Rail UK Forum wish list for 2018

[Darandio]

I’m just making a very gentle reminder that where practical, people perhaps remember that not everyone is as technically minded as others. That’s all.

Assuming the 'everyone' is a member, surely if they have got as far as joining, activating and contributing to a forum then searching a four digit headcode is a doddle?

 

[fowler9]

What has that got to do with anything? We are talking about on the forum not in person or at work.

People, lets call them civilians, come on here for advice. Anyway, apologies for arguing with you. All the very best for the new year.

 

[fowler9]

Anyone who thinks we use too much jargon and shorthand here ought to pay a visit to some aviation sites.

Ha ha, true. I know my stuff but some of it is like trying to crack Enigma. All good fun.

 

[221129]

People, lets call them civilians, come on here for advice. Anyway, apologies for arguing with you. All the very best for the new year.

Indeed, and all the best to you. My point is mainly based on large incidents that are still developing. I like to try and provide some info quickly where possible which involves a copy and paste from Tyrell, genius, trust etc. And a lot of the time I am also trying to deal with said incident so haven't got timw to write stuff out in full. So surely some info is better than nothing?

 

[berneyarms]

Assuming the 'everyone' is a member, surely if they have got as far as joining, activating and contributing to a forum then searching a four digit headcode is a doddle?

You’d be surprised - I’ve made assumptions in the past myself like that, and experience has generally taught me that said assumptions don’t always reflect reality.

Hence I generally go by the premise that it’s best to assume nothing about other people’s abilities.

 

[Robertj21a]

Well no of course not. But on a specialist forum dedicated to the railways you should be able to use common abbreviations. It does seem like some members on here are wanting to have their cake and eat it.

It's a general forum, not just for train 'nutters'

 

[johnnychips]

Indeed, and all the best to you. My point is mainly based on large incidents that are still developing. I like to try and provide some info quickly where possible which involves a copy and paste from Tyrell, genius, trust etc. And a lot of the time I am also trying to deal with said incident so haven't got timw to write stuff out in full. So surely some info is better than nothing?

I know exactly what you mean. So I think it’d be a good idea to put a link at the top of this section of the forum so I could find out at once, and you wouldn’t have to write all the trains out. Seasons greetings!

 

[Lrd]

Well this thread got off to a great start!

 

[gazthomas]

It didn’t take long before the OPs wish list was ignored! I for one often feel there is an attacking tone in replies and agree that politeness should be the order of the day

 

[47513 Severn]

I have to agree that the tone of some posters can leave a lot to be desired. The terms "In my opinion..., I believe..., I think...." are sadly lacking on many occasions. It tends to be more along the lines of "I'm right and you're wrong, there's nothing to discuss here" which rather misses the point of a discussion forum where others may have different opinions to your own.

 

[AndyPJG]

First of all, a massive thanks to all the people involved in running this forum. It must be one of those things that must be incredibly rewarding, yet sometimes very frustrating. Either way, thanks for giving up your time.

Some things I’d like to see for 2018:

- some more politeness. I do think people seem to be becoming more rude recently. This forum attracts a wide variety of ages and experience of both life and the railways. Isn’t it as easy to say “That might be a good idea in principle but there’s no chance of funding/ but I think another project would be better” rather than “ That’s so stupid. Which planet are you living on?”

- reiteration of the rule to explain station codes at first use in a thread

- on the same sort of idea, not too much overuse of train headcodes (I appreciate their brevity but are a pain to look up)

- overuse of technical abbreviations and acronyms without explanation (sure someone on here was making a list once)

- and maybe a sticky above with quick links to the above three.

- people not reading the ‘rules’ for trivia items, or not reading the thread. I can understand this if there are 600 messages, but not thirty!

A very happy and enjoyable new year to everyone on here.

An excellent post, quickly followed by the usual usual UK Rail Forum degeneration into bickering and name calling.

 

[Wombat]

Assuming the 'everyone' is a member, surely if they have got as far as joining, activating and contributing to a forum then searching a four digit headcode is a doddle?

I'm a member. I've joined and activated, though whether or not I've usefully contributed is a fair question. Anyway, I had to look up the definition of a headcode and I'm still not sure that I know how to meaningfully translate one.

To be honest, I don't really know whether this a forum targeted at railway employees, enthusiasts or commuters like me. If the answer is "all of them" then I think that translation into laymen's terms is probably a good idea.

 

[GusB]

The thing about headcodes is that they don't uniquely describe any one service. To give one example, searching Realtime trains for 1S25 gives three results. If a post refers to 1S25 breaking down at, say, Aviemore then it's reasonable to assume that it is the northbound Caley sleeper to Inverness that's being discussed, but for anyone overseas who isn't quite au-fait with UK geography, I can imagine it may be quite baffling.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

In response to some of the postings that have been made so far, the website rules have a section headed "Accessible". Look at the third section in that section, where the forum staff have made matters very clear indeed.

 

[Darandio]

I'm a member. I've joined and activated, though whether or not I've usefully contributed is a fair question. Anyway, I had to look up the definition of a headcode and I'm still not sure that I know how to meaningfully translate one.

Indeed, and it's exactly why I stated in post #18 that we should have readily placed links/resources to help those such as yourself.

