Is RMweb a niche interest?

[Stubby47]

Just wait until your announcement on 15th March then.... it'll trounce any manufacturer's news release !

[Kenton]

Just wait until your announcement on 15th March then.... it'll trounce any manufacturer's news release !

Assuming we will all be able to log on

[edward66]

Nothing much to add to all the positive comments except to add my own thanks to Andy and the team for this excellent forum which I visit almost every day and from which I have learned a lot. Long may it continue and flourish!

Edward

[Mikkel]

Congratulations Andy, that's quite something.

 

I am particularly impressed that 80% of visitors return. I would have thought that a large share of the hits on a site like this were one-off Google hits, but this is really impressive stuff.

 

How are the visits distributed across the day? I remember from GWR Modelling that there was a peak during lunchtime, although interestingly that changed gradually over the years - presumably as people began to get home computers.

 

I use Google analytics as part of another interest, and have found that the numbers (although much smaller than these!) seem to be fairly reliable (I happen to know the number of visitors quite well from other sources).

 

One of the extraordinary things about the internet is that a concerted effort by a few good men (or just one man!) can lead to real results fast - as opposed to all the history and path dependency that you're up against in the real world. This site is living proof of that.

[Andy Y]

I haven't found anything within GA that can give me an analysis for the hours during the day sadly Mikkel as that would be interesting. I've just looked at the server logs and lashed together a quick screenshot showing the usage (24 hour clock) after compensation for the time difference between GMT and the server in Ohio.

 

 

 

Fatuous conclusions:

• People get slacker after 15.00
• RMweb readers have 2 hour lunchbreaks
• TV is lousy between 8.00 and 9.00

[Oldddudders]

One of the extraordinary things about the internet is that a concerted effort by a few good men (or just one man!) can lead to real results fast - as opposed to all the history and path dependency that you're up against in the real world. This site is living proof of that.

Tell me about it! I am aware of a website manned by two or three very ordinary people that ultimately caused a government minister in an EU state to back down. That the rich fare on here is attractive to so many so often is really not a surprise.

[Mikkel]

Fatuous conclusions:

• People get slacker after 15.00
• RMweb readers have 2 hour lunchbreaks
• TV is lousy between 8.00 and 9.00

 

 

And people go to bed surprisingly early! Especially considering that there are visitors from all time zones.

 

 

[Ozexpatriate]

Fatuous conclusions:

• People get slacker after 15.00
• RMweb readers have 2 hour lunchbreaks
• TV is lousy between 8.00 and 9.00

 

And people go to bed surprisingly early! Especially considering that there are visitors from all time zones.

8:00pm GMT is my lunchtime here â…“ of the way around the world. I really do notice the drop-off in the evening (GMT). Right now it is almost 03:00 GMT and things are relatively quiet.

[The Stationmaster]

 

Fatuous conclusions:

• People get slacker after 15.00
• RMweb readers have 2 hour lunchbreaks
• TV is lousy between 8.00 and 9.00

 

It would be 'interesting' to know how many members are in '9-5' type employment looking at the way things build-up during the day - surely it can't just be us 'sort of retired' layabouts pushing up the daytime numbers? (that will probably be shown up by the arrival of sunny weather which will drag us off into the garden and only folk at work on here?)

[coachmann]

Just looked up the word 'Niche'

 

Place...........................RMweb

Position......................tops

Slot..............................Free

Function.....................Cheer & inspire

Role............................railways

Forte...........................images

Alcove.........................Place for PC

Recess......................Breaktime

[mirreles31]

Just looked up the word 'Niche'

 

Place...........................RMweb

Position......................tops

Slot..............................Free

Function.....................Cheer & inspire

Role............................railways

Forte...........................images

Alcove.........................Place for PC

Recess......................Breaktime

 

 

And somewhere to express mutual appreciation .

[bmthtrains - David]

Very interesting to see those stats.

 

One the one hand, it is a remarkable testament to how huge a presence Andy's creation now has within the modelling fraternity, but it is also a sign of a wider effect that the internet is having.

 

The group of companies I work for is basically collapsing as the markets it serves (paid for entertainment and literature) rapidly deteriorate as consumers can now basically obtain 'content' for free, and the growth of RMWeb is another example of this trend.

