I'd like to see the return of articles on a regular basis. I enjoyed Sammy's Mexican steam adventure stories as well as other how-to and how-we-did articles.

Maybe we can get Bob back with a "photo of the month" (or week). Steamboatsorg has this feature and it gets a lot of good discussion going.

Otherwise I think RyPN is just fine.

Wesley

I very much like the idea of having RyPN grow and provide more content, but I would expect that there would need to be a source of revenue to pay for at least one staff member to manage the site. The print magazine idea is a nice one, but I too believe that it would not work out financially. It is very difficult to break even with a print magazine. A web-based magazine could be produced at a much lower cost and provide more timely content without the limitations of a set number of printed pages. Weblinks and video are just a few of the things you can not do in print.

I think one of the first steps toward expanding the site's content would require the inclusion of advertisements. I do not know what impact this would have on the site's non-profit status.

Perhaps some joint-venture content could be developed in collaboration with groups such as ARM and the Center for Railroad Photography. ARM's newsletter could be published in web form in this manner with links and better photo reproduction.

Anyway, just some random thoughts.

Excellant idea and it is something that we can get going quickly.
Thanks

Ross, the reason for the question is the Google numbers on my earlier post. Tourist Railroad and railroad museums can't hit 400,000 hits. I consider Google for better or worse a barometer of society. And we need those numbers to move. Preferably up. Also, frankly I’m tired of the juvenile stuff. 20,745 views on great quotes of rail fans which is a slam on the people, no matter, how trying they are, are still part of our market. Meanwhile HO Tower to be demolished 320 views.

And then we have a couple of people, who the group as a whole would like to see post, but have decided to take time away because of the juvenile postings. So Ross IMHO the forum as it is now is not working and needs to change. We need to live up to the cut line that appears on the top of the page – On line magazine of railway history and preservation.

Please don’t get hung up on whether a magazine would work or not. It could be an e-magazine or a print product. The market I was thinking of is the million people who ride the Big 4 every year and maybe modeled off of the British magazines.

What I’m looking for are all ideas no matter how whacky they may appear at first glance. I mean after all the Nevada Northern Railway operates steam locomotives 240 miles from any population center, with 30 miles of track to maintain, as well as 66 buildings, structures and our own utility system. There are some who think that is whacky.

Again, ideas please, if you don’t have an idea, save your comments for why they won’t work for latter.

How do we live up to our potential as the “On line magazine of railway history and preservation?

Mark,

The obvious question is who would write these articles since there would be no pay.

I see nothing wrong at all if many of these are written by those with something to advertise. You write these columns all the time to promote the Nevada Northern. They are good and interesting stories. Even though they are available elsewhere, I don't think there should be an objection to seeing them here too. And other museum directors or staff could do the same. Writing about major accomplishments, discoveries, events, etc.

Glen Brewer

I don't think that Google hits mean *that* much. This is a really specialized topic. I think there's a limited appeal. Probably anybody who is interested in RR preservation and has net access knows by now about RYPN. You can't really do much to "move those numbers up," unless you want to get random clicks from non-pres people. In that case, be active on other forums and email lists and put links to RYPN in your sig. Your hits will skyrocket.

Juvenile stuff. That's up to the moderators to set & enforce policy on. I really don't care who said what to who about whom. But you see posts here where PM conversations & the like are pasted into posts. And when I see that I lose enthusiasm for reading RYPN.

Further on juvy stuff, when there's disagreement, feelings *will* get involved. And some times reasonable people will behave less than reasonably.

Lastly, I'll be honest. I see a sort of "prevailing attitude" on certain topics here. That's natural when most of the posters have similar backgrounds, say, in being museum leaders like yourself. But the consequence is I don't feel this is a place that will welcome my input. I feel that if I have a different viewpoint of certain subjects, I'll get poo-poo'ed, argued with, dismissed, and all around will not be respected.

So I just read, and hardly ever post.

I don't think a magazine is necessary. As an Electrical Engineer (Ret.) I dwell on the technical. When I want opinions, I go to ngdiscussion.

Sometimes an article can be had from a thread on "how to", "how it works", or "how it is assembled". There were some very useful threads, maybe not here, but on ngdiscussion, on what it was like to operate in days past. The thread included how different locomotives behaved, and how they operated. In this particular case I saved each and every comment in a file as I read, and I re-read occasionally.

As an Engineer on an historic line, I am interested in how it was done and why. Discussions of what color are interesing only if I am modeling. And, since I model little at this time, I skip over such articles.

Photos are nice, but since someone scared bobbyar off, there haven't been to many.

Being retired and looking outside at 1.5 ft. of snow at this moment, I tend to stay indoors and read rypn several times a day while at home. Likewise ngdiscussion. I avoid the highly emotional railway web sites.

