Just a quick note that this forum would not exist at all if it were not for Bob. He founded RyPN with help from Hume, and is still the Editor. I know I personally find most of his posts interesting.

I will confess that I first thought "who is this bobyar guy and what are all of these pictures?" Then I learned to skim over them on the index. Often, one of Bob's photos will stimulate a lengthy posting of general interest. The current discussion about the McCloud carbody is a good example. Thanks, Bob.

Wesley

The only danger I see with all the photo posts is the recent non-photo posts get pushed off the main page quickly and may never be seen.

What about adding a second board on this forum for photo links?

Currently there is a one-size-fits-all approach and we have one board. This is usally OK. The other extreme would be a series of sub-boards all the way down to a board discussing manufacturers of antimacassars...or perhaps the manufacturers of the grommets on the antimacassars. That would be bad! But, some basic sorting of posts might be good.

Erich

A seperate photo board would be fine but let's not become like those other sites that take three days to go through to see if there is anything you want to read.

Later!
Mr. Ed

I think Bob's post are right on target for a discussion board called Railway Preservation News.

If all the all the hot air generated in the 2100 threads on this board, and a couple others, could be jetted into the firebox of the 2100, it would have no trouble making it up the hill and would do so without a helper.

A few weeks back, I had to inform a young railfan that I wasn't interested in receiving his daily updates on the 2100. The GPR is a commercial operation and the 2100 is not historic to Tacoma, nor does it in anyway resemble the sort of power MLW used on that branch line. GPR is not currently working with any local preservation groups for mutual benefit (that I've heard about) either. So what's this got to do with railway history or preservation? Squat.

I personally would like to see the moderators evaluating posts and asking themselves, or the poster, what's this got to do with the core mission of this discussion board?

There are plenty of other places to post if you want to foam about all things railroad related. Let's try and restore this forum to a place where those involved, or interested in railway history and preservation can find, and build a community.

Bob, keep the photos and links coming.

Brian F

To the extent thatwe are discussing the operation of a steam locomotive 6 years into the 21st century, it is definitely preservation related, even if no Reading T-1 ever ran within 2000 miles of Tacoma in RDG service. I have been following this topic closely to see if a flame war would break out. I commend the posters on this board for not letting this thread turn into said flame war. The opinions have been strongly expressed, and equally strongly opposed, but as long as the topic stays on railroads, locomotives etc. and the dialogue stays civil, this Moderator will let it continue.

Kevin,
I thought this Thread was about Bob Yarger and the way he posts. I still feel that this topic is Off Topic and should be taken back channel.
I want to ask one Question. How Many people have volunteered to help Hume and the RYPN staff to implement any changes? I see a lot of suggetstions of what ought to be done but seen no posts that say "let me help".

Andrew

I cannot speak for Hume on this one. The simple answer is, I do not know how many people have volunteered their assistance. Perhaps Hume will answer our question.

The moderators all have lives beyond keeping up with this board. I don't think it ever was their intention to impose more than broad limits on its content either. Their interest is in allowing for the participants to create the topics, etc. without Big Brother getting involved, within very wide parameters. Asking them to take a proactive role in traffic-copping what topics, related to railway preservation, and within the unintrusive guidelines, would impose a burden on them that would result in burn out pretty fast.

I like the idea that we can decide what topics we want to communicate about without running it past somebody for approval.

I'd also welcome a seperate sub-board for photo links that don't result in discussion, sort of a gallery, but I don't know who would handle its technical requirements, or how, if it did engender discussion, it could be moved to the discussion board. I reckon somebody would have to join the team to manage it since Hume is pretty much handling the BIG tech stuff by himself, and can't be asked to spread himself thinner.

Meanwhile, I have some glass plate negatives I got many years ago at an auction, which show the boring side of a Shay among other things. If i can print and scan, perhaps somebody will recognise the location.

dave

I don't like these long threads, so this will be my last comment. I'll try to start combining photo links into smaller postings. I've tried this before, and have sometimes lost it all before it got posted, which makes the effort wasted. I'm only home every third night so don't have a lot of time for that.

