Atlas shutting down its forums!


jayl1

jayl1

Member
:mad:From the Atlas forum board - the forums will be shut down as of May 1. You can read the details there.
 
jayl1 said:
:mad:From the Atlas forum board - the forums will be shut down as of May 1. You can read the details there.
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Doesn't surprise me considering all the trolling and negativity going on constantly by a select few. I am sure the moderators got sick of it and there have been less and less useful posts over the years as people left the atlas forum to other forums. I have been there since the beginning and it was a place I went to daily now I guess I will spend more time here, LOL.
 
It's been a good resource for help. They'll probably all come here.

There is a certain degree of negativity exhibited by a few individuals, but I've found the discussions to be more positive than negative.
 
Personally I can't believe manufacturers have forums or review capabilities on their websites. That's just asking for trouble.

I also think there are too many model train forums as it is - eliminating several and getting all those members into fewer larger communities could do a lot for the hobby.
 
Its dissappointing to some extent, as I only started to check out the Atlas forum in the last 2 years or so. I found them helpful at times, although I'm not sure there has been much of a business benefit to Atlas for most of that time.

The way things are going, they'd need to spend the funds on an app, or something like that, as I think the whole 'forum/bulletinboard' concept is passe', anyway. Being that I'm 50, which still makes me part of the younger demographic in model railroading, I don't have a problem with the forum format, but I wonder how many 10-35 year olds participate here, or other venues.
 
Running a forum is difficult and challenging. I'm not surprised they decided to call it quits. I couldn't keep this place going with the help of our dedicated staff. They put in lots of hours keeping things going and keeping it fun and friendly.

That said, everyone but the trolls is welcome to come here. I'm not on the Atlas forums, but for those of you who are, please pass along the invitation!
 
Doesn't matter to me one way or the other. I pop in there once in a while for the Sunday Photo Fun. There's too many there who pick fights over nit-picky stuff for my taste. I know, I've been victimized by them simply because I'm not as good a modeler as they are. I tried for five years to get on there but my registration was always blocked by someone. I finally managed to get on and with my very first post I got jumped on by a bunch of trolls. I have no use for crap like that. I won't miss it a bit!
 
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Personally, I won't find it much of a loss. I HOPE that their bunch of complainers stay away from here.
 
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MLW said:
Good riddance
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My sentiments exactly! After being on there for almost 10yrs, and then being "Jumped" as was Jeffrey, not that my skills aren't equal to anyone there, but because I refused to get on the RTR, modern diesels, and sound bandwagon, I haven't posted there much since then.

There are several that I would like to see here, but there are more of them that should go elsewhere.
 
I haven't visited or posted there the past few years for the reasons already cited. While I don't recall ever being "jumped on", the majority of my posts were ignored. Most of the friends I met there when I first joined 6 years ago have been long gone.
 
I wouldn't disagree with any of the above postings, but still, I'm sorry to see it go. I usually just don't pay attention to the negative posts. But like all the forums I peek at, I learned a great deal there and was in awe at the talent being displayed.. I especially looked forward to the "Thursday Proto Photo." Hope that is revived somewhere.
Tom
 
Well I was on the forum since the beginning and I believe I had around 850 posts total since that time. I have been here for around 3 years and have over 1000 so that should say something in itself. I noticed that every time something about a new product was posted someone would complain about the price then within two pages the thread would be a battle by a select few that would go back and forth about manufacturing costs, how they should have made this instead of that, move production out of china, how 1 rivit was off by .00001" , Etc. Then I also noticed when new people showed up they would get torn apart by the experts telling them "THE ONLY" way to do stuff is this way "thier way" or you’re not a model railroader.

My feeling for model railroading is simple and I have said it a few times, whether you’re running trains in a circle on the carpet or have a prototypically correct layout with miles of track it’s still the same thing, Your PLAYING with toy trains and it’s a HOBBY, not something to get mad over! I am sure a lot of people will disagree but that’s pretty much what all outsiders think of us. Either way I have enjoyed this forum more than Atlas due to being able to share a lot of information and help people out without someone jumping all over me for it. Plus I have made some great friends here too.
 
This button on the upper right corner of an offending post is the answer
report.gif

A forum without it's members, is just a website. There are few moderators here because the membership are the real moderators by reporting such types of posts. There is some latitude given to long time participating members, after all every one has a bad day sometime. Take care and look after your forum.

Jeffery, I have to agree with what OLD 97 has posted. I've watched your modeling get steadily better, and now, I wish I could do as good as you are doing. I seriously doubt that anyone is a natural craftsman, we all had to start somewhere and I doubt anyone ever started in this hobby and built or weathered the perfect model on their first try. You are an asset to this forum we're glad you are here. Keep up the good work.
Cheers
Willis
 
Atlas was a diesel forum because that is what the company offers. Over time, that restriction will impart a flavour to the culture there, and by extension to the forums. If they found it hard, or were reluctant, to moderate their forums more assiduously, it should be no surprise that as time went on some people felt they owned the place. If you go to anyone one of about 30 MRR or RC or sewing forums, you'll find the same hard core of about 40 regulars who develop their own clique. If they are to get along and to unify in any way so that they can talk without snipping at each other, they must all slide their bums one way or the other along that loooong communal bench they try to warm each day. They become like-minded, adopt common currencies, such as language and interests, and away they go. Good luck to interlopers and newbies. Those types of places are easy pickin's for trolls, though. Just toss in a stinker or some kind of bait, and go get a coffee.

I will miss that forum...I checked it daily. It had its faults, but which of them don't? One thing is sure, money is a bit tight, but also they just couldn't direct someone to moderate that forum more closely, which it needed often.

Fortunately, there are other very nice places to be, including this one. We should be (at least I am...) grateful to the people who run this forum with any role in its administration and monitoring. As a former moderator over at Model Railroader, I can tell you that I wasn't doing it for my health, but as a service to those who wished to participate free from harassment and trolling. If the hobby is to stay healthy, it needs its watchers and gate-keepers who pass on the good values that got the hobby to where it is today. Judging by the flow and tone here, our watchers do a very good job.
 
jeffrey-wimberly said:
...I know, I've been victimized by them simply because I'm not as good a modeler as they are. ...
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Jeff,

What they jumped on me for was I had broke down the "cost" of a high priced Westerfield kit into the number of hours that building it would give me entertainment wise.

One guy called me a nut! Said I would never get any kind of a layout built because I would be too busy building kits. They couldn't understand that I'd been in the hobby for, (at that time almost 50 years), and already had over 400 cars built.

He said that as soon as the newest 6 numbers on some car was released, he'd have a train of 24 cars running on his layout shortly.

I said I'd be happy to compare trains, as I great pleasure watch one of my 2-10-2's pulling about 60 individually numbered hopper cars of mine around the club layout.

I believe he then got ticked!
 
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