Nearly 5000 NGF members?

[Railwaygun]

Only 22 to go to make 5000- lets get there ASAP!

We must have friends who aren't members??

NGS claims nearly 6000 - how long before we are the biggest N Gauge group??

Nick R

[railsquid]

How many of the almost 5000 are active?

[Chetcombe]

How many of the almost 5000 are active?

Active posters or active browsers? There are probably a lot of folks like me who lurked for awhile before plucking up the courage to go public!

[Agrippa]

If you look at the list of members there are quite a few in red
denoting no posts made. They could be inactive, doing other hobbies
or dead, difficult to tell. Looking at the lists possibly approx 30-40%
have not posted.

[trkilliman]

Many people are quite reserved when it comes to putting something out there for others to view. They probably have a fear of saying things that may end up with them looking silly/having the proverbial ripped out of them. This is though a friendly forum where moderators intervene if posts risk causing upset, or subjects that are or become overly controversial.

Having worked in further education I know there is a lot of dyslexia that can deter people, plus of course people who find it daunting to compose an article.

There is a wealth of knowledge amongst members of this forum, whereby we can all learn something...long may it continue and grow!

[OwL]

I think back to 5 years ago when the forum was in its infancy. At the time I was a moderator and I remember we were all very excited on the prospect of gaining 1000 members.
We royally achieved that milestone and I'm personally very pleased that the forum is about to gain 5000 members.

Over the last few years the forum has gone from strength to strength. It has commissioned rolling stock and even an MPV model kit, the list of merchandise such as mugs and other goodies is vast, and the subject matters and topics covered is huge.
It's purely down to one man..... Tank (founder and chief moderator)

Regarding the NGS, it's no surprise that their membership is floundering. The current editor's (Grahame Hedges) attitude and obvious deliberate disclusion of listing the N Gauge forum in the recent N Gauge hobby supplement proves the jealousy he has on the fact that that this forum is far more popular and a lot better than the NGS.
When my subscription to NGS finishes next year (I signed up for 3 years in 2014) I doubt very much that I will re-new, mainly down to the short sighted appointment of an editor who I feel is no up to the job and speaking to many other n gaugers this is a widely shared sentiment. It's a big shame as I have been a member of the NGS for the last 16 years. The forum delivers more on a daily basis than the NGS has since the new editor took post.

Very well done NGF

[Steve Brassett]

I have been on several forums (fora?) over the years, and this is easily the friendliest and least intimidating of all the ones I have experienced.  There doesn't appear to be any cliques that can often scare off new users.

[JimF]

I disagree just a bit, with that, Steve, based on what seems like many threads get locked by Tank because they get contentious. The previous post from Owl is a prefect example of what makes them go that route.

The thread was about reaching the 5000 member mark, but Owl just had to throw in a hack at the NGS and Graham. The last I read, the NGS is not floundering, but still growing. As for the Journal, as I have said before, I think Graham has taken what was a great magazine devoted to N gauge and made it even better.

I also don't find the negative attitude many spout out on here regarding the 2mm folks done in reverse on either the 2mm section of RMWeb, or the 2mm VAG.

Just my opinion.

Jim

[railsquid]

I think it's great the NGF will soon have attracted 5000 registered users throughout its existence, but utterly pointless bringing the NGS into the discussion (where there are 6000 current fee-paying members, and going by the allocated membership numbers over 25000 over the course of its existence.

Now, is there a button to ignore this thread, I'm going back to messing around with N gauge 

[MalcolmInN]

They probably have a fear of saying things that may end up with them looking silly/having the proverbial ripped out of them.

How right you are ! I have just been chastised, mildly, elsewhere, for buying cheep servo testers in China but fractionally more expensive servos in theUK !
Ye canna win, aka ymmv.

[Newportnobby]

When pimping the forum at shows or wherever, I always find our membership statistics impress whoever I am talking to so 5000 will be a great number to reach.
It's just a shame the NGF is not really taken seriously by the main manufacturers as, collectively, we are a very good source of 'what our customers want/don't want' so could provide some fairly instant market research to the likes of Dapol and Farish. We have run polls in the past similar to the RMWeb one, and results have been sent to them but nothing came back. We are, I venture, the best source of data for anyone interested in making/selling N gauge as opposed to any other multi gauge fora but I feel we are 'under used'. However, polls and market surveys really need a greater percentage of our membership to partake rather than us rely on the core of members who regularly post.

[port perran]

Well said Mick. I totally agree.
I'd also agree with what Trikillman says. I met a couple at a show a couple of years back who are very regular visitors to this forum but never post a single thing (it's just the way they want to use it and it suits them).

[scruff]

When Tank first set up the forum, I didn't register straight away.. I was thinking it would be a "flash in the pan"..
After about 6 weeks I took the plunge and registered.. I found there are other people who like N gauge as much as me!

It took a long while for me to post because basically I didn't think I could contribute to what I saw the "experts" talking about...

Slowly my confidence grew from trying to help others with simpler questions and I always try to share newsworthy items I come across.

I'm glad to be part of this forum now and look forward to seeing posts from the next 5000...

Cheers
Mark

[Mito]

I too took a long time before I first posted, but I'm glad I did. I'm not the worlds best modeler, a long way from it, and I certainly don't feel intimidated here. I have one complaint though, I spend too much time on the forum when I should be modeling!

[Tank]

Many thanks everyone.  I'm certainly not on here as often as I used to be in the beginning (due to some long term issues at home), so I can't push the ideas forwards as quickly as I once did, or spend too much time on projects - not even my own layout.  I'm so happy that the forum has brought so much joy to so many. 

Oh blimey!     Please don't start another debate about the NGS Editor.

...based on what seems like many threads get locked by Tank because they get contentious.

I'm sure you weren't meaning to be literal, but there aren't many threads.  Probably one every few weeks.