A question....................

[BR60103]

Since I usually go in though "view new posts", the only time I bother with which forum is involved is if a question is asked that may require a scale specific answer ("What minimum radius should I use" gets different answers in N, HO and O.)

[ngauger]

Non-North American - meaning what? excluding Canada???

Could we maybe add 3 forums as a test?

North American Modeling
Canadian Modeling
International Modeling

Is that close to what you mean???

I think that would be a good start

Hey, Canada is the largest, in size if not population, of the three components of North America.

Wayne

LOL yeah - that could be:
US Modeling
Canadian Modeling
International Modeling

[P5se Camelback]

... Non-North American - meaning what? excluding Canada??? ...

Canada is a very large part of North America ...

... but I think Mexico is part of Central America!

And are there others besides me who are noticing that the Europeans (From England, Germany, France, Scandinavia, etc.) as well as those from "Down Under" (Australia, New Zealand) are modeling North Amercian railroading?

I've stopped by the Hobo campfire and quite honestly, having posted comments the re relevant to the ongoing conversation an had the word continue to turn as if I wasn't there ... I don't go there much any more ... I don't get it ... of course I don't understand "following the every move of someone on Twitter" phenomenom, either. Although cell phones are handy, it annoys me when I get a sales call while driving ... I don't even answer the phone when driving! If it's important, leave a message!

As for additional forums ... eh! It seems to me that preople figure out where the best place to post is to get the answer they need ... things seem to be working quite well!

If it ain't broke, don't "fix" it!

[doctorwayne]

I agree with biL, mostly. (although Mexico is part of North America - that's why they're included in NAFTA).

I think we have enough specific Forums as it is now: fractioning things even further will just clutter up the place.

As for the Hobo Campfire: fine for those who enjoy it, but endless conversations concerning the time the doorknob broke just leave me stuck here on desolation row.

Cell 'phones are fine if I need to make a call, otherwise mine's off, and it doesn't take messages. Twitter, in my opinion, is aptly named.

As for non-North Americans, most of the ones here are modelling North American railroading (and doing a darn fine job of it, too) and I suspect that has a lot to do with them being here: we have not only a knowledgeable and helpful Membership, but we also make an appreciative audience for their finely-done modelling.

Wayne

[faraway]

I do not need more specific forums.
I started stepping through the forums I thought I would like to read. After a while changed that and do now follow Big Blue be reading "View news posts". It is amazing how many good information is buried in forums I thought I would not need to read.

[ngauger]

So when there are new posts in the Hobo's Thread, that's what you guys see. (Like me) and therefore you visit if you want to. Like all the other forums.

Got it!!

Therefore we really don't need to add new forums, except maybe, an actual track planning forum (if there seems to be an interest) since whatever roads are being modeled are covered in the Mainline section <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.the-gauge.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=13">viewforum.php?f=13</a><!-- l -->

N/Z
HO
Narrow
Modular
O/G
Traction

We could add another forum :
International Modeling
Just as an experiment, but we'll have to think about it more

And yes, Track Planning would go in the Branchline:
<!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.the-gauge.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=45">viewforum.php?f=45</a><!-- l -->

Thanks for your comments!!!!

[rrinker]

I say NO, do NOT segregate by scales. While there are some things where certain techniques apply more to one scale than another, simply because of size, the majority of modeling techniques are universal. Not to mention many of us have modeled in more than one scale over out lifetimes in this hobby. Posts under some of the lesser well represented scales amy go unnoticed and unreplied when someone currently in a different scale may well have the answer. This will only lead to use DISsatisfaction

--Randy

[torikoos]

North American should be viewed in the context of the continent, so this would include the US and Canada.
South American would be for those that model Brazilian, Venezuelan, Colombian, Argentinian etc etc etc railroads.
Making headers for continents instead of countries would help people search for their favorites, as well as keeping the amount of sub forums relatively low.
On the other hand, it will also help that for instance US railroad modeling, which is probably the bulk of the modeling done here on this forum at present, could be divided in 'Western states, and Eastern states' to help people find what they want quicker. Perhaps it can be done by railroad, those modeling ATSF, UP, SP, CSX, BNSF, CONRAIL, etc etc etc all in their own forum, but then that would cause way too many sub forums I guess.

