From the EBT Facebook page:



https://www.facebook.com/ebtrr/videos/1 ... &__tn__=-R

Use this link will get to the East Broad Top Railroad (fan group) Facebook page and you will not also get other video feeds:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/123193174881872/

And the link below gets you to the East Broad Top Facebook page (the actual railroad's account):

https://www.facebook.com/ebtrr/

Great to see real progress at EBT. I don't see any crossties in either photo. Are the rails just sitting on the ground?

Wish folks would stop using Facebook to post. Some of us refuse to become a member due for many reasons.

Firstly, there's usually not a requirement to join Facebook in order to view photos or videos like this that are directly linked - you typically need to only be a user in order to post comments on the videos. If you wanted to remain particularly anonymous, you could use any one of a number of free email providers to create a new email address that's not associated with any of your usual addresses or personal information. Using that, you could simply create a fake account on Facebook. Use the fake email address, make the profile picture a photo of your favorite train, animal, tree, ANYTHING that's not you. Then voila! You have full access and interactivity to these sorts of posts without Facebook knowing anything about YOU.

Secondly, the fact of the matter is that social media is the easiest way to get these kinds of materials out to the public quickly and efficiently. I hate to say it, but if you simply refuse to adapt to modern times and solutions, you're going to be left behind in today's society.

Exactly this. Yes, Facebook is a cesspool, but it's a very crowded cesspool.

Since that track probably last saw a section gang in 1956 (64 years ago) or earlier, it would be a minor miracle if there were any ties. I guess that the trees provide enough shade to avold sun kinks here. Some spots down the line have the rails snaking all over the place.

I wonder if the rails, after decades half buried in that mulch, will even be salvageable, or whether they will be corroded away too much at the base to be used.

I am perfectly happy to be left behind and NOT a part of today’s society.

Keith

Well, you may be perfectly fine with the idea, but it wouldn’t be smart for the organizations to do so. It just helps a lot more for organizations such as the EBT to gain a presence in social media when advertisement on billboards alone and not letting people know who can’t be there what’s going on isn’t going to cut it.

The Nevada Northern is the prime example of an organization that has used Social media for their immense benefit. They’re not within close distance to really anywhere, and they’ve made an identity for themselves in social media, to the degree where they have over 100,000 likes on Facebook. For a tourist railroad in the literal middle of nowhere (people say that about the EBT, but it applies even more so here) this is extremely beneficial for an organization that would have to depend on conversation for ridership.

Getting back on topic, I and thousands of others are always very excited when the EBT posts a video or a series of photos letting us who can’t visit know what’s going on, even if Facebook is a can of worms.

The usual problem I have with Facebook as a non subscriber is that even when the content is "Public" I get a popup that covers over half of the screen demanding I log in or create an account. I can make it cover only the bottom quarter of the screen for awhile, but sooner or later it blows back up again demanding to see my papers.

If that's the experience you want the general public to have at your site, then so be it.

Brian

The invention of social media, like almost every new invention, has its good and bad points. This RYPN forum has to run on a server somewhere. It requires a domain name, an administrator and technical maintenance from time to time. It also needs to be regularly backed up. All this requires hardware, software, technical expertise and of course, money. Most railway preservation groups just can't afford to go that route.

Facebook, on the other hand, does not require the expense and technical know-how to set up a group. In about a half-hour, you can be in business and not have to worry about the technical details. Best part -- it's FREE, but does come with ads just like TV. I follow several Facebook groups including the EBT group. I have found lots of interesting rail preservation facts on Facebook that I never would have found out any other way - and in real-time. Print media might highlight the story in a couple of months after the fact.

So....my decision is to overlook the negatives of social media to gain the positives. Your mileage (and decision) may vary.

Within that context, the entire concept of "preservation" is completely pointless.

Nevada Norther is a great example of how to social media properly. Their cat has memes on the non-railroad internet of it. He pops up in my mechanic feeds all the time, all linking back to Nevada Northern. People who never even knew what a railroad was, know if it from Dirt.

I received an email from an FEBT member this morning with the "straight skinny".

Well it looks like a spike is visible in the bottom of the second pic. Or it might be a gauge rod, which would be even better.