too many good people here

Nomad

Active Member
Sep 26, 2006
1,570
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Elks Plain, Washington
I would like to ask a question. Not to put any one in the spotlight, but do you moderators ever delete flame wars and such before they start? Or do we have a great group of people here that never start wars to begin with?
I'm curious because I have never even seen the beginning of a war here.

Loren
 

ezdays

Out AZ way
Feb 3, 2003
6,339
0
36
Arizona
bigbluetrains.com
I would like to ask a question. Not to put any one in the spotlight, but do you moderators ever delete flame wars and such before they start? Or do we have a great group of people here that never start wars to begin with?
I'm curious because I have never even seen the beginning of a war here.

Loren
That's a fair question. They happen infrequently, usually someone gets too carried away or has had a bad day. Rather than outright delete a post, we normally let the member know what the problem is, and in 95% of the cases, the member themselves will go back and edit their posts. Rarely do we have to actually edit or remove a thread because it was getting out of hand. That is a testament to the quality of members we have here.:thumb: :thumb:

Occasionally, we have someone stop by to test us to see if we're awake. Again, usually the members respond quickly and notify us by using the "report post" function. The same goes for spam. These posts are frequently dispatched by one of the moderators, sometimes before the person that deposited the baddy has a chance to go off-line:wave: :wave:...

Undoubtedly, the members here have made our jobs so easy, that some of us actually have time to spend on our layouts. :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
 

Nomad

Active Member
Sep 26, 2006
1,570
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Elks Plain, Washington
Thank you Ezdays, so it is not only the moderators ( and Peter !) ,but it is also the quality of people who belong to these forums. A big thank you to everybody that belongs in these forums. You all make it the best forum on the net.

Loren
 

Kevinkrey

Member
Jul 27, 2006
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Saint Paul MN.
I keep comming back here and reading, realizing that what everybody says is true.
I also thought this would be a good place to thank everybody here and congradulate myself :p because this is my100'th post, now I'm going for 500 (not a problem:thumb:).
 

iis612

Member
Dec 26, 2006
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Chicago Burbs
We can't forget that GERN has helped make this possible. GERN makes everything bettersign1.

This really is a great environment, made that way by some of the most talented, and likeable people I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with.
 

MasonJar

It's not rocket surgery
Oct 31, 2002
5,362
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Ottawa, Canada
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One thing I would like to see here though is a section for the younger modellers where they can ask basic questions and have some of the more experienced modellers help them out, maybe with some simple tutorials on wiring, kitbuilding, laying track,what have you. They are the future of the hobby and it would be nice to see them get a good start so they don't get discouraged and quit the hobby. To me this is by far the best forum on the net. My thanks to everyone who runs and contributes here. That is what makes this hobby so great. Ron

Hi Ron,

We try hard to keep the entire forum appropriate for all ages (we're not kidding when we say "family-friendly"). So if you know any younger modellers, encourage them to visit (with parental permission and/or accompaniment of course). We have members here in their teens, and possibly younger. And there's also a number of parent/child teams here too.

As for the tutorials, check out The Academy section for lots of different "How-to's", ranging from simple cardstock buildings, to electrical tips, to landscaping and other projects.

Andrew
 

Russ Bellinis

Active Member
Feb 13, 2003
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Lakewood, Ca.
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I would second what Andrew has said. No matter how technical the content of any thread in any forum may be, we try to make it understandable and if there is anything that is not understood, just ask. Model railroading is a leasure time activity. There are no deadlines, time constraints, etc; so we have plenty of time to go over any answer until the one asking understands.
 

baldwinjl

Member
Apr 30, 2005
399
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63
Speaking of the Academy, and Robin, might it not be a good idea to have a weekly link to a thread in that section up in one of the more frequented sections? Newer members might have little or no idea of the treasures that are in there, and that might be a way to encourage a bit more exploration.

It might also inspire some new contributions.

Jeff
 

N Gauger

1:20.3 Train Addict
Dec 20, 2000
6,732
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36
South Eastern, PA
mywebpages.comcast.net
Speaking of the Academy, and Robin, might it not be a good idea to have a weekly link to a thread in that section up in one of the more frequented sections? Newer members might have little or no idea of the treasures that are in there, and that might be a way to encourage a bit more exploration.

It might also inspire some new contributions.

Jeff

:thumb::thumb::thumb: Don't wait for us Mods :) :) We encourage any member to start any threads (within reason) that they want to...

Please feel free to link to any thread you want to.. :) :) It's a great idea!!!!!

Start a new thread and link away!!! :D
 

baldwinjl

Member
Apr 30, 2005
399
0
16
63
:thumb::thumb::thumb: Don't wait for us Mods :) :) We encourage any member to start any threads (within reason) that they want to...

Please feel free to link to any thread you want to.. :) :) It's a great idea!!!!!

Start a new thread and link away!!! :D
I'll pick one of my favorites later tonight!
 

YmeBP

Member
Dec 3, 2006
529
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51
Southern New Jersey
www.skyersfamily.com
I've managed to infect just about everyone that comes over w/ the train bug hahaha. I go to a linux user's group once a month and i managed to infect at least 3 of those folks w/ the bug too. And the first thing i tell them is .... join the-gauge ... browse the academy, get familiar w/ the search box and ask questions after you've read a couple of the existing threads. Everyone that does tells me how awe struck they are :).

I'm also into r/c cars and while i think there are a couple of great boards out there the-gauge is unique int hat we don't really argue, polite and respectful disagreements, but no arguing and name calling. At least one thread a day degenerates into "tastes great vs less filling" and "your momma is sooooo fat ..." on the other rc boards i read.


I don't know that much about trains yet but getting to half the level of some of the folks we have hanging around on this board would be a giant achievement in anyone's book in my opinion :mrgreen::thumb:.