Like Jim Barrett said:

PRSLou (Louis Granato, III) is doing photo work for us when time permits--splendid photography, I might add. I had dinner with his grandfather, Lou Granato, Sr. during our "Thursdays at Friday's" get-together this past York Meet.

Brother Bear (Bearlead on the forum) is keeping pretty darn busy in the real estate business out there in the Denver area. He just received his Lionel Corp. Tinplate "Brute" and is still figuring out how how he might sneak that purchase past the watchful eyes of his lovely spouse, Jophie. Bear and I keep in regular (or sometimes not-so-regular) contact. I look forward to seeing him again at the April York Meet. He wasn't able to make the Oct. meet due to family obligations (visitors).

quote:

Originally posted by Norm Charbonneau:

quote:

Originally posted by Jim Battaglia:
Anyone hear from Yojimbo lately?

All the time - he's trying to convince me to do a 4 hour Halo ODST mission.

4 hour? you would be just warming up! Besides, I thought you swore off cold turkey XBox.....

With so many forum posters missing in action... what does that say about all use folks who have stuck around for the past 9 (or is it 10?) years?

quote:

Originally posted by Chessie:
With so many forum posters missing in action... what does that say about all use folks who have stuck around for the past 9 (or is it 10?) years?

Meaning we are now the senior members and were next to MIA????? I hope to post and follow the board for at least 20-30 more years.

quote:

Originally posted by Denny Lyons:
How about steven - nevets?

I think this poor, misguided youth became involved with N Scale.

Rick

I case you early forum joiners missed the memo from OGR World Headquarters, the black helicopters are scheduled to start picking up all pre-2006 registrants on January 1, 2010.
Or maybe it is the aliens fron Groom Lake/Area 51 who are doing the abductions.

Tony
Crazy IS a state of mind

quote:

Originally posted by cbojanower:
Lehigh Valley Chris was a earlier version if Nicky.. He discovered girls and vanished

Man you guys come up with the lamest insults. I have a girlfriend FYI. Her name is Jessica. She's smokin' hot in a conductor's hat if I might add.........

-Nicholas Anthony D'Alessandro

NOt trying to be disrespectful but LV chris was a LOT like you:

young

HOt rod was a 1984 Buick turbo

Attended the Greenberg Edison show and a mover in the TMRA organization.

Then came the end of HS, the chicks, & the Jersey shore!
As Bruce S. says... Glory Days! Pass you buy!

quote:

Originally posted by Chessie:
With so many forum posters missing in action... what does that say about all use folks who have stuck around for the past 9 (or is it 10?) years?

Originally posted by ptalar:
Meaning we are now the senior members and were next to MIA????? I hope to post and follow the board for at least 20-30 more years.

Boy if you are seniors... Farmer Bill/Tag 18, and I must be Union Pacific...
Da Grandaddy!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: OGR Webmaster,

member: TCA

quote:

There was a young man who lived in Hawaii who would post.

Maybe he got lei'd off.

BBB

I recall the kid from Hawaii (Sam) was going to Europe for a few months. Maybe that was over the summer.

Rick

I also do not see Carl C. on the forum much anymore.

...keep the rails polished...

Nor Vladiomir (Vlad the detailer). One of the best modelers anywhere.

Sad to say I think I know why he left.

And what about Rand Fredrickson? I loved his surreal layout.

I think Rand was sort of seasonal. But I'm beginning to think it's been a long season.

As I noted before: Folks come and go for a variety of reasons. Some are very accomplished modelers and some are just starting out. The reasons for dropping an individual's posts are as varied as the individuals themselves, as are the reasons others have for joining our ranks. Makes no real difference because all are welcome here, regardless of their level of skills in the hobby.

I am actually amazed at the wealth of talent that exists in our niche of the hobby, and I'm sure we're all grateful for the mix of old and new talent that continues to grow this forum at a healthy pace.

I remember Das, he was pretty funny. Haven't seen Grass Farmer(Lon) lately, either.

Will Rothfuss?
Artis Griffin III?
Bud NC?
Larry Lajambe?
Bill B from White Plains?
Loco Kelvin?
SantaFeJim?

For a "blast from the past" check this link:
http://web.archive.org/web/200...=63160042&f=57660482
too bad most of the links don't work

Is there a true measure to how many are truly registered members? With so many leaving it seems that the forum is shifting more than growing.

Once registered, always registered (except for maybe banishment).

So I don't think the 8000 + is an acurate number.

quote:

So I don't think the 8000 + is an acurate number.

