I miss articles and briefs. I used to contribute some when I was in the business full time, have not had anything to contribute in the past few years. Perhaps more people could write about their projects, technical issues and solutions, project and museum management practices, etc.

dave

I second what Dave said. The articles and briefs are what attracted me to RYPN. Some of the reports from Strasburg, Wasatch, 4501 and others seem more suited for the briefs section. And I'd like to read articles about the various restorations going on. With all of the steam locomotives coming back to life, this is an exciting time to write about.

I'll third Dave. I learn something new almost every time I check in, and the longer, more detailed articles are something I've been missing for some time. They were what attracted me to this site to start with.

The last discussion in 2012 went on for 5 pages.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=33418&hilit=collison

Wesley

It has been my request in the past that we have a space on RYPN dedicated to vendors and vendors advertisements. I would be more than happy to make a sizable donation for a small banner on the top of the page and would love to see all of us who do this for a living have a chance to have a banner. Smokstak.com does this and it makes enough money to maintain the page and leave a few $$$'s left over.

I am most sure TVRM, Burg and others would pitch in as well!

I know we don't want to turn this into an ad campaign, but I think it could be tastefully and effectively done for both parties.

Happy Holidays,

JohnE.

The idea of advertisements on RYPN is a bad idea. RYPN needs to be a place where ideas and issues are discussed and financial influences of the site by those with an agenda could greatly undermine any objectivity. Even the appearance of such potential conflicts would not be good.

Respectfully
Robby Peartree

I think the forum + a blog/Wordpress style front-end would go a long way to helping articles, discussion, and the posting/sharing of other news items. RYPN has the content and conversation, but I still feel lacks a really streamlined user experience that would be as helpful/informative to regulars as it could be to others. There's probably also a way to combine user databases from the php forum software with Wordpress logins to make it easy to enable discussion/commentary on articles and news items.

Be willing to look into it.

KL

Cant tell you how many times we used this page in the UK .... a great idea for RYPN and no banner ads or anything annoying like that.

http://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/blueb ... upply.html

and just look at the amazing information and technical assistance here..

http://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/blueb ... _tech.html

Mike Pannell

In order for RYPN to be able to host articles, it first needs the staff and support to maintain them on the site. We already determined in several previous discussions that there is presently no such capability on board. Note that several of the existing articles on RYPN have lost their photo links, and that condition has existed for several years now. There have been no new additions to the articles section posted since 2008.

The authors seek out the publishers and websites that can properly present articles. You would not expect them to send their work to an organization that cannot maintain what it already has.

PC

I'm not doing anything interesting any more, but I'm happy to help writers build their contributions if I can.

dave

Though I have only been in the rail preservation field for 6 years, I visit the site at least once everyday. I too would like to see RYPN grow and flourish. Admittedly, I do not know much of anything about the history of RYPN, though I have heard things about pront copies and a large shutdown, etc. Perhaps its for the better that I do not know exactly what happened.

Still, I would like to see some of the other sections of RYPN come back to life, such as the articles, briefs, and reviews sections. I think having a dedicated, searchable photo gallery might be a good idea too, similar to what railroadforums.com has.

I am a Digital Technology & Culture student at WSU right now. I am no stranger to graphic design, and I have worked some with CSS. At the same time, my entire high school career and my first two years of Community College were spent writing polished essays, creative non fiction, and the like, so I am no stranger to producing written content. If there is any way I could help RYPN, whether by submitting content, helping with a site redesign, or anything else, moderators, please feel free to PM me.

--Drew Black

There was a Board of Directors for RYPN and they did accept tax deductible donations. It was the threat of a lawsuit that caused all of the then directors to resign, leaving RYPN in a kind of auto pilot.

Director and Officer insurance exists, but I guess the question is if such a policy would protect a future RYPN Board of Directors against personal liability should a future lawsuit arise about content on this site, moderator actions (inactions), etc. If potential board members could be reasonably assured of personal protection then you could entertain accepting donations and thus activate briefs, articles and editorials on this site. Someone with practical legal experience would need to weigh in on whether such a policy exists and would be adequate to breathe life into RYPN.

I recall sending a check to support RYPN about five years ago. I think it went to someone I knew from Orange Empire, and he wasn't sure what to do with it. It may have been sent back to me, but again, this was five years ago. The site as it's currently constituted seems to attract a fair amout of traffic, and the addition of the "Railfanning" category provides an outlet for commentary that members want to share but is somewhat removed from actual preservation. I had been wondering why there's not been a request for donations to help keep the site going; should the need arise, I'm sure that most of us, myself included, are willing to "feed the kitty".

It isn't dead; it just sort of morphed into a less serious, more foamy hobby board. One owner with the assistance of volunteer moderators seems to be handling things as well as they need to be handled - these guys do a fine job and I thank them for their efforts.

Good, serious articles might not be a good fit for the newer loss of focus readership. If that's why we haven't had any for a while.......well, then we are getting what we deserve. If we don't like it, those of us (not including me any more, unfortunately) with interesting projects to display and techniques to share can still submit them.

I've also noticed the threads that start with an exploration of a serious technical nature go off track and die, or get shunted onto a spur of personalities and irrational reaction.

The days of good information might be over. It's up to you.

dave

Exactly Dave, it's almost six years since an article has been posted on RYPN. If the site is in fact able to accept and post articles (questionable), then new ones could have been posted anytime during that interval that anybody wanted to take the time and effort to write.

PC