State of the forum

[Pretoria]

Hi all, it's a long time since I've posted here, and I guess I should be honest and own up why.

I was originally encouraged to sign up as it was an "Any Scale, Any Gauge" Forum.   I knew that it was primarily 16mm, but 5" gauge (my interest) was welcomed -- as long as it was primarily "garden" related.

I enjoyed the banter and, although I am not particularly into 16mm, I felt I could contribute to steam or technical engineering issues, as well as adding some humour (debatable) and interest in one of the larger scales.

However, whilst there was a positive response to 5" stuff in my earlier days, the site became increasingly and exclusively (aggressively ?) 16mm and my later posts went unanswered and, I felt, unwanted.  So, to put it simply -- I gave up with it.  Which is a shame as I enjoyed my earlier involvement.

This is a bit sad as there are no other Fora which deal with miniature railways in the same way.  With the way it has gone, perhaps the "Any Scale, Any Gauge" badge should be taken out ?

[laalratty]

This is a bit sad as there are no other Fora which deal with miniature railways in the same way.  With the way it has gone, perhaps the "Any Scale, Any Gauge" badge should be taken out ?

Suppose it is about time I jumped into this thread, a lot of valid points made and it made me notice that I was taking the forum for granted a bit myself really, although the general downfall over the last 12 months has other factors I think.
Sorry to hear that you feel the way you do Trefor, we do seem to have an excessively 16mm slant but I've always been interested in any 5 inch gauge topic that you've posted on. I would like to keep the any gauge and any scale banner in the hope of encouraging more diversity, although saying that I posted a lot of photos of a 5 inch gauge line I visited at the end of October on here, and got very few responses

[Mrs F Controller]

Well, you have stirred everyone up Narrowminded! I'd better add to this before you all decide I've left too! I don't post that often because a lot of threads are either subjects I haven't a clue what you're all on about or I have no real opinion on. But, when I have looked atwhats going on on the forum I have always found it helpful or supportive. Yes, I do find it rather 'cliquey' for some things but I am old enough to know that you get a group of like minded people together that will happen in almost any hobby. As a woman I do find the hobby rather lonely and I know my slant on it is probably unusual but I have never found the forum at all discriminatory which is great. What more can I say, it's the only forum I have stayed with for any length of time certainly better than the yahoo one. Also, the MPLR has got a Facebook page but I don't tend to use it I find it too awkward, I do have a private FB page but that's for my family and personal friends only and my other hobby ballet!

[MDLR]

I do have a private FB page but that's for my family and personal friends only and my other hobby ballet!

May I enquire if you still dance?

[Busted Bricks]

Would a simple solution be to add a sub-forum for ride-on scales? I'd love to see/read more about the larger scales.

If I was to embark on building a garden railway I would probably opt for 7-8ths. I know there is a dedicated forum for that but they tend to take things a bit too serious for my liking on the forum. I take the word "scale" very lightly and looks-about-right is good enough for me (as those familiar with my designs will know). From what I see, many others on here have the same approach which is what I enjoy about this forum.

[Vapouriser]

There is nothing like this forum I ve ever come across. Between the 16 mm Association and this there isnt anything else I need really. Sometimes enthusiasm gets the better of newcomers but they soon get over it.I for one will only use 'our'Mamod section on principle. Unnecessary dilution causes weakness. No point in it. Had a facebook account once for astronomy , Indian Enfields and a charity site. Never liked using it and deleted it when I started recieving unwanted emails. I discovered after all my efforts at privacy they had my email on public view. Had to delete that too. Stuff 'em! My iphone seems to have settled down to being useable at last, its all I use. Just dont start me on computers. Awful things.

[bessytractor]

Hi all, it's a long time since I've posted here, and I guess I should be honest and own up why.

I was originally encouraged to sign up as it was an "Any Scale, Any Gauge" Forum.   I knew that it was primarily 16mm, but 5" gauge (my interest) was welcomed -- as long as it was primarily "garden" related.

I enjoyed the banter and, although I am not particularly into 16mm, I felt I could contribute to steam or technical engineering issues, as well as adding some humour (debatable) and interest in one of the larger scales.

However, whilst there was a positive response to 5" stuff in my earlier days, the site became increasingly and exclusively (aggressively ?) 16mm and my later posts went unanswered and, I felt, unwanted.  So, to put it simply -- I gave up with it.  Which is a shame as I enjoyed my earlier involvement.

This is a bit sad as there are no other Fora which deal with miniature railways in the same way.  With the way it has gone, perhaps the "Any Scale, Any Gauge" badge should be taken out ?

you have more or less summed up what I was trying to put down into words. I come from 7 1/4" gauge though I do play with 16mm scale, I too found a marked disinterest in what I had to say and also gave up. I'm more than happy to look at what others do though.

[bessytractor]

Would a simple solution be to add a sub-forum for ride-on scales? I'd love to see/read more about the larger scales.

good shout!

[Pretoria]

Would a simple solution be to add a sub-forum for ride-on scales? I'd love to see/read more about the larger scales.

good shout!

