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This coming early November will mark 20 years that I've been a Forum member.  I had hesitated at first to join way back then when I saw it being advertised the magazine.  Then I thought about it and took the plunge.  It's been a fun ride all this time and I truly enjoy reading the various topics on a daily basis.  

We musn't forget to mention Jim Barrett who in those early days was on the system constantly answering questions directly to the poster.   I remember well Jim answering a question I asked regarding how to setup a roundhouse and its radial track.  

Over the years we've had many great people who made up this forum answering questions daily who either passed away or for some reason simply dropped away.   They were on here so often throughout the day, I was starting to suspect that they were being paid to do this as no way they could have been holding a real job as well!  LOL.   

The Forum has been a great place to seek refuge from the world around us to simply enjoy one another's company while learning something new, solving a problem or watching a great video.  I've learned a lot during this time and I only wish to express my appreciation to the entire staff of the OGR forum for all of their hard work during these past 20 years.

Job well done!

@RickO posted:

Good points Marty!

Imo,  this is still the forum with the easiest format to read and navigate, and most of all, its pop up free.

When you realize it's most of the same folks, posting the same topics, on other forums . You might as well hang out here.

I agree with you about that "Alex guy". One of the nicest, as well as most helpful, people in the hobby.

If he goes,I go.....lol!

Rick

I've seen the same thing across the forums I visit.  A lot of the topics that are posted here are also posted in other forums.  Not that it's a bad thing.  Some folks are not members here but most of them read OGR and often post things of interest on the other forums.  Great to see sharing of information but hands down the OGR forum has the most vast collection of information collected over 20 years.  

I belong to a few forums and they each offer something unique but OGR by far offers the most in volume and technical help.  

Last edited by MartyE

My Hats off to you Marty and others who’s been here for over 20 Years. The 26 of this month I’ve been here just 5 years and it’s been great best forum I’ve ever been on with great people. That should tell you something about a forum that can keep so many members for over 20 years and some of them have been post every week since day one I bet. I also want to thank OGR for having me and running a tight ship with a no nonsense attitude thanks.  

@Mark Boyce posted:

 However the format here and the wealth of information makes OGR my go-to place.

I feel the same way Mark, except that I don't even try to frequent any other 3-rail oriented forum. Everything I would ever need to learn/etc is found right here. I also feel like I "know" a lot of you here.

Been here nigh-on 20 years (20 years this November)... and I ain't goin' nowhere! (Ain't y'all lucky??)

I mean, I'm not of sayin' that "if it ain't OGR... it ain't poop!"... but yeah... I sort'a am.

Andre

 

Last edited by laming

Me too. This is my one and only Forum of any kind, except for occasionally visiting and posting on Facebook. However, I share nothing about model railroading or trains on Facebook.

Not that there is anything wrong with participating in another model train Forum. It's just that this Forum fills all my needs to share on-line with others about our hobby.  Arnold

I can’t think of any thing that hasn’t already been said, except for my personal experience that I have mentioned many times here. 

Joining this Forum has expanded my fun in this great hobby exponentially. I’ve met many friends here, a lot who have become like family. From this Forum I had joined the Northern Central High Railers, where we visit each other’s homes and layouts monthly and eat, drink, run trains and tell lies all night long. And it wasn’t just us guys either, our spouses and kids also joined in and we have a blast!  Unfortunately, Lynley and I moved across country but we miss everyone and stay in touch when we can. 

Also, the great Thursday night gatherings at York, breaking bread with the OGR Universe and magazine leadership, attending the New Jersey High Railers events and all the great friendships we’ve developed. 

All you guys have become a fun part of life and can’t wait to share my layout progress with you all, either here or in person!!

And for all that I say Thank You. To all the Forum members and OGR Magazine. 

Marty: A little late but you hit the nail square on the head with your comments and feelings about this forum. During the four year span that my trains were packed due to a move a basement finishing all I had was this forum. I have been here 10 years but learned so much and meet great folks and even hurt when we lost some of those folks and outside of this forum we never met. Thank you so very much for starting this thread. I forget who mentioned “Weekend Photo Fun Feast” and Scott. Several years back while visiting our daughter in Roanoke VA was in a friends store The Rail Yard and met Scott and his son Josh great kid and both great people. 

Alan and Rich and everyone else associated with O Gauge Magazine a Hats Off to all of you for a great magazine and forum. Like Mark I am a little old school and like paper but also have a digital subscription and never used it. May even be up for renewal right now and will renew. 

Last edited by OGR CEO-PUBLISHER

No group hug from me...lol!

Just a fist bump and telling tall tales over beer, wine, scotch....whatever. Some salty sailor adjectives allowed!

Elbow bump is all we are allowed here😉 

We would all be in big trouble without the OGR Forum as a place to exchange problems, solutions, ideas, and much more. Was able to drop a member a note who was surprised. 

Unseen times in life and the hobby!

I just found this thread and I have to say that your kind words about OGR are so very much appreciated!  First, thanks Marty for starting this thread....so kind of you to do so."  

"I hope that everyone will remain healthy and safe so that we all can enjoy the hobby and magazine for many more years to come...."

Oh no, the guy behind the curtain knows we're onto him! As he says, subscribe if you can so we continue to have this available to us.

Last edited by BobbyD

With Thanksgiving upon us I thought this would be a good time to bump this thread and again say thanks to the OGR staff, forum sponsors, and most importantly my fellow members.  This tough year has been a wee bit smoother with a place to come to to read, see, and talk trains.

