Bummer. Atlas was one of three forums I visit daily (along with this one and the RailWire). It had its ups and downs, with the biggest downer being the pure unfriendliness sometimes on display by "contributors." I hate to see it go, but in general I've found this and TRW to be friendlier communities. Jim
I'm sorry to see it go. But hopefully somebody will plug this board over there and maybe most people will come here instead of disappearing. I too was on the original AOL group, then Atlas. haven't posted much on Atlas though. Seemed like their interface was very clunky. It's very difficult for a manufacturer to maintain a forum. It puts them in an awkward position, because you get the cranky types that are always going to be whining and complaining about products. Then if you try to get rid of trouble makers, you get people yelling "censorship". Last time I was on there I mentioned something about prices probably going up because of decreasing cheap labor in China, and some nut went off on me. Forums are like living entities, and they tend to evolve into their own personality. And nuts just beget more nuts.
For the record, I made comments about Trainboard on that post on Atlas that were not complimentary in nature, but it is nothing I haven't told the folks here directly. Hopefully Trainboard has made the changes necessary to handle the "Atlas contingency".
Yeah, there are a number of us that traveled that route. I still keep up with a few of the folks from the AOL N scale bulletin board. However, I bailed out of the AOL Prototype board after a few "experts" there pounced on about every post I made. Seem the bullies can turn up anywhere.
Don't let people run you off. That's exactly what they want. Just laugh at them or ignore them altogether. They hate that more than anything. Most grumpy people just want everybody else to be like them. If you're not, then they just go away.
Very seldom will I read all five pages of a thread before posting. For this one I made an exception. When I post to the web - regardless of where - , I want it to be as if I was talking with friends over a cup of coffee / glass of wine etc. I found that here on Trainboard. I've shared that wine / beer / coffee with at least 6 members from this board and can think of 10s more I would truly like to meet. Since 2004 I have: Met those 6 people Accidentally caused at least 2 significant uproars Been respectfully and appropriately warned at least 3 times Learned never to post when inebriated - well, learned it several times Had 3 girlfriends post here Received way too much from far too many that I can ever repay Learned more than I can ever remember Started the construction of 5 versions of the "Grey and Grandure" and countless iterations. Watched new people come on board Saw the passing of some truly great ones, RIP There is more, soooo much more. I can only hope I have given as much as I have received. As for dissing other boards? I would rather have a glass of wine. PS: I have found Trainboard to be a "Bully Free Zone" for which I am grateful as I have very thin skin.
Me too! Make mine a Nortons select Malbec please! I am a solely here on TB and dont have memberships to any other forum as I feel there is no need to.
I JUST joined the Atlas board, Ive been reading it for years but was never approved to join until last week Friday... I feel like I was dating a pretty girl only to find out she was not entirely female, what a letdown.... I was looking forward to being a part of it since I buy so many Atlas products, the latest are the rebuilt USRA boxcars, I got a pair of each: FtDDM&S and CNW. I have made a couple friends here on trainboard so far , you really never know who's your really talking to or about sometimes. I try to keep my words soft and sweet in case I have to eat them !! Now I gotta buy the rest of the Atlas rebuilt USRA cars... Randy
I on the other hand would love to see every thread not specifically about a scale specific product be put in a general interest forum. I felt that way even when I was an N-scaler. I understand your concern, but the continued isolation of N-scalers in particular in this forum creates of sort of confirmation bias about being the "picked on scale." This thread is a perfect example. What does it have to do with N-scale? Nothing, the Atlas forums weren't only for N-scalers. Were I in charge, I'd probably move it. . .. ... Which is a good reason for me not to be in charge. Seriously though I like that Kalmbach and Model Railroad Hobbiest have set up their forums to simply ignore scale.
One thing I will say with regard to bullies and "bad apples" on Internet forums, I've posted on a bunch of forums on topics as diverse as Model railroading, Star Wars, Disney, Salt Water Reef Keeping and everywhere in between. I have been site admin and mod and just user. One constant across the internet regardless of topic is bullies and "bad apples" there is no forum on the internet that won't get/have them. Trainboard does an exceptionally good job of watching out for them and moderating them appropriately. It's not unique to the model railroad world at all though.
. Funny..................there are many more N scale posts than HO posts here. Matter of fact, this forum is more N scale-friendly than most other forums Not only that, there seems to be a frustrating habit by some of the N scale fraternity to immediately gravitate toward that section to the exclusion of other areas. If there is any isolation, it's on part of the N-scalers, and not even remotely promoted by the moderators & administrators (several of whom are avid N scalers, by the way). If one is going to make assumptions & statements, one must be sure all the facts are correct. As for Atlas, it was a popular forum which, unfortunately, had its share of troublemakers who, through their idiotic actions, would cause threads to be locked, posts deleted, and at least once or twice forum closure. These same individuals are or were banned from other forums (including this one) for not playing well, and wound up not only on Atlas but other places. I seriously doubt that the folks in New Jersey will miss dealing with those problems. After all, they have a business to run, whereas this forum is staffed 100% by volunteers. Personally, I will miss the Atlas forum, and hope some of those soon-to-be-displaced folks will stop by here and decide to make it home.
http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/content.php?35-TrainBoard-Statement-on-Atlas-Forum-Closure Have a read...............
< bemused grin > I am certainly glad I don't hold the record on causing of uproars. Hmmm - Well, at least I keep trying. Let's hope "Grandure Lady" is the last girlfriend I ever have. Best wishes and my eternal appreciation, (all 3 meanings of the word), for your hard work and dedication to Trainboard. I can't imagine where I would be without it. If you ever come to Boston / meet me at a trainshow I'll hold you to that or hold that to you. Best wishes and thanks for your contributions here. "Norton's Malbec" - I'll have to look for that. Yes, if our paths ever cross you can be sure I'll have it on hand. I look forward to your continued contributions here. Best wishes to you and yours.
I am really going to miss the Atlas Forum. That being said I am going to give this one a shot. I have been a member for a while but have not posted much. I am glad to see some familiar names here!
Bob, you must have misunderstood my point, since I don't see how your response really addresses anything I said and in some cases repeats it. I did not accuse trainboard the organization of a bias to N-scale. I suggested that isolation by scale creates a confirmation bias. This would be true in my opinion regardless of which forum you're on. That's the nature of confirmation bias. I suggested the randgust's desire to even further isolate the scales would make it worse. Finally I clarified how I would personally address the problem. At no point did I accuse the moderators or admins of this forum of doing anything. I like that there is an N-scale forum here and while I like that those other sites are scale agnostic I don't think that they only way to ahem run a railroad. I just fully disagree with isolating further and what's more, I would personally be more aggressive on forcing this issue. I'm not sure what facts you think I got wrong? As a recent example of why I, personally, were it my forum (which is not an indication that I disapprove of anything current staff are doing) would be more aggressive. The Woodland Scenics fire. There was a thread in Inspection Pit, N-scale and Z-scale. If this were my forum those n and Z threads would have been merged with redirects so fast... Not just because they're redundant, but because I would want to remind everyone not so subtly that the news affects everyone and to think outside their scale.
Also, I should point out that I and occasionally others bring up the N-scaler insulation issue often enough that I'm sure the mods are fed up with me AND those of us that bring it up create a confirmation bias of our own since only the people that dislike the situation speak up.
John, I am an N scaler and I started a thread about Atlas closing in the Model Railroad Product News forum (not the N scale) about an hour and a half before this thread was started but this is the one that took off. I can't speak as to why.
