Atlas shutting down its forums!


MGWSY said:
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.
Click to expand...

Mark - I'm 100% on board with you. We're just over grown kids playing with trains and the sooner we realize that the better. Nothing wrong with it but to many outsiders our interest that's exactly how they see us. (And that's OK with me)
Of course golfers hit a ball and then chase it and sport fishermen, well what is it they really do?:confused:
 
Good. Most of the people there are jerks. There is no use for that in a HOBBY. Personally, I hope they stay away from here.
 
Hello All,

Although being a member of this forum, I haven't contributed much here. Consider me one of the members who will be migrating over from the Atlas forum.

I share in the sentiment shared by those in this thread already. Despite my appreciation for the work that Atlas has done, trying to maintain a constructive model railroad community, I should have went the route others have and participated less as a result of what many have already pointed out. I can't help but feel somewhat foolish thinking that things would turn around if I just "hung in there".

To anyone who has followed my posts or recognized me from the Atlas forum, I hope I am not grouped with the negative bunch. I had always attempted to be positive there and will do so here too of course (despite making my frustrations there known).

I look forward to participating with you all more here. Internet searches have often lead me to this forum and I've found the community to be filled with positive and helpful modelers.

I regret that a situation such as this is what lead me to posting here but as they say, "when one door closes, another door opens".
 
It is kind of sad to see it go that way but, considering how some were there, it may have been a chore to go after all the kvetchers around there...

And welcome to the forum mlrr!!
 
From what I have read. Its no big loss to me either. The only time I have ever been on that forum is if something comes up in a search im doing. Otherwise, good riddance from me as well. It never really impressed me.
 
This forum is WAY more friendly and constructive. There is a sort of comraderie among the hobbyists on here where virtually all choose to share what theyve learned, offer constructive advice, not be afraid to ask for help, and get different views on various aspects of the the hobby. Everyone has been friendly, kind, and eager to help. To the moderators and members, thank you for making this such a great forum. I have learned and enjoyed so much.

There have been very few trolls and rivet counters on here, and when they appear, they are usually dealt with effectively.

Brad
 
Thanks everyone. We work very hard to keep the place friendly and welcoming. It's all about the tone you set. We've had some trolls too of course, there's always some idiot who think's it's fun to rain on everyone's parade. But we don't tolerate it for very long, and they're soon shown the door. The result is a fun and friendly place everyone can enjoy, and a lot less competition about who's the ultimate modeller or knows the most about the location of rivets on the tender of an NYC Hudson.

We've ruffled a few feathers over time, but I'd much prefer it be a few than it be some bozo ruflling everyone's feathers. So, for all the new folks: Welcome, and I hope you enjoy the site. Please keep one rule in mind. "Be good or be gone!"
 
Looking at the forum again this morning, I'm wondering if the lack of users was a factor. Right now there's 27 people online at the Atlas forum. Here there are 322 users. Quite a large difference.

I can see why they'd have little interest in running a forum for such a small audience, especially when there is a lot of personality conflict going one.
 
I like it here much better. No negativity and when I do post something I dont need to worry about my work being picked apart. I enjoy reading the posts of other users here.
 
mnbaty said:
I like it here much better. No negativity and when I do post something I dont need to worry about my work being picked apart. I enjoy reading the posts of other users here.
Click to expand...

I agree with everyone above. Here you get positive comments, there some people just like to nit pick and rivet count the crap out of things. I liked there "O" guage forum but decided to stick with HO for now. Some of the other forums members mentioned didn't seem to have much traffic compared to here.
 
I've been a member at Atlas since 1994, and have been there on and off since. I agree with many that there have been some nasty trolls which have been tolerated and shouldn't have been. My guess is if Atlas would have taken on some volunteers like most other forums do, and had less tolerance for the mean spirited and flaming comments, then it would have been a better place. One thing I do like is some substantive and meaty discussion, and that was their but is missing from some places. I've been here on this forums since 2009 but mostly as a lurker. I will miss Atlas but of course not the trolls.

