In the below thread "strange restoration project", Greg Schultz & Ross Rowland (perhaps others) have hammered into Steamtown bashing mode. With Mr. Rowland, the complaint is almost always the same (Steamtown sucks, wastes money and I could do it better, based upon the results of some secret analysis).

On the other hand, others have asked some hard hitting questions about Mr. Rowland, generally along the these lines: operating practices, care of equipment, relations with railroads and the lack of any long term operation managed by Ross. We know have a new criticism, that money on the order of 40 million bucks- used to restore an engine for the veterans would be best spent to help the vets directly. I've seen a lot of these posts disappear or get banned as flaming. Maybe it is, but we certainly know what Ross thinks of Steamtown already.

Does Ross have some special privilidge to beat the h-e-two sticks out of Steamtown but never have any questions asked of his career?

How about a year long moratorium on Steamtown and Ross? Both topics have been beaten to death!

I will take exception with your post and reference to me - the subject of my post was use of tax dollars in rail preservation. I have a problem with ANY operation the government is involved in. Don't take taxes from my paycheck - my hard earned wages and use it in any form that benefits only a few. Don't take it as Steamtown bashing, take it as government waste bashing. I have a very good friend who works for the Social Security Administration and I know how much mismanagement and waste there is in the government.

When it comes to railway preservation, I suppose this is a relevent place to discuss the issue.


Greg Schultz

edited to add: I have many friends in this industry whom rely on grants both corporate and federal (ISTEA) to fund their projects - believe me I see both sides of the issue. Again, please understand, I did not mean to bash Steamtown directly. When I visited, I thoroughly enjoyed it and found it to be a nice facility.

As the one who deleted some of the posts on the "Strange Restoration" thread, please let me respond for the moderators. I deleted the posts because they called Ross Rowland's integrity into question.

My charge as a moderator is to keep personal flames off the board. Ross gets no free pass from me or any other moderator. As a team we have zero tolerance for personal attacks on members of this forum.

The poster crossed the line when he inferred that the whole purpose of the restoration was to get someone else to pay for the restoration of C&O 614. I considered this to be a personal attack on Mr. Rowland's integrity, and that is why I deleted the post.

IMHO, I have not lost my sense of fairness. As a team the moderators welcome a wide free wheeling exchange of opinions. But when a person's personal integrity is attacked we have no choice but to intervene.

Very good question. Why is it that Ross can bash the hell out of who ever he wants, Steamtown, etc. While someone can not question HIS actions.

More or less I can sum it up this way. Ross, likes to take it out on other operations since he can't play mr.engineer on the 614 anymore.

Ross has an problem with bashing other people or operations that are out trying to do something atleast, while he sits on his ass and complains about everything.

I don't know what his real problem is but, it needs to stop. It's getting childish. If Ross wants to see such major changes made at Steamtown, why doesn't he get off his ass and try to help.

Anyone want to bet, "blueflag" is Ross?

- Switchman

Point well taken. As a group we moderators are protective of other members of the forum. We are less so with people outside of this group. I shall rethink when to delete a post that is imflamatory to someone outside this forum.

Please note the above flame from switchman. I believe there are several violations contained in the post.

Thank you.

John Bohon

Hello all,

If you have an issue with how this board is moderated, I would very much appreciate it if you would send it to me directly . A few weeks ago I sent my fellow board members and the CEO a letter about moderating policies - and it is something that I will be following up with soon (deadlines for other projects have intervened in the process).

In any case, I would be very interested in hearing your issues as they would help me to better understand how others view the management of this board - and what room there may be for improvement.

For the sake of clarity I request that you be as specific as possible. If you have questions about specific threads or decisions, please link directly to them in the letter. Also, please use my e-mail link.

Tom Cornillie

Gentlemen, May I respectfully request some civility here? Once again we're facing the degridation of this very valuable forum by the rantings of a tiny minority of uncivil,irrational posters, as usual hiding behind phony names.
As many of you are aware this same foolishness grew like a cancer on the Chaski board and for all practical purposes killed that board totally. Last time I looked it was practically deserted. Fortunatly the difference here is that RyPN has a team of dedicated, effective(and fair) moderators who I am confident will not let this board implode as did Chaski's totally ineffective moderator.
When the RyPn board meets may I respectfully suggest they consider suspending and if need be expelling those who choose to flagrantly violate both the written rules of engagement and the common sense rules of politeness?
Trust me when I share with you that I developed a thick skin a long time ago and the childish personal attacks such as those above really do roll of my back. There's something about this steam thing that produces a tiny but vocal minority of wanna-be's and that's the way it is.
As for Steamtown-we've sure covered that to death and nothings going to change there until/unless the Feds get gone and that ain't likely.
Let's all support our moderators and help as best we can get rid of the few bad apples!
Respectfully, Ross Rowland

May I quote specifically from the RYPN Guidelines "Defining what constitutes uncourteous, uncivil, or unconstructive speech, and deciding when continued discussion of a subject is no longer constructive, shall be within the sole discretion of the moderators. They " The Interchange's primary purpose is to facilitate the exchange of information, advice, and suggestions, not to serve as a forum for debate. "

and

"Polite, constructive criticism, and polite responses to same, are acceptable. Insulting or inflammatory language; argument and debate for their own sake; and personal attacks on other posters ("flaming") are all prohibited."

With that out of the way, let me quote directly a post made on Monday, July 24, 2006

"I think they did very well to get even that reduced number of people when you consider the fares/slow speed running,paucity of steam and unremarkable scenery.
I wonder what caused Jerry Jacobson to boycott the entire affair? Seems very odd that he'd totally avoid a national convention on HIS railroad? I'm sure we'll learn why sooner or later.
Congratulations to all those involved for a safe operation!"

The full link to the post is here http://rypn.sunserver.com/forum/viewtopic.php?topic_view=threads&p=90170&t=21023

This post, which most people probably ignored, seems to me to violate the RYPN terms of use/Guidelines. It is a veiled compliment, but if you really read it, all it does is disparage OC, Jerry Jacobson, and the scenery of central Ohio. Moreover, it causes unfounded speculation, making the reader think something is amiss, when no supporting facts are presented. Yes, there is a "vocal minority" out there of "wanna-bes." I sometimes wonder if they know who they are.

Though I made no public announcement at the time, this might be a good moment to mention that two weeks ago I put into true effect my resignation from moderating the Interchange.

I am no longer participating in the management of the Interchange, and the moderating team in its entirety is composed of the three official moderators listed on the masthead.

Kindly direct any questions and concerns to one of the listed moderators (with perhaps a cc to RyPN Board Member Tom Cornille as he requested). Thanks to all for your support during my time in that sometimes taxing position.

May I respectfully state that the Chaski board also now has a team of highly effective moderators?
It is not the same Chaski board that it was two years ago.
chaskimoderator

Gentlemen,
This topic is basically rehashing the same ground as the previous topic which has already been locked. May I respectfully submit to all of you that you're (a) beating a dead horse, and (b) the inevitable result will be a locking of another topic.

As has happened so many times in the past, both Mr Rowland's activities as well as those of Steamtown have provided far too much fuel for the flaming fires. Opinions will differ and vary, there really isn't much else that can be said. Having said that, opinions can be expressed with a sense of honor, and respect, even if those opinions are against stated views.

We're here to express our ideas, voice our concerns, and share information. If a thread is locked, or postings deleted because one or more people can not adhere to the rules, it basically defeats the purpose of the whole thing to begin with.

Let's all take a deep breath, and let it out slowly..........