http://www.trainboard.com/highball/index.php?conversations/add to start a new conversation. Note that what were formerly called "private messages" are now "conversations" and may include multiple people. See the link "Inbox" near the upper right hand corner of the page. Clicking on that will get you moving in the right direction. Likewise, you may click on a person's avatar and in the box that pops up, "Start a conversation" is one of the options. Charlie