Yes, we receive stats from the service provider on a monthly basis. Lots of relevant information for use by the site operators. The number that I presented in my earlier post is an accurate number as of the report received a couple of days ago for the month of October.

The growth figure I provided is also accurate.

Keep in mind that just because some people who may have been regular participants in the past have not posted recently does NOT mean that they are no longer registered. They can remain registered for now until ? and never have to make a single post. And there are a multitude of reasons why some may elect not to post on a temporary basis or even permanently. Could be health related, job related, change in hobby interests, loss of Internet access, family concerns, or even just getting ticked off about something or someone. The list of possibilities is nearly endless.

. . . and even more amazing, is the survival of this thread. I started a "whatever happened to . . . " thread last year and it got killed in about 10 minutes. When I wrote to the "moderators" to ask why, I was told: "it isn't about trains".

Now the moderators are even adding to this post.

I'm feeling a bit like Rodney Dangerfield.
.....
Dennis

quote:

Originally posted by Allan Miller:

quote:

So I don't think the 8000 + is an acurate number.

Yes, we receive stats from the service provider on a monthly basis. Lots of relevant information for use by the site operators. The number that I presented in my earlier post is an accurate number as of the report received for the month of October.

Yes, Allan, I'm sure that number is accurate. What I meant was, what percentage of that number is still posting. If people no longer visit the forum, have walked away, for whatever reason, are they not included in that number? If so, it's not an accurate number of true members.

Dennis, you probably mentioned someone who didn't want to be found.

quote:

If people no longer visit the forum, have walked away, for whatever reason, are they not included in that number?

If they're still registered, they are included in that number. If they terminate their registration, they are not included. We do not track those who terminate their registration--no reason to. The forum is open to anyone who cares to participate, or even just view without registering, and that's pretty much the way it should be.

quote:

Originally posted by Dennis:
. . . and even more amazing, is the survival of this thread. I started a "whatever happened to . . . " thread last year and it got killed in about 10 minutes. When I wrote to the "moderators" to ask why, I was told: "it isn't about trains".

Deletion of threads is a funny thing sometimes. Remember the PIE TIME thread? I was expecting that one to get axed in 10 min. as well. So, as a Yankees fan I had my fun in it real quick, and was pleasantly surprised to see it continue through the ALCS and world series while growing to 3 pages long. And then suddenly, it got deleted two innings before the Yankees won the championship. Was that just bad timing? Or are there some Phillies fans moderating?

quote:

. . . and even more amazing, is the survival of this thread. I started a "whatever happened to . . . " thread last year and it got killed in about 10 minutes. When I wrote to the "moderators" to ask why, I was told: "it isn't about trains".

Fear not, Dennis! This one may not last all that long either. Kind of depends on how folks conduct themselves, as with other threads. Also depends on how the man with his "hand on the throttle" thinks it may be going in terms of civil dialog.

Rexster.....

Thanks for jogging my hard drive Rick. Yea, Sam. He was posting on a regular basis until jest before I left for my Hawaiian vacation. I believe he was working on a layout and lived on Oahu. Hope he comes back on and post's. I'm going back to Hawaii next year.

Tex

We haven't heard from Russ from Oregon in a good long time.

If all these missing members' profiles can still be found, shoot em' an email and ask what's going on.

quote:

Originally posted by NCT:
I also do not see Carl C. on the forum much anymore.

...keep the rails polished...

If you're referring to Carl Chancey, he was at this past York. I met him at Thursday at Fridays.

quote:

If all these missing members' profiles can still be found, shoot em' an email and ask what's going on.

Sorry, Nicky, no time or resources for that. And one might ask: To what end? It's not like the forum is a revenue-generating source for the business. We're fortunate that we have a number of folks in the hobby industry who help defray expenses with their banner ads and the like, but even that doesn't make it a profit-generating enterprise.

People are free to come and go as they please, and their reasons for doing so are really nobody's business but their own.

quote:

Originally posted by Allan Miller:

quote:

If people no longer visit the forum, have walked away, for whatever reason, are they not included in that number?

If they're still registered, they are included in that number. If they terminate their registration, they are not included. We do not track those who terminate their registration--no reason to. The forum is open to anyone who cares to participate, or even just view without registering, and that's pretty much the way it should be.

Thanks, Allan. Don't disagree at all. I was merely pointing out that numbers are not always what they seem to be. I'm still a member of the first forum that I joined and walked away from over 2 years ago. I'm sure most just walk away, rather than terminate their registration.

quote:

I'm sure most just walk away, rather than terminate their registration.

That may well be true. There's no requirement to participate to any degree once one is registered. One can participate multiple times daily, once a week, once a year, or never at all. It's all up to the individual, as well it should be.

