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Post by overner on Mar 1, 2021 23:28:31 GMT
I have been a member here for just over 1 year, joining when I purchased a 5" Gauge Terrier and have now also been lured by Gauge 1 live steam. I find this forum and format easy to use, search etc. certainly moreso than other G1 forums/groups including Facebook, which is not very good for blogs and workbench posts.
Just curious to know why members gave up on the G1 section ....
Andy
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Post by overner on Mar 5, 2021 15:40:03 GMT
I suppose it was a bit silly to post here and expect any reply .. 🤔
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Post by coniston on Mar 5, 2021 19:04:51 GMT
I guess anyone interested in G1 have moved on?
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terryhowlett
Active Member

Actually retired (almost as planned) in late 2019.
Posts: 47
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Post by terryhowlett on Mar 7, 2021 18:08:35 GMT
I'm interested in Gauge 1 also. For me it's upscaling from 4mm scale scratch built stuff. Not ready to go too big yet!
I suppose Coniston is right, lack of interest here perhaps.
Terry
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Post by overner on Mar 7, 2021 18:50:39 GMT
I'm interested in Gauge 1 also. For me it's upscaling from 4mm scale scratch built stuff. Not ready to go too big yet! I suppose Coniston is right, lack of interest here perhaps. Terry Terry .. If you have an interest in G1 and if you have not already done so, you should consider joining G1MRA, the Gauge 1 Model Railway Association .. That was my first step and it is well worth it for the excellent quarterly Journal and archive material available but I was surprised that there was no forum .. Of course there is the G1 Facebook group, the G1 and G1 3D printing groups at groups.io, the G1 1/32 Finescale group on WesternThunder and this, now unused group. Personally, I much prefer the MECH forum format but it is a shame that the group lost popularity ... Andy
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timb
Statesman

Posts: 511
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Post by timb on Mar 11, 2021 19:44:40 GMT
It would be nice to see a gauge 1 build on here, different use of the similar techniques!
Hopefully11
Tim
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JonL
Elder Statesman
 
3.5G Britannia, 3.5G William, 3.5G Doris (resto), 2" Burrell GMT early days
Posts: 2,854
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Post by JonL on Mar 11, 2021 22:45:22 GMT
I think quite a lot of the boards on this forum are quite old now, bearing in mind how many 3.5" gauge britannias we have there is no area for those, however there are areas for Trevor Shortlands Prairie and a lot of modelworks designs. I think the readership has just changed a bit beyond the original scope.
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terryhowlett
Active Member

Actually retired (almost as planned) in late 2019.
Posts: 47
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Post by terryhowlett on Mar 13, 2021 22:21:00 GMT
I'm interested in Gauge 1 also. For me it's upscaling from 4mm scale scratch built stuff. Not ready to go too big yet! I suppose Coniston is right, lack of interest here perhaps. Terry Terry .. If you have an interest in G1 and if you have not already done so, you should consider joining G1MRA, the Gauge 1 Model Railway Association .. That was my first step and it is well worth it for the excellent quarterly Journal and archive material available but I was surprised that there was no forum .. Of course there is the G1 Facebook group, the G1 and G1 3D printing groups at groups.io, the G1 1/32 Finescale group on WesternThunder and this, now unused group. Personally, I much prefer the MECH forum format but it is a shame that the group lost popularity ... Andy Thanks Andy, I will consider that. I've also recently joined WesternThunder recently and was impressed at variety of gauges catered for there. Terry
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Post by springcrocus on Mar 14, 2021 11:37:14 GMT
I think one of the other problems is access to the various boards. Only the first four boards in the General section are open to all-comers, the other boards can only be viewed by members.
When a member posts something in one of these specialist boards, if they only get half-a-dozen or so views, then they soon conclude that it isn't worth the effort of posting there and the board slowy drifts into oblivion. However, posting in the General Chat section of the General board will always generate a score or more of views and the poster can see that, at least, someone is interested. For example, I am currently working on my Allchin and writing it up in the Road Steam board but each post only generates fifteen or twenty views. The Britannia diary used to generate a hundred plus views because anyone could look in.
Maybe someone could suggest to the moderaters / owners of MECH that read-only access be granted across the whole forum, with membership still being required for making posts. Then, with greater readership, the more specialist sections might regain some of their earlier popularity. However, I can't see it happening.
Like others, I much prefer the format of the forum compared to any of the other model engineering forums.
Regards, Steve
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Post by springcrocus on Mar 17, 2021 9:19:10 GMT
Maybe someone could suggest to the moderaters / owners of MECH that read-only access be granted across the whole forum, with membership still being required for making posts. Then, with greater readership, the more specialist sections might regain some of their earlier popularity. However, I can't see it happening.
Like others, I much prefer the format of the forum compared to any of the other model engineering forums.
Regards, Steve
I shall eat humble pie.  Well done, George!
Regards, Steve
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Post by GeorgeRay on Mar 17, 2021 21:21:11 GMT
Steve I’ve only been a staff member for a few years and didn’t realise that not all boards had the same access permissions so it took some time to find out what the problem was. I stay logged in all the time so it was not apparent to me that there was a problem. Jason and I try to keep on top of requests from members if we can. Regards George
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iant
Active Member

