I have been a member of this forum for about 18 months now. This is the only Model Railroading forum that I participate with.
I am curious as to why the regulars are here, what made people join, and what keeps everyone coming back.
I have been active on board gaming/wargaming forums all over the web for 20+ years as the hero/general “Duke Georgal of Entralgia”. Activity on these various forums is almost required to participate in that hobby. You need to find people for opponents and events to play at, rules interpretations are discussed as a community, and we all share our fun (or funny) battle reports. Discussions of strategy or historical accuracy are also always lively.
Model Railroading is an entirely different type of hobby. You can be a lone wolf and go completely off the grid and do whatever you want. No one else’s interpretations or personality matter one bit in how we enjoy this hobby. You do not need any interpersonal interaction to be a Model Railroader, so all the Model Railroading forums meant absolutely nothing to me.
Then, about 20 months ago, I ripped my “spare bedroom” HO layout out of the house. I then went through a violent purge cycle and threw away about 75% of my model railroading stuff. Anything I thought was holding back my creativity or slowing my progress towards achieving my goals was disposed of. All incomplete projects were stripped of usable parts and tossed away.
This created a void in enthusiasm. The purge was phase one of a two year (looks like it will take 3 years) house remodel project that will finally result in me finally having a dedicated
I joined this forum 11 years ago. I come to talk trains. I’m generally not interested in the non-train-focused discussion that seems to pop up here fairly often but here I am.
What keeps me coming back is interesting model train focused discussion where I can share what knowledge I have and also learn new things from others.
This forum seems to have an awful lot of non-train focused topics, sort of like this one. What would be ideal for this forum is to create a section for basically non-train related discussion, more suited to a “crew lounge/off-topic” area.
Many forums have crew lounge to confine the non-train focused stuff which makes it easier for members to find discussion of most interest them and avoids sifting through those that are not; the result is train discussion isn’t watered with non-train stuff. That would be a big improvement here IMO. MR are you listening?
Whether it be ideas, criticism, encouragement, advice, anecdotes, humour, links to obscure materials and how-to videos…this place is a gold mine. I just wish their search feature were worth more than a pinch of you-know-what. It’s hit 'n miss for so many of us.
I frequent at least five other sites on a daily basis. Most are slower paced with less activity, but they still offer strong membership and all the advantages.
Well, I have found forums extremely valuable in several areas. My first was a pontoon boat forum, which gave me great insight into various purchase considerations and operational clues, but I did not need it ongoing. Another was a muscle car forum, handy for particular inquiries, usually rather specific, so I did not follow it routinely.
The MR forum has been helpful in planning and education (for a couple of years) before starting the current layout but is also of ongoing interest and value. It is inspiring, educational, and of course helpful if a question that arises for me when folks respond and/or I can search for older threads on the subject. And I enjoy adding my thoughts on topics that arise where I can add something.
I will agree that the Search The Community thread search feature is poor. I have learned to google what I want, starting with “site:cs.trains.com”(add subject)
Members are extremely helpful, which I value. When getting to opinions, usually folks can offer same and constructively disagree and explain their point of view effectively. When on occasion things begin to get tacky, the moderators do their job effectively as needed.
So, I appreciate this forum more than any I have used. I do wish that thread titles were more often self explanatory so I could look at those subjects of interest to me, rather than the titles like “what do I do now?”
An aside, the ony other MR forum I frequent is the Yahoo User Group LokSound one, which is of value for nitty gritty issues that may or may not be better handled there than here (there is overlap).
I also spend a lot of time on the model train subreddit so I get my fill of online model trains.
I found this forum because it kept coming up every time I asked Google how to do something like, “ballasting N scale track.” The biggest reason I made an account and hang around here is that someone always knows how to do something better than you do. Even in threads where I didn’t ask a question I still end up learning something about some aspect of the hobby, including things that I had not previously though about.
I ended up making an account rather than simply lurking because I wanted to participate in the discussions, particularly the prototype discussions where I feel like I have more to offer since I’m a relative n00b at scale modeling.
When these Forums were new - when internet based forums and chatrooms of any kind were new - it was the chance to talk trains/model trains with like minded folks, and to expand the circle and variety of opinions for such talk beyond what was available in an earlier era, that being, people that lived near you. That is still a primary reason for me.
I also enjoy contributing. Over the decades I have acquired many resources for rail information, as well as model railroading information, that I enjoy sharing.
I have often benefitted from the views and information provided by some exceptionally fine and experienced modelers who from time to time have appeared on these Forums. One regret is that some really remarkable tutorial threads from years past are now less useful if not useless because the photos are no longer hosted and thus have disappeared, leaving only tantalizing captions.
A case can be made that the writing and photography of many threads on these Forums was the equal of or superior to what is actually published in MR, and perhaps would have gained more permanence and attention had the time and resourses lavished on some Forum threads been published in MR instead.
I came here roughly a year and a half ago, mostly to gain information and insight that you can’t get elsewhere, here you get a pretty varied opinion set.
I stuck around for about 3 months before leaving for personal reasons, after 3 more months and a LOT of maturing I came back and have stayed since, I just embarked on my first kit bash project, had it not been for the forums I probably would have never started it.
The idea of a "semi train related/off topic section is not bad, of course there’d still be “banned” topics.
