Big Blue Year IV

[ngauger]

From Mikey, (ngauger):

Πάντα ῥεῖ καὶ οὐδὲν μένει ~ Everything flows, nothing stands still
~~ Quoted by Plato in Cratylus, and by Diogenes Laërtius in Lives of the Philosophers Book IX, section 8

Nothing endures but change
~~ From Lives of the Philosophers by Diogenes Laertius

Well, there you have it….. Change.
Weather changes. Families change, Politics change, Finances change, railroads change, pocket change?

It’s been 12 years since I became a member on the original blue Gauge Board (12-20-2000)… It’s been 4 years since we created Big Blue (12-17-2008)

Change has visited us all, here in trainland, for better or worse. We have fared pretty well in the last year. We saw the end of the HO car tour, some new members and some old friends that have returned to join in on the fun.

We’ve had a few members visit hospitals and a few leave this world, so, I decided that the two quotes above are appropriate for what we have seen all year long. “change”

From Don (ezdays):

Just to follow up on what Mikey said, and to paraphrase someone more recent than he did, I remember Gordon Gecko from the movie, Wall Street saying, “greed is good”. Well, we say, “change is good”…. We always hope that change is for the better, and in our case, it seems that it is. We changed four years ago and created, Big Blue, and although we took it back to it’s roots, we still keep changing with the times. Maybe they are so small that sometimes they’re not noticed, but we try our best to keep these forums fresh and up to date and to listen to you all to give you what you want.

We’ve seen several forums fall by the wayside this year, Atlas and 2guyz are gone and now AMR is closing shop and that’s not the kind of change we like to see. Our membership should pass 1400 by the end of this year, and we have well over 100,000 posts since we first opened. We are pleased and proud of that kind of change. It says we must be doing something right. One change you will never see here is our family-friendly atmosphere or us taking on any ads or sponsors. We pledge never to change that.

Another change we have seen recently is that Pat Hennessy (path) is turning over the reigns as Webmaster to another Pat, my son Pat Day (packey). We thank path for the service that he’s provided us these past four years, and we’re looking forward to the support from our new Pat. Somehow, we just couldn’t bring ourselves to changing our Webmaster’s name though.

We look for new changes in the year to come, after all, “change is good”…..

Thanks again to all the members, the staff and the 2 Pats that are running the forum.

Here’s looking forward to a great year 2013!!!

~~ Don & Mikey

[teejay]

I haven't been here on the "new" Gauge too long but certainly like and enjoy what I see . Congrats to Mikey and Don as well as the other admin and mods for providing a fun atmosphere and , frankly , a good place to hang out . I predict there will be many more successful years ahead .
Good job !

Terry

[Tyson Rayles]

Thanks guys for all you do.

[Mike Kieran]

There's a reason why this is my favorite model forum. There is a warmer sense of camaraderie on this forum than any others that I've joined. Your moderators handle themselves with class and professionalism that is found in 5 star establishments.

I've made some friends here that I hope will last a lifetime.

Great job guys!!!

[faraway]

...There is a warmer sense of camaraderie on this forum ...

That is the perfect wording!

[ezdays]

Gee, thanks. :oops: We all appreciate your comments, but it's our members that make these forums what they are. You all make our jobs easy and so our hats go off to you. It's our pleasure to be able to be here, things just about run themselves. Our mods are the best and are great modelers in their own right, but we all have room to learn and that's just one of the reasons why we're here. I've always said that I get much more out of being here than I could ever put in.

And just a word on some statistics, but in four years we rarely have locked a thread, deleted something or asked someone to change a post, and we've yet to have banned anyone for cause. You have supported us throughout the year, both when we've asked and when we didn't ask. All this stands as a testimony to you, not anything we've done. So again, we thank you all for making Big Blue what it is and what it stands for....

[modelsof1900]

Thank Don, thank Mikey,

one year or more ago I have written here that this is my forum - and I say it again today.
I'm pleased to read all these discussion in a 'family-friendly' forum - and getting answers to all questions, reading new ideas and help in all all respects.
Thank you friends, thank you to all for this forum!

[ngauger]

Thanks everyone

I think Don said it all... and -

[teejay]

The key , I think , is civility and everyone here seems to have it . As memberships grow it's important for newbies to understand what is expected of them . My only other mrr forum was RRL and I was about the 1000th member when I joined . It was a pretty cozy group and we had a lot of fun . It's over 5000 members now , I rarely post , and things are more of a challenge for the mods I believe .

My other major interest is old cars , particularly old Fords . There are numerous specialty sites for car enthusiasts but the biggest one has to be The HAMB which has 200,000 members , ( there is one post over there with 13 million views ! ) and only 2 moderators / admin that i can see . If there weren't so many interesting threads from very skilled and knowledgeable people , I'd probably pack it in because there seems to be a lot of negativity and back biting on a daily basis about one thing or another . I rarely post but there is a lot to read so I stay and lurk .

Too bad about the demise of other mrr sites . I was a late joiner to 2 guyz and there was very little traffic so I'm not surprised they decided to fold ...good guys , though . Wasn't on AMR or Atlas etc.

T

[Sumpter250]

This thread gently reminded me that I am getting very close to 11 years as a " Gauge " member, and I'd have to do some serious research to remember when I first accepted the move to moderator, at Shamus' invitation.
I believe there is one thing that hasn't changed a whole lot, and that is the basic nature of all who have remained with us all these years, and the many new members who have joined, over those years.
It is hard to find camaraderie, where there are no comrades.
I have to give thanks to the membership for being those loyal comrades, You are the ones who really keep this board up and running.

[ngauger]

This thread gently reminded me that I am getting very close to 11 years as a " Gauge " member, and I'd have to do some serious research to remember when I first accepted the move to moderator, at Shamus' invitation.
I believe there is one thing that hasn't changed a whole lot, and that is the basic nature of all who have remained with us all these years, and the many new members who have joined, over those years.
It is hard to find camaraderie, where there are no comrades.
I have to give thanks to the membership for being those loyal comrades, You are the ones who really keep this board up and running.

Another Glutton for punishment
Thanks for sticking by us all these years!!

Are there any more besides you & I that have been Mods here that long????

[Charlie B]

I came aboard at the other place and I witnessed the deterioration that was going on there, and I was delighted to get an invitation from a friend to come across. This forum just gets better everyday.
Thanks to you all for doing this.
Charlie

[teejay]

Mikey , Don , when Big Blue started up was the Old Gauge still running or had it already shut down ?

T

[ngauger]

Mikey , Don , when Big Blue started up was the Old Gauge still running or had it already shut down ?

T

It's a matter of perspective......

The "Blue colored site" whose color scheme, we copied here, had been sold and changed to "white". The company (crowdgather) that bought the "white" site, pretty much took away all the friendliness of the old gauge.

After a few members and staff began complaining about what was happening, Don & I decided to start anew.

The white site is still going, albeit hardly ever getting new posts.

It's here: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.zealot.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=6">http://www.zealot.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=6</a><!-- m -->

So - on one hand, the original that we all liked - that was privately owned,was gone years before we even thought of creating a new board. On the other hand, the information is mostly all still in existence on zealot.com, so the board itself, was still active for a little while after we moved.

[teejay]

So that's how Zealot factors in ....you've made it clearer ....I had heard of that forum and visited maybe twice but that was several years ago . I recall Mike Chambers ( mod on RRL ) and I having about a 2 minute discussion about " zealot" , chuckling about the odd choice of names . I wasn't aware of the Old Gauge / Zealot connection ( or maybe I had forgotten )

T