Delray 1967 in Resurrection of old threads in the Model Railroader forum said please don’t post generic titles like “I have a Question” or “This is Interesting” and this has long been a pet peeve of me and many I am sure. This forum is all over the United States and really the whole world so it will never stop, there are all kinds of people.
And then please don’t reply with “I don’t know the answer but”
Dennis, I agree that the “I have a question” type of topics are a nuisance and that anything more specific would be helpful. Unfortunately, I expect that such information-free titles will continue, because the posters seem often to be newcomers and will not have seen this topic before posting.
(It seems to me that the forum software could make it a lot easier to search old topics for answers before asking a question.)
As for “I don’t know the answer but”, I think that can be a useful reply when the replier has information to guide the original poster to his answer, such as a better source or a suggestion for rephrasing the question to include missing information that will help other forum members to be able to answer it.
A lot of people just don’t know what they have or they just don’t know about trains in general. All they know is they want to get it running again wether it be around their Christmas tree as a way to rekindle childhood magic or maybe they just discovered their grandfather’s Santa Fe’s in his attic. Either way they probably never heard of Joshua Lionel Cohen, A.C. Gilbert, Louis Marx or Harry Ives. They just want to join the fun and it’s up to us as unofficial, unpaid ambassadors of the wonderful wide world of toy trains to help out with a gentle hand while remembering that maybe it wasn’t so very long ago that someone did the same for us. [2c]
On the flip side, those of us who have been around here for awhile can and should use technical info whenever possible. A model number goes a long way around here if you want a useful answer.
However, comedy is also useful. I once used “Date me” as a subject line when I wanted more info about a black LV short hopper! [
“I don’t know the answer, but” replies also have a use. I’ve done it for two reasons. #1 because I also want to know the answer to the question and #2 to help keep the thread up at the top of the “recent” list.
In the grand scheme of things “netiquette” is still a work in progress.
Becky
I agree with Becky however maybe a three strike system should be implemented. First offense a warning, second offense a fine and third…jail?
Look at it as “what’s behind door number 3”. Remember going to the 5&10 to get gum. We didn’t care about the gum but the baseball card inside. Who doesn’t like surprises every once in a while 
“Has anyone ever . . .”
"Does anyone . . . "
“Do you think . . .”