Popular Post Andy Y Posted March 14, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted March 14, 2015 15th March 2015 marks the 10th anniversary of the start of RMweb. Arguably the story starts a little earlier than that. Way back before the days of RMweb most of the content relating to the hobby in the UK on the internet was solely text-based; Pat Hammond's MREmag, a few e-lists, Yahoo groups, BRM's forum and a smattering of personal sites. Most of these had little in the way of imagery and it was that which was the motivation behind RMweb; it's very much a visual hobby, we make things to be looked at and we need to look at things to learn so the idea was to create a forum which facilitated the uploading of images directly to the site. I floated the idea on BRM's forum at a time of apparent dissatisfaction and I believe 250BOB was the first to give a nod of interest so I disappeared off and set things up and made the site live on the 15th March. Initially I used Snitz forums software so things looked somewhat different than they do now: The snapshot above from the Wayback Machine shows how things looked and how things were roughly a month on from the start including names old-stagers may recall. Initially much of the activity came from BRM forum members with most retaining 'dual-nationality'. RMweb was simply doing something slightly different at the right time as co-incidentally a couple of other forums started up not long after. RMweb grew in activity levels despite the apparent lack of categories in the picture above as participants started to upload images of their own workbenches and layouts and so the hobby on the 'net started to become a bit more alive. Social networking was in its infancy at that stage, Facebook was merely a year old and used by a few American colleges, many people didn't have broadband yet, let alone the speeds we're now used, and many used search engines other than Google. I don't think many would have foreseen using RMweb on a mobile phone, let alone a tablet. A lot has changed in 10 years. Roughly a year on from the start the site had grown more sub-forums and there's probably even more names which you may recognise in the image above including folks who are still here. Growth caused problems; despite claims of hosting companies their servers always gave performance issues when things got busy or the site continued to grow. Initially the site was hosted on 1&1 but their technical people could never offer any explanation as to why there was a problem let alone what could be done about. I changed the hosting to Pipex; bad move! I think the site spent as much time down as it did up some weeks in the short-lived RMweb2. We certainly had some characters around at that time, the industry looked upon it as a bit of a wild west town where the bad and lawless had regular gunfights but I think that's probably somewhat of a fearful and exaggerated perspective as there was a lot of good going on. Maybe the site could have continued to grow using Snitz software but I could see there was more potential elsewhere so a change to phpboard software was made and a further move to UK2's hosting. The site probably starts to look a little more familiar by this stage and the following pic shows how things were two years from the start. Yes; even more recognisable names! It's probably because the principal colour had changed to blue that it looks a little more familiar too but around this time there was a development in that RMweb was preparing to move out from the darkness of the internet into the real world. As users became more familiar with each other and an interest in meeting up the first Members' day was held in 2007 at Mickleover with thanks to Mike Bellamy and the guys from the club. Members Day's were, and still are, a chance to get to meet fellow modellers and the tradition is still there with Captain Kernow's marvellous organisation of the Taunton Members' Day, the next one coming up on the last Sunday in April. And so the years roll on, as membership and activity grew it was impossible to keep an eye on everything (whilst working full time all over the country) and a team of moderators grew to help maintain content, sorting things that were posted in the wrong areas, answering technical questions and removing the worst excesses of behaviour. Costs of hardware and software rose to match the growth in membership and as it was very much a shared community we were very graciously kept afloat by the generosity of a percentage of site users and it's those people who are responsible for RMweb still being here today as I couldn't have covered those costs on my own. Thank you all! The phpboard software became increasingly flakey and the hosting had moved to Jim in Ohio but the big change came in October 2009 when I switched to the current software, Invision Power Board, as this gave the potential for integrated blogs and image galleries within the site and a more active community. The old site on phpboard software is still accessible here http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forum/ Again there was sustained growth with the new features and pressures on servers would again arise but at least Jim understood the needs of a busy site and the hardware grew. The only problem was when there was an issue and the time difference in being able to resolve any glitches. Back in 2011 my former employers were going through another game of musical chairs and I was quite happy to leave the conventional world of employment and dedicate more time to the running of the site and develop more content seeing the birth of the Modelling Inspiration as a pdf magazine as an add on. However at this time I knew that we'd need to take a big step forward in terms of hardware and support to continue to grow but I knew that was a bill too high to try and share with the membership