What are the 10 most FAQ on the MRR forum?

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I’ve seen a lot recently written about what the forums should or could be. One reoccuring theme, is that many questions have been asked and answered a thousand times. The same thing goe on at the Trains Magazine Forum.

I always figured some industrious soul could come up with a listing of the top 10, with links to the best threads that answer those top 10. An example, would be like Dale did with his Mississippi River info here: http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/p/42151/535712.aspx#535712

So, what are the top 10 most frequently asked questions on the Model Railroader Forum?

2

What DCC system?

What kind of glue for a certain application?

Help with a decoder.

Those are the only ones I could think of off the top of my head. I don’t mind people asking them because they may be unique in how they asked the question. I am not complaining, its just a casual observance.

3

How to clean track.

Best brands of rolling stock

How to install couplers

What radius is required to run long equipment such as full length passenger cars

What to do about derailments

What to do about unwanted uncouplings.

Decals, proper application thereof

Airbrushes, selection of, compressors for, technique, cleaning

4

In no particular order:

Which track is best?

Which turnouts are best/should I buy?

How do you solder track?

What’s the best way to make scenery?

My locomotive derails. What…?

What’s the difference between insulated and electro-frog turnouts? Which should I buy?

How do you make water?

What glue is the best to use in (a, b, c,…) application?

Who makes the best locomotive? Which should I buy?

Why is there no FAQ section?

-Crandell

5

How do I post photos?

What is the best airbrush?

How do I remove factory lettering?

etc.

6

Crandell:

I think you summed it up pretty well. A couple of variations I might add would be (at least lately, from my observations):

Can I run big steam on my 18" radius track?

And all of the “versus” threads–Walthers vs. Rapido, Sinohara vs. Peco, Code 100 vs. Code 83–things like that. Everytime I see the initials “vs.” in a thread, all I can think of is either Gladiators in the Coliseum or combatants in a boxing ring, when I think the OP of the thread is actually asking more for ‘comparisons’.

Okay, it’s just a simple matter of semantics, but it always makes me kinda/sorta blink. [%-)]

Tom [:D]

7

How do I post a picture?

Is there a “For sale” section?

Which do you guys think is best…?

8

May I nominate:

How do I get inside my engine?

Ed

9

Is the hobby dying?

Why are prices so high?

Do you belong to the NMRA?

Do you belong to a club?

What’s your locomotive roster?

Does anyone scratch-build anymore?

Why so much RTR?

The future of LHS’s?

HO or N scale?

What era do you model?

Etc.

10

How do I get started?

What do you think of (fill in the blank-- locomotive, company, product, etc)

Which is better, DC or DCC?

What is the smallest radius I can use to run (fill in the blank-- locomotive, passenger car, whatever)

What is the REALLY smallest radius I can use to run (yada yada)

How do I weather a building, locomotive or piece of rolling stock?

Why is everything so expensive?

How do program my DCC system?

Is (item A) better than (item B) ?

My P2K locomotive makes a grinding noise, what can I do?

Should I pre-order (fill in the blank item)?

Is (fill in the blank item) I found on ebay worth the money?

Why won’t my train run?

How do I clean dirty track?

How do I fix Atlas switches?

How do I change out (fill in the blank-- couplers, wheels, motors, whatever)?

How do I install a DCC decoder in (fill in the blank locomotive)?

Where can I get (fill in the blank item) in bulk quantities?

What kind of track is better?

Which is better, code 83 or code 100 track?

How do I handlay track?

How can I make switches?

How do I ballast track?

How do I use ground foam?

How do I build benchwork?

How do I set up staging for my layout?

How can I build an empire on a 4’x8’ sheet of plywood?

What scales are there?

Which scale is best?

Where can I get (fill in the blank scenery item-- plaster, hydrocal, pink foam, cardboard strips, etc)?

How do I paint a backdrop?

What material can I use to make a backdrop?

How can I build a double-decker layout?

How do I solder track?

How should I hook up power to the track?

How do I solder wires?

How do I set up a (fill in the blank-- track power, DCC cab, etc) buss?

How do I paint the scenery?

How do I use decals?

How do I align decals?

How do I get rid of the shiny sheen?

How can I get a shiny sheen?

How do I model water (or

11

[quote user=“jwhitten”]

How do I get started?

What do you think of (fill in the blank-- locomotive, company, product, etc)

Which is better, DC or DCC?

What is the smallest radius I can use to run (fill in the blank-- locomotive, passenger car, whatever)

What is the REALLY smallest radius I can use to run (yada yada)

How do I weather a building, locomotive or piece of rolling stock?

Why is everything so expensive?

How do program my DCC system?

Is (item A) better than (item B) ?

My P2K locomotive makes a grinding noise, what can I do?

Should I pre-order (fill in the blank item)?

Is (fill in the blank item) I found on ebay worth the money?

Why won’t my train run?

How do I clean dirty track?

How do I fix Atlas switches?

How do I change out (fill in the blank-- couplers, wheels, motors, whatever)?

How do I install a DCC decoder in (fill in the blank locomotive)?

Where can I get (fill in the blank item) in bulk quantities?

What kind of track is better?

Which is better, code 83 or code 100 track?

How do I handlay track?

How can I make switches?

How do I ballast track?

How do I use ground foam?

How do I build benchwork?

How do I set up staging for my layout?

How can I build an empire on a 4’x8’ sheet of plywood?

What scales are there?

Which scale is best?

Where can I get (fill in the blank scenery item-- plaster, hydrocal, pink foam, cardboard strips, etc)?

How do I paint a backdrop?

What material can I use to make a backdrop?

How can I build a double-decker layout?

How do I solder track?

How should I hook up power to the track?

How do I solder wires?

How do I set up a (fill in the blank-- track power, DCC cab, etc) buss?

How do I paint the scenery?

How do I use decals?

How do I align decals?

How do I get rid of the shiny sheen?

How can I get a shiny sheen?

H

12

Y’all missed one question.

My relative died and left me all of these train thingies. How much are they worth?

Tom

13

Let’s add

Where can I get the cheapest price?

Why did they stop making ______?

Does HOn3 use N scale track?

Why are there so many scales?

Who is a real model railroader?

What is hirail?

My Lionel engine sparks on switches, is this normal?

Enjoy

Paul

14

Oh, too bad-- I left you these: [:D]

Which is better, metal or plastic wheels?

How do I change my wheels?

Do plastic wheels make the track dirtier?

If my wife divorces me, how can I keep the trains?

John

15

Not mentioned so far:

Mike Wolf of MTH - super hero or super villain?

eBay - Evil Bay or the cheapskate’s best friend? (goes hand-in-hand with the aforementioned “I just inherited some old Tyco trains; how many thousands of $$ can I get for them?”

This was probably already on some lists: “This hobby is too expensive.” Goes along with “Why is my locomotive not perfect for the $$ I pay?”

“I’m tired of back orders from so-and-so.” and it’s partner “I hate pre-orders.”

Fred W

16

Actually those are examples of

Commonly Repeated Asinine Phrases

[(-D]

John

17

How about

Which trainset to buy. (no I’m not asking)

and of course:

Where’s my magazine.

18

“Why do people keep asking the same ol’ questions?”

19

I belong to 21 different forums and most new people are cluless and never read FAQ pages. They ask a question and then bail.

Rich

20

At the rate this thread is going, the title should probably be changed to “100 most FAQ” instead of only 10.

Even if we did have a FAQ section it would probably wind up as a topic few people would read before asking their questions, and we’d be left with the same situation we have now with the same questions being asked over and over.