Interesting site

[sirenwerks]

I'm not sure if anyone else has made mention of this site, but www.nscalelimited.com is worth checking out. It has some excellent modeling and interesting articles on it. Like how to model an N scale fruit push cart and http://www.nscalelimited.com/2009/12/19/scratch-build-a-pushcart-fruit-vendor/#comment-7732 and peek at Bill Richard's tres nice steel mill http://www.nscalelimited.com/2010/01/13/bill-richards-magnificent-steel-mill/; kit reviews; free downloads (billboards!); and scratchbuilding articles, from this nifty simple Sinclair gas repair station http://www.nscalelimited.com/2009/04/09/scratch-building-basics-sinclair-service-station-2/ to this nine story brick Hudson Life Building http://www.nscalelimited.com/2009/05/03/hudson-life-building-an-introduction/. It also has another forum, opened 9/2009, not that anyone would want to leave Railwire...

[wm3798]

Mein Gott!~  What craftsmanship on the structures!

I'm wondering if a little resin casting and some photo etching wouldn't speed things up a bit, though...

Lee

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Did Bernie see this?
http://www.nscalelimited.com/2010/01/13/bill-richards-magnificent-steel-mill/

[wm3798]

Great model work, but as I read through it, I get the sense that these guys take their work pretty seriously.

Of course, I'm typing this as Tom Mann is staring back at me from under a wig...

Lee

[wm3798]

Looking at it more carefully now...  That's a really good looking, well organized site.  I don't know about the level of content, although there's definitely some good modeling going on.

[bbussey]

The site appears to be down with a database error currently.

[sirenwerks]

It combines magazine-style content with forum-like two-way communication. I especially like how you can ask questions of the author questions immediately, unlike the monthly or bi-monthly schedule of paper publications, where you're not gauranteed your question will be published and responded to anyway.

However, the content's not exactly organized in a linear fashion to easily follow the multi-part articles, which could create confusion. And that being said, there's no promise of a regular contribution pace, as (most often) with print magazines. So the multi-part ideal could be hit or miss, and frustrating. Then again, without a carrot for contributors, there's no way to promise the masses good things to come.

But IMO, this site presents as the next wave of 'print' media, especially for targeted audiences such as N scale model railroaders. Add some marketing to the mix, loosen the concentration on structures, and give it a linear forward focus and it might fly.

[Mark5]

I'm not sure if anyone else has made mention of this site,

Ya, I posted it in the links section last week.

Pretty cool.

[Ian MacMillan]

Very nice presentation. Could use some more articles, but I bet once they get some more writers it will really pick up.

[ctbrimley]

Greetings,

I will go over and introduce myself in the other thread in a bit so I will leave that out for the time being.  I had noticed an hefty chunk of traffic coming from here and decided to see what was generating it, so that is what brought me here.

I wanted to say thank you for the many positive things you have said about the website and work that I have created with my friend Frank Giacobbe.  I mostly wanted to discuss some your criticisms that some of you have mentioned.  Many of those that you have mentioned are things that we have addressed as issues that need to be rectified.  Primarily the lack of authors is what is holding us back, this is an issue that we are trying to fix.  Also I agree that more "train" and less structure related content is badly needed.  Adding more authors and contributors would help to fix this. 

Any constructive criticisms are more than welcome and are appreciated.  Being able to take them and use them will do nothing but make what we have stronger and better. 

Thank you,

Chris Brimley of N Scale Limited

[Philip H]

Hey Chris,
Welcome aboard.  I've been reading, and occasionally commenting, on N Scale lImited since you guys put it up, and I think you are both doing a grand job.  Your Hudson Bulding series has been first rate - now all you need to do is pull all this pages together into a single folder of some kind.

Still looking at building a copy of that night club you guys featured early on.

Philip H.

[wm3798]

Chris, thanks for stopping by.  I hope you visit the Railwire with a degree of regularity, just as I hope some of the denizens of the Railwire will become contributors to N Scale Limited.  I'm really glad I've been introduced to the site.

One thought that occurs to me is how to entice contributions of material.  Over here, it's very much a stream of consciousness approach, where projects are introduced, then nursed along almost in "real time" as they progress.  Each project tends to develop a blog of its own (within its given forum thread).  Once the project is complete, though, the information sinks like a stone, and is difficult to go back and reference, unless you remember enough about it to use the search function.

Another board I participate in, Scale Rails Online, attempts to provide more of a platform for articles, but it also tries to cater to multiple scales and multiple interests, so a lot of information gets lost just trying to compete for the reader's attention.

I really like the way you've focused on N scale, which I think is the only scale, with the possible exception of Z, that really understands how the internet can be utilized.  I also like the way you've organized the information, but I agree with Phil and others that it might be able to get a little tighter.

I have a few articles "in the can" but I'm holding out for print, at least in the near term, because let's face it, it pays well.  I love the immediacy and flexibility of the internet, but it can be a bit fleeting, and the amount of work that goes into some of the projects that get published, well, you might need a bigger carrot.  I'm not sure how to do that and maintain the cleanliness of the site's look, (ads tend to garbage everything up).  Maybe there's something to be learned from Joe Fugate's e-magazine "Model Railroad Hobbyist".  Just like the main stream hobby press, there's precious little represented for N Scale, so maybe there's an opportunity to launch N Scale Limited as the e-quivalent of N Scale Magazine.

Anyway, thanks for stopping in for a chat.
Lee

[SecretWeapon]

Nice site Chris.
Nice find sirernwerks.