 

Not that this in anyway knocks the site - these impressive repeat visits are driven by the fact that RMWeb showcases a high volume of quality posts - and quality is key here. I, like many others, re-vist constantly to make sure I don't miss anything. If the quality on here was poor, there wouldn't be that rush.

 

RMWeb is now firmly at the core of the 'serious' area of the hobby in my view, and well-deserved that position is too, but I do worry about the wider trend (of which I am playing a part by viewing/contributing here) whereby freely available content is rapidly being chosen over paid-for (and edited) media.

 

Like many quality websites, if/when the creator retires (not yet, we hope!), there is the danger that the quality and editorial control exerted by that person retires as well. My concern is that in the near future, we will have no CDs, books, DVDs or magazines, as these will all have been replaced by free to access online content, which anyone can produce, without any real regard to quality. If the really good websites such as this ultimately decline or end as they are the result of an individual's effort, will we find ourselves in some ghastly cultural desert where 'free' has killed off all the paid-for forms of entertainment - but as quality often has a cost, if everything is free, expect the quality to be pretty low!

 

Anyway, my huge thanks and Well Done! to Andy for these very impressive figures - I am enormously grateful that he has created and nurtured this important online resource, and long may it continue to stand as an important oasis in that cultural desert we are facing.

 

David

[Edwin_m]

Interesting thoughts David. Perhaps the recent thread on record readership for Model Rail indicates that the two forms of media are coexisting better in this hobby than in some other fields?

[Lady_Ava_Hay]

The group of companies I work for is basically collapsing as the markets it serves (paid for entertainment and literature) rapidly deteriorate as consumers can now basically obtain 'content' for free, and the growth of RMWeb is another example of this trend.

 

there is the danger that the quality and editorial control exerted by that person retires as well.

 

if everything is free, expect the quality to be pretty low!

 

I think that this effect is spreading everywhere just at the moment. As the money supply dwindles away on an individual level and prices keep increasing as they do everyone starts looking at their expenditure, not on a value for money basis but purely as a 'do I need' this basis.

 

Want and the supply of satisfaction of want always takes a hammering at times like this whereas need always takes priority.

 

Most adults are painfully aware that there is no such thing as a free lunch and that free frequently means awful but it costs very little to operate existing model railways and to complete all those stock projects at minimal cost. When the storm blows over and money supply eases, model railways will still be there for those already involved. What is less certain is whether the supply chain will be.

 

Obviously, a forum such as this will survive the loss of any one member, however important and the quality will remain as it is based on experience and comunication skills which, once acquired, necver go away.

 

I don't see this as entertainment in the strict sense of the word. I think the main 'competition' is the model railway magazines. They also serve that part of the market that has no access or interest in the Internet.

 

On that basis RMWeb is indeed a niche interest since it serves a segment of the model railway hobby in a particular and unique way.

[28XX]

One major diffence between model railway mags and those of many other hobbies is that much of the editorial is largely historical, and as such, remains relevant to the hobbyist into the future, so once bought the mag is kept. Compare with music, fashion, computer games, sport where the content is out of date before the mag hits the shelf.

[Fay Singpoint]

It would be 'interesting' to know how many members are in '9-5' type employment looking at the way things build-up during the day - surely it can't just be us 'sort of retired' layabouts pushing up the daytime numbers

 

I suspect quite a few given the prevalence of internet access in the work place. Home working is also another factor but I am on my lunch break at the moment

 

F

 

 

 

[coachmann]

One major diffence between model railway mags and those of many other hobbies is that much of the editorial is largely historical, and as such, remains relevant to the hobbyist into the future, so once bought the mag is kept.

The difference with RMweb is, unless one has earmarked a particular "article/feature/blog" on here it can be difficult to find when required. Even harder for future reference.

[Kenton]

It would be 'interesting' to know how many members are in '9-5' type employment looking at the way things build-up during the day - surely it can't just be us 'sort of retired' layabouts pushing up the daytime numbers? (that will probably be shown up by the arrival of sunny weather which will drag us off into the garden and only folk at work on here?)

Some of us are probably night birds - I can't be the only one working nights and working RMWeb by day .... by the way what's a garden> ... or better still what is sunny weather?

