I can see why Trainboard is popular with N scalers. On any given day if you look at the "Recent Threads" list, it's predominantly N and Z you'll see listed. I'm interested in HO and O scale 2-rail so I spend more time on the O scale specialty forums and ModelRailroadForums for HO topics. I like TB mainly for the layout design threads.
You can ask tougher questions, you'll just get tougher answers.:tb-biggrin: One thing I don't see much of here that I do often on other boards, is someone asks a question about something and gets a load of answers that say "I've never done that", or "I don't have one, but", then goes on with a two page essay on what they think about it. I look at a few other forums but this is the only one I post to because its so easy, and I spend enough time on this one I sometimes don't get time to do any actual modeling.:tb-biggrin: P.S. Another good thing on Trainboard is Joe D'amato from Micro Trains soliciting our thoughts and answering our questions and criticisms, something not done as well even on the boards run by manufacturers themselves. Thanks Joe, where are your counterparts from other manufacturers?.
I have noticed the unusually high proportion of N and Z threads for a model railroad community, which is probably why I landed here after boncing around other sites for so long. There does seem to be a higher percentage of folks on the forums here that are "in the biz"....yet another reason I am thankful to have found this site. Jamie
100 percent of my - train related - posts are here. .01 percent of my train perusing is on other places. I never go to Atlas. Reasons: I tend to percieve people in the following ways: Would enjoy sharing a glass of wine with them Would work for them Would hire them There is no-one at Trainboard I would not like to sit and talk with over a cup of coffee or glass of wine / beer. There are at least 3 people I have met from TB that I would hire or work for. Maybe I'll meet others some day.
I go to a few forums as well .. none of them are #1 in my mind .. they all have their strengths, and their weaknesses. The others have different interests and focus. Pick the ones you like and support them, just remember that others will have different interests.
I belong to 4 N scale discussion forums including Trainboard. To me, a discussion forum has its own personality and culture directly derived from the input of its moderators, organizers, and members. You can't have a functioning forum without any of the above people. I won't elaborate as the which forum has which personality, but I only join a forum which I feel comfortable with my fellow posters. Other reasons, are tradition, Atlas was my first, as Steamguy, then along came the others. I took a hiatus to concentrate on my divorce and modeling as I discovered the pain from the breakup of my family was giving me more creative energy, so I had all of this energy to spend. Now I am involved in my forums and modeling, as well as my retirement activities, my girlfriend, trips to NC, and a host of other things, including re-establishing my career. Trainboard in my opinion, is incredibly informative and free, and has the best of all characteristics of all of the forums to offer any modeler of any calibre. Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman
I visit a few other forums as well. I post here and there on the different forums but I like this one the best. I like the way it is set up with the forums broken down into all the different categories. It also seems like a real nice group here. Craig
I spend close to an equal amount of time between here and Atlas, but consider this home. I'm new so I mostly ask questions and do A LOT of searching though old posts. I like Atlas' search better. It works faster and doesn't make you wait so long between searches and also their search doesn't have so many restrictions to it for it to work properly. I don't think Atlas is as bad as people say, but it doesn't seem to be moderated very closely so you better have your big boy britches on when you cross someone over there. LOL! I have met some really nice people on both forums and I think the majority of them use both forums on some level. I can't think of anything that could make trainboard much better than it is. I really enjoy it here. It's really hard starting out in this hobby with no LHS or friends in the hobby nearby. I probably couldn't or wouldn't be in this hobby without the support here. My hopes are that one day I can answer as many questions as I ask. I feel like a dependant at times.. I want to help people, I just don't seem to know the answer to anyones questions. LOL
Although I belong to several, there are only three that I am very active on (in order); The RailWire, TrainBoard (close 2nd) and Atlas (distant 3rd actually). I refuse to go back to N-Scale.org due to two members. Was not a really friendly place for manufacturers. Railwaire is hard core modeling with no atta-boys just because you posted something. You must earn a comment. That degree of challange makes better modelers IMHO. It is also loosely moderated and the rules are few and simple to follow (unlike the A-Board). Trainboard has a great diversity in both subject matter and modeler skills. MOST posters don't take life so seriously where differring points of view can be openly discussed. The overall blend makes this a favorite stop to read wazzzzup in N.
