Steamtown Rolls a Gutterball?

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

TrainsNewswire of this date offeres the following headline:

"Steamtown offers online web catalogue"Published: July 24, 2012

"…SCRANTON, Pa. – Steamtown National Historic Site is now making available an online database that allows searches of the museum collection. The public can now search over 7,700 records and 10,000 images related to railroading by visiting the park’s website at www.nps.gov/steam and clicking on the collections link in History and Culture.

Online visitors can perform simple or advanced searches by keyword, park name, object name, people, places, and date. They can also browse or search collection highlights and park summaries.
The project is an on going initiative of the National Park Service Museum Management Program. The records found in the database will vary in the level of detail, and records and images will be updated and added on a continued basis.

As Steamtown and other parks continue to process their collections additional objects, and documents will become accessible…"

[soapbox]Sure was looking forward to exploring the website link in the article![banghead]

_**http://www.nps.gov/pwr/404.htm**_

Pulling up the link get one a dreaded message:

“Requested Page Not Found (404)”[banghead]

"We’re sorry but the page you requested

2

If you look at the link given (the one that ends in “404.htm”) you will notice the name of the file is the “error number” it reported to you. It is the default page that you are supplied if you go to the nps.gov address URL and request a page that does not exist… what is silly here is that the page you requested (404.htm) is the page you got, so it essentially lied to you… You did get the page you requested!

Whoever published the URL screwed up.

It seems they have jumped the gun on releasing the news that they have made the database available… Maybe it WAS available and someone found a gross error and they took it down to repair it and it has not been put back yet. Maybe tomorrow, or next week, or next month, or next congressional term, or… the code will be made available again.

And MAYBE there will be a correction to where ever you got that first link that take you to the correct page.

3

HOLD THE PRESSES!

I noted in one of the links you provided that the sub folder the siteindex is in ends in “stea” (note the missing “M” on the end).

I went to: “www.nps.gov/stea” and there on the LEFT (edited) is a History and Culture link!

and under that is “Collections”… I thimk that is what you seek!

EDIT: I don’t know my right from my top… that link is on the “LEFT”!

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Try this one - just a little beyond where Semper Vaporo suggested:

http://www.nps.gov/stea/historyculture/collections.htm

But I agree, that press release was literally mis-leading !

  • Paul North.
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Link provided by Paul North!

To BOTH Semper Vaporo[bow] , AND TO Paul . North[bow]!

THANK YOU, BOTH!

Those computer technical illiterates among us, are grateful. When I posted that Thread I was hoping that there would be some amongst us who could put things to right.

Believe me, when I say I am a trial and error,hunt and peckerer; it is more by error, and trials by error that I stumbie around on the Internet.

So S.V and Paul North please accept my ‘tip o’ the Kromer Cap’ for your help.[tup]

EDIT TO ADD:

Went back in to the NPS Steamtown web site this afternoon, It think this one is goint to qualify for a " Not Ready for Prime Time Award".

Clicked on this link and got the following information.

'Web site: Collections online: None"

Clicked on the sub head " Photos and Multimedia" Got a nice photo of CN #3254 at the Moscow, Pa station with a train.

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Looking at those videos and photos “Canada called and wants back all their steam locomotives”

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[(-D] [(-D] Some of us think it’d be a great Canadian railroad museum if it was relocated a few hundred miles further north !

And Sam, you’re most welcome ! (I wouldn’t have known about it other than seeing your post.)

  • Paul North.