The O Gauge Forum is the best place to be inspired by the achievements and challenges of others in this hobby. Nobody's trains are flawless, and nobody's trains are hopeless. The camaraderie of members of these Forums, most of whom have never met in person, is very uplifting. Many of us have gained skills through the encouragement of others on these Forums.
Ah, this is pretty easy to say. If it was not for this forum, I probably would not have ever gone to York and I would say my railroading would still pretty much be on the constant hold it had been since the early 2000's. I got back into the hobby by simply seeing a YouTube video and popping my eyes in here before officially joining. I had not known such a place existed if you can believe that. Sure, there are FB groups, but they came after I found the forum. I peruse FB and seldom post there as I don't hang out as much as I used to on FB as a whole.
For me the forum really opened up possibilities of what I could see me working on in the future(and some things I have done after joining). Not to mention the fellow railfoaders/friends that have been made and still am making. There is definitely no shortage of ideas, information, fixes, and just about anything else the mind cannot fathom that poppa out of the fingers of those other people sitting at the keyboard. Just some of the small things that have been seen by my eyes makes me smile, almost as much as that look Rich Melvin gave me at my first York in October 2017 when I approached him and said "Auto stoker". Keep up the great work, I don't mind the changes either.
Although I’ve subscribed to the magazine since about 1990; I just celebrated ten years on the Forum a bit over a week ago. My youngest son got me started on here back in 2009.
In my decade of visiting the Forum I have seen many changes in moderation, style, content and membership all of which have contributed to keeping this the first model train related Forum I visit each day and, without reservation, my favorite! 👍👍👍
Quite a few of you have already expressed this sentiment but; I’d be remiss if I didn’t add my voice to the chorus saying thank you to Rich, Alan and Allan for keeping the OGR Forum going despite the expense and the occasional need for an industrial size bottle of Tums.
Curt
Been here for over 16 years. Still the best O gauge forum there is.
The OGR forum is Great. It's one of the best places I can go, really good people and a place where I always get workable answers to anything I encounter. Thanks again.
How about "DITTO"
Many thanks to all at OGR and the Forum members, too. The magazine is good, better than any of its type, but the Forum is my touchstone. I check the Forum, daily, and search the database for advice on my latest debacle.
Being a retired railroader, I particularly appreciate the fact that there are many 1:1 Gauge folks here, too. That not only speaks to the level of authenticity strived for but we can also count on them to "pull the air" when prototype issues have gone over the derail. Having a group of highly sophisticated electrical engineering and IT types on hand is a great plus, too. Having access to folks like GunrunnerJohn and the late, great Barry Boskowitz, available and responsive to our queries, trumps waiting for weeks for a manufacturer to get back to us with a short, unintelligible reply. There are also great artists and photographers here, too, list would go on for pages.
In summary, I quote the title of Stephen Ambrose's great book about the building of the pacific railroad, used here without either permission or or copyright, there's "Nothing Like It In The World."
Thank you and God bless you, one and all!
I agree with all the praise of the OGR forum. You might note that the other magazines forum can not get on the track.
One point I want to tout about the OGR forum is the easy way to post pictures and videos because the site provides hosting for them. Another unrelated forum I sometimes (has ads but no sponsor like OGR) use requires hosting them at other sites, a bother.
Another point is posts get picked up and spread to the general public by the evil (their word) Google search engine and other search engines thus helping get information about trains and model train out to the world helping many get informed.
Charlie
Duncan H W Foster posted:I have really liked this forum. I have always loved trains but today they are very complex and this forum has given me the confidence to continue purchasing trains that may not work out of the box. It has been essential to my continued participation. Keep up the good work. I feel the internet in general has made the hobby much more rich and interesting. When other hobbyists are so far apart it gives us a feeling of community and a way to broaden our knowledge and share our skills.
Duncan
I relate to what you say, Duncan, which is very well stated.
Before the Forum, I was a lone wolf model railroader. That is no longer the case, thanks to the Forum. For me, the community and comraderie we have is the best thing about the Forum. Arnold
Choo Choo Charlie posted:I agree with all the praise of the OGR forum. You might note that the other magazines forum can not get on the track.
One point I want to tout about the OGR forum is the easy way to post pictures and videos because the site provides hosting for them. Another unrelated forum I sometimes (has ads but no sponsor like OGR) use requires hosting them at other sites, a bother.
Another point is posts get picked up and spread to the general public by the evil (their word) Google search engine and other search engines thus helping get information about trains and model train out to the world helping many get informed.
Charlie
Images hosted by the OGR Forum are the best. It is so irritating to click an image link and it no longer works.
I just want to take a moment to thank Alan Arnold. Back in November 2017 he recommended the Forum to me. It has enriched my life ever since.
I am a type A person in, at times, a very stressful profession. The Forum relaxes me, which is something I need.