Posts: 27
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Post by iant on Mar 19, 2021 9:52:38 GMT
As someone who visits MECH only occasionally but uses other Forums regularly, whilst the Forum 'technology' here is good, it seems to me that the topic areas are very unevenly weighted. A huge "Front of Store" area is given over to Modelworks and a few other specific designs but (as someone else has commented) many posts seem to just get crammed into "General Chat".
As for G1 - there are active forums elsewhere that are well established and with the migration of many Yahoo sites to Groups.IO (and their email "push" technology) users can get a daily digest of their favourite material direct to their inboxes without having to navigate around more traditional web Forums looking for content of interest. I'm only back today because I'm awaiting John Baguleys next 2.5" Gauge Green Arrow instalment. So "No Gauge 1 interest?" Well, there's not much 2.5" or Gauge '3' (or live steam 16mm) either but then there's no where to put it - only General Chat!
Just a personal view (and no offence intended) but perhaps a bit of top-level reorganisation is overdue?
Regards,
IanT
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uuu
Elder Statesman
 
your message here...
Posts: 2,775
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Post by uuu on Mar 19, 2021 10:50:20 GMT
I use the "recent posts" and "recent threads" feature to expose everything that's going on. So the layout of the sections becomes irrelevant.
Wilf
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Post by John Baguley on Mar 19, 2021 10:52:04 GMT
I've always thought that it would be far better for builds, restorations etc. to be in their own section and all kept together. As Ian says, everything just gets lumped into General Chat and gradually gets lost down the pages unless it's updated regularly. It's probably too late now to reorganise things though as it would be a mammoth undertaking.
Ian - don't hold your breath - updates on the Green Arrow will be slow coming now that I've caught up to the present day. I'm painting the chassis at the moment but will update when that is done. I'm starting another major project soon which is another shed! I've got far too much stuff and nowhere to store it at the moment!
John
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iant
Active Member

Posts: 27
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Post by iant on Mar 23, 2021 9:10:54 GMT
Liked your latest Green Arrow post (in 'General Chat') John - but I didn't spot it till this morning.
If the G1 folk don't want to use this area - why not post some 2.5"/G3 stuff here - much easier for me to find it then! :-)
Regards,
IanT
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Post by noggin on Apr 18, 2021 16:32:07 GMT
I am a member on this forum, I build mainly 5 inch gauge, I have an interest in gauge 1 , as i am getting older and the larger scales are getting a bit lumpy, This gauge is as interesting to build as in the larger scales, and you can use up all your left over bits of material, I always look on here to see if gauge 1 builds are on here , mainly to keep my interest and give me a boost, but as you say there are no posts, Not many posts on the gauge 1 facebook site either, I would say this gauge is mostly cheque book modelling, That is what i found when i was a member of the gauge 1 society, And the reason i left it. Garry
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Post by overner on Apr 18, 2021 17:50:28 GMT
I am a member on this forum, I build mainly 5 inch gauge, I have an interest in gauge 1 , as i am getting older and the larger scales are getting a bit lumpy, This gauge is as interesting to build as in the larger scales, and you can use up all your left over bits of material, I always look on here to see if gauge 1 builds are on here , mainly to keep my interest and give me a boost, but as you say there are no posts, Not many posts on the gauge 1 facebook site either, I would say this gauge is mostly cheque book modelling, That is what i found when i was a member of the gauge 1 society, And the reason i left it. Garry I guess I qualify as a cheque book modeller having not scratch built or kit built any model and the main reason is, time ... I would say I am a reasonably fit and healthy 72 year old and came to model engineering quite late. I did not want to spend years building Models as my wife and I have other interests ... I was left a small inheritance so decided to buy a used G1MRC Britannia and 4 BR Mk1 coaches but have also purchased a part built Roger Thornber Merchant Navy which is almost completed. So I am more a restorer then a builder. I have to say Garry, I cannot quite see why cheque book modelling would make you leave G1MRA. Without Aster, Accucraft etc. there would be far fewer modellers enjoying Gauge 1. I know the 'Build or buy built' duscussion has been done to death on the various forums and discussion groups but there has to be a place for both if G1 is to survive ...
Andy
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Post by noggin on Apr 18, 2021 18:37:45 GMT
Hi Andy, I have been model engineering most of my life, Enjoy making rather than running, I love looking at other peoples work, and that sometimes gives me a buzz either to make mine better or start another project, I joined Gimra, years ago, but it did not float my boat, as i got the impression that most bought them and not scratch built them, Nothing against that at all. But i get my kicks out of building and seeing others work.I would also say that if i could i would also buy some of the fine gauge one locomotives that are out there. But making them for me is better. Garry
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abby
Statesman

Posts: 924
Member is Online
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Post by abby on May 23, 2021 21:56:50 GMT
I guess that looking at the number of replies to previous posts tells the story , far more people reply to say "why no posts for 5 years" than to actual build posts. I gave up posting about my stuff quite some time ago. Dan.
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Post by Bluff Chuffer on May 26, 2021 15:57:52 GMT
Dan, I was wondering how complete your G1 MERCHANT NAVY class was. I have read your foundry experiences avidly and watched the trials and tribs. of your build with interest. I live in Durban, South Africa and building a Gauge O, 1 2 1/2" and 3 1/2" small track at our local SME. G1 seems to be attracting an enthusiasm as the track nears completion. Errol.
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