I've been lurking on this discussion, since I'm the one that hinted
that I might be willing to put one together and host it. A couple of
observations:
Re: all these articles that are floating somewhere - I think there are
already multiple venues for publishing these, many of which seem
hungry for content. To create a web site as an alternative publishing
medium would only make sense if there was something particularly
attractive about web presentation over paper presentation. That would
only be true for a very narrow range of articles.
Re: attracting newcomers vs. informing oldcomers - it would be
feasible for me to create a relatively static set of pages that
described the hobby in detail, presenting an argument for why someone
would want to (a) be a model railroader and (b) do so in S Scale. It
would not be feasible for me to create and maintain dynamic content. I
already have one full time and one part time job.
The origin of this whole discussion, if I recall correctly, was that
the NASG site covers (appropriately) scale, hirail, and Flyer. Some
felt that scale got overshadowed, not to mention that the NASG site
tries to combine information for newbies and oldbies. The question in
my mind was: if someone saw my trains, and had a spark of interest,
where would I send them online for more information about the hobby?
And, hope of hopes, what if someone did a Google search for S Scale
trains - what would they find? If I get around to creating a web site,
it will be to present S Scale to someone who is completely new to the
hobby. My target would be people my age or younger, most of whom have
no idea (believe me, it's true) what American Flyer is. I might also
have a secondary interest in pulling people from other scales that are
interested in (sort of) fine scale modeling, and who are bored of
buying one of everything in the Walthers catalog.
I can create a web site, and would like to do so. Please realize I am
a Ph.D. student right now, in addition to working half time.
Everything else is going pretty darn slowly. What I would like is
commitments to provide me with content. Type 1: specific ideas of what
should be included for attracting people to the hobby. Type 2: photos
of work you have done. Type 3: photos of work in progress. Type 4:
links to other pages. Type 5: links to movies on YouTube.
If you feel that this is a duplication of some web pages already out
there, let me know directly. Maybe I can help someone else's already
good web site.
Otherwise, please mail what you have to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
(where I can receive large attachments without problems). I think this
group could produce a good, solid content. I'll just compile and stick
it on the web, then we can look at it and criticize it, and make it
better.
-Michael Eldridge
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