Once again, steamlocomotive.info has reached a decision point. Our hosting bill comes due in a few days and I cannot afford to pay it. So, if you'd like to see us continue with the site, please visit www.steamlocomotive.info and click on the Donate button. It would be greatly appreciated. All funds donated will go directly to the hosting bill. Last time, two years ago, we were able to pay for two years of hosting.

Thanks in advance for your consideration.

Our hosting bill is $275.00/year

I'm with several groups that I could talk into paying the whole thing, or even for a software update as well.....

.... as long as it's administered by a registered non-profit.

As with RyPN, this would be a good mission for the national NRHS or R&LHS, or one of the museums with a national scope (like Museum of Transportation, IRM, etc.) to take on. (At least in this case, there's a human to address about the issue...)

Are you quite confident then, that I'm human?

And Alexander, I'm quite curious, what manner of software update would you like to see? I have asked this question frequently, have implemented a few suggestions, but have never really received any substantive input as to what should be changed, and why?

Enlighten me, if you would. I'm planning a very large number of software updates/changes but am doing so in a vacuum. Perhaps I should describe my planned changes on RyPN to see what input others might have.

I'm very open to suggestions.

Doug
If I had and address i would send a check.
Al Zubal

I can call in a favor and have a coder I've worked with and am beer-drinking buddies with run RyPN through his battery of computers--he has computers running not only every imaginable operating system and browser of every vintage, but analytical software looking for coding errors.

I can report myself that using Firefox with Windows 7 Pro, I repeatedly (daily) have Interchange pages that refuse to load, or only load partially, sometimes requiring as many as ten or twenty reloads to finally download. I haven't encountered this with Chrome, but I have reasons to sidestep Google if I have the choice, and my wife uses the Chrome browser here in part to keep things segregated between her work and mine. The first two folks I've run this by have suggested "the phpBB software is outdated," but they're not making high five figures cracking code like the other guy I suggested.

Besides which, there are at least two other commercial programmers that are regulars here that could be called upon to assist.

I'm quite happy with the way the website is now and with the way Mr. Bailey runs it. I don't see a problem with tossing a few bucks his way every now and again to pay for it's maintenance. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Agreed! It works fine just the way it is.
I find Mr. Bailey's site to be much more user friendly than "steamlocomotive.com."

I wish I could donate, but I don't have a credit card, debit card, or a Paypal. Sorry! How far along are you in having enough money to pay the bill?

Good Morning Doug:
I have made a donation, however Sandy is right: the website would be better off, especially in the long term, administered by a non-profit.
Perhaps there is one out there that would allow you to continue to run the site. It wouldn't hurt to look...
Be well,
J.David

Running Win 7 x64 (Pro) here with latest Firefox v65. I've encountered no issues or hiccups with RyPn Interchange or SteamLocomotive.info pages loading in the recent past. Your mileage may vary. Might be an individual issue.

That's great and all, but that still doesn't answer Mr. Bailey's simple 2-part question:

Words cannot express how grateful I am for the kind donations. Our hosting bill is now paid through March of 2023. No more donations are necessary. Your kindness has been overwhelming. Shortly I will be posting material about what I'm planning to add to the site. I'll also be asking for peoples' opinions.

I am honored and humbled and delighted.

Thanks for making an old guy's day much brighter!

Doug

I do think that the site would probably be better off, in the long term, administered by a non-profit. Whether there is one, out there, that would or could do it justice is open to question. I do not mean to say that I've done even a good job with the site, because I have not. If I try to look at the site from the point of view of someone else who would have to maintain it, I get a bit queasy. This is because, in the early stages of the site, I never thought about what might happen if someone else had to maintain it. It uses an uncommon programming language (Coldfusion) and is database driven.

I have extensive plans for making the thing easier to maintain, easier to support and so on. And am setting out, rather like Don Quixote, to slay the site's demons.

Might not be a bad thought to put a PayPal donation link on the page. I'd be more then happy to pitch I to keep it going