 

[Railwaysceptic]

In response to some of the postings that have been made so far, the website rules have a section headed "Accessible". Look at the third section in that section, where the forum staff have made matters very clear indeed.

Very good point. The relevant passage reads as follows: Please remember many members do not understand rail “jargon” (including acronyms, station codes and specialist terms). Such terms should be correctly defined the first time they are used; codes and abbreviations must not be made up.

 

[Darandio]

In response to some of the postings that have been made so far, the website rules have a section headed "Accessible". Look at the third section in that section, where the forum staff have made matters very clear indeed.

It isn't clear about headcodes at all. I wouldn't define a headcode as either an acronym, station code or specialist term, neither would I define them as made up.

I'll reiterate yet again, it would be far more productive to help people how to find headcodes rather than damn those who post the information.

 

[trainophile]

Speaking as a mere, if frequent, passenger, if I see an interesting heading (e.g. "Broken down freight on VTWC line") I will open it hoping for an interesting and informative read. If the first sentence is "I'm on 1J54*, how long am likely to be stuck here for?" I don't even bother reading any further. (*Made up, no idea if it exists!)

Perhaps if I have specifically asked for advice (in which case I'm probably going to say what journey I am making, and not in abbreviations or codes) and someone is kind enough to look something up for me but hasn't got time to elaborate fully, then okay fair enough. But reading for general interest I glaze over with unexpanded head codes.

 

[tbtc]

re the abbreviations/ head codes, the best compromise I can think of would be something like permitting that kind of shorthand on the "disruption" threads, where people are posting up-to-date information urgently from mobiles, e.g. if a suicide closes the ECML then someone on an affected train may refer to the ones caught up in the disruption by a head code, as they are in a hurry to post information - but most of the time there's no excuse for it - it can even come across as showing off.

(also, on the subject of abbreviations, referring to the Department for Transport as "DafT" doesn't make people look big or clever)

- some more politeness. I do think people seem to be becoming more rude recently. This forum attracts a wide variety of ages and experience of both life and the railways. Isn’t it as easy to say “That might be a good idea in principle but there’s no chance of funding/ but I think another project would be better” rather than “ That’s so stupid. Which planet are you living on?”

Well this thread got off to a great start!

True!

(re the "my idea for..." kind of threads - I've stopped contributing to them so much in recent times as there's no point arguing rationally with some of the beliefs that people have, but... live and let live)

I have to agree that the tone of some posters can leave a lot to be desired. The terms "In my opinion..., I believe..., I think...." are sadly lacking on many occasions. It tends to be more along the lines of "I'm right and you're wrong, there's nothing to discuss here" which rather misses the point of a discussion forum where others may have different opinions to your own.

Agreed.

I know that a lot of people get very emotive about certain things, and emotional maturity sometimes takes a back seat to "outrage" but some posters see the world in a very black/white way, where everyone else is an idiot and only they are blessed with "common sense"...

...it's often well meaning but can easily come across as rather toddlerish.

 

[fulmar]

Nearly thirty years ago I was told off on my driver training course for referring to "headcodes". It was very firmly pointed out that they were "train reporting numbers".

Personally on the abbreviations thing I have always worked on the basis that if I wish to communicate something to someone, the onus is on me to communicate it clearly, not on the person recieving the message to work it out for themselves. It doesn't matter whether I am talking to the Signaller or to a random member of the public on an internet forum. If someone doesn't understand, whoever they are, I am always more than happy for them to ask me for clarification.

 

[gazthomas]

Should Google* be used more before new threads are posted?

* or any other search engine!

Hi everyone and a very Happy New Year to you all!

I see a lot of posts that make me think if the original poster had done a quick Google or two they would have found the answer they're looking for? I know that putting in the correct terms can often be a bit trial and error but am I being unreasonable?

I just think it clutters the forums! As is this post...

 

[221129]

Yes. 100x yes.

 

[greyman42]

I think that most posts on this forum could not be answered by Google. Google can give answers but not opinions.

 

[kieron]

I see a lot of posts that make me think if the original poster had done a quick Google or two they would have found the answer they're looking for? I know that putting in the correct terms can often be a bit trial and error but am I being unreasonable?

Do you have any examples? I'm far too lazy to look myself.

All I can say is that, if you ever wish to point something like that out to someone, please make sure that any link you use to illustrate this addresses the question which was actually asked.

 

[Mag_seven]

Should Google* be used more before new threads are posted?

* or any other search engine!

Hi everyone and a very Happy New Year to you all!

I see a lot of posts that make me think if the original poster had done a quick Google or two they would have found the answer they're looking for? I know that putting in the correct terms can often be a bit trial and error but am I being unreasonable?

I just think it clutters the forums! As is this post...

A lot of google queries on railway matters actually direct you to this forum!

 

[Marklund]

Personally on the abbreviations thing I have always worked on the basis that if I wish to communicate something to someone, the onus is on me to communicate it clearly, not on the person recieving the message to work it out for themselves.

Exactly.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

When it comes to headcodes, it's a shame they aren't more widely used (displayed in timetables, on tickets/reservations, and on platform screens for example) in the same way that flight numbers are; and how train service numbers are used widely on the continent. Guess that's another case of "not invented here"/"not the British way" syndrome though!