Every now and again I'll get to feeling like you do. Trainboard certainly does err on the side of too many forums vs. Too few and I cannot stand the fact that we have a few categories that are also forums(up in the prototype section). In my opinion that's just horrible design, but its not like that has an effect on the number of posts and there are many tools provided to help address the problem of scanning new posts.
Because of my highly disorganized brain I love organized / compartmentalized / sub > sub > structures of any form be it internet web sights, forest trails, or office buildings. Logical "drill down" with cross referenced links is the best *for me*. If I had it my way there would be a "main page" would contain a large graphic with "mouse over" links to top forums. Each Link would provide another graphic with links to sub forums. Ideally I would be able to customize these graphics / links to suit my own needs. Mine would have, "N", "Inspection Pit", "Layout Design", as the first 3. These would be followed by whatever I didn't delete. It may take a while to find all of the shortcuts / maps / signs that tell me where to find what I'm looking for but it is there. The biggie is the "Bookmark". If you find a forum you will be returning to even once a year then bookmark it. Works for me.
Geez, folks. If I were new to TrainBoard and read this thread first I think I'd just go somewhere else. It's not that hard. If you want to see things in other forums, hit either the new posts or the 24 hours of TrainBoard feature and you'll get a pretty good overview of what has happened recently. I read posts that I am interested in based on the topic, not where they have been place in a forum. Conversely, if you want to just read whatever is in your own little world, you can just visit your forum, but try to keep your forum posts appropriate to that forum, e.g., ask the Milwaukee Road prototype question in the Milwaukee Road sub-forum and not in your scale forum. Those of you who are new to TrainBoard, welcome! If modeling or researching logging or mining is an interest of yours, please visit and join the logging and mining group here on TrainBoard. You can find the link in my sig below vvv Adam
Actually,I always kinda like the "everything in one basket" thing about Atlas.I could find all kinds of interesting things on one forum from people I knew.I'm not particularly interested in ATSF,but if Atlas was segregated like it is here,we never would have seen or heard much from the like of John Sing and Randgust.I have regular train forums I go to,don't really want to go looking here..
This is not just a model railroad forum. We have many folks here who are strictly full scale prototype fans. They have a great deal of knowledge about the real deal that can be tapped but they probably will not see a question that they could answer if it was posted in the model forums.
And they wouldn't post here at all if the forums were all collapsed. Anyway, far be it from me to be discouraging about trainboard. This is, without a doubt the best train related forum on the internet. And I was a very low key Atlas member. I just have a few minor complaints with the execution. Nothing worth avoiding the place for. Also, I have had no problems finding randgust's stuff on this forum. Very rarely is it posted in the ATSF forum since that is a prototype forum, not a modelling forum. Steamdonkey did mention the groups and I have very mixed opinions about them mainly because they don't integrate quite as well as I would like. Though that just may be the way I browse the forum. It always takes me extra effort to go there. Plus, I haven't even had time to get out and look at my log car project in months so I feel guilty and try to avoid the modeling group.
The last forum file rebuild put topics all over the place but I've had help getting them put back in the right places. I do like the ATSF forums for specific prototype information, like if anybody had any old shots of Winslow Yard. Hit the jackpot there and found SSW that had ground shots of the fueling stations taken on a tour. But for modeling I tend to stay put in the N scale thread. I suspect the "Atlas influence" will be felt more in the Inspection Pit, but that's all good. I liked it here because construction threads don't die. You can revive the zombies rather than have to restart a thread, or search archives, etc. The U30CG thread that we've had so much fun with started in 2004!
Randy and of course all tuned in here, The U30G thread has me going as I have one currently operating on my layout and have two more that need to be restored. Regarding Atlas: In keeping with the original subject here. It's time to say good bye to the Atlas Forum. If you need to know why the forum is being closed, there is a in depth letter of explanation posted and should be self explanatory. Sad, to see it go as it allowed many of us to move about, swap out ideas and share a little bit of fun. We are good to go, here on TrainBoard and I do like the way topics are arranged. For fear of being redundant or repetitive the only complaint I have... has to do with the editing feature. Other then that, let's have some fun and talk trains. I'm considering a moniker change from barstowrick to hpwrick. You can look for the latter to show-up elsewhere. Have fun!
Actually that is a result of the software bug we encountered at the end of last June. It caused everything to be dumped into one Forum. We are still sorting those out. As we do not always know where each one originated, sometimes it's a best guess scenario. This is where it becomes very helpful to us if people have their profiles showing such as the scale modeled. We still have quite a few to go, so if something is missing, that one pile might be where it is to be found. If not just misplaced in a wrong Forum. Otherwise, it does appear that in the process, a few topics possibly were lost. At least we have not as yet located where they are hiding. For older topics, any time someone wants to post is great. We've seen some oldies revived with excellent recent information. Very useful stuff.
Does anyone know if Atlas will provide the existing content as a searchable or readable archive, or will all those years of valuable information simply be... Gone?
I put a little plug in over there for this board, and I noticed a few others mentioned it too. Wonder how many new people this one will pick up.
Firefox can't find the server at forum.atlasrr.com Looks like they pulled the plug... :bat::bomb::goat::ghost:
I tried earlier, and the forum wouldn't load. I just tried again, and it's back. Hmm... relatively speaking...
If Atlas did not have people with the time to moderate the forum how do they have time to answer all of the questions posed on their Facebook page. On the forum they did not interact with a poster except when it was in their interest. On Facebook it seems to be constant interfacing. Lots of time spent typing answers to questions. Maybe they feel that with all of the advertisements for only Atlas products it is worth the cost, time and effort. Any thoughts on this. Silly me for asking. Of course there will be thoughts on this from the others here.
I was on the staff here for a while, and I don't think I am stepping out of line or revealing any deep secrets if I say that most of the moderating was invisible or nearly invisible to the majority of the membership. A lot of what you do is just the house-keeping, maybe fixing the spelling on the title of a new thread, or deleting an obvious duplicate post, or moving a thread from one forum to another. I would guess that Atlas was much the same, with most of the moderation taking place in invisible or nearly invisible ways.
ken G, Read your post again. I think you answered your own question. Atlas has time for Facebook because they don't really have to deal with all the stuff concerning other companies and sometimes defending their actions. On Facebook they can have one dodo answering if necessary, or ignoring if necessary. Beyond what any of us may think about this, I believe it was the right decision for Atlas. I'm for anything that will make them concentrate on model railroading. Where's my N Shay? Jim:tb-err:
Yeah, no kidding. I am waiting on an unlettered version and the Eastside one. Keasey is going to look ridiculous without Shays bringing in the logs.
ken G, No worries. At least you know someone read your post! Adam, I have one I'm not using!:mbiggrin: Jim
