Large Scale Central

What is happening to "The LSC Chat"

General Discussion
#1

The LSC Chat room used to be a rather active place, but in the last several years it is gradually dying a slow and dreary death. Yes there are a VERY loyal few that usually check in most evenings, but the rest hardly ever show up any more…even Bob McCown, the list owner seldom if ever shows up.

Everyone’s life changes, and time to chat may be the first of many losses, but what could attract new people to join in with the chat, and possibly, at the same time, do a little bit towards invigorating this LARGE SCALE HOBBY of ours ?

There used to be a good WEST Coast contingent over on another chat room, but even it seems to be slowing down.

Could we try to attract the West Coast people to join in here as an all around PLACE TO SHARE THOUGHTS AND IDEAS in our mutual hobby ?

The location of people doesn’t make much difference anymore, other than the time of day, wherever you happen to live, but some of us, who are truly “Retired”, often don’t mind chatting into the wee hours, if there is something to chat about with others.

At one time, THURSDAY NIGHT was known all over as “Chat Night”…could we start that up again, and have the chat start around 19:00 EST, and keep going with the Western Gang joining in as soon as they hit that time in their time zones ?

It sure would be great to meet such persons as Greg, Steve, and others on a regular chat, rather than the hit & miss way it is now.

We might even start chatting about our hobby, while sharing thoughts about other skills and interests we share. Maybe even using our real names, so we know who we are really chatting with.

Heck, we might even enjoy the company of fellow railroaders from across the pond…

COMMENTS, everyone…PLEASE

Fred Mills

#2

Hi Fred… Yep we are one of the guys that can’t get on until after dinner time and after feeding the animals. So on both sites we are always to late.

But a good idea to see if we can get on from west coast on a thru. night. Miss chats and shared ideas…

#3

The reason I quit going on chat is because I usually wander into an empty chat room, or, the folks in there are saying their goodnights when I wander in. A “usual” time for chat would be a way to get it going again.

#4

it’s the economy…

if we look closely, it is not only the chat, but the forum as well. and if we look closer, it’s not only this forum, but all forums.

to me it seems, that more and more people have to work more hours, to make ends meet.

and the hobbies suffer this shortage of leisure time.

that time left is used up by running trains, building modells, and so on. so the most casual part, the chats, have to give first.

#5

I would love to chat more but its hard between work and kids. I would have to sit in one spot to chat, with kids that wont happen. I’m constantly all over the place. I also think the smart phone doesn’t help. I think more and more people are using their smartphones these days. Its has become easier because you don’t have to log onto a pc and sit in one spot. We have everything at our finger tips with a smartphone. It allows us to do multiple things at once. Its too bad forums are not user friendly when it comes to a smart phones. I think people have turned to Facebook groups and the messenger feature on FB. LSC has a FB page, maybe experiment with chatting on that. I belong to a few FB train pages and things are very active and it seems to attract the younger generation as well. Another nice feature with FB is you get a notification when something is being posted. That is perfect for those times when chat is slow. You dont have to sit and wait. I know a lot on here are not fans of FB but the train pages are no doubt more active. The only big disadvantage is trying to do a build log on FB. Overall I think it is more active.

#6

Times change, people change, interests change. I suspect some are put off by some of the banter that the old timers engage in on a regular basis as it tends to be only of interest to those carrying on the conversation. It is difficult to share your work when you currently aren’t doing anything hobby related. Many of the topics that could be discussed have been beaten to death over the years and while they may be of some interest to newbies most of them never show up to chat.

A number of the regulars on the chat seem to have drifted away over time, bored with format, lost interest in the hobby, got a life or life has gotten in the way and maybe other reasons as well. Over the years the chat has waxed and waned, there were a couple of years when it went almost completely silent. As for using real names, this forum has more folks using their real names than almost any other that I have found. Some that I belong to no one uses their real name except a few than have their first name in their signature line. The few that don’t here are known by most everyone anyway so I don’t see that being a big problem.

As for Facebook it probably attracts more of the younger folks and older folks that use it to keep up with their children and grandchildren. Since I have neither and don’t particularly like the format, I don’t go there and I know a lot of other folks that don’t as well. If that is where the hobby info is trending I guess I’ll just go without. Being retired it’s easy to forget that working folks have less free time to just sit and wait for someone to show up to chat with.

So is the chat dead ? Less active sure, perhaps it’s just at a low ebb as it seems the large scale portion of the hobby is right now as well. This time of year tends to be slow anyway, too many other distractions. Just my 2¢ worth.

#7

Old slow fingers and the Advanced hunt and peck style of writing always puts my comments where they don’t make sense. I got frustrated and never went back…

John

#8

To be honest, chat unnerves me. I’m not kidding. I feel uncomfortable enough interacting through the computer on this forum with people whom I’ve never met. I’m not scared of the people*; it’s the medium itself. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy this forum and this is the only one I participate in, but I’ve never quite come to terms with communicating with people when I can’t shake their hands and look them in the face and hear their voices. I don’t text, facechat, snapchat, instachat, or any of the others. I don’t think there’s anything particularly wrong with these things if used sensibly, but in the words of Gen. Prescott, I need “to see the whites of their eyes”!

*okay, okay, there are a couple of pretty scary people around here!!!

#9

Yes, I almost always check the chat in the evenings PACIFIC time… no one there, or the other guys gone before 5:30 pm PDT…

If anyone from the West Coast shows up, leave a message like “I’ll come back in 15 minutes, or something”… I’m very surprised there are not more people there.

Greg

#10

4pm on the West Coast is too early, some of us work for a living!

I have to find some money to buy trains ha ha!