so commercial considerations were going to come into play one way or the other. At a time when I was looking at how to make the site financially sustainable a circle starts to be completed later in 2011 when I received an approach from Warners. Initially I was understandably sceptical; what would this mean for the future? A little like the scene in Local Hero where Fulton Mackay sits with Burt Lancaster on the beach Warner's MD, Stephen Warner and the publisher, John Greenwood came to visit and we sat and talked in the conservatory and the grains of sand weren't important, it was the stars above. Obviously there was going to be a trade off and increased advertising content would have been an outcome either way but an agreement was reached where there was a solid future path. Thanks to word leaking out within the industry there was another approach from another publishing house; that fell at an early hurdle when they couldn't meet some of the conditions of continuity which were a test of how things may be at a future stage. And so we moved into an era three years ago where some prophesied the end of RMweb as we knew it and we continued to grow. The stability of the site and performance improved when a decision was made to move the hosting to Dediserve in Ireland, a business which had a clear sight of what was needed as one of the directors happens to be a member here. Thanks to them we've never had better performance and still the site grows. Over the years I've made many acquaintances and some very good friends and I count myself very lucky in this respect. I work with, and have worked with, some lovely people too; again that's a fortunate thing to have these days. From a casual comment RMweb has grown from nothing to the third busiest site (according to Alexa.com) in the railway modelling in the world (behind Model Railroader and Kato's sites). That feat is down to everyone who has been involved with the site over the years and the way the site is run. Never has a day passed by when I haven't been here, not because I have to but because I want to; even when there's been the most malicious of activities it needs to have plates spun to keep it moving onwards; that's 3652 days on call (maybe I'll get a day off one day) whether I'm on holiday (as I have the past week but I can't tell people that because some just try to use it) or even on honeymoon sat on a balcony over a piazza in Florence sorting out a problem. And there I wish to thank my marvellous wife who's had to put up with RMweb, my mood at any given time and who has fed several hundred of you at Members' Days in the Mids. During today (Sunday) I'll be announcing some additional content for the site, two distinct challenges, a puzzle to tax the grey matter with a great prize for the winner and discussions about what the future may look like. Did I foresee what it would become? Absolutely not and it was never intended to be this way. 65 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-e Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 Congratulations Andy it is my only railway modelling stop on a daily basis. The site I look at 1st when I wake I up then at every available chance to see if my little notification icon has a magic number beside. So well done and here's to many more years. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgman Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 See what happens when you take something to market, exchange it for some beans ! Once they have taken root something magical happens Although I haven't been here very long I've discovered a host of new and exciting people from across the globe with a mutual interest, and made new acquaintances, all to the betterment of this railway modelling bug I picked up ( around my 6th birthday). Thank you for all you and the team behind the site for continuing to provide the service and long may it reign ! Happy RMWeb modelling to all Grahame 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Taz Posted March 15, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 15, 2015 Wow, doesn't time fly. It had never registered before but RMWeb is exactly 31 years younger than me HAPPY birthday to us both. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanders Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 Congratulations Andy! I know the sort of effort involved in anything like this, and it can be a draining but very rewarding experience. I'm so glad you stuck it out, through thick & thin. Also I've got to laugh that you managed to capture BlackRat joining RMWeb! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium BR60103 Posted March 15, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 15, 2015 and the first member name in the archived pages is me! but under my old name. I chose that so that people might be more tolerant of what I didn't know. Only 10 years? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Abel Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 Congratulations... I've only been here relatively short time but make a point of checking in every day when I can. Love the site and contributors who provide so much help and information. Well done. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Fatadder Posted March 15, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 15, 2015 10 years..... Cannot believe it's been that long! Here's to the next ten.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
railsquid Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 Can I be the tenth to add my congratulations? I haven't been back in this hobby for more than a few months (after a 25 year hiatus) and it's amazing how much information is available these days, including of course RMweb, which is now one of my regular daily stops. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
