Hi All I have just uploaded my first attempt at a website based on my home layout and NTrak/NMod modules. www.btinternet.com/~davmil It's very simple - no flashing lights, animated gifs, dancing girls etc just text and photos. I haven't got the right balance with photos yet between size on screen and time of loading - if anyone can advise on that I'd be grateful. I hope you find something of interest. There is a photo in the gallery section (under scenic) of a retaining wall (this relates back to an earlier thread). Any comments/questions/suggestions welcomed. David Milburn (Modelling the BNSf and IRNet in North Yorkshire, UK)
The site looks really nice. I also had no problems loading, and the sizes weren't too small at all. Here are some general things to remember when putting pictures on the 'net. 1) Reduce the image to 72 dpi. A computer screen can display no greater than that, so any value higher than 72 just makes the file bigger. 2) Most people run their monitors at a resolution of at least 800x600. Quite a few run at 1024x768 or better. So a good rule of thumb for picture width is 600 pixels or so, and let the height adjust automatically with the width change. If you want to go bigger, then by all means do so, but not everbody will be able to see the full image at once. 3) Keep the file size as small as possible without ruining the quality of the image. I usually keep my photos in the 100K range (80-110 or so) and generally limit them to a few per page so loading is better. A good example of images from 600-900 pixels in width, at 72dpi, and around 100K can be found at http://members.fortunecity.com/harron/alstom
Looking good, David No problems with file sizes of photos, and the balance looks fine. Some of those modules I seem to remember seeing at the Warley show, right? Keep us updated of progress, and more pictures, please
Nice site David, well I can never disagree with anyone who likes Illinois! Have you seen this site, web page quite a bit on the towns along the BN into Galesburg, he has more on Galva as he's modelling it, looks quite good too!
I have a general question about the Chicago-Galesburg line. Does anyone know the approximate number of trains a day use this line? I know a number of coal trains and Amtrak come through, but how about intermodal/manifest trains? Any info appreciated. Being born & raised in northern Illinois I should know this, but with military service I have been away for many years. But with an upcoming transfer to Great Lakes (located in Chicago) I will be able to do LOTS of railfanning back home. I'm thinking about a layout with Mendota, Illinois as the focus, along with a few towns west of there that I'm familiar with.
Thanks guys, I can now 'upgrade' my photos which tend to load a bit too slowly on some parts. The modules at Warley were the 2 Ottawa boards. The 2 extension boards were built to allow me to join up with the Black Diamonds group at the UK NTrak convention at Torquay. Their first UK outing will be at Thirsk in July. I also see that there is a Sheffield in Illinois (my home city in the UK) now that'll be a place to visit one day! I'll get back to you Shaun about the Mendota line, I've gathered a lot of info. which might help David
I have the same problem Catt has, I can't see any pics...the text is all there, and I can view your source code and cut and paste all the photos into my browser, but I can't see them when I load your site
Catt and Ed, Are you running Netscape? I enjoyed your web site with its pictures and write ups. I also book marked it. [ 08 May 2002, 19:11: Message edited by: rsn48 ]
nice site dave, our club just got ours up and running finally and is currently going through the motions with it. http://ntrak-bn.fdns.net.