Just throwing a few random thoughts into the mix :-)

[Loblolly Logger]

I have 3 or 4 favorite forums I check almost on a daily basis. I tend use the "View New Posts" or "Active Topics" link almost exclusively. It only takes a few minutes to see what's going on. When I find a particularly interesting thread, I'll subscribe and get email updates. Occasionally I'll go to the Index Page and run through the individual subject areas to see if I may have missed anything. I like the way Big Blue is organized but more important I like it because of the good folks here!

[P5se Camelback]

I must agree with the Loblolly Logger above when it comes to viewing habits.

Up until just recently (about the time of the discussions re: trouble with the "View Active Topics" button) I used to only look at the "View New Postings" listing ... and if I then wanted more modeling material to read, I would go down through the different major topic forums. It wasn't until I started using the "View Active Topics" button (I had not ever really noticed it before) that I became aware of the many fine, highly informative threads containing useable modeling information that applied to all scales that I had been missing for the entire last year (I've now been here a year - unbelieveable - it went by so quickly!) Because I model in HO scale, I have very little interest in other scales and therefore never looked at "N/Z Scale" or any of the others. I now realize what a mistake that was!

In using the "View Active Topics" button my eyes have been opened to areas I had not gone before ... to modelers and modeling techniques that translate to virtually all scales ... things that I would have missed in the past solely because the sub-forums in which they were offered were not on my daily radar! :oops:

I now understand the uproar over the confusion of "View Active Topics" re: what it listed ... it is a much more complete overview than "View New Posts." But to sub-divide the current forums even further would be to potentailly dilute the rich, thick tasty tonic that it Big Blue at The-Gauge into a watered-down daily drink lacking in the full flavorfulness that we have all come to expect ... it would fragment it into something less than what it needs to be ... the Best Forum of its kind on the Internet!

Oh, sure ... I admit to visiting other forums occasionally (Digitrax, Soundtraxx, Reading, Anthracite, Lansdale ... all Yahoo Groups) because I am in search of specific knowledge on a topic. But for general modeling and the best group of members ever ...

... Yessir! ... Dis mus' be da place!

Oh, and ... maybe I should have said Mexico "should" be considered part of Central America ... they have more in common with that area to the south!)

[ngauger]

The more that answer - the more I think that we'll only be adding a Track Planning (All Scales) Forum.

Thanks for all the comments!!!

[rrinker]

I just visit all the sections that have the red icon indicating new messages that I haven't read.
If there happens to be a post on a topic I am not particulrly interested in I will just skim the section - my goal is to get rid of the red on each session, that way I never miss anything.

--Randy

[ezdays]

The more that answer - the more I think that we'll only be adding a Track Planning (All Scales) Forum.

Thanks for all the comments!!!

I agree. Remember when we had to consolidate with the paper modelers three years ago? We had probably more forums and sub-forums than we thought we needed, but those guys... wow, they had over 100 forums and it was crazy. All we heard was complaints about how difficult it was to find anything. More is not always better and we don't want to go that route either, but we do want to be sure we have what we need to keep you all happy. Mikey and I like to poll everyone here to see if we were on track with what we have and do we need to tune things up a bit. It seems like a minor tune-up is all that we need right now. We've done this before and we'll most likely ask again sometime in the future. Things may change and we'd like to keep up with what you all want. After all, this is your forum, we just hang around to see if we can learn anything.

[Herc Driver]

I'd vote to keep less forums running instead of further sub-dividing the forums/threads up into more. I usually have just enough time to "View new posts" and take a look at what the new posts are - whatever the subject matter or scale. I may not post to them all, but try to look at everything I can. But the biggest reason I'd go with "less is more" is trying to keep a handle on where everything is. So many other websites break down subject matter into smaller divisions and you just can't remember where you saw/read something of interest. I keep my computer files like that too...trying to order them in a way that minimizes the minutia. I'm a "big-picture" kind of guy...but hey...that's just me.

[tomustang]

I had this idea Non Railroad Modeling section, you know for nerd stuff and like cars/planes/boats, it being all scales, just something simple