5pm west coast and 8 pm east coast seems more reasonable, it’s as early as anyone who works could possibly make it, and 8pm cannot be too late for someone still alive?

It’s cool though, the East coast guys fold up shop pretty early and I need to get a group of west coasters.

By the way, the East Coast MLS guys hang in there a lot longer, more than a few to midnight so more chatting on MLS…

Not whining, just telling it like it is.

Greg

#11

I’d be more than willing to stay past 20:00 if I thought that there might be a meaningful chat. Heck; I’m fully retired, and mother doesn’t tell me that I have to be asleep before midnight…!! It would be good to share thoughts, and ideas with you guys from the Left Coast.

…and…Noel; there is still a place for simple old “Block Control”, loop and hook couplers, and roundy-roundy…we can all learn something from each other, without stressing any differences.

Last I heard; railroading was still basically steel wheel on steel rail, and that’s what I’m modelling…how about you ?

ARE WE HAVING FUN YET…???

Fred Mills

#12

Greg;

The MLS group seems never to use actual names, so I never have a clue who in hell I’m chatting with, or where they are located…and that chat is rather hard for a new person to find out how to use …I’m no 'puter nerd…I can’t even figure which note is the recent one from the rest…

John;…I understand your feelings, but if everyone used their real name, and showed where they are located, it would help anyone new to feel a little bit more welcome, and get just a hint of friendliness…

There will always be a few odd-balls…heck they put up with me, but generally the LSC Chat has always been a safe and friendly place. If there is someone posting, that gets to your craw…just ignore him/her/it, and stay friendly with the good guys…who make up the vast majority…

#13

The idea of renewing the “Thursday Night Chat” was just an idea…heck, it could be any night that suits the majority…or EVERY NIGHT…lets just promote this LSC CHAT ROOM…it’s ours to use, and it costs everyone the same price…YOUR PARTICIPATION.

If you attend, and tell your friends, they might join you…

JUST THINK OF ALL THE NEW FRIENDSHIPS WE ALL CAN ENJOY…if we donate our efforts…we might even help to get LARGE SCALE MODEL RAILROADING, as a part of the hobby, growing again through motivating each other, and sharing with others…LETS TRY IT…

Fred Mills

#14

Fred,

I used to frequent the MLS chat (and sometime the LSC prekids) but after putting 2 kiddo’s to bed around 7-8 pst/pdt going on the computer to chat gets me the evil eye from SWMBO. (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)My afternoon and evenings are pretty packed after coming home from work; play with the kids, eat dinner, baths, story time, and then bed. By the time that is done, it is usually my turn to start getting ready for bed, or lesson plan for the next day.

Now, I do try and find one day a week to disappear into the garage to work on projects so if I had a computer there I might make more frequent visits to the chatroom. That said, based on my past exerience the MLS chatroom seemed to be more active overall (both early and late Pacific time). Maybe it is the notification style of the chat (MLS is automatic, you get a ding if you want when someone posts; LSC you have to refresh the page all the time).

Other than chatting with like minded folks, I’m not sure how chatting helps me advance my skills/time in the hobby. If I have a hard question/or want to share something I’d rather post on the thread to get a wider audience. The chat doesn’t do much for me, in fact it seems to draw me away from any actual modeling time that I could have.

#15

If you want to get something out of chat you have to put something in. On Sunday nights around 6:00 EST is the weekly dump. Participants share what they have worked on the past week. It is a few pictures and some brief explanations. Unlike the forum you can ask a question or make a comment and get a response. Some of those responses will be juvenile and silly so wear your big boy pants. Just like in person people will joke and goof around, don’t get offended. It is all in good fun.

It does not always run smoothly. Projects take time to research and prepare for. Progress is often impeded by life. Funding may be an issue or awaiting supplies. There may not be an update on projects every week.

To fill the void regulars are more likely to drift into casual conversation about life with a few Train related comments thrown in. This is because it is a small group. More people participating would increase the odds of GRR topics. If you show up with a subject to discuss and ask for input you will get it. If you show up with nothing and whine about “why aren’t we talking about trains?” …well that should explain itself.

I invite all of you stop by for the weekly Dump (even if you got nothing) and say hello. If you think this forum is flat and lifeless it is because you are not interacting with the members in real time. Start with visiting chat occasionally and move up to meeting some of these people at the next Garden RR Convention.

Oh and because BD does not show up regularly anymore we make a lot of jokes at his expense…so bring your best one-liners.

:slight_smile:

#16

Fred killed chat

#17

Or would he rather be called by one of his nicknames …Friar ,Padre, Father?

#18

This evening Father Fred phoned me and asked me to post here.

I’ve looked in on chat a couple of times and nobody was there.

I’m with the folks whose lives are too busy, or for whom it’s just not part of my routine because my time is filled with other things. My railroading time is much briefer than I would like already!

I really don’t like to spend my evenings on the computer. My kitchen table is always piled pretty high with modeling projects, and I find the less time I spend fooling with computers the more my projects actually reach completion, which is very satisfying. Also, I have family, like most of us.

I’m also very active in my local club. I spend a lot of non-modelling, but still my railroad time, at work on our club newsletter.

This is archived at backyardrailroaders.com A good effort, Fred, but it’s just not for everyone…

My 2 cents, which may not be worth that much… Cheers everybody, and keep on chuffing!

#19

…and how come Rooster is well respected anyway?

#20

I usually take my dumps…ah, but that’s kind of personal, not to mention icky.

Well, I could stop in and post, but I usually don’t upload pictures until I am ready to do a thread on my latest project. Something about being hounded, like Devon is, about howzitgoin? and when will it be done?