Large Scale Central

What is happening to "The LSC Chat"

General Discussion
#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?

#21

hey, John,

the last thing i saw from you was a pickle car(?) or an old fashioned tanker.

in case, you have forgotten, we all like pics. and your models are worth showing off.

#22

It was nice seeing Friar Fred,Padre Mills ,Father Fred in chat this evening and actually chatting. Ooops I forgot he does not like nicknames!

#23

Thank you, David; I was just playing the roll of antagonizer for the night, to give Gary a long deserved break.

It seems that the chat is slightly more active, since I wrote the first note in this thread, so I may have accomplished what I set out to do…attempt to get some life in it again…with help from all interested parties, we may keep it healthy for a while yet…now if we can get some more “Western Help”, it can thrive…

Thank you everyone, for helping…

Fred Mills

#24

Hey Fred! I’ll answer the question in two parts. First though I have to admit I didn’t read any other posts so read with a grain of salt…

1 facebook. I belong to several largescale groups. I have it on my phone and it is instant. Pictures media everything. It’s easier and quicker to post and respond.

2 My internet provider hates LSC. I have changed browsers and computers. M phone, and 3 computers run this site so slow that it is painful. Tonight I waited 10 minutes just for chat to load. It takes 5 minutes just for the site to load. I don’t want to place blame cause im no computer wiz but it’s cumbersome to me so I avoid it.

#25

I find I have the same problems as Terry with this site nowadays. Slow upload times and general clunkiness.

I get email notices that somebody has posted a reply, and they all say it’s from Bob McCown regardless of which member actually posted the reply. What’s the point of that, I’d like to know.

It gets worse. I get two types of these notices. The first type is OK; it says: “A member has posted a reply…” and it works fine, I can open it and read the reply, which is virtually always from someone other than Bob McCown. It would be helpful if the thing told me in the first place who had posted it.

The second type of notice is just a total PITA. Like the first, it also claims so be from Bob, but by now I know I have to ignore that. It says, “A uses user (sic) replied to the topic…” and then to read the reply you have to open a new tab, copy an address into your browser and go visit the page at the site. Then after that long slow load time, you get to read what is frequently some guy saying “I agree” or even less. These are reasons why I haven’t been around LSC much lately, chat or otherwise.

Terry’s comments re other media such as Facebook may well be accurate - I know that a lot of people have gone there. I have no experience of Facebook myself. Nowadays I’ve pretty much left the virtual world and returned to the real one. It’s better, by the way…

Rooster, your thanks made me laugh out loud the other night! FYI: Fred and I are talking about another visit to Mechanicsburg next Spring.

Korm: You can see what I’ve been up to, with hundreds of photos as well, on my club’s website, backyardrailroaders.com. Search for the newsletter archives for the past couple of years for items by me or my pal johnnychuffchuff. I have taken a little time off from the Newsletter for the past 2-3 months, so go back further than that. Cheers!

#26

There will always be people who will have some sort of problem…even back in the days of the tin cans, joined by a string, some could not seem to master, getting them to work. It seems that more and more, even with the help of high tech devices, or lack of them, the human being fails to master the art of COMMUNICATION…for those holy rollers, remember the lesson of the Tower of Babble…

John…ever thought that your old “Dial-up” system may be causing you to retreat from the internet, due to frustration, and stubbornness…and,

Terry…I’m happy that you are pleased with the other extreme…too much high tech, and too fast a lifestyle, for some others to find enjoyment …BUT…

I think we all find our level of technology, where each of us feels comfortable. If we miss out on the opportunity to enjoy other peoples friendship, knowledge, and help…we only have ourselves to blame.

All I’m trying to do in this thread that I started, is to bring more people together, in fellowship, to share the great things each of us are blessed with…if some don’t care, or find it difficult; I can’t do a dammed thing about it…but I have tried…and am not sorry for it.

#27

Fred, I applaud your efforts. But technology can be a real bugger. A few years back, Comcast doubled my speed. So, instead of pages loading slow, but complete, I got pages loading fast, with a lot of little red Xs in boxes. Now I am back on Fios, and I don’t have either problem.

One of the main reasons for sites like this is fellowship. And, like you said, if someone chooses not to, they are missing out. OTOH, turning off the computer, and picking up the tools, gets more done in our worlds. So, it is a trade off. Just like most anything else in life.

I am grateful for all the friends I have made on sites like this. I feel that the knowledge and friendships I have gained has enriched my life. As for the enemies I have also gained, they can just…

Edit because my “smart phone” is an idiot, and can’t post for doo doo.

#28

Well, the Left Coasters are dropping in, slowly but surely…

#29

Had a nice visit with Fred last night but the right coasters except Fred (and even the leftt had gone to bed! I missed John Miller, another left coaster, but I’ll try again!