Stay safe everyone and have a...

Happy Thanksgiving!



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Last edited by MartyE

Yes, indeed. Agree with all of the sentiments posted above. The OGR Forum is truly a one-stop shop. I look at it as a place to expand knowledge, benefit from the fantastic how-to and other technical advice on fixing trains, and also learn about real railroading from some of the experts here. Add in the For Sale Forum which is a great bonus. And last but not least, simply a fun place to escape to from the daily grind.

So thanks to the OGR Team, the advertisers and of course the hundreds (thousands?) of posters who make this the single best O gauge resource to be found.

Last edited by johnstrains

I'm glad you resurrected this thread Marty, I somehow missed it before.  Excellent points made by all, and it's been a wild ride.  I'm somewhat of a "Johnny come lately", having been here about ten years, but they've been very good years.   I'm really missing the personal contacts from "way back then" when there were train shows, but seeing friends old and new here helps fill the void.

Thanks Marty for putting this up!

Its is people like you and many others here that make this a joy to visit and see what is going on and to get HELP! LOL I have been here just over 8 years now and when I came here I knew nothing about model trains just they went round and round. Boy was I wrong! Thanks to this forum and many of the members here I have learned so much, more then I ever knew went into the hobby. The funny thing with all the great people here nobody told me about the large amount of $$$$$ it takes.LOL

I really love this forum and the folks here that run it, all the wonderful advertisers, the post from which I learn from, But most of all the friendships I have built here.

Thanks again Alan and Marty for bring this to the front again!

Thanks for bumping this one, Marty.

There’s no question that 2020 will go down in history as a lousy year. The China Virus, riots in many cities, political games being played on both sides to the detriment of all of us, and the final insult...Jim Barrett’s passing. Yet with all of that, this forum soldiers on, with new and interesting posts every day.

I’ve said this before, and it bears repeating: this forum enjoys the fellowship of a truly great group of people! And make no mistake...it is YOU FOLKS who make this forum such a great place to be. Alan, I, and a few other moderators have to do a little “housecleaning” once in a while, but that’s a small price to pay for enjoying the company of such a great group of folks.

Many thanks to all of you, and Happy Thanksgiving.

Thanks for the reminder, Marty. This forum is as much a part of my day as going to the train room is. Most of my train room is the result of knowledge taken from the forum and applied there. I feel like I have a personal relationship with many members and all the staff, even though never having met them. My thanks to them all. The best way to really say thanks to OGR is to put one of those blue banners up next to your name. Let's get to it.

Last edited by John H

Everyone above me has said it all, this is the most fun place to be when time allows. There’s so many great folks here, so much knowledge, so much creativity, so much of simply everything related to our train hobby. Thank you Martye for bringing back this fun to read thread and thank you Rich Melvin for all of the hard work and years of service to this hobby, you are truly a leader and ambassador of the hobby, and to everyone at OGR for their time and contributions, you all are Amazing. Happy Thanksgiving Everyone, we are truly blessed.

Well if nothing else, I'm bumping this thread again to thank the OGR Forum staff, sponsors, and especially the members for making this the Best Place on the Web to talk toy trains.  I think we can take for granted the shear number of participants here and the number of threads and replies a day that get posted.  I can only imagine what a huge task it is to keep everything running smoothly. 

This forum has the ears of the manufacturer's and retailers.  They actively participate and are a big part of what makes the forum chug, chug, chug along.

A lot has been written in the posts before this.  I encourage you to go back and read them.  I also encourage you to support the forum either through a subscription, being a supporting member, buying from the sponsors, or just letting folks know about it.

As we are hopefully coming out of a rough 2 years, trains and the OGR forum family has been a big help in passing the time.  Again thanks to all!

Well said Marty. Thanks for all your contributions to the forum over the years.

My CAB2 was updated because of this forum after seeing your invitation on here a few years ago, @MartyE.

Thanks again!

Thanks.  The thing I like the best is there is no lack of willingness to help here from everyone.  The entire forum benefits from it's own membership.

Marty Thanks for the bump! we forget sometimes what we have here.

I checked and I just passed 15 years as a member! Even when I'm not active(no layout) I login to see what is going on and check out what the sponsors are doing always going to the sponsor sites from the banner.  I think I can safely say without this forum I would have left the hobby once again as I did as a kid. It has kept my interest going through good times and tough times.

I am actually retiring on April 15th. Working on building my crappy basement layout in my 107 year old house.

@MartyE, I couldn't agree more. Recently a bunch of us have been talking about gearbox issues on Lionel's K4 engines, and that it also seems there are others in that mix as well. H10's and Mikado's and probably also Pacific's. The gearbox seems to have play on the gears inside and will eventually lead to a messy end.

If I wasn't following one of those that I follow, this would have been noticed by me quite a while later, and probably would have been a major fix when that later would come. I plan on sending out my H10 along with one of the newest Pacific's to have it get looked at. The H10 will definitely need the fix as the gearbox is in the fail category since it is the old K-Line design like the K4'S.

This all has to do with these particular engines being of the old K-Line variety and a modified gearbox which allows slippage on the gears and such. Some models may be affected more than others depending on a lot of factors, mainly how much they turn on their perspective layouts as well as usage. Hopefully when mine gets down to where it is going, further assessments and updates will be noted and solutions put in place.

God I love this forum.

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