[PGN]

Andy,

 

Without a doubt you have added a valuable extra resource to the modeller's toolkit. This site adds a new dimension to my modelling, and has certainly inspired me to get on with projects that have been backing up in a semi-finished state for years. (I'm still acquiring new kits faster than I'm finishing old ones, mind, but who isn't? B) )

 

I don't see this site as a replacement for modelling mags. It is a complimentary resource. Web content is by definition ephemeral in a way that paper publications aren't. But that's not a problem - because they're different beasts carrying different burdens.

 

Time was if you had a query and couldn't find an answer, and nobody in your MRC knew (or you were a lighthouse keeper somewhere in the vicinity of the Faroes, and your nearest MRC was in Aberdeen and just a wee bit difficult to get to on club nights) you wrote a letter to a modelling magazine, which appeared in print 3 - 6 weeks later, and if you were lucky you got a response after a similar sort of period, and then for several months there might be an exchange of views from those who disagreed with the original reply, and after about a year the correspondence fizzled out and you took a view and completed your model.

 

Now, through the wonderful medium of the internet, the whole process takes about 48 hours!

 

"Self-appointed experts"? Maybe. But what's wrong with that? Most self-appointed experts are indeed expert and I am grateful to those who have appointed themselves to answer my queries. Maybe there are some who talk a load of tosh ... but if it's tosh which can be refuted from reliable sourced then it will be refuted by the genuine experts in a matter of hours. And if it's tosh which cannot be refuted from reliable sources, then who's to say it's tosh? In that situation we're all guessing - and one man's guess may be as good as the next man's!

[coachmann]

I have been pondering on something that has been said about things changing on the 15th March. Can anyone say what these changes will be. I don't want to come home from hospital that day only to find I'm sat here on me own and everyone has buggered off to pastures new......

[Andy Y]

I have been pondering on something that has been said about things changing on the 15th March. Can anyone say what these changes will be. I don't want to come home from hospital that day only to find I'm sat here on me own and everyone has buggered off to pastures new......

 

Careful; it'll start a wishlist and frothing.

 

I'm still ironing out some last minute glitches ( a long night last night) on the 'changes'; there are two major components that will be supplementary to the existing core. One to bring a focussed approach to some content and another to bring in more features and better controls. What you see here and now will still be (mostly) available.

 

There will also be lesser additions and some new initiatives.

 

 

 

[Arthur]

You should incorporate a WTF filter Andy, that is a Wishlist, Trolling and Frothing filter, save you and the mods hours.....

[Andy Y]

I do like that Arthur!

[coachmann]

Thanks for that Andy. Sounds interesting.

[Guest Phil]

I'm not surprised at all at the growth in popularity of RMweb. It was the future for interactive railway modelling information from some year ago.

 

Back in the late 1970s when I joined the railway I used to have to speak to a guy in Shrewsbury in what was known as a TOPS office. It was actually three men Eric Trevor and Neil who worked shifts and it was our function as an outstation to update them in loco and freight vehicle movements. I called into the office a couple of times and thought, wow, this is what I want to do. at the push of a few keys (E3 1) you could tap in a loco number and TOPS would tell you where it was - fantastic. You could also do train enquiries and area enquiries and loads of other cool stuff !!!!

 

When I was old enough to leave home I became a TOPS clerk and entered the data handling revolution in this country. Using computers to input and obtain information became my job from 1980 and is still with me 31 years later, but personal computing came much later - in the 1990s for me. Having been used to that sort of stuff at work I had always figured out that that sort of thing would be the future for leisure, but have to admit i am still amazed by some information that is available on the internet.

 

Finding RMweb was a nugget of gold for me, but I have never considered limits, and as generation succeeds generation the pace will increase. When Itook a DCC sound Sulzer type 2 to demo to my 75 year old dad, he was spellbound. The captivation of such a distinctive set of sounds within a model loco, is only really offset by the realisation of costs if a lifetime collection is involved, and people of his generation, who have collected models all their lives realise this. Pragmatically, and sadly, the old uns fade away and new generations co me along. I doubt my 1 year old grandson will be too interested in model railways, but if he is, it will have to be DCC because I doubt many will grasp the concept of wiring up a layout the traditional way.

 

And so life goes on and generation succeeds generation.

 

Can't wait to see Andy's "new toys" in action on here.

 

Incidentally Andy - should there be a little section somewhere detailing the timeline of RMweb and how it developed ? Maybe there already is and I have missed it.

 

All the best for the future Mr and Mrs York - you have done us proud for the last few years