Can you belive they locked the trains.com MR forum?


dthurman said:
Coyote

Same here, they could have at least placed a posty note or emailed all the members, there is a feature like that on almost all message boards to let us know the scoop. I don't want to slam MR too hard, but I feel Terry Thompson the head ed is over reacting to all this. It reminds me of how the US/Britian handle terrorism. If you close up shop or stop doing what you do everyday, then they have achieved (the trolls) just what they wanted. It makes us model railroaders look like wimps. Sorry to be saying this, but they put to sleep a pretty good resource. I imagine that new subscribers or folks that by the mag at the store would come there, as well as it, the MR forums also led the internet crowd to other web sites like this just from the interest it created, not to mention all that exccelent knowledge that was on there, Joe's clinics, Bob's Photo Clinic etc. If those forums are left locked, and we know just how great the search feature was, let alone a new comer even knowing the lingo to search, is a shameful waste for those who posted and those that need it.

I used to own a hosting and web develpment company, we used Sun servers and we had a mailing list that was similar to how MR ran, many other lists and forums, but Sun was the palce everyone went for help or getting started. Well they decided to close it down, too much work they claimed, which I don't buy, having been in the business, so when people got togehter to move all the subscribers to a new place, we lost about 40% and that 40% was the ones that were the helpers. They just got fed up. I am probably blowing this out of porportion (sp) a little, but if they stay down any longer then Monday or mid week, I think they will hurt themselves as for the forums, though I am sure the forums, could be hurting their mag sales. I am sure the internet did.

Okay enough soapboxing. Glad you made it over. BTW what does that say in your sig file, I always wanted to ask.

We don't know that they are blowing this out of proportion yet. It could be that they were on some kind of deadline and just didn't have time to deal with it yet. Just shut it down to deal with later.

On the other hand, I was at another board, larger than this one and one person was doing a big job and trying to run a board like Bergie is doing. It gradually got more and more out of control until the guy blew up and when dictatorial on us. Many people revolted and another board, much like this one benefited from the blow-up. Eventually, the guy in Bergie's position got volunteers to help him run the place. It was a difficult restructure, but ultimately it worked.
 
Chip

I think if they are concerned about the bad posts and it's all too much to handle or devote $$ resources to, they really should contact or work with the "good" members and see if they will pitch in, I would be willing as I am sure you and a host of others would. I by no means am saying that MR is wrong, though I think cooler heads should have been used.

Now Ken, this is what angers me ;) you HO guys get that crips body line stuff, but then again, the Normal scale, I have the capability to run those 50+ unit trains in a 12 foot space :) Nice looking
 
dthurman said:
Coyote

Same here, they could have at least placed a posty note or emailed all the members, there is a feature like that on almost all message boards to let us know the scoop. I don't want to slam MR too hard, but I feel Terry Thompson the head ed is over reacting to all this. It reminds me of how the US/Britian handle terrorism. If you close up shop or stop doing what you do everyday, then they have achieved (the trolls) just what they wanted. It makes us model railroaders look like wimps. Sorry to be saying this, but they put to sleep a pretty good resource. I imagine that new subscribers or folks that by the mag at the store would come there, as well as it, the MR forums also led the internet crowd to other web sites like this just from the interest it created, not to mention all that exccelent knowledge that was on there, Joe's clinics, Bob's Photo Clinic etc. If those forums are left locked, and we know just how great the search feature was, let alone a new comer even knowing the lingo to search, is a shameful waste for those who posted and those that need it.

I used to own a hosting and web develpment company, we used Sun servers and we had a mailing list that was similar to how MR ran, many other lists and forums, but Sun was the palce everyone went for help or getting started. Well they decided to close it down, too much work they claimed, which I don't buy, having been in the business, so when people got togehter to move all the subscribers to a new place, we lost about 40% and that 40% was the ones that were the helpers. They just got fed up. I am probably blowing this out of porportion (sp) a little, but if they stay down any longer then Monday or mid week, I think they will hurt themselves as for the forums, though I am sure the forums, could be hurting their mag sales. I am sure the internet did.

Okay enough soapboxing. Glad you made it over. BTW what does that say in your sig file, I always wanted to ask.


David,
I can see many of your points... I've been around Message Forums since way back in the old BBS days, as I am sure many of us have, and I've seen many a good place go the way of the wind. I hope this won't be true of the MR Forums simply because of the backing behind it. *shrugs*

Anyway its great to see and the rest of the gang.


