of insane hissy-fits that seem to brew up over nothing. It does pain me to see see people get worked up, and at each other, over some insignificant point on a message board. Whenever someone gets all steamed up, they tend to drift off a bit, or leave. That affects me, in the “no man is an island sort of way”.[:(]

So, I’m not sure what the answer is. I’ve been on the receiving end of a few “Why are you posting this stuff?” type comments. One clown even went so far as to e-mail me (anonymously from a hot mail address) to dog me repeatedly, over some of my posts![(-D] The diner, is one of those easy targets, I guess. I suppose, I’ll just have to keep thinking.

The car was a hoot! $1500 car, in need of about $3000 in repairs! We have something a lot of people will never have- a good mechanic. He got a good laugh out of it. It was a 5 speed Honda something or other, that idled at 2500 rpm, with gusts to 3500 for no reason at all. Oh, to be young, and searching for your first car![:P]

16

As long as the participants are anonymous and don’t have to look each other in the eye, the hissy fits will go on, I am afraid.

That is one of the draw backs to enjoying a forum where the players have screen names and never meet face to face…it becomes much more tempting to be un-civil, rude or down right childish, because there is no social pressure to keep your manners on.

$1500.00 Honda needing three grand in repairs?

Run, don’t walk away…Honda makes good cars, so if it needs that much in repairs, it was treated quite badly.

Mid 90s six cylinder Jeeps are running about 23 to 2400, spend about $1500 on a new soft top…and you can do most of the repair work, including body panels your self.