I'm still a member of at least a half-dozen forums and Yahoo groups that I am no longer active on--some of them for several years or more. Nevertheless, if I wanted to visit one of them and participate tonight, I could still do so. Even had that happen on one occasion recently when I added a post to a forum where I haven't been active (but have been reading and following) for some four years.

There was also Hans Kaiser (sp?), who was one of the charter members. He was also a prolific poster, always insightful and levelheaded, and a hi railer if I remember right. Haven't seen a post from him in several years.

And no, I'm not talking about Hans Zimmer.

Also was a forum member who went by San Diegan, he dropped out during the original OGR forum paid membership controversy, never came back from what I remember even when OGR ditched that plan.

Also Bocepheous, another old member. He hasn't been around in a long time either. Might be just spending his time over on MTH's own forum, not sure since I haven't renewed my MTHRRC memebership for a number of years.

"Fear not, Dennis! This one may not last all that long either. Kind of depends on how folks conduct themselves, as with other threads. Also depends on how the man with his "hand on the throttle" thinks it may be going in terms of civil dialog."

I'm serious. My post lasted about 10 minutes. Long enough for one or two replies about where that dude might be, nothing objectionable at all, then poof, it was gone. Answer: "Not about trains."

My one complaint about this forum: inconsistancy of the moderators, and . . . uh discrimination?
.....
Dennis

quote:

Originally posted by Dennis:
My one complaint about this forum: inconsistancy of the moderators, and . . . uh discrimination?
.....
Dennis

That's not really the moderators fault, unfortunately. Anybody can press the alert button. The fault of the moderators is not judging. Deletion saves time.

Let's try it. I just hit the alert button.
.....
Dennis

Careful Dennis! Vulcan is anti-alert button!

ALERT BUTTON THREAD

I liked the old days wherein the populace debated the weather instead of feeding trolls.

quote:

Originally posted by NickyBigBoy:
Careful Dennis! Vulcan is anti-alert button!

ALERT BUTTON THREAD

Yes, I'm against people hiding behind it. Dennis is testing a theory.

This has been an interesting thread in remembering the posters we miss seeing posts from. Hardly deletion worthy and truly train related. Hopefully this stays around for a bit.

Perhaps a morbid thought, yet I wonder if any of the aforementioned have died, and we just haven't heard about it.

In the past, I used to start a thread called "Roll Call" I started one again. Let's see if we can shake some of the dormant out of hiding.

I like to think that those we do not hear from have not died, but look in once in a while just to see that we still talk about trains. I know it is not realistic, but it's better then being saddened by the losses.
Train on, guys & gals.

Dennis

DaylightDon - I miss his very helpful and informative posts. Don provided some great electrical tips on this forum as well as his own website which is also no longer available. Thankfully some of his tips are available through the MTH club members pages. I hope he's doing well.

quote:

Originally posted by Alfred E Neuman:
Don't forget Laz, who was toying with the idea of setting up a layout in a portable storage pod. I suspect the old lady locked him inside with his trains and called for a pickup.

I know that two of those mentioned are in long term care facilities undergoing treatment for personality disorders. Another joined a New Age group, gave up trains, and spends a lot of time in a sweat lodge. Those are the only ones I know about.

The Forum attracts all kinds of weird. Some don't bathe, and some even drink light beer. There are many here who seem heavily medicated.

quote:

Originally posted by NickyBigBoy:

quote:

Originally posted by cbojanower:
Lehigh Valley Chris was a earlier version if Nicky.. He discovered girls and vanished

Man you guys come up with the lamest insults. I have a girlfriend FYI. Her name is Jessica. She's smokin' hot in a conductor's hat if I might add.........

She must be smokin' something.

Breezinup....you are a riot!!! ....whoops, almost forgot, time to take my "medication"!!

Alan

Friendly reminder: Lay off the personal jabs or risk seeing the entire thread disappear into the ether.

John,

I was thinking of Hans Kaeser too (I think that is the correct spelling). Very thoughtful guy, always worth reading. As I recall a commercial attorney in New York City. I haven't seen one of his posts in years.

RM

Hans Kaeser,yes,an attorney from NYC. I think that he was Swiss. He made a good lasting impression. Woodmort was another. Santa Fe Jim was, and probably still is, a hoot.
Norm

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Norm,

Super O Bob has posted within the past month...I think it was on one of the threads regarding the new Lionel catalog...maybe about the Vision Line Hybrid.

He worked for Ford..not GM. So maybe he has just been busy helping them earn that Billion Dollar profit last quarter.

Does anyone have a link to his youtube page to see his layout?