The best and worse RR forum

[MLW]

This is not an “official” survey but more an attempt at sharing (and venting?) my opinion about the
various RR Forum now available in cyberspace. This is a highly personal thing, which makes it difficult to be objective.

Go ahead and share your best and worse pick.




The BEST: Model trains weathered
http://www.modeltrainsweathered.com/forum/index.php

My favourite. Since my first visit, I have been learning new skills and learnt a great deal about prototype rolling stocks weathering etc... Truly outstanding people, who are gracious enough to share their “tips & tricks” and honest enough to suggest improvement. A great boost to make my layout so much more believable


RUNNER UP: Model Railroad Forum
http://modelrailroadforums.com

Its here of course! Great friendly atmosphere, layback and relax and a great mix of talent. A fine place to share and learn from other members too. The modelling skills is truly awesome. Glad to have found this place




Far away in THIRD PLACE: Model Railroader
http://www.trains.com/mrr/

I must admit I haven’t been there in a long, long time. I do not even lurked there anymore.





The WORST: Atlas
http://forum.atlasrr.com/

enough said.



your milleage may vary

.

 

[grande man]

Well, this is my home forum. There are many folks here that I consider to be friends, yet have never met. The friendship, talent, and discussion are first rate, IMHO. The forum layout, and software are top notch. On the flip side, we've got few problems and virtually no flaming. That's a huge plus. We should never take the forum for granted. Bob has put a lot into it and done an outstanding job.

 

[tcwright973]

I check out most of the forums on a daily basis. There are good and bad points to each of them. Having said that, I really do enjoy them all. Not having started my layout yet, I especially enjoy seeing photos of the work of others. Boy, there is a lot of talent out there. When I do ask a question, I recieve very informative answers promptly.

Since I have not been able to start construction of a layout, I have been collecting locomotives and rolling stock of railroads, past and present, in western Pennsylvania. An enjoyable past time in itself for me. My last layout was torn down about 1960, so the detailing and performance of what is available today is truly remarkable in comparison.

Enough rambling, thanks to everyone for sharing.

Tom

 

[Brakie]

The worst and the best? I dunno..I moderate on 3 and I am on 3 others..I find each forum is unique in what it offers the modeler.Wade through the crap at the Atlas forum and much can be gained.As far as the model railroader forum it lacks solid food for knowledge but,serves the new modeler well as far as basic Q&A but lacks the needed moderating.The forum its self is OK as long as the "meat" of the hobby isn't discussed,when ever a "meaty" topic comes up then it falls to pieces and the flames start.
Thankfully I rate the following forums the best of the best and in no particular order:
Railroad Forum
Railroad-Lines
The Gauge
and
The Model Railroad Forums.
Why? Because of the harmony of the membership even during a "meaty" discussion such as layout planing,stagging and operation. And I suppose the lack of "forum experts" as well..

 

[jbaakko]

My "normal haunts" include here & Scale Rails Online. But I have to admit, Scale Rails has a chat room, and well, people there don't understand how a public chat works, they get mad at you if, say 2 out of 8 people on the site are having a convo, and I pop in and say my weed sprayer cars is complete... I got messages like "Don't butt in", and "Didn't you see we were having a private conversation"... So I gave up on the chat there. Not many HO folks there though, mostly N.

I wander across Model Trains Weathered from time to time, I really need to use all the tips & figure weathering out. Then there's allways Model Railroad Tips!! I post to my Upper Michigan Model Railroader group on yahoo every couple of weeks too (for the 8 other members to read)...

The Gauge, Railroad-line forum, Atlas forum, Bachmann forum & Trains, I've been to, but between all of them I rack up under 15 posts total!

Gotta love this place, Bob is a great host, thanks Bob!

 

[Steve B]

Best here

worst, not sure, i tried my luck on a Polish forum but gave up as i could not for the life of me work out how to post or search anything, It's a hard language to understand for my little brain

 

[Old 97]

Well, this is my home forum. There are many folks here that I consider to be friends, yet have never met. The friendship, talent, and discussion are first rate, IMHO. The forum layout, and software are top notch. On the flip side, we've got few problems and virtually no flaming. That's a huge plus. We should never take the forum for granted. Bob has put a lot into it and done an outstanding job.

Well said grande man!!

