Western Railroad Discussion > TO Readership - down?

Gosh, in visiting the Steam and Passenger forums I see that very few people are posting to those forums. Nostalia and Western still have popularity but it seems even these forums are down somewhat. Bummer .

Not down at all. Visitation is up 2% this month over last year. Traditionally, October and November are the slowest posting months on the web site. In previous years we held a photo contest to boost content, but this year with the popularity of the video feature we skipped a year.

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

Good to hear that Todd.

JMW

Just reenlisted for another year ... as best as I can remember, I've been here since late 1997 ... keep up the good work everybody!

Regards,
Burlington John

I was on the 844 50th trip. In the dome car where I was seated the two men sitting directly in front of me were both TO members. The man sitting across from me was looking for people to talk to about trains and all three of us recommended this website. I know there were a lot of members on the trip and look forward to reading their reports. I'll be posting mine in the next day or two.

Word of mouth is how this site grew into what it is today. Trainorders is a unique animal and there is nothing else like it on the web. I am not referring to just trains, but to any hobby. The problem with discussion forums is as they grow they tend to collapse under their weight. The reasonable membership fee we charge keeps everyone honest while paying for the expense of our infrastructure.

So far this year we have served out more than 26 million pages. Page views are up 4% over last year, and visits are up 5%. I watch these statistics closely and my wife can tell when things dip as my mood changes.

I recently had some run-ins with some other non-railroad hobby sites where any dissension in popular opinion about the subject gets you thrown out real quick. Unless you are a troll, that doesn't happen here as long as you are respectful in your opinions. In other forums, identities and egos are represented by "post counts" and lengthy signatures. We discourage that on Trainorders so that the focus is on the railroad hobby and not egos. People call railfans weirdos, but I can tell you people in some other hobbies (obsessions) are stuck in the Twilight Zone.

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

webmaster Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Word of mouth is how this site grew into what it
> is today.

I remember shooting a BNSF super bowl special in San Diego in January (or was it February) 1988 in San Diego. Few fans were in attendance for the special's arrival. Talked to a fellow fan ... asked how he found out about the train. His reply was 'Trainorders.com' .... thus cemented my relationship with this site that has continued to this day.

Regards,
Burlington John



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/15/10 18:24 by burlingtonjohn.

This is a nice website and one of the few that I will actually shell out money for without hesitation. The software used for the discussion groups is easy to use, and I appreciate being able to "flag" discussions to be sent to me via e-mail.

Keep up the good work.

-j

Well that is good to know! I'm still struck at what appears to be declining participation in the Steam and Passenger forums, not that it has any bearing on my future membership. Thanks, Todd, for the clarification.

T.O. is the best of its kind!

burlingtonjohn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> I remember shooting a BNSF super bowl special in
> San Diego in January (or was it February) 1988 in
> San Diego. Few fans were in attendance for the
> special's arrival. Talked to a fellow fan ...
> asked how he found out about the train. His reply
> was 'Trainorders.com' .... thus cemeneted my
> relationship with this site that has continued to
> this day.


TRAINORDERS.COM WAS AROUND IN 1988?!?!?

Hmm, I guess that was back in the day not too long after Al Gore "invented" the internet...

<g>

remember Flimsies? Seems a long, long time ago........................

espeeboy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> burlingtonjohn Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >
> > I remember shooting a BNSF super bowl special
> in
> > San Diego in January (or was it February) 1988
> in
> > San Diego. Few fans were in attendance for the
> > special's arrival. Talked to a fellow fan ...
> > asked how he found out about the train. His
> reply
> > was 'Trainorders.com' .... thus cemeneted my
> > relationship with this site that has continued
> to
> > this day.
>
>
> TRAINORDERS.COM WAS AROUND IN 1988?!?!?
>
> Hmm, I guess that was back in the day not too long
> after Al Gore "invented" the internet...
>
>


he must have ment 1998

"The story of Trainorders.com began in the Spring of 1997 when while railfanning with a good friend in Tehachapi I had the idea bringing the Tehachapi railroad experience online" - from the about us tab.

The steam forum will be slow when steam is not operating, usually after Labor Day, but UP and IAIS and MRSR had some late news and operations.

I'm talking personally, after a while you get jaded when there isn't twelve
new things a day and Sir James doesn't post 24 pictures. It's like everything
else, good days and bad days.

Dumptrucking Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> espeeboy Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > burlingtonjohn Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > >
> he must have ment 1998
>

I did mean 1998 ... my bad!

Regards,
Burlington John

T.O. is the best value on the web for foamers, railfans and other not so weird folks alike. With up to the minute (or day) news, I've dropped Trains and Railfan magazines. Who wants today's info two months from now?

Watts Local