37114 Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 I can't believe it has been that long, what an achievement Andy, many in hobby have gained so much from your efforts and the existence of RM web. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrushVeteran Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 Congratulations and all the best for the future Andy................................................I think you have the 'Patience of a Saint'! Grahame Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Kris Posted March 15, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 15, 2015 Ten years, where has that time gone, certainly a lot less has gone on modelling, thanks Andy! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
55F Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 I don't feel that I contribute very much but I get my questions answered, glean some excellent ideas and thoroughly enjoy the friendly help exhibited on here. Congratulations Andy and all those who make this such an excellent Forum. Well done! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 Congrats Andy on this 10 year milestone. I think we both had hair 10 years ago…. It's come a long way since those first few pages and its been a privilege to be part of the fun and games since 2005. Here's to the next 10 years... 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Stubby47 Posted March 15, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 15, 2015 So, what's the new, new version going to look like ? ( It must be time for a change). Congrats to you Andy for the vision , for seeing things through when times were really tough personally and for keeping the whole forum steady during it's many incarnations. Stu 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Hippo Posted March 15, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 15, 2015 I've only been a member since 2010, but in that 5 years my modelling standards have massively improved thanks to the forum, although the amount of actual modelling I do has decreased, again thanks to the Foum Happy Birthday Rmweb Thanks Andy for all yor work Owen Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mike Bellamy Posted March 15, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 15, 2015 I missed the very first version of RMweb but have been around for almost all of those 10 years and well remember the 'Poopex' time when the site would disappear for days on end and there were doubts if it would ever come back. As you say, our Members' Day in 2007 was a memorable occasion with Puds and Sunshine Coast coming from Eastbourne and the Good Captain and his SWAG crew from deepest Devon - all the way to Derby to join many other people they had never met before who all had a common purpose - membership of RMweb and the enjoyment of model railways. (With apologies to the others who were there for not naming them all !) Over that time we have seen a lot of members join, a few leave for various reasons and of course we have lost some good friends. . . . Here's to the next ten years Mike 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigP Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 (edited) -- Edited January 30, 2021 by bigP Deleted Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinWales Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 I feel I must echo what other people have said before me here. A big thank you to Andy and his vision some ten years ago in putting his thoughts into action. ALSO it has pushed my modelling boundaries somewhat so that I am now working in three different gauges, but that's a story for another time and place. Well done sir, as I raise a metaphorical glass of ale and toast your health! And that of RMWEB too.... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted March 15, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 15, 2015 (edited) ten years, a lot's happened in that time! 2nd child, 2 houses, 5 jobs, 15 cars, 4 layouts, too many locos bought and sold i found the forum in about 2006 after someone linked to here from the rails of sheffield forum and i've never left Edited March 15, 2015 by big jim 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinWales Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 Crikey Jim, you've been busy! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BMacdermott Posted March 15, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 15, 2015 Hello Andy An amazing achievement! Congratulations on reaching this important milestone. Many thanks for all your hard work (and to those 'behind the scenes'). Long may it continue. Brian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markeg Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 Congratulations Andy for reaching 10 years. A lot has changed since the beginning. May you keep enjoying the ride. When looking at the Wedding anniversary stone on Wikipedia for 24 years of marriage celebrated last week end, I noticed that 10 years is Tin. So hopefully its not back to Tin for the Models. I doubt it. Mark in OZ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackRat Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 Happy HAPPY birthday to us! No idea how long I've been on board, but it's been a great voyage. Well done to Andy, to the Mods, and to everyone here who makes it what it is. H A P P Y. B I R T H D A Y ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
forest2807 Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 Congratulations RMWeb! Here's to the next ten. I dread to think how many hours/days/weeks/months I have spent on here cumulatively if It was all added up. Perhaps the tech guys could put a little 'time spent on site' feature below our icons? Maybe not though, it might come as a shock.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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