I love this site! Easy to find what you want or post. Very nice. So what I'm saying is I love this site over all. Everyone is nice here.
I came over from Atlas Forum when they shut it down for holidays (a few years ago, I don't know if they still do it). I never came back, because it's much more civilized over here. Michael
I began to participate on Forums in 4/2002 because someone advised me about the Atlas Forum. Back then, TrainBoard was a relatively small and infrequently viewed Forum. I was a staunch Atlas supporter and rarely visited TrainBoard... in fact I was visiting Railwire & Yahoo N scale more often than TrainBoard. I generally went with the most active board... which at that time was Atlas. Trainboard was having many 'growing pains' which included being off-line as well... in fact there were times on the Atlas Forum kidding about this site being TRAIN BORED... Things began to change though... I'd say around 2003. The staff at TrainBoard really began to get it together. The staff at Atlas, on the other hand, began to disinfranchise many of the members with somewhat heavyhanded moderating. Perhaps they needed to do that because of the characters who frequented their board... but... it came across somewhat harsh to many. When Atlas would 'take vacation' and shut down their Forum... I would venture back to TrainBoard and found thing were improving... but still infrequently attended. Another board (now known as N Scale Talk) was created to fill the void left by Atlas whenever they went on 'vacation'. 2004 was probably the big changeover year for me. RailImages was now a part of my 'N Scale experience' and was the gateway for me to be more active on the TrainBoard as well. I began to shift my viewing and participation from Atlas to TrainBoard... and apparently so did many of the Atlas regulars. The improvements made to TrainBoard in 2004 and 2005 cemented my allegiance to this Forum and I find that it is the finest of all on the internet.
No kidding! I stick around here because I don't like flame wars or unnecessary nastiness. If I want to pick a fight I can go outside, cross the street, and say something disparaging about one of the construction worker's mothers.
Bob, I'll share what I remember but, as I mentioned, the complete "recipe" was lost when Atlas unexpectedly shut down their old forum and replaced it with new software without giving us any opportunity to archive our threads onto our hard drives. It sure would have been nice if they would have locked the old forum to new posts but given us a few days to access things. I don't care if it was a "free" service, that's just not the right way to do things. Regarding the coupler fix, as most owners of these are aware, the platform that the couplers screw into are not thick enough. Atlas apparently discovered this too late, and bandaided it by cutting the screw shorter so that it only engaged the plastic by a couple of threads at most. That is a recipe for problems. Some folks received them with the couplers already having fallen off and others had droopy couplers that invited a tightening of the screw. Unfortunately, the minimal thread engagement resulted in stripped holes more often than not. The easy fix was to just add a longer screw, which broke through the top of the end platform (functional, but not a good look). My approach was to glue an appropriately sized piece of styrene on the underside of the platform and to screw a Micro-trains underslung coupler (i.e. 2004) to it. This retains the correct coupler height, but provides a much more robust mounting without breaking through the platform. The thread I mentioned captured all of the dimensional information (size and thickness of styrene, length of screw, etc.) but was lost when the Atlas forum closed. I may still have a few photos floating around. EDIT: here's the photos that I still have:
Guys- It will be a lot more civilized AND courteous if we can state the positives of the board which we find the best and why without taking a swipe or two at another board. What will happen is that this thread will degenerate as quickly as the ones do when someone slams a particular -e-tailer or praises the qualities of another.
This is my first and only (so far) online forum. I think what hooked me was the way folks seem to respond and enjoy helping each other. I keep learning. Makes it fun and saves me a ton of money. Maybe it costs money, as I mighta made some more mistakes and given up.....
I think it's funny that people view the Atlas board as heavily moderated. I guess deleting all those threads here has really paid off. :tb-confused: Jason
Norseman- thanks for the info, and pictures. That looks like a good topic for a blog (hint, hint) , if not a How-To topic. We have both, ya know.... Your informative response is another reason I like this forum. Granted, there are other forums whose members also offer help & advice, and that's a good thing. Perhaps over time I've grown accustomed to the climate here, as well as the membership and fellow staff members, several of whom I've had the privilege of meeting over the past few years.