Oh *laughs*... Diabolus fecit, ut id facerem!
roughly translates out to, as Flip Wilson would have said, 'The Devil Made me do it!'
 
TrainboyH16-44 said:
Hey, everybody. Nice to see you all here. Just got my confirmation email.
Maybe I'll become a regular....
Matthew Hicks
MATTHEW-
Good to see you made it! Let's hope the MR Forum is unlocked sometime, but this place is great!
 
TrainboyH16-44 said:
Hey, everybody. Nice to see you all here. Just got my confirmation email.
Maybe I'll become a regular....
Matthew Hicks

Great to see you here, Matthew. I just noticed your avitar. One of my good friends is a hard core Canadian Pacific fan. It's a cool proto!
 
Dave,

I gotta figure that it's only temporary. First of all, they get advertising income from the board. Second, they didn't close the other forums. There's nothing to keep the little twit from doing the same thing on those forums. Third, it has to be a source for subscription. I signed up as a direct result of that board.
 
SpaceMouse said:
Dave,

I gotta figure that it's only temporary. First of all, they get advertising income from the board. Second, they didn't close the other forums. There's nothing to keep the little twit from doing the same thing on those forums. Third, it has to be a source for subscription. I signed up as a direct result of that board.

Chip

I agree, it has to be or will hurt their bottom line soon. The trolls did attack the Classic Trains and I thik Garden Trains also. Not sure why they didn't mess with the "Trains" forum, though I would pity the fool that did post that stuff there. Those guys can be brutal :eek: I have seen them in action before. Some are the real deal rail workers. Too bad those little worms didn't try there, they would have run away crying. The MR guys are more laid back, also the MR forums had a lot of young ones as opposed to the Trains forum.

Hows that prep for the layout room coming? Looks like you have a task in front of you. When I was allowed the "train room" Carol had all her sewing stuff, Xmas and general storage in that room. If I wanted it to use, I had to move it all myself. Took about a day to move it all and another to find new places to dump it all in the house, then clean the room. It's amazing what we as people accumulate in our lives.
 
dthurman said:
Chip
Hows that prep for the layout room coming? Looks like you have a task in front of you. When I was allowed the "train room" Carol had all her sewing stuff, Xmas and general storage in that room. If I wanted it to use, I had to move it all myself. Took about a day to move it all and another to find new places to dump it all in the house, then clean the room. It's amazing what we as people accumulate in our lives.

I spent the morning with my son running trains--sort of. Got a new UT5 jack installed. The afternoon was spent mowing the lawn which has been neglected for two months. I look back and it has been that long since I had a day off. Whew.

Anyway, in just a few minutes, I'm going to the store to get some plumbing supplies as I have to move a water filter as my next step. Then hopefully, I'll get the plumbing and the cable run tomorrow. My wife has volunteered to scrub the carpet, we should make some good progress.

How's that for a long winded answer? Guess it was on my mind.
 
I'm probably more of a cynic than most here (maybe not) but the sticky that was posted mentioned cost of operation and maintaining and moderating the forums. Also mentioned "ramant mis-information about compainies" or to that affect. The dweebs barage lasted probably all of 20 minutes and then the fallout lasted all day.. He had his victory right there. I get the feeling they are headed toward a paid subscriber participation.. I bought the October issue because I was in the hobby shop for something else. I have to say, I thought it sucked. I enjoyed seeing the Utah Belt the first 2 times, the third time it was stale and this time (whatever revision this is), Puh-leez! I'm sure I'm more in a minority here, after 25+ years of subscribing, the rehash stuff and revisits just don't interest me.. Want to revisit something?? Show me Bruce Chubbs new Sunset Valley. THAT would interest me. The point is, I just won't be subscribing again. Subscriber to the magazine or subscriber to the forum, either which way, IF that's the case, I won't be back there. The magazines I buy are off the rack anymore because they don't all interest me anymore. I'm not going to pay to participate in a discussion. Do what you want with Your money, I'll spend mine on the trains.

With regard to the company mis-information, could be, could be not.. There is and will always be speculation as to what a company is doing or thinking. Sometimes correct, usually wrong. However, I see nothing wrong with discussing pros and cons of a company or service.. It keeps them somewhat honest to know that we are watching with our wallets.