Cjcrescent said:
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.
Click to expand...

Well, if this place is well moderated, then the trolls we have seen in other places won't be tolerated hopefully so that will be a moot point.

I'm not highly skilled either although I've been in the hobby since I was a teen in the 70's and built my share of kits, I appreciate the RTR stuff that has become the mainstay in the past 10 years, primarily because I don't have the motivation to built tons of kits, and I already have plenty stashed away should I get the urge.
 
I've noticed alot of folks speaking very disparagingly about the Atlas forum in many of the other forums I am a member of, including this one. My honest and frank opinion is that people are the same every where, here and there. The difference is how a forums is moderated. If trolls are tolerated, then they will continue to thrive, if they are taken out, then it will help. If there can be any specific criticism I would level is they tolerated trolls too much.

Atlas unfortunately didn't take the trolls out, so they got in there and ruined the otherwise good indepth discussions or critiques. Atlas was the first forum I was a part of because back in 1994, the internet was still relatively new for many as dial up was the main way of connecting back then and high speed internet was not very common. It had a good run and they decided for whatever reason to not take on volunteers, that might have eased their burden and made things lasted a little longer.

Anyway, I'm glad there are some good alternatives around!
 
riogrande said:
My honest and frank opinion is that people are the same every where, here and there. The difference is how a forums is moderated.
Click to expand...

While I would agree with the above statement, I have to say that the majority of folks here have been a better caliber of people right from their first post and that sets the tone for the rest of the forums.
 
Bob, once I had posted a reply to an observation about an ex-member of Model Railroader's forum (whom I banned after many private and public attempts to get him to modify his behaviour), I logged out a final time and then deleted the bookmark in my favourites. I wouldn't doubt that others have largely done the same.

The Atlas forum had some very nice and skilled posters, but like any forum, it had a hard-core clique who held forth daily who posted the heavy bulk of the daily traffic. The resultant restriction of range meant that the forum held limited appeal to a broader audience.
 
Selector said:
The resultant restriction of range meant that the forum held limited appeal to a broader audience.
Click to expand...

Atlas did restricted its forum discussion to trains and trains only, and required people to exclude discussion from politics and other things? I was fine with that, as I came to Atlas (as with some other forums) because I want to talk about trains and keep away from other discussions.

I suppose like many people, we have our area's of interest and mine includes discussion of model vs prototype so it's those kinds of topics that get me the most jazzed. Of course nothing is wrong with many of the kinds of discussion which go on at train forums - we all have our preferences so we tend to gravitate to places where we can focus on those things we like the most.

I have noted that Atlas always seemed to be quite "active" as a rule, and personally feel that perception comes from the fact that they only had 4 areas you could post in. Take that same amount of activity and translate it to a forums that has 40 different areas and it's going to seem slow and lethargic in comparison, as you wait and wait to see activity in some areas. That is logical if you think about it and it's why Atlas has been perceived to be a "busy" place. Like any place it has gone through it's slower or quieter times too.

There is nothing wrong with any of many forums I've joined over the past 5-10 years, and I'm a member of some 6 or 7 train forums, but I tend to gravitate toward those were the discussion is the most interesting to me. That is probably how it is for most folks.
 
Bob said:
Looking at the forum again this morning, I'm wondering if the lack of users was a factor. Right now there's 27 people online at the Atlas forum. Here there are 322 users. Quite a large difference.
Click to expand...
Bob, until a couple of weeks ago, there were a lot more users. There are less now that everybody is "manning the lifeboats". Everybody that wanted to has made their final posts and are now moving on. I've checked there a couple of times over the weekend to see if there has been an 11th hour stay of execution, and many of the regulars are gone now. Seems almost peaceful.
 
The Altas forum does seem to be dead. The only posts that I have seen recently are from folks asking where to go know and the final weekend photo fun. Sad to see it go.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.



Back
Top