Sorry to here about your father Lou. I don’t know what I would do without this site. I have made many friends here. Its just so nice to share our hobby experience. I hope Bob will find a way to keep the site up and running for many years. And Hail to our RRR chief. You will be missed.
Dang, I hope this site doesn’t go away. I use it for so much help and inspiration. Hope all works out for the best.
I suggested to my new pal, Jerry, that he join, as I like LSC and I find it more friendly. His reaction was that we’re a bunch of nasty people yelling at each other. (!)
I can only think he happened to be here when there was a Rooster joke going on. I don’t find the level of incivility to be any worse than elsewhere.
This was my first and is the only site I use. Most of my knowledge of garden railroading came from the people on this site who are always very helpful.
I would really hate to see it go away.
Maybe it’s my personality but I have always taken the occasional bickering with a grain of salt.
I hope we can move beyond this.
Lou, My condolances on your Dad’s passing…
My advice, Robert, and this is coming to you as a friend and not as a LSC member, Shut it down.
Do you really need the aggravation and stress at this point in your life, from those who refuse to act with any decorum, respect or civility? Life is too short. This is a hobby, it’s supposed to be fun and releave the stress, not add to it.
I would give the same advice to anyone of my friends, move on and leave the frustration behind you.
I’ll miss it, no doubt about that, I like this place. But not at the expense of loosing a friend.
It wouldn’t be the first time “I’ve woke up and the site is gone”. didn’t like it at the time, but it wasn’t the end of the world. I can live with whatever decision you make.
Ken Brunt said:
My advice, Robert, and this is coming to you as a friend and not as a LSC member, Shut it down.
Do you really need the aggravation and stress at this point in your life, from those who refuse to act with any decorum, respect or civility? Life is too short. This is a hobby, it’s supposed to be fun and releave the stress, not add to it.
I would give the same advice to anyone of my friends, move on and leave the frustration behind you.
I’ll miss it, no doubt about that, I like this place. But not at the expense of loosing a friend.
It wouldn’t be the first time “I’ve woke up and the site is gone”. didn’t like it at the time, but it wasn’t the end of the world. I can live with whatever decision you make.
Ken is spot on, while I would hate to see the site go there is no need every other month to keep having to warn people over and over… and over… about behavior playing with eh-em trains…
All I would suggest, if the plug is to be pulled, just give a little notice so people can copy/save some info.
I love this site. Please do not shut it down. Its a mine of information and talent
No warnings for bad behaviour…just
“YOUR OUT”!
Act like schoolkkids…be treated like schoolkids.
Wow. Wow, I’m so sorry that the site makes you feel this way Bob. It’s easy to see what a loss this would be to the large scale community. I’ve just gotten into my grove here after coming off a annoying relationship with a now commercial site. I sure love this bunch and would hate to loose my connection to most of them. BUT, you Bob have to do what’s in your best interest. Stress can be very real and cause serious health problems. If running the site is doing this to you then it’s not worth it. Perhaps some moderators would help dealing with the growing site. In the end you have to do what is best for you. Thanks for all your efforts on our behalf and do what you need to.
Lou, I’m so sorry, That has to be very hard.
Bob,
I feel the same way with running the club at times. You can not make everyone happy, do what works for you!!
I support you in whatever you decide,
Thank you for all you have done, so far, and hopefully in the future.
Lou, we’re very sorry for your families loss!
How did I miss out on the RRR logo # thingy?
I found this thread this morning on my phone. I cannot log in on my phone so I have been rolling over, in my head, what I would say all day. Now I am here and none of it sounds right.
I am an LSOL orphan. When I was on that site I thought it was a good site, but after being here I see how it was lacking in certain ways. The average caliber of modeler on this site is head and shoulders above the average modeler on that site. The activity level is so much higher, and the responses are (usually) much more informative and helpful. This site is such a wealth of information and is populated by (mostly) helpful and understanding people.
Since I have joined this site, a little over a year ago, Bob has tossed out at least 4 folks that are not coming back. He has “timed out” a few others. Its a shame that Bob has to babysit adults. If folks would consider treating folks the way they want to be treated themselves, then Bob wouldn’t have to play babysitter.
Why do some people have to say stuff to others that would upset them if it were said to them? No, I do not want an answer, I do not want to stir up more aggravation. I just want some people to think about that question a bit.
