Eastern Railroad Discussion > IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

In recent months our discussion forums have degenerated into a hostile environment where members use it as a place to attack others, preach politics, and criticize others for just about everything. During the past few weeks I have received a number of lengthy emails from members, some well respected that are tired of the bickering and threatening to leave. I have to admit that I have fallen to these attacks myself, but being rather thick skinned I just blew them off. However, it has been pointed out to me that our forums are headed towards a death spiral if this problem is not contained. We have rules on the site that we loosely enforce, but during this past year many have chosen to ignore them.

Much of the degeneration is due to the negativity that is alive in our country as a result of bad economy and the circus environment in Washington. No matter what the reason is, people need Trainorders.com more than ever as a place to escape from the day to day stressed this world offers. One thing is clear with our mission. Trainorders.com is a place to come talk about trains in a warm environment.

I encourage everyone to review the discussion forum guidelines. We have always had these rules in effect for many years and everyone agreed to abide by them when they joined. You can find them here: http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/guidelines.php

Here are some of the most serious violations that are occurring:
1. Politcal discussions are prohibited. I have given the order to our moderation staff to shut down accounts that drag politics into a message. For example this posting is inappropriate:

I maintain that a privatized ANYTING or ANY ASPECT of the national rail passenger network is "sustainable." <?!?!?> And...NO. I'm NOT voting for Obama!!!

If you are not sure if a posting is appropriate then assume it is not. As a general rule, if your posting contains the word “Democrat” or “Republican” then it is inappropriate. There are some appropriate web sites where this kind of discussion is invited. The majority of people come to Trainorders.com to talk about trains, not politics.

2. Personal attacks on other users. Folks can have their opinion and that is ok. However, no need to send an electronic screaming message. If this were a club where people showed up in person you would be thrown out.

One of the big issues that seems to go on is people don’t read what is being posted. It seems as though many people either can’t read or have just gotten lazy. Before answering any post make sure you comprehend what is being said. I myself have fallen victim to members who read one line of my posting and jumped to crazy conclusions.

Do not criticize spelling and grammar errors that people make. Some people even have nerve to write me private messages about my own postings. If there is a posting that is really seriously deficient then send a message to us using the contact us link and we will look into it.

3. Do not copy and paste whole news postings from other web sites. This content is copyright protected. Instead summarize the news posting in a few lines and provide a link to the story. Although this is not quite as serious for the forum health, it is a concern financially as we could be sued for copyright violations. We are not going to suspend you for this, but please respect this rule.

I have given the order to our moderation staff to begin suspending accounts of offenders. Yes, this is drastic, but it is necessary. We currently have just shy of 5000 members, and I expect to lose some of you either as a result of letting your accounts expire, or for some removal for failing to follow the guidelines. We had this problem back in 2003 and when we tackled the issue the site was stronger and better than ever. I am confident we can right the ship to be a pleasant place again.


Sincerely,
Todd Clark
Founder/ Railfan Insane Asylum Manager

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com