By combining multiple subjects into one post, finding a particular photo may be harder using our search feature. If Hume wants to put photo links into a separate page, that's fine, but he has plenty to do already and his time is limited also. Remember, this is not the New York Times and you don't have to pay to visit here.

As I stated before, most everything I post a photo of is of something that still exists; if you want more background, I'll try to add a little. I realize not everyone may have perused the likes of Conrad (and Koenigsburg before that) as long as I have. A little nostalgia won't kill anybody, however, so there will be a few old photos that are just nice pictures, and they will be identified as such.

I have no intention to stop posting links to photos that I find somewhat relevant, and before anyone complains too much, they might remember the two persons that began this website. One was Hume Kading and I'll let you guess who the other one was...

Funny, I was discussing this with Tom Cornillie (pronounced Tom Cornay by the way) the other day.

The volunteers for the Interchange, i.e. the moderators have been awesome. For the Interchange I don't think this is an issue.

We have had good participation on doing Flimsies. Keith Albrandt did a great job but then went back to shcool and didn't have time. Boyd owens did a great job and then lost his job, and sort of fell off the radar. But he still pitches in occasionally. And, I can usually do Flimsies in 20-30 minutes during lunch or in the evening. However, we currently don't really have a Flimsies admin.

After that it falls off precipitously. There has been a significant decline in editorial content, i.e. the briefs, articles and editorials Part of this is due to people just find it easier to post stuff on the Interchange rather than take the slight extra time to polish it and make a brief. Although the articles dropped off the last few months I actually have a few in the queue now, just trying to find time to review and lay them out. We haven't had a new editorial in 2 years.

I tried to recruit help with the briefs with mixed results. Could really use like a retired english professor to proof them and check for correct punctuation and style. We have some fairly reliable and good sources for briefs, for which I am very grateful and appreciative, but I wish we had a broader cross section of what's out there sharing their projects and experiences with us.

Then there's the job of just running the website, the technical html, asp, php, etc. which is much more time consuming than I could have imagined when we started this. Big hurdle out of the way getting the consloidated interchange up and running. Now want to resurrect the Links (they work but the database hasn't been updated for over a year), and get the Timetable (acutally planning a more inclusive announcements board that will cover more than just events). And, I have a volunteer to administer these things if I get them working again (and he didn't get tired of waiting and disappear).

But, right now I am tied up preparing for the annual RyPN meeting where we make decisions regarding the website, it features and operations. Our board is small lean and mean, and it's that way because I've had experiences with large boards before and don't want to mess with it.

One of the new features I will propose, in addition to some other site tweaks, is a volunteer section, like some museums have in their newsletters. Could just be part of the new announcement section, or maybe a stand alone page.

So, like railroad museums it's been a mixed bag. We get some good people, and some people who mean well but either don't do anything or don't have the required skills set. I can pretty much do the tech stuff by myself, but be good to have a back up if I disappeared for some reason. Have a volunteer to do Links and the Timetable when I get them fixed. Need a full time Flimsies admin (and this is really not hard to do and doesn't take a lot of time).

Where we could use help big time is doing briefs and articles. But, this isn't for everyone. A certain level of proficiency in langauge and writing skill is required, plus we could use people who know html.

We have considered dropping the briefs and articles, but that's what the prime function of RyPN was in the beginning. Hard to let it go. But, it will probably be discussed again at the annual meeting.

Is that a long winded enough answer?

"We have considered dropping the briefs ..."
Please don't!

As you have seen by my posts, I do volunteer work at the PTHT museum restoring rolling stock, but that is on the weekends, usually a Saturday or Sunday but during the week I work out of my home and have some time in the morning and afternoon if I can of any assistance. But I must warn you that I am not that computer literate but maybe enough to help.

So having said that, let me know if I can be of any assistance. Feel free to contact me via e-mail address.

Later!
Mr. Ed

Allow me to second that. I find "Briefs" to be one of the most valuable facilities on all the rail web sites I visit on a regular basis. My heartfelt thanks to all involved in creating and maintaining this valuable resource.