I was actually going to start the title as Thank, but it was taken today. Big Blue has become my absolute favorite forum site. The moderators are great people, the members are fun & friendly, and it's easy to navigate.

So, once again, thank you Big Blue for making my railroad forum surfing such a positive experience.

As you can see Mike, the thanks goes both ways. We're thankful to have so many dedicated members such as yourself. Without you all, this forum would be nothing. Our goal was to make this forum like what we had started ten years ago then lost over the years. Thanks to many old members and a bunch of new ones, we've achieved what we were after. We've had members that left the old forum and have drifted back, and we're thankful for that as well. Both Mikey and myself are super pleased that you think this is your favorite railroad forum. We appreciate that and the fact that you and all the other members contribute to make it a pleasure to host this site.

The first time I stopped by Big Blue, I was here for life.
The admins do the heavy work.
The moderators keep the "dust bunnies" cleaned up, and occasionally have to battle the "dust Godzillas",
but it is the membership that makes any forum great, and we have a great membership.
Aside from the "one Kit Kat a month" ( if we're fast enough, and sometimes sneaky enough ) the real reward we get is the occasional thankyou, and the continuing high level of positive participation by our members. So yes, here at least, "Thank You" is still a two way street.

I've was once on one of the larger forums and I started a thread about an observation about a particular diesel engine model. Man did I get my head bitten off. One was a very well known modeller who took a personal offense even though I made an innocuous observation that was nowhere directed at him.

This forum lets people make a point without getting their head bitten off.

Yes, this is my favorite forum. My only complaint might be that it is not an extremely busy forum as far as new posts, but I plan to help rectify that with tons of posts and pics when I get started with my layout. I can't wait for the comments and constructive criticism that I would expect from the group.

So, yeah, thanks for the forum guys!

Dave

Same, I love this forum more than the others. I can see where puddlejumper is coming from, it can get quiet here, but the more we post the more this fixes itself.

I think one of the biggest reasons I love these forums is that I almost never have a sense of dread opening a thread notification email. Some "Railroad" forums on the ".Net" are full with stuck up maniacs. My favorite part of those forums is that you can sign on and be accused of not being a model railroader if your budget does not permit you to go out and buy everything in your local hobby shop, or if you can't synthesize a super-detailed passenger car from pocket lint. The only reason I even tolerate that forum is because its the only place that I can have a reasonable discussion on commuter modeling and reasonable expect the other people to know what I'm talking about.

The best part about this place, is that most of the membership is vaguely aware of each other, and until recently, would converse regularly on the chat function (lately I've been unable to sign on with any regularity).

This connection may be the most valuable part of the forums. We're more like an open, virtual club than a railroad forum with thousands of members and trillions of threads in just a day.