 

[CBCNSfan]

Well for myself I tend to keep each forum separate, as it has been stated, each forum for the most part is unique. If all the forums were exactly the same then one forum would serve all and there would be no reason for the rest to exist. For that reason alone I would say that is why many of us are active at several forums. At present I have little time to spend on line, and that time is shared on three forums, and divided accordingly to commitments I have made on each. My own opinion is that some one's choice of worst forum is most likely another persons favorite
Personally I feel this thread is a non productive discussion and it's only contribution would be to create dissension among members.

Willis

 

[Larry]

I've been on about 6 forums over the years. Not because I didn't like this forum, but just to check out what everyone else was doing.
I've deleted all the other one's & just stay on here. If you have a lot of time on your hands & spend a lot of time on the puter, I guess you can go where ever you want. But, I agree w/the rest of the bunch that have been on here for many years, why go check around when this forum is the best of the best.
This forum has the easiest way to add photo's & rattle on & on about your layout & not have to worry about negatives.
We use to have Chat & it was a pass time for the people that like to stay up late & talk all nite. It got awfully crowded on there for a long time & people lost interest. I use to get lost in conversations because I couldn't type fast enough. LOL Anyway, Just stay here & be w/excellent friends.

Larry (Long Winded Old fart)

 

[SpaceMouse]

I like the attititude here. Plenty of talent

The MR forum is a little faster if you need an idea or help in a hurry. I like the Layout area the best. Lot less flaming, just people wanting or giving help. If a few for my friends over there came here, I'd migrate permanently.

I don't frequent many of the others enough to give a good opinion.

 

[GandyDancer]

I won't even pretend to specify a best. Best could mean many things. There was one I joined for a while that actually had a spell check on the message posting! Wow - that was a cool feature.

Worst is easy - but I can't find anyway to say it without being boarder line nasty. Lets just say a recent set of forum start ups by (about the same) bunch of people who do not have the proper skills or maturity to be running a forum, let alone a bunch of forums simultaneously.

Taking this opportunity to jump on a rabbit trail ... Here is what I don't understand about this forum. Currently, at this writing, there are 13 members and 42 guests reading it. This is a common thing. I've noticed one can visit this forum once a week maybe once every two weeks and keep up with the threads. What are all the active members reading? The same messages over and over again? He says, scratching his head, and puzzling off to bed.

 

[IronBeltKen]

I've made this one my "home" forum because of reasons cited in previous replies: easier posting of pictures, friendlier atmosphere, not dominated by "gurus", etc. I'm part of the Great Exodus from the Kalmbach forum during their lockout of Sept 30-Oct 3, 2005.

But I still think we need the other forums. The very attribute that makes this one attractive to me - its smaller member count - also brings the disadvantage of frequent 'quiet' periods. I've seen times when hardly anybody posts a new topic or even a reply for 12 hours; that's when I'm likely to visit Kalmbach or Atlas, despite their imperfections.

 

[grande man]

I've noticed one can visit this forum once a week maybe once every two weeks and keep up with the threads. What are all the active members reading? The same messages over and over again?

No offence intended, but if you think things are moving to slowly, why not post more? Start threads, post pics, reply to existing threads.

 

[SpaceMouse]

No offence intended, but if you think things are moving to slowly, why not post more? Start threads, post pics, reply to existing threads.

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[IronBeltKen]

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Chip,
I believe you need better ventilation in that trainroom...!

 

[Lady_Railfan]

GandyDancer said:

What are all the active members reading? The same messages over and over again? He says, scratching his head, and puzzling off to bed.

I'm speculating here, but I think some of our traffic is due to the wealth of how-to information to be found here. Many of my visits are for "research," where I search old posts for specific information.

There was one I joined for a while that actually had a spell check on the message posting! Wow - that was a cool feature.

WE have a spell check feature also. It's the ABC symbol at the top of the text box with the checkmark. Now, if I'd just remememember to use it!

 

[jbaakko]

GandyDancer said:I'm speculating here, but I think some of our traffic is due to the wealth of how-to information to be found here. Many of my visits are for "research," where I search old posts for specific information.WE have a spell check feature also. It's the ABC symbol at the top of the text box with the checkmark. Now, if I'd just remememember to use it!

Ummmm... (shoot I got the message to short message!)

 

[Lady_Railfan]

Ummmm? Did I post before I was completely awake again?

 

[jbaakko]

I think so, I still don't see it...q

 

[Lady_Railfan]

This is what I see. When I click it, a spell-checker pops up. Maybe it's an browser thing?? I use Internet Exploder.