John Oxlade(EMail: [email protected]) from Salfords, Surrey, UK on Jun 2 2000, 11:30
asked: Requests for additions to www.worldrailfans.org
Use this page to make requests for new articles or information to be included on the site.
Please note that this will require people to offer to write articles too, not just keep asking for them.
John
Mario Esteves(EMail:[email protected]) from Portugal on Jun 2 2000, 11:52
responded: Dear John,
I believe there's lack of information (As far as I know)about
German industries, light or heavie one's and places where they are located.
Maybe if you have a dedicated page wich concentrates all the information
about this subject we all could learn a little more about Germany and operate our layouts in a different way.
All the best,
Mario
John Oxlade(EMail:[email protected]) from Salfords, Surrey, UK on Jun 2 2000, 11:57
responded: Possibly a bit of an after-thought on my part, but so I don't get flooded with requests from individuals, how about we put in a "rule" that says a request will only be considered if another person "seconds" the request?
I'll still need people to write most of this stuff, otherwise I'll be making a rod for my own back as I have quite a lot to do as it is.
John
Ralf(EMail:[email protected]) from Montreal, Canada on Jun 2 2000, 13:21
responded: I think an Industry Page is a great idea. I'm a big fan of industrial railways and industrial architecture--in model form, anyway. Since my own layout is a single industry I could write what I know about it, which is not a lot, but I know some of the industry's history. What's more difficult is learning the actual freight movements, but we can speculate at least.
RK
John Oxlade(EMail:[email protected]) from Salfords, Surrey, UK on Jun 2 2000, 14:01
responded: PS. Just because you ask for it, does not necessarily mean you are going to get it. It is however good for me to know what others might like to see.
Ralf(EMail:[email protected]) from Montreal, Canada on Jun 2 2000, 15:48
responded: If someone asks for something, and someone else writes you an article on it, you can always just stick it in the webmag...
RK
John Oxlade(EMail:[email protected]) from Salfords, Surrey, UK on Jun 2 2000, 15:54
responded: Oh absolutely, this was just a request list, "where" it actually went on the site is slightly different.
Personally, I'd quite like to see a few articles on signalling, German, US, and perhaps a few others, sort of a mini-series.
Martin Silz(EMail:[email protected]) from Vianen / NL on Jun 2 2000, 16:32
responded: As the first big German-Railways meeting (or should we now better called it WorldRailFans meeting) is slowly approaching, we should have a page, where all memebers of this meeting can sign up, when and where they would like to stay, what they would like to see etc. Remember it's not half a year left till the meeting is supposed to start.
John Bruce(EMail:[email protected]) from Los Angeles on Jun 2 2000, 17:13
responded: John already has a couple of things from me in the in-box, but here are some other ideas where I could provide content: while doing a writeup on UP F7s, I realized that during the early 1950s, UP had a number of lines that had been dieselized, but were running with just 3-unit sets of F units. And at that point it occurred to me that since we've had posts from South Africa, Germany, and elsewhere of the "how would you stock this layout" variety on how best to model the UP, it would be fairly easy to describe the equipment, structures, etc. available to build a "Baseline UP" of the early 1950s that could be done by someone new to the hobby or at a distance from the real UP in pretty small space without the need to have turbines, Challengers, 4-12-2s, Big Boys, etc. etc. -- although this is of course one factor that makes the UP of key interest worldwide. As the collection, space, income, etc. grew, the concept could expand per the individual's preference, but this could get people started. Another idea was prompted by Ralf's query on Santa Fe freight car schemes -- a timeline and description of these parallel to the one that's out there for UP. Accurail makes downloadable images of photos of its cars available with permission to reproduce, which could be helpful in illustrating this kind of writeup.
Sith Sastrasinh(EMail:[email protected]) from NJ, U.S.A. on Jun 3 2000, 19:54
responded: I think information about industries is a good idea. As the manufacturing processes are very similar worldwide, this type of information will be useful not only for those of us who are interested in German railways. I am not going to say anything about contributing material for publication because I owe John an article for about 6-7 months now. John, I am still working on that article about the Burma-Siam Railway. I am sorry, lately I have been writing so much (professionally) that I do not have much time or energy to tackle another writing project.
