Re: NNG - Other Forums like NGDF?

The Train Tracker Wrote:
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> This forum is one of the best places in the
> railroad community to learn and share info and
> pictures on narrow gauge subjects.
>
> But for those who, like me, are interested in
> other railroad topics as well, there don't seem to
> be a lot of places to specifically discuss stuff
> like Civil War and Pre-CW railroading, or standard
> gauge steam-era shortlines, logging operations,
> etc. Unless of course you go to someplace like
> RYPN or Trainorders, but those are not exclusive
> to any given subject. Would love to know if there
> are more forums like this one, designed for the
> said topics above.


My experience indicates that those types of subjects tend to be niche enough that they don't generate sufficient traffic over a long term to maintain activity on this type of forum. It's not for lack of trying--the efforts are out there. Just it takes a certain critical mass of interest to keep a forum active, and these niche subjects don't seem to have that level of critical mass. As you get more into more specific subjects, it's also very possible--frequently the case, actually--to run into a research wall where there's not much new to uncover, the few folks involved know what they need to know, and discussion dries up for that reason. Forums like NGDF have present-day activities of ongoing railroads and museums to generate forum traffic. Pure history forums which are lucky enough to have a broad appeal (say, WW2) can generate discussion that lasts decades due to the large number of interested participants. Niche subjects usually have to piggy-back on other boards as individual threads here and there, maybe a devoted sub-section, etc.

I also focus on the old days, 19th century and such. I've had to come to accept that it's an outlier.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/28/2024 12:10PM by James.