There's been a whole lot of discussion about a "railfanning" section of RYPN, and I swore I saw a link to it for a day. If it exists, could there be a sticky to get me there, or if it doesn't exist, can there be a note to that effect.

If it is just a matter of resetting my cookies on by browser, well I can do that if the section even exists!

Otherwise it would be nice to put the whole idea behind us and not talk about what never was.

Thanks, to whomever, in advance.

Michael Seitz
Missoula MT

It does not show up on the home page. When on the Interchange board, click on Board Index above the moderators names and it is listed.
Mike Tillger

The category does not show up unless you are logged into the forum. Once you are logged in, it will show up on the main index page.

index.php

The easiest way to see if there's any activity is to log in and then click "View Active Topics". If there are active topics in the Foamfest err "Railfanning" area, they'll appear in the list.

Stop kidding yourselves.
Seriously, there is more Railfanning on Interchange than
there is Real Preservation News.
Just stating the Obvious.

If it's obvious, why bother stating it? What benefit comes from your remarks?

Bob,
Agreed, I think opening the new section is part of an effort to reorient the culture here on rypn. I think it will help and we can all help by redirecting threads with an eye to preservation as necessary. It's just an excercise in self-moderation.
Steve

Ahh, my problem is that I am always logged in and take a direct link to the Interchange board--so miss out on all the fun. The tip of using the "view active topics" button is probably most useful--if I wander over to that part of the board.

Michael Seitz
Missoula MT

It's a good idea but not sure why it's not more obvious and accessible to non-members or not-logged-in who may just want to read.

Steve

The plan is to get it up on the top menu with Classifieds and Interchange, as soon as our Webmaster, David Collison has time to do the work.

There's also a "Jump to" box at the bottom of the page that one can use to scroll to the railfan page. As long as we're discussing the matter, on another thread I mentioned how I went from "preservation volunteer" to "railfan", whilst most of my colleagues went the other way. One of the gripes that "preservationists" have is that many of the "railfans" are never seen when there's work to be done or money to be gathered, but show up just in time for the first run of the steam locomotive after a major overhaul, or to ride the streetcar restored from "chicken coop" condition after years of painstaking effort. Then the "fans" in this category bellyache about how the color is wrong or complain about a minor change necessary to deal with 21st Century realities.

1. When you log in, be sure to tick "Log me in automatically each visit".*

2. Go to the top of the page, second line, where it says Board Index < Railway Preservation News < Interchange. Click Railway Preservation News.

3. Click "Railfanning".

* What this really does is make your login last forever, instead of 45 minutes.


Absolutely. You have to admit it would be one hell of a steam railfanning board, what with luminaries like Ross Rowland, John Rimmasch and the masters of Strasburg and Henry Ford posting regularly and ready to answer any steam question. Heck, it'd be the mother of all railfanning boards.

That's exactly what RyPN has been turning into over the past several years.

And that's actually a problem, as has been widely discussed in other threads. Railfanning is off-topic for RyPN interchange (sorry!) and my guess is the "railfanning" forum is meant to give those discussions somewhere to go that is not here. RyPN doesn't want to enter the railfan discussion board business. It wants to exit that business. They don't want the railfanning board becoming the reason to join RyPN. So making it members only makes sense.