As I stated recently on another thread, one of my favorite activities is reading and posting on the Forum on my smartphone while watching Yankee games on TV. I find the usual slow pace of baseball games with its intermittent action is perfect for being on the Forum. Arnold
I dumped Facebook and all the on line sights
like it. The forum is the only thing I read (other than news) every morning and night. Don
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I've installed the "drama" filter with along with the "waaa, my posts have been moved" sub-filter and life is good. Always find great info here.
scale rail posted:I dumped Facebook and all the on line sights
like it. The forum is the only thing I read (other than news) every morning and night. Don
Don, that's a stunning aquarium. Have you ever considered combining fish in an aquarium with your model trains? Wouldn't that be unique. Arnold
Remembering back to the days of the AOL chat rooms, message boards and the like, this forum has proved to be the manifestation of all that the potential of the internet promised to be. Topics, pictures, videos and an endless source of information for an unimaginable number of issues/questions/advice seekers. The providers of this forum have done more to enhance the experience of this hobby than just about anyone or anything else I can think of.
And it's free!
Arnold, I remember an old 50's model train magazine that had a story about a guys layout with a real lake and goldfish in it. Don't know how practical that was but at the time I thought it was cool. Most likely a lot of work for a tiny pond. Don
scale rail posted:I dumped Facebook and all the on line sights
Where is the track in the tank? I can't see it.
Curtis
I sure hope people realize I am joking on the track in the tank. Went back and read it and realized other post mentioned trains in tank after the original post but before mine and then thought you should have put a smiley face at the end dummy. Oh Well. I just know someone out there is saying or thinking how dumb is this guy that he thinks there is track in the tank. LOL
Curtis
CURTIS, that sounds a little fishy to me. Don
Since I believe my technical knowledge about model raiilroading (MR) is limited (at the level of an enthusiastic 8 year old model railroader), what I have to offer this Forum is primarily entertainment (an amusing comment, photo and/or video), like this, which I have posted before:
I got permission from Michael Crichton, the author of Jurassic Park, to use the above photo of the lawyer in the outhouse, just before he was eaten by the Tyrannosaurus Rex in the Jurassic Park movie. Being a divorce lawyer who is not that fond of many of my professional colleagues, that scene is one of my favorites of all time.
Just kidding: that photo was taken by me of a scene on my layout.
LOL, Arnold
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Although I do not post as much as I have in the past, I am happy to still be involved in the hobby and a member of the forum. I enjoy the help that members share with each other and the photos. And when we find that a member or someone in their family is suffering, there is support. Nice place and nice folks.
really enjoy Forum and learn a lot!
😎
Harold
scale rail posted:Arnold, I remember an old 50's model train magazine that had a story about a guys layout with a real lake and goldfish in it. Don't know how practical that was but at the time I thought it was cool. Most likely a lot of work for a tiny pond. Don
Don, what I'm about to say may be an enormous amount of work and expensive, but putting that aside for a moment, I'm curious about the thoughts of you and others about it.
I'm particularly interested in your thoughts, Don, because I've seen your YouTube videos of live schools of fish on Hawaii and Maui, as well as your model trains, with beautiful background music. Your YouTube videos are works of art.
What do you think of the idea of a large layout with a large aquarium tank along one side of the layout where live fish in the aquarium are seen by the audience?
O Gauge trains would run across bridges over the body of water above the aquarium.
Jeez, it could be a huge aquarium tank in a huge layout. For example, the bridge crossing the body of water with live fish could be a model of the Golden Gate Bridge, or even a model of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel Authority with live crabs as well as fish in the aqiarium tank. One's imagination can go wild thinking about this, which is so much fun. Arnold
This forum is the most fun you can have with your clothes on!!
I get my daily train fix while biding my time to build The Penn American Railroad at The Train Palace of Hidden Meadows.
So, until then one of my favorite things to do it to make a nice Dagwood sandwich, grab a cold beverage and sit out in my back yard in the sunshine and read the OGR Forum on my iPad.
Pool water temp today: 84 degrees
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Been a member of this fine forum since 2001, and it has been a great and informative ride! Kudos to Rich and now Arnold for maintaining the best online train forum!
This forum has definitely kept me engaged in the hobby while all my trains are in storage
Sometimes I am on the site every day and sometimes I might go a week or two without checking in, but the OGR Forum is always here for me to get my train fix when needed, and also find answers to any questions that I've had over the years. No better group of online friends that I have never met in person (with the exception of Bill Nielsen and Stuart) and one day I will see some of you at York.
The OGR Forum? It's family!
Occasionally frustrating, sometimes hard to take, and squabbles big and little. But also rewarding, friendly, and always ready to lend a hand.
It keeps you coming back!
@Number 90 posted:The O Gauge Forum is the best place to be inspired by the achievements and challenges of others in this hobby. Nobody's trains are flawless, and nobody's trains are hopeless. The camaraderie of members of these Forums, most of whom have never met in person, is very uplifting. Many of us have gained skills through the encouragement of others on these Forums.
Very well stated, Tom. There’s something here for just about any thing O, whether it’s Tin Plate, O27/3Rail Scale/O 2 rail/Proto48, and even other scales. OGR is an invaluable resource, I can’t count the number of times I’ve found answers for something I was looking for, I frequent it most everyday, there’s really nothing else like it.
I love this forum and talking about model trains and real trains! You all are great online friends to have!