John Oxlade(EMail:[email protected]) from Salfords, Surrey, UK on Jun 4 2000, 9:41
responded: I have just had an EMail from someone in Poland who has offered to provide images of Polish trains - if there is any interest. Is there anyone out there who might like to see a small "Polish" section on the site?
John
Michael Carlsson(EMail:[email protected]) from Nynäshamn, Sweden on Jun 5 2000, 7:56
responded: I too think that an industrial "information bank", or article serie in the Web mag. would be of great interest, so I volunteer for writing about "a small/medium size oil refinery era II-III-IV", as I believe those cannot be so extremely different from one country to another.
I intend however to describe a certain place, the Nynäs refinery in Nynäshamn, Sweden.
If nobody is interested, please flame me, so I can save my time... ;)
John Oxlade(EMail:[email protected]) from Salfords, Surrey, UK on Jun 5 2000, 9:30
responded: You won't get any arguements from me.
Kevin Brady(EMail:[email protected]) from Boston,Ma on Jun 5 2000, 16:59
responded: Hi all!
Nor I!In my observation of European(German) layouts,alot of operations seems to center on passenger service.Nothing wrong with that at all.But freight operations,looks more fun.Besides I have too many tank cars and Michael's ideas could be well put to use.
Kevin.
Mario Esteves(EMail:[email protected]) from Porto - Portugal on Jun 6 2000, 16:55
responded: I don't want to start another discussion or claimming
for a copyright violation, but, since there are some
people who feels second nature with german language
and use to read some known german magazines and books, why shouldn't
share with us - german ignorants -a kind of resume
of what they read on those mags. What I mean is not a pure resume of
a certain article on certain magazine, but a kind of memory review
of something they learned from those magazines and books. We have,
at this site a terrific example of what I mean : The article from "our" J.O. on how to model a Bavarian Branch Line. That's a simple article with information gathered from lots of books and mags - I believe that - and gives us a light on a subject otherwise ignored or missunderstod.
I believe that, with some dose of good will, the web mag will have
many years to come and counting.
John Oxlade(EMail:[email protected]) from Salfords, Surrey, UK on Jun 7 2000, 12:59
responded: A not too subtle hint... I am very low on material for the Web Magazine. I've probably got two articles for the next addition. Any chance that some more of you might like to contribute? How about a few submissions for the "railways round where I live" page?
Thanks - in anticipation
John
Mario Esteves(EMail:[email protected]) from Portugal on Jun 7 2000, 14:00
responded: Dear John,
Here, where I live, we use the expression "Call the ox by is name".
Sorry for the lack of diplomacy...But my hint is not new, call it a reminder
for those who are able to help.
Mario
Bob Nelson(EMail:[email protected]) from Austin, TX, USA on Jun 21 2000, 15:57
responded: John, would it make sense to you to put something on the UP pages about the UPY reporting mark and the associated locomotive renumbering and new paint schemes?
Kurt Möller(EMail:) from Stockholm on Jun 21 2000, 17:13
responded: John O., plz give me your snail mail address - I´ll be glad to supply a number of industrial plant trackage plans etc from our 600 mm ga. lines, esp. papermills & mines, together w. brief data on them. You could then scan & insert them as you wish... /KM
John Oxlade(EMail:[email protected]) from Salfords, Surrey, UK on Jun 21 2000, 18:42
responded: Kurt, to save typing it all again, foloow the link in the top ight corner for "supporters", my address is at the bottom of the page.
John
John Oxlade(EMail:[email protected]) from Salfords, Surrey, UK on Sep 19 2000, 12:12 GMT
responded: I will shortly begin to rework the whole links ection on the site. I was thinking of using much the same mechanism as the discussion forum, but where only one or two people can add or remove links.
In that case, instead of using the same categories as the Forum (i.e. show me all other sites you have listed that cover German Railways), what categories should I use? Trams, light-rail, etc.
