N Gauge Forum - 10 Year Anniversary!

[Newportnobby]

'Twas May 2011 when I started inflicting myself on the members we had then so I've not reached the 10 years yet. I have enjoyed travelling around many, many shows/get togethers and meeting so many members. Sadly, over the years, a few have passed away It has been more than just a forum to me as, at TINGS and a few other shows, I have met some of our far flung members who travelled to Leamington or visited the UK and took the time to meet socially e.g. Bealman (life was never the same afterwards )
The forum ethic is just right and we all do our best to help each other where possible. I have learnt far more here than ploughing through books and ransacking t'interweb for the elusive answer to things. Certain limitations means I'm unable to do much than buy and plant but I consider myself very lucky to possess one of Dr Al's creations (+ had others fettled) and to have had weathering done on more than a few wagons by Mk1gtstu.
The outpouring of wishes/gifts from fellow members following my heart problem was just astonishing and helped me mend that much quicker. Some are more family to me than certain family members!
Bless you all

[BRMan]

I have not been a member for very long (18 months) but I am so glad to be a part of such a wonderful, warm, generous and friendly community.  Absolutely brilliant!

Cheers,

BR Man

[SD35]

It's quite a remarkable interweb forum this one.

Like many others I'm sure, I've been a member of a number of forums which follow the same life cycle whther its sport, hobbies, music, etc:

- Start up with new members who don't know each other.
- Growth.
- Removal of a few trolls.
- A happy period.
- Cliques of like minded people forming.
- A touch of argy bargy with a high profile "rage quit" or two.
- People taking a bit of criticism personally and flouncing.
- A dominant clique of like minded people takes over the narrative by pouncing on any new members who, god forbid, dare to air their own contrary opinions.
- A residual membership of people who repeat the same stuff everyday.
- Finally...forum heat death.

This forum is as fresh as ever and its a credit to the people who run it and the constantly evolving creativity of the people who contrbute to it.  There can't be too many places where contributors get the same encouragement, help and praise whether its a rule 1 4x2 loop to run some trains or a huge exhibition standard masterpiece.  Maybe our hobby just attracts the nice kind of people.

Happy anniversary! 

[REGP]

Thank you @Tank

I join in 2012 following a stroke the previous year, the friendly welcome, encouragement  and help I received is still typical of that given to all newbies to the hobby and is what has kept me in the hobby.

Thank you Mods for keeping it that way!

Ray

[ImpInaBox]

10 years! Wow!  I hope it keeps going for at least another 10 then.

A relative newbie, I joined earlier this year not long before we all got locked down and exhibitions suddenly stopped so I've not met any of you in person.  But I still feel like I've made friends here and certainly had lots of help and encouragement as well as the best banter ontinterweb.  So thanks @Tank  - lang may yer lum reek!

[Foxhound]

 
Love it here, so welcoming, so helpful, so encouraging.
Tank, you've created something very special in this forum and it's a joy and privilege to be a member.
Cheers!

[keithbythe sea]

  Brilliant forum. What more can be said!

[Alexjb]

As someone new to the forum and the hobby in general I want to thank you for making and maintaining such an amazing place to get advice and exchange ideas. The community you have built here is wonderful!

[MinZaPint]

Well I see that I joined in August 2011 and like other members I've thoroughly enjoyed being here, unfortunately I've not been doing much modelling (any) recently but continue to pop in to see what others are up to. The site just seems to run so smoothly which like other similar operations means there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes.  So @Tank many thanks for setting up the forum and getting an excellent team to help run it.
With best wishes for the future
Cheers David

[Airfix 27 RA]

Brilliant  forum, great people, some great advice and help.
Thank you Chris.

[gc4946]

A bit late in responding ...

I joined in 2013, felt immediately welcome with my varying interests, and it's great that this forum has lasted this length of time thanks to Tank and all who made it possible.

[emjaybee]

Sorry I'm a bit late to the party, been a busy week.

I was also late finding this Forum too. It's been a good number of years, but shorter than many of my forum friends. This is only the third forum I've frequented, one other was vehicle specific and the other was the 'other' model railway forum. Somebody earlier rather eloquently described the modus operandi of a lot of forums. The cliques, the tantrums, the prima donnas, the stagnation. Been there, witnessed that.

This place never gets old, it's never a chore dropping in, always a pleasure and invariably I learn something new each day. Granted, it's sometimes a irrelevant nugget, but many times it's an invaluable tip, trick, method or just a bit of information. I had a rough start on the forum, someone who no longer frequents was rather, well, rude and arrogant, and I thought my time on here would be short. But calm, reasoning voices steadied the ship and convinced me that this forum was different, and it is. It's much more than a model railway forum, it's a caring community. Members have rallied round when others have had a rough time, been there for others with compassion and care. Everyone has rough times, some more serious than others, granted, but I have been the recipient of the occasional PM when things in life aren't going smoothly and it's been very welcome.

I've also had the pleasure of meeting a number of the other members, both at the Fawley outing and at shows, characters the lot of'em! Once we get let out again I intend to make more of an effort to meet more of you, so that'll teach you. Many folks on here have been inspirational, encouraging me to expand my model skills from being a maker of kits, to being a basher of kits. I've still got a long way to go to match many of the 'star players' on here but I'll now give anything a go, safe in the knowledge that there's a raft of experience and help to back me up.

So, I'd like to say a huge thank-you to @Tank for creating this place, and to the 'Odd Mod Squad' for facilitating the day to day operations. I have, fortunately, only had a couple of minor brushes with them, and I think they do a sterling job in a forum with so many and varied personalities, rather you than me!

As a footnote, I'd just like to remember the late Paul Price, the guy who taught me you can NEVER have enough LMS locos, especially Jubilees. A legendary LMS man.

So, thanks everyone, and here's to the next ten years. May your track stay clean and your locos run smooth.

[joe cassidy]

I too miss Paul Price, especially as we now movng into his favourite time of the year, the brussels sprout season 

[RailGooner]

I defo miss Paul Price's banter on LMS Jubilees. I've vowed to myself that one day I'll get one in honour of a guy that I never met, but who entertained me enormously.

[mr magnolia]

I've just checked and found that I landed here in April 2011.

I've thoroughly enjoyed the info and chat on here so many thanks to all!

shame I cant really point to over 9 years of layout construction and see enormous progress - too many hours spent watching the trains and reading the forum...

Donald