General > General Discussion

Just some forum stats, promoting our community, rambling on...

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G8B4Life:
Thanks for the words of encouragement guys, it shows that the spirit of our community to promote the product we use and our community here is alive and well and we haven't just given up because we are in a hard place with the mentality against RP out there; and frankly I wasn't expecting any replies anyway given the rambling I did  ::)

Everything discussed is really good. I hope something can come out of Lee's weekend (I really wish I could be there for it). I think it would be a great article and or video given Lee's wholesale change to RailPro as well. That fact could be a head turner in itself.

I agree with Kevin's sentiments on videos and their effect on gaining users. If you have a layout and feel like making some "promotional footage" by all means please give it a shot. If you run on a modular layout, like Free-mo and can shoot some promotional footage that would be great too, especially showing it working independently on DCC tracks.

Al, I can understand why Tim Ring declines you exhibiting RailPro at Springfield - or anywhere else but it still leaves me shaking my head none the less that he doesn't take the opportunity to have his product out there in one of the best ways possible.

On that, I know you are all scattered around the countryside and I'm not sure how train shows work over there but I wonder if we cannot exhibit RailPro as RailPro aka Ring Engineering then could we exhibit RailPro as RailPro users? perhaps with a small but interesting layout to run and demonstrate on. This way not being commercial should not invoke the ire of Tim Ring and any costs should be greatly reduced. Food for thought anyway.

Another thought I previously had, which mirrors what Al said but is probably difficult to implement (Tim Ring wouldn't like it I bet) is perhaps we could approach sellers of RailPro to include a RPUG card with any HC or RPK they sell. I think I've gone of the deep end with that one.

- Tim

TomO:
I just added the RPUG address to my signature at Railroad Line Forums but it shows Hello TomO when I  lick the link. What am I doing wrong, all I added was:

https://rpug.pdc.ca

TomO

Alan:
You are logged into RPUG. Your browser session is still active. Other users won't see the same. They will be presented with the guest view. In short, you didn't do anything wrong.

Alan:
Let's face it. How many people, even if they are aware of RP, have the option of test driving RP on a layout? How many people actually have the option of test driving any of the DCC systems on a layout? Maybe Digitrax. Maybe NCE. And even if they do, their experience is influenced by the club or layout owner's implementation and opinion. I postulate a large percentage of people do their best to research on the Internet and then simply make a purchase decision with fingers crossed. I did.

A comprehensive, let the chips fall where they may, side-by-side functionality comparison would be very helpful. RP, Digitrax, NCE, MRC, Lenz, BlueRail, and all the others in columns, functionality in rows.  Ideally, the comparison would be free of subjective information.

Personally, I had only 1960-70's DC operation experience when I reentered the hobby. Within 20 minutes Google showed me the current control system market. Armed with the brand names I set off to compare functionality using manufacturer supplied data. That's when the challenge began. DCC documentation is absolutely horrible in its form - organization, completeness, and presentation. Blatantly obvious it is a product of a small cottage industry. Sadly, RP is no better, actually worse. Perhaps I am spoiled from my experience in the electronics hobby where data is abundant and highly organized. Spec sheets exist for everything and the information is presented in near standardized form making comparison a straightforward task. It took me seemingly forever to dig, search, read and re-read trying to determine any one control system's superiority in a particular functionality I was interested in. A good comparison chart would have turned that research into a 10 minute task.

carrson:
I followed this forum for almost a year ( while starting my layout) before I purchased my starter kit. I would wonder just how many units have been sold (a stat that most likely only Ring would have and would not want to divulge). That would separate the actual users vs those who follow but do not"yet" have a system. I also have a subscription to Model Railroader magazine and there has never been an advertisement or a mention of Railpro. All the featured layout articles are DCC operated and there are full page adds for the two most popular systems. When I look at the Railpro map and see the many miles that separate us.
If this forum were to cease I would be lost.


       

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