John
John Bruce(EMail:) from the road on Sep 19 2000, 14:10 GMT
responded: At least from the US perspective, there are probably one or two highly useful sites in each category. For instance, I can think of two Amtrak sites (but few good sites relating to other specific railroads). I can think of several good modeling sites, both with general info and on specific layouts. One problem with the NMRA list is you have to go thru a lot of chaff to find good wheat. It would be worthwhile to have an "edited" list that points to the best-of-breed in a failry limited number of categories. I could think of a North American category with subcategories for Amtrak, Modeling, and perhaps some specific railroads if there are good sites to link to.
John Oxlade(EMail:[email protected]org) from Salfords, Surrey, UK on Sep 19 2000, 18:19 GMT
responded: It hs been suggested to me that instead of just the name, I get a logo for www.worldrailfans.org. Now I am no graphics artist, and I've just looked through the clipart I've got and haven't found anything interesting, so...
Are there any graphics artists among you who may be able to help? Or perhaps someone with more clipart?
Some ideas that were sent to me, and some of my own:
A globe or other map of the world with some track around/across it
The words www.worldrailfans.org in one line or split at the "."s
Something that shouts "train" without being specifically one type of loco - I have a reasonable piece of clipart of a globe inside a mans head (trust me, it is better than it sounds) with a network cable coming out. Tried to make the cable in to some track, but lack a small image of a train to go on the end.
Any suggestions?
John
PS. If I had bucket loads of money to spend I wouldn't be asking here, I cannot afford commercial rates for this sort of thing (just got the bill for next year's web server hosting - yuck).
Martin Silz(EMail:[email protected]) from Vianen / NL on Sep 20 2000, 7:19 GMT
responded: Graphic artists + railway fan ?
Zarko Kristic, where are you ?
Kevin Brady(EMail:[email protected]) from Boston ,Ma on Nov 22 2000, 16:48 GMT
responded: Hi all,
John&Martin;,I have contacted Zarko about this.He should be able to come up with something.To see his work see: http://www.traingraphics.com/
Kevin.
John Oxlade(EMail:[email protected]) from Salfords, Surrey, UK on Nov 23 2000, 9:30 GMT
responded: I think it is probably a bit late for this now. The www.WorldRailFans.org logo in blue and yellow is kind of established now.
Tim Hale(EMail:[email protected]) from Sherborne, UK on Apr 9 2001, 10:57 GMT
responded: John,
I don't remember if this was a feature of the old German Railways.com site however would it be possible to have a "Readers/Visitors Gallery"?
There have been two recent enquiries about the mechanics of displaying images to accompany threads, possibly a drop-in gallery may be the answer.
Many visitors have access to either scanners or digital cameras, what is your preffered format for images?
John Oxlade(EMail:[email protected]) from Salfords, Surrey, UK on Apr 9 2001, 11:18 GMT
responded: It wasn't Tim no, and I have grave concerns about being able to upload images to the site. Firstly, I have no control over what the image is of, so unscrupulous visitors could upload naked ladies or similar, and secondly I have no control over how much space they would use, space which I have to pay for.
There is a "plan" to upgrade the discussion forum later in the year (don't worry, we won't have the chaos of uncategorised discussions or everything being updated at once that we had last time), and it is possible that there might be a password-protected image upload feature then, but for now I do not want to go down this route.
Also, sending images to me to upload is more work for me, so at the moment I do not want to openly encourage something I might not be able to do due to other commitments.
Speaking of passwords, perhaps you might use it, like Dave Schultz does on his website. I have put some pictures on it - by my own password, which can - probably - changed by the webmaster (i.e. Dave himself) as well. I don't knwo in which case he is 'controlling' the pics, like JPG (small) or BMP's (pretty large). he accepted my 150x150 pictures, anyway.
Just a thought to share.
(Privacy or 'copyright' is another matter).
Rogier Donker(EMail:[email protected]) from USA on Feb 19 2002, 1:07 GMT
responded: Mind you John...no pressure here....(hah) I recently got into digital photography and find it really, really neat....and so easy....why, you could have a gallery of everyone's lay out on the site ...in no time flat! :-)
Send the bill to Tim!
S&HRR;
Rogier
Tim(EMail:) from UK on Feb 20 2002, 20:13 GMT
responded: Rogier,
I don't seem to get any replies from you, therefore I wil post this message to you.
