I know this has been brought up before, but now might be the time to revisit the issue:

Would it be prudent to have a locomotive (or building, or even entire railroad) current events FAQ on the site. Something along the lines of a "Read this first" type of post, sticky-ed to the top of the page?

Could include the current status of 614, 4018, 2816, 3254, 3713, 611, 1218, 819, 1522, 2100, 2102, 290, 643, 1361, The East Broad Top etc... No rumors, just facts, such as location, last operated, physical condition and so on.

Of course if anything new comes to light people could post about it, whereas the "what's the latest" posts can be quickly dispensed with. Would not make discussion of these locomotives taboo by any means. I enjoy the recollections, technical questions and so on as I'm sure everyone else does.

I'd happily compose it myself. Just a thought.

Dave

I have provided a draft copy of a permanent sticky FAQ to the moderators on several occasions that includes an FAQ for repetitive inquiries and other links. So far there has been no response.

I have also suggested splitting RyPN into three sub-interchange boards: Active Preservation, Mainline Information, and a Water cooler section for foaming. This was successfully done at steamboats.org a few years ago and cleaned up a lot of the issues we are having with the current format at RyPN.

Wesley

I like both of those ideas!

Not a bad idea. Then when new people come on to ask about favorite locomotive X or "why don't they ... ?" We can all reply "Take it to the cooler," or "you'll find it in the cooler." :) Sounds a bit more polite than some of the other replies I have read here and elsewhere.

Here is my initial proposal for an FAQ sticky. I think it could be expanded to include links to relevant Dead Horse discussions on PRR 1361, B&LE 643, NKP 759, RDG 210x and others.

Wesley

We could call it the "Dead Horse Saloon."

dave

I really like Rypn. I have enjoyed reading and posting here since I first became a member, with my old user name back around 2002 (I think it's been that long). That being said I think there is something fairly straightforward that could be done to improve it, and if someone in charge wanted to see it happen, I suppose I could help implement it.
Right now we have essentially have two forum categories: Classifieds and Interchange.
Classifieds is pretty straightforward. If you have something you'd like to buy, sell, or a service you require or offer, you put it here. I'd say that this is not very controversial because it is clearly functional and everyone is happy with it.
Interchange, on the other hand takes in everything else, and can become overwhelming, especially if you are looking for information on sources for reproduction lighting for a ca. 1915 Pullman built coach but have to sift through posts on such and such a steam locomotive, or where a certain piece of equipment now is or what its status is. Sometimes, folks from the various disciplines of railway preservation become frustrated because they do not want to sift through the "other stuff".
Therefore I propose that the Interchange be broken into the following subcategories:

I. Restoration Techniques- This covers actual processes relating to our field. So a "restoration of B&M 3713 thread would not be appropriate here, but a thread on the disassembly and and restoration of a Franklin booster, or fabrication of thermic siphons would be appropriate.

II. Preservation/Collection Philosophy- discussions relating to what and how we preserve and exhibit railroad related items.

III. Current project information/updates- i.e. The Catskill Mountain Railroad thread, or the BLW 26 thread. A place for folks to go regarding information regarding current projects.

IV. Archival Resources and Information- Photographs, the thread on the Chicago railroad fair. Any reproductions of paper materials, unless it is specifically relevant to another discussion.

V. Humor/Other-Put the funny stuff and the stuff that applies specifically to railfans here. I suppose the info on dead horse style locomotives would wind up here too.

Just an idea, but one that I think might benefit everyone.

Stephen Piwowarski