When I first started to watch the forum discussions I was looking for information on just about everything model railroad related. I had great plans for a layout. Reading the forums taught me that my plans were pretty disfunctional. That was perhaps the most valuable bit of knowledge that I have gleaned in the past 12 years of modelling.
More recently, I have used the forums to design and help build a new 20’x25’ permanent layout for the Barrie Allandale Railway Modellers club. The main thread in that discussion has almost 500 posts and 35,000 views! The club unfortunately suffers from a lack of experience so the insight and advice that I have received here has been of huge value. The layout functionality was recently assessed by a modeller who has been in the hobby for decades and who is heavily into operations. He is also a member of three different train modelling clubs. He deemed the design to be extremely good. A lot of the credit for that goes to the members of these forums.
I also like to help others with answers where I feel I have something to offer, and I have learned to shut up where my knowledge isn’t as great as I thought it was.[swg]
I have also made several good internet friends, some in far away places. People who I would never have encountered otherwise had it not been for the opportunities to interact with them on the forums.
I do agree that Steven Otte is doing a great job, even thought he has had to rein me in on a couple of occassions.[swg]
I am a lone wolf modeler in a rural area so I come here to read and view what other model raillroaders and railfans are doing. The expertise on this forum is astounding! If (like me) you are newer to model railroading then this is the place to come in my opinion. Most folks have the answers you are seeking and are very friendly. But I tend to be more of a lurker, the quiet shy type, then anything else (always the student who listens and tries to learn).
I’ve been a lone wolf my whole modeling life. Not much opportunity for other than that where I live, and honestly I’m okay with that. Always been happy doing my own thing by myself. The forum brings me inspiration and motivation (see the two threads you mentioned yourself). It also brings me perspective. Every so often, I also get reminded why I don’t mind being a lone wolf. Not everyone’s input is useful or constructive. Just part of life in or out of a forum. The forum is a great place to turn for information, help, or a dose of humility!
I will add a few chuckles from switching operation answers that would get the whole crew fired because of the numerous operation and safety rule infractions…
At first I would have a question about some modeling technique and would search the web and the search results would often send me here. Sometimes I wanted to reply so I had to join.
I come to this forum pretty much every morning while I’m eating breakfast. I guess I do it because the magazine only takes a few hours to read and no matter how hard I try I can’t make it last the whole month. So I come here for more model railroading, and once in a while I have a question to ask.
I love all of the pictures people post and I also enjoy answering questions that others post. I enjoy seeing what other people are modeling and the progress they are making.
I do appreciate how well this forum is moderated. I stopped going to a RV forum because the moderator himself broke the rules about being mean to other people and defended people who were bullying others. For the most part I find people here to be friendly.
I joined 8 years ago, but I lurked, off and on, for about 3 years before joining. Since I jumped into DCC with out a clue, this forum has been a wealth of good info, and I like to help others, when I can with what I have learned.
Since I have many outdoor projects that keep me busy, I’m not around alot during “outdoor” season. I took an early break today to get into the A/C for a while.
I do usually skim through the threads at night before bed, and early morning.
I appreciate the civility of this forum. Mr. Otte keeps a close eye on things and I think that keeps out the troublemakers for the most part.
I am a lone wolf by choice and this is a good place to get and give help if a question arises. It offers up enough social interaction for my needs and I don’t get my bar fridge emptied by any of you.[(-D]
I have been dipping my toes into some Canadian model railroading Facebook groups as they obviously have a more focused subject matter to them and thus offer up a little more info than I find here. Also, I joined a couple of Facebook modeling groups as some of those guys do incredible work and there is a lot to learn from them as the RR part is secondary to the modeling part. Also, like here, any troublemakers are quickly dispatched from the FB groups I have joined. For general MRR topics, this is a good place to hang out.
People have come and gone over the years I have belonged to this forum and looking through all the PMs I have exchanged over the years, it has been an enjoyable experience. I often wonder about the members that have just up and disappeared one day. Even a PM to them goes unanswered, so one can only assume their time was up.
There is the diner for off topic conversation, so I think that is covered. Any more than that would require too much moderation.
where could you ask questions unless you knew someone in the hobby before there were these forums?
the forums not only provide a media to ask questions and get an answer from a variety of sources, but you probably see and get answers to questions you hadn’t even thought about. They make you aware of things you may not be aware of.
i think of the forums as a daily magazines. Some threads are as good as articles and cover a wider range of topics. They also include alternative approaches.
Like many, I stick around for the commeradery. I first became aware of the forum several years ago, but didn’t participate much. I suppose in many ways, I still don’t. Unfortunately, I haven’t had a layout in 50 years even though I kept all of my equipment, for a myriad of reasons. The forum just helps keep my interest alive. I’ve become a semi-regular in the diner and will chime in if I feel I have something to contribute to the discussion.
Primarily followed, then joined to learn, have learned, still learning, now sharing my knowledge when something comes up that I feel I can add to the information others have offered a question.
Hopefully, before too long, I will begin construction on my larger more perminant layout, that will generate more questions from me and I will gain knowledge from the answers and experience.
So many knowledgeable people offer great insight into prototype operations and layout and modeling ideas. Also great to hear evaluations of new products.