Nooooooooooooooooo !!

Surely that just creates even more division. Or are you suggesting that there should be separate sections for 32mm & 45mm gauges too ??

I too enjoyed looking at others work/railways etc. I just could not get on with what (at that time) seemed to be an aggressively 16mm bias to the exclusion of other interests. I've not been following for some months -- maybe those individuals have "done their bit" and moved on? I have looked at other Fora -- but they suffer from segregation which clearly doesn't work. So I would suggest keeping it together, but we need to get back to the spirit of community that there was a year or so back. Don't let the few ruin it for everyone else.

[TommyDodd]

Just way too busy these days with young family life & access to the site via mobile phone (which is what I usually only have when I get time) is painful to say the least. I use FB as it's easier & works well on my phone hence I publish & comment more on that these days. Been meaning to get back on here but everytime I do I seem to spend ages back reading stuff to get up to speed.

That is the beauty and the trouble with this place. Even when the big trains keep you too busy to spend time with the little ones, content keeps appearing and the longer you're away, the longer it takes to get back up to speed so eventually all your net-time is spent reading and there's no time left to post- not that there's much to write about if you're too busy for garden or workshop activities.

and my later posts went unanswered and, I felt, unwanted.

There's no "like" button in here. I don't do 5" and have no experience of building, owning or operating in that world- which means that I have nothing useful to contribute to such a discussion beyond a vague, bland "nice". It doesn't mean I'm not interested, just not knowledgeable enough to have anything to add. I would click the "like" button if there was one.

Taking the forum as a whole, while it welcomes all interests, ages and levels of ability the 20/80 (the 20% of the membership that provides 80% of the useful content) were a bunch of younger lads (mostly) of similar levels of experience, ability, £ resources and outlook. That gave the forum a homogenous and friendly feel- even to us older farts- as well as giving us an optimistic feeling about the future of the hobby; it's in here and it's looking good. But time moves on, and so do people. As your abilities and resources have matured, some of you have gone on to other things, others to great things (eyes Zach's trophy cabinet) but the common thread is that you're not the same raw beginners anymore. You have changed, and the feel of the forum has slowly subtly changed too. The goalposts have moved; the knowledge base is bigger and standards are higher. While this is a good thing overall, it may be that the place doesn't seem quite as beginner-friendly as it once did.

Any hobby magazine editor (at least any good one) will tell you that you can't repeat the basics too often, and you have to make a conscious effort to do that. It's easy to assume that "everyone knows" something but beginners don't: that's what makes them beginners. Of course a magazine has an editor with some control over what makes it into print and can ask for (or commission) articles especially for beginners. The forum has no editor. With very few exceptions whatever gets put up stays up forever. There is no "they" providing the content so it's up to us, ALL of us. This is both liberating and intimidating (at least to me; I'm happy to chitchat on FB or 16mmngm but feel that a post here should at least be moderately useful, so say nothing if I've nothing in particular to say).

Practical suggestions for newb-friendliness

Some of you do these already, and I'm not offering these as rules, just things to bear in mind when posting.

1) There is no such thing as a dumb question. It's easy to say but hard to put into practice, when confronted with the 32/45 question or tap-water debates for the umpteenth time. Just remember that there was a time when you and I didn't know this stuff either. And for any lurkers or new garden railwayers reading this, you don't have to be an expert to contribute. A good question IS a contribution, and an excellent one at that. Anything that promotes constructive debate and discussion is worthwhile.

2) To err is human, to share is brilliant. It's a good feeling to complete a project and share your achievement with the world, but if we fill our pages with pictures of shiny magnificence and epic achievement there is a risk of painting a false picture of the hobby. An unremitting stream of perfection may seem off-putting to someone unsure which way round to fit the blade in a hacksaw and too embarrassed to ask. The US comic "Garden Railways" has as its last page feature Things I wish I'd Known in which each month somebody shares a mistake they made or a pitfall they discovered the hard way. It is a difficult thing to do, sharing an embarrassing mistake with the world (especially an expensive one), but there is no greater service you can perform for your fellow hobbyists than sharing your experience and helping them avoid the mistakes you made. Remember that the man who never made any mistakes never made anything, and next time you share an achievement think "warts and all" when writing it up.

3) In-jokes are fun. Sometimes one word is enough to make everyone laugh if it refers to some person or event that everyone knows. But not everyone does know- if you "had to be there" then to anyone who wasn't there you might as well be speaking Bulgarian. Keep using them, of course, but keep in mind who will be reading apart from the guys who were 'there'.

[Peter Butler]

Well scripted Tommy... I think that should explain the situation and bring the discussion to a close now.
Times and people will inevitably change and nothiing stays the same indefinately... like it or not! Unless we all acccept change and move with it, perhaps influencing it where we feel capable, then some may see the only way out is to leave. This is a shame as the best encouragement to new users comes from the most experienced and those seem to be the ones who are least satisfied.
I still think FB has a detrimental effect on 'visitor numbers' as it clearly divides the total potential active membership of this forum.