In the sticky thread they recieved plenty of offers for FREE help to moderate the forums. If the cost of doing so was the issue, I fail to understand, other than total control, why they didn't take somebody up on it. I don't know what happened to the thread, it was gone when I returned but there was no email taking me up on my offer or rejecting it. I would suspect no one else recieved emails either. The post stated that if we couldn't get back in, we would know why. However, anyone that didn't see the post, does NOT know why. They could have just deleted the replies and locked the thread so no responses could be given if they didn't want any offers being shown. Something smells Strange to me about the whole thing..

off the soapbox for now...

Jeff
:rolleyes:
 
Rolleiman said:
With regard to the company mis-information, could be, could be not.. There is and will always be speculation as to what a company is doing or thinking. Sometimes correct, usually wrong. However, I see nothing wrong with discussing pros and cons of a company or service.. It keeps them somewhat honest to know that we are watching with our wallets.

You know Jeff you bring up an interesting point that I overlooked by all this. The troll attack was one thing, and I can see some upset things being taken care of, but if you are referring to the Walthers/LifeLike/Walmart topic and how it did get a little heated, I wonder if this is what Terry was talking about. WE ALL KNOW that Walthers is big in their town as it relates to MR and also Kalmbach. Maybe they are worried the heat of the topic may make Walthers mad. Terry did jump in on that topic. Also the reviews of products is always pretty nice to the product and the company. Maybe with all that free speech we were doing ruffled more then an anger over trolls, and we all know how when a topic is hot, like the religion thread, then the troll thread posted by MR staff how both got wiped after it generated a firestorm.

One other item I noticed, and I don't frequent the Garden forum, or most of the others, besides the Train one, it seems the moderators participate with the posters, as were the MR forum, I hardly ever say any polls or questions presented. You know something that would have been smart on their part, was to have Tony Koester, Andy S, Lionel Strang (sp) post a how to on the forums, think of what that would have meant as a gesture of good will.

Sorry started getting carried away... I will turn around and operate my trains...
 
dthurman said:
but if you are referring to the Walthers/LifeLike/Walmart topic and how it did get a little heated, I wonder if this is what Terry was talking about. WE ALL KNOW that Walthers is big in their town as it relates to MR and also Kalmbach. Maybe they are worried the heat of the topic may make Walthers mad.

I've wondered if the threads concerning the sky high P2K prices in the new Walther's flyer had anything to do with the lockdown too.
 
dthurman said:
Now Ken, this is what angers me ;) you HO guys get that crips body line stuff, but then again, the Normal scale, I have the capability to run those 50+ unit trains in a 12 foot space :) Nice looking
Sorry about that Dave, I still haven't mastered all the newfangled buttons and levers of this forum :eek: I thought I was hitting the 'preview' button, turned out it was the SUBMIT button! That link belonged in the CSX Modelers thread, not here, so I moved it out.

As to why the Kalmbach guys did what they did, I suspect the real issue is intercorporate politics like you were hinting at. The troll incident was likely more of a catalyst than an actual cause. In any event, I'm hoping to "wean" myself away from the Kalmbach forums and spend more time here.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hi everyone, I just arrived here. I'm another displaced refugee from the MR forum. I feel like I've been locked out of my home, maybe I have found a new one here. This seems to be a great place. Already see some familiar people. From what I've seen so far, I think I'm going to like it here.

Stan
 
BMRR said:
Hi everyone, I just arrived here. I'm another displaced refugee from the MR forum. I feel like I've been locked out of my home, maybe I have found a new one here. This seems to be a great place. Already see some familiar people. From what I've seen so far, I think I'm going to like it here.

Stan

Welcome aboard, Stan.
 
BMRR said:
Hi everyone, I just arrived here. I'm another displaced refugee from the MR forum. I feel like I've been locked out of my home, maybe I have found a new one here. This seems to be a great place. Already see some familiar people. From what I've seen so far, I think I'm going to like it here.
Hi Stan, it's me - "Coffee Shop Ken". I decided to grab myself a new 'handle' while I had the chance. Welcome aboard!
 
BMRR said:
Hi everyone, I just arrived here. I'm another displaced refugee from the MR forum. I feel like I've been locked out of my home, maybe I have found a new one here. This seems to be a great place. Already see some familiar people. From what I've seen so far, I think I'm going to like it here.

Stan
I know how you feel, having arrived on a ship late last night. I think that this forum is somewhat superior to trains.com, with many valid reasons. Let's get the whole lot of trains.commers over here!
Matthew
 
Way earlier in the conversation, the reason the guy I was talking about went dictatatorial was due to pressure from a vendor that advertised with them.
 



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