So, in summary:

Technical articles, especially by experienced folks.
photos.
Offering a compilation of common technical articles in a package works for me.

dan

Regarding an RyPN-style print mag, I hated to see L&RP go away, but the economics apparently were not there to keep it going. Realistically, don't you think that if there was a good market for a new successful railway preservation mag, the good folks at Kalmbach or Carstens would already be deep into it?

I came to RyPN at the suggestion of Dave L. back in 2002, I believe it was, when he was helping Thronateeska Heritage Center with preliminary evaluation of our Georgia Northern Ry. No. 107. Dave wrote an article that appeared that year (I think) about the plans Thronateeska had regarding the railroad artifact collection. (BTW, that article disappeared and is not available for viewing in the archives...I wonder what happened to it?)

It has been very helpful to get almost instantaneous feedback from so many preservation professionals who grace the "pages" of RyPN. I believe the relationships that develop here are hopefully of the mutually beneficial type. I wish I could get out to visit all of the museums/tourist railways I get to read about here. Since I can't, getting information about projects at other facilities is great. That could never happen in a print mag, at least not in "real-time" like it happens here. There's too much time lag between an event and getting it into print. The Internet is perfect for almost immediate information transmission.

What would I like to see, or how do I think RyPN should evolve?

I like the idea of a Tech Talk section for all the good reasons as suggested by Tom Gears. I would like some way to upload photos of restoration project work (with captions) so that select photos could be posted, since I have no host site and I am not sure I want to set up a separate site for that purpose (even if I had the time to do so) for Thronateeska.

If enough people were inclined toward a large get together, it might be fun to have as many as possible gather some time in the summer at, say, Ohio Central, more likely, Strasburg, and do some trips, perhaps take in a museum, have a sit down supper, or something of that nature. I realize that few of us know each other on sight, and simply meeting doesn't mean we'd necessarily "bond" as firm friends. I think with something planned out with a preservation group included ahead of the calendar, it could be fun. Of course, many of us prefer to hold onto our own views and not care to meet or exchange pleasant "hellos" with other people. It's a thought, and nothing more.

Another place worth touring - for everyone - would be the Museum of Science and Technology, in Ottawa, then ferry over to Montreal for the ExpoRail collection. I'm betting a large group of railroad preservationists could get excellent inside tours at both places, plus take in the elegance of those cities.

Good to hear that there is so much technical interest in steam locomotives. I have always wanted to learn more about them.

This is a quote from my volunteer banquet speech:

“So when you start counting up noses, the volunteer pool is rather large, we have over 171 people who volunteer here at the railroad. And it is this combined effort that lets us successfully preserve the Nevada Northern Railway for future generations. So how many hours have the volunteers contributed? In 2001 – 3,931, 2002 – 4,912, 2003 – 9,325, 2004 – 17,346, 2005 – 17,615, 2006 – 20,363, 2007 (through October) – 13,379, Total - 86,871 hours.”

Again remember the NN Ry is 240 miles from a population center with the population in Ely being 4,800. I think we can find people to write good intelligent articles without having to worry about pay.

After all look at what the moderators do here at RYPN and look at what you do at "your" museum.

AC, I’m flattered that you think I’m a museum leader, but frankly I’m just a regular guy who became the accidental museum director because there was no else in his/her right mind that would take the job. Sort like the way I fell into being Chairman of RYPN. I didn’t want to see either of them close down.

More than anything else I have questions and ideas. Some are great, some are bad, and most are so-so. But IMHO I believe we’re struck in a rut.

Also, there is a difference in having a disagreement on a subject and tearing a person down because he/she disagrees with you. For the railroad preservation field to sustain itself and grow we need to have serious discussions and new ideas. That being said, any and all ideas and thoughts are welcome.

What does Dave put on the bottom of his posts - "Ideas have consequences"

Ok, I will be the bean counter. What is the cost to operate the RYPN today and how much storage, bandwidth and backup is included in the price? Is RYPN at the edge of its bandwidth already? Will growth mandate a change in the next 2 years? Is the Private Message included with the overall lease or is that an extra $$ per month? If RYPN gets bigger, bandwidth/storage, will the supplier have to customize or is there a "canned" lease? Etc Etc.
Without the answers to the above it is very hard, for me, to look 4 6 or 9 years in the future. Emags are fine but having an updated site to me is faster and easier.

Currently Sunserver Networks provides hosting for RyPN at no charge. There are no bandwidth limits imposed, nor are there storage limits imposed. There will be no changes to this in the future. We have plenty of capacity, (dual OC12s) and are both proud and happy to provide this service.

Doug Bailey, CEO
Sunserver Networks