If you want images uploaded, send to me and I will put them onto my layout gallery.
Tim
Rogier(EMail:) from USA on Feb 23 2002, 15:36 GMT
responded: Martin!:-) "ZEMAG ZEMAG"?????
Greg Mashiah(EMail:) from Maclean, NSW, Australia on Aug 20 2002, 12:11 GMT
responded:
John,
The "popular" threads (in particular the humour one) are getting verrrrry lengthy -
a) Is there any way to split these into two parts?
b) Does anybody else think that this would be a good idea?
Greg M
John Oxlade(EMail:[email protected]) from Salfords, Surrey, UK on Aug 20 2002, 12:15 GMT
responded: Splitting... Not as such, but there is no reason we can't start a #2 and put a link between them.
John
Jeffrey Smith(EMail:[email protected]) from Virginia, USA on May 13 2003, 19:04 GMT
responded: Product Review Form
I had made a suggestion (possibly one of many by other forum members) to create a new section devoted to product reviews of particular models. Many of us contribute to threads on a particular model that we have purchased in our collections. Rather than the prospective buyer scour the entire site for this information, why not present reviews of models in a review section? In the past I have read threads from Forum members who have made purchase(s) that they clearly regret. There has also been an outcry from Forum members with regards to inferior qualities displayed with particular models of their favorite brand. What better opportunity to prevent these mistakes from happening to others. If a model is a lemon I’m sure others would like to know. If the model has some serious issues and enough buyers are alerted, maybe the manufacturer will pull and/or improve the model. Wishful thinking perhaps, but I for one will chose not to buy a model if my fellow Forum members recommend against it.
This review section could be designed similar to on-line CD (CDNow.com) reviews or even movie (NetFlix) reviews. The format for the review could include the following guidelines and format:
1. Make it form driven.
2. Limit the section to reviews only. No discussion threads. If you have one of these models in your collection, submit a review, otherwise create a discussion thread or contact the viewer directly (e-mail) to discuss particulars.
Form Design:
Manufacturer:
Model Number:
Scale:
Model Type:
Special Model Information: (one time release/exclusive item/export/kit bash, etc.)
Purchase Location:
Purchase Price: (optional)
Year Purchased:
Store of Purchase:
New/Used:
Reviewer:
E-mail Address:
Product Rating: (stars 1 to 5 / numbers 1 to 10)
Review: (establish a maximum text length)
Pros: (establish a maximum text length)
Cons: (establish a maximum text length)
Not sure what a good “maximum text length” should be. The rating system could be railroad ties or golden spikes for that matter. I’m probably missing a category or heading as well. This could clearly be open to suggestion and/or modifications. Your thoughts?
John Oxlade(EMail:[email protected]) from Salfords, Surrey, UK on May 13 2003, 19:17 GMT
responded: Jeffrey,
There used to be one, but I got so few contributions to it that I gave the idea up. I have been off down the road of several good ideas that never got very far, and I would rather have a few well patronised areas than more with nothing much in them.
John
Jeffrey Smith(EMail:[email protected]) from Virginia, USA on May 13 2003, 19:55 GMT
responded: Oh well, it was worth a shot. What a shame it didn't pan out. I have been gearing my purchasing more towards reviews in recent years due to the plethora of beautiful lemons. With so many models to choose from, owner feedback has been my only method of avoiding pitfalls.
On another note it just seemed a little more utilitarian to search a review for information over a discussion.
Anyway, thanks for the quick response. Where the hell was I a couple of years ago when you had these reviews and the on-line magazine? Sheesh. Must have been asleep at the keys.
Jeff
Frits Osterthun(EMail:[email protected]) from Utrecht on May 13 2003, 20:25 GMT
responded: Jeffrey,
Sounds good to me!
Dale Schultz had an extensive site (Daleweb) specialised on Maerklin models, with just those items you mention.
Unfortunately his site is unreachabel now. Though I made many imputs about Maerklin-models that I purschased myself, next to about 100 'impurers' besides me, with remarks on running qualities, detailing etc. Too bad... it's lost now.
