I will start by saying: Yes, and later on, after at least a few others answer these questions, I will complete my answers. Arnold
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Way,Way to much much time on your hands Arnold maybe you need to UNretire!!!!! Only when I have a question/looking for help or selling something. Most of my forum time is spent following Arnold and his cray, strange and thought provoking topics. Keep it up Arnold!!!!
I almost never start a thread. I search and typically find what I need. Any insights I come up with I put into existing threads for that topic.
There are numerous all positive reasons I start a lot of Forum topics but one of them is to entertain my fellow train nuts, that's you'all! LOL!
Will share my other reasons later on. This is going to be a drip, drip response from me. Arnold
I probably consume more than I post. I would say this is because I'm still acquiring knowledge and I'm still in the super early stages of roughing in my track. I don't have many questions because I'm not doing anything beyond my skillset yet.
I consume and post.
One topic I'm still thinking about how to formulate it is criticism of Lionel. I have friends who think they could do better at running Lionel than Lionel's management.
Only on rare occasions will I originate a forum topic and when I do It is usually to ask for assistance on a repair issue. However, there have been a few instances when I have started a topic for discussion.
I think @Arnold D. Cribari needs his own sub-forum! 
Obviously joking since his keeps us well entertained with his thought inducing topics
walt
Maybe 3 x's a year.....
I find that many of the weekly topics such as Switcher Saturday, Steamday Sunday, Boxcar Sunday, Tail-End Tuesday, and Front-End Friday, are a good fit for the types of things I post, so it's not really necessary for me to start new Forum topics. When I was building my layouts, I often initiated discussions pertaining to structures, model-building and scenery, and also posted frequently in Sunday Scenic Showcase, but I don't often do that now since the layouts are completed and I'm not doing any model-building. However, I still start new topics occasionally. My topics are generally fact-based subjects on locomotives and railroad history rather than inquiries seeking people's opinions. I can best sum up by saying that with Forum Member @Arnold D. Cribari around, I leave it to him to start new Forum topics...
MELGAR
@RJT posted:Way,Way to much much time on your hands Arnold maybe you need to UNretire!!!!! Only when I have a question/looking for help or selling something. Most of my forum time is spent following Arnold and his cray, strange and thought provoking topics. Keep it up Arnold!!!!
Rick put it so well, Arnold!!
I have actually tried to follow your lead with thought provoking topics, but my ideas turned up dry so I haven't tried for a while! I have my ongoing Blackwater Canyon Line topic I started just over 7 years ago that is up to page 105. It keeps me quite busy. Otherwise, I post a new topic when I have something I am looking to buy, looking to sell, and the occasional question that doesn't fit in any of the other ongoing topics like @MELGAR pointed out. What Did You Do on Your Layout Today is a great one where I get a lot of questions answered since so many folks are doing similar things I want to do.
As Rick said, "Keep it up, Arnold!!"
What I am about to say may surprise some of you, and I've said it before on the Forum, so here it is: I believe my ability to dream up entertaining Forum topics is related to my ability to write songs.
Ideas pop into my head from some mysterious place or force.
John Lennon said that coming up with a good title or subject for a song is half the battle in writing a good song.
One of my goals is almost always to entertain you folks when I do start a topic. However, I have started some topics over the years when I am befuddled and need advice from one of you train doctors in order to make a repair.
Arnold
Most of the topics that I originate are requests for information on layout subjects of which I have little understanding or in which I have reached a "log jamb", asking where an item that I need for the layout can be acquired, and to sell items that I no longer need.
So, I will close with restating what seems to a common theme among the responses to this topic. Sometimes we just have to step aside and let the great ones take over. Keep up the good work, Arnold! Keep your fabulous mind searching topics coming!
In the 18 years and 4 days during which I have been a Forum member, I have started less than a dozen topics. Most of them were requests for information, and a few were general discussion. A couple were Railroading 101.
1. "Do you start Forum topics?"
Yes.
2. "...how often?"
Whenever the need arises.
3. "and why?"
Really? 
Mark in Oregon
I start a thread when I feel the need, either information, questions, showing off a new acquisition, etc. 
Why? Because I feel like it.
I start a thread when I have information to share or to request information. Unfortunately I'm not very witty, so nothing much on the funny side. 
I'll start a new topic maybe once or twice a month.
Why? if I have something to share, a question or to use the For Sale forum.
I respond to posts to compliment or comment on another post, to answer a question and to thank someone for a kind compliment.
Mostly l respond or add to someone's response when l think l can help the inquirer. Other times, l have a photo of a model to post. I'd have to page back the years...to guess a total, but it is a lot less in last couple of years, due to other demands.
The primary reason for the few topics I have started are to show our members something they may have not ever seen before. i.e. Frisco locomotives, Fort Worth & Denver equipment, or Quanah, Acme & Pacific rolling stock. These roads may seem obscure, but a lot of famous names in railroad management had their starts on these lines.
I have been following the forum for 13 years. I have never started a post but have occasionally responded. I am presently in the early stages of a layout in our new home in Western NC, having moved from NJ where I had an unfinished basement pink empire as well as a town Holiday layout. I am running PRR and NJ Central's Blue Comet. I have purposely avoided asking for help from the pros here because I am a stubborn old gal who always wanted to figure things out myself, with the help of the forum, YouTube and magazines of course. I do plan on sharing my layout here as it gets further along or when I have an issue that I cannot solve, I KNOW that day will come. I have an ART background and was an ART teacher for 33 years, so the scenic side of the hobby is a biggie for me, electronics I am still learning. I guess that I just don't want more advice than what I am asking for, does that make sense? I feel somewhat intimidated by the pros here and at this stage do not want my choices questioned. Trust me, I question them enough!
I have learned so much here! Thanks
Mikki