I do not want to see this site go away, but how many times has Bob had to post a “cease and desist” comment in a thread? More times then should be necessary. I hope a solution can be found to keep this site going. But Bob, it is truly your site, and your decision.
Thank you for all you have done. I appreciate it, as do so many others.
I’m really not sure what to say except condolences to Lou and his family.
I’ve been here a long time, but not as long as some. Recently as the other big sites either closed or went through ownership changes I worried about what increased traffic would do to our nice little neighborhood bar. Not saying that those sites were the source of the bad apples; just that as membership grows so does the percentage of problem members.
I’ll respect whatever decision you make Bob. I know enough of the core group here well enough that the loss of this site won’t mean the loss of those friendships; just a change of venue for communication. As pointed out by Ralph, losing this site would limit the ability to make new friends. Losing this site will also severely limit my exposure to the work modelers much more talented than I. It is exposure to modelers of all classes that have inspired me to try things I might otherwise never attempted. That would be sorely missed.
I thought briefly of suggesting making the site private, membership by invite only. After thinking that through I realized that a private site is doomed to stagnation. Besides, how could you ever choose who stays and who goes :]
I hope LSC doesn’t go dark. But f it does I understand why.
One other thing - A request to Bob.
If you decide to give it up, is there any chance you could simply shut down the ability to post and or make any changes to the data keeping the wealth of information contained in this database available as a resource to all of us? Even moving to an advertising supported free host to do this would be acceptable to me.
Don’t let a few rotten apples spoil the basket of good ones. Just cull them out.
Maybe get a couple more moderators to help you scan the forums every day.
I have learned to stop before I hit the “enter” button and re-read my post to make sure I’m responding as if the person was sitting across from me in the room. And to be honest I have canceled replies a time or two.
Bob, I did forget to thank you for all the service you have provided us with this site.
Something else I forgot to mention in my earlier post is a process I use when writing, especially if it is over a ‘touchy’ subject. I will do my writing in Notepad or similar text editor, read it, re-read it, then walk away for a short time and do something else. Usually be the time I get back to it and read it AGAIN, I usually find I need to tone it down be several notches.
I find it good to write it in the heat of the moment, but NEVER deliver it in the heat of the moment. Let it stew for a while and you will usually come away with the best you can do - the strength of the facts without the vehemence of the emotions.
Bob,
As one of the newer members I love the site and hope it stays. Do what you must, whatever that turns out to be. This s your labor of love that you have invited us all to participate in. If people were causing problems in my living room I would ask them to leave. If it kept happening I would kick them all out and shut my doors.
I hope it doesn’t come to that but wouldn’t blame you if you did.
Thanks for what you do and sorry you have to put up with insulate dolts.
In the last couple of days I’ve talked/emailed/chatted with a bunch of you about the site, and its possible future. I also have in my inbox an email from Boomer himself. After much reflection, I have decided on a course of action.
I’m going to let the Gods of Software decide the fate of the site. As I’ve said in another thread somewhere here, I’m almost three years behind in security and functionality updates to the software that runs LSC. The core software is now stagnant, and unsupported. I’ve been evaluating a version locally, in the hopes of being 100% sure it will update. I’m not that confident, but I’m going to go ahead anyway. So, tonight at 22:00, I will take the site down for a software upgrade. I will provide updates as it progresses. Expect it to be down at least 12 hours.
If the site does indeed come up, there is a major change in the way I’m dealing with idiocy, and it involves all of you. The forums have a reporting system for posts. If you find a post offensive, or out of control, REPORT IT. DO NOT engage the person in the thread, you only become part of the problem. I will vet every report and see if I agree. I will post, in whatever thread the offending post is in, my response. You will have ONE CHANCE to apologize. If I get some number, probably 5, valid complaints about a user, that user is banned. I cannot, and will not, read every thread on the site. But you all, combined, do. So help me out here and self-police. I cant fix a problem that I dont know is happening.
The look and feel of the site will change, they’ve updated it to what’s known as a “responsive” site in modern terminology. It should work better on mobile devices and different sized monitors. I fully expect it to take a while to get things working 100% again. Any oddities with advertising and forum sponsorship will be top priority.
Thank you Bob