Rick, Keep on doing what your

Rick, Keep on doing what your doing. There is lots of neat stuff you posted along time ago that I forgot about. It's good to have it resurrected from time to time. It's all good.

Thanks for continuing to share.

Randy

I Forget Stuff

...rather quickly. So for me, it always looks new. For those who remember seeing a post before, pass it by. Keep 'em coming Rick.

Search, and Redirect...

Dear Rick,

Your contributions are greatly appreciated, and yes, I totally understand that it can feel like you are repeating yourself. Usually, I find the key is to:

- When reading thru a new "question" post,
trust your memory when it's nagging at you saying "I _know_ I've posted that info somewhere here before"

- a quick spin with the Search function usually unearths the "first time" you answered/posted the info
(thereby confirming that "nagging feeling" you had about "I've already answered that"... ).

- React to the "honest question", even if it's one that's been asked many times before, in the basic affirmative
(although if you could find the "Solution Post" you originally posted via the basic Search function,
it begs the question why the current-OP wasn't able to similarly find it themselves? The whole point of "message/forum archives" is to act as a centralised repository of collected knowledge, freely available to all who care to actually look for whatever-they're-looking-for...)

- and direct the OP to the original "answer post" you've re-un-earthed, so they can "get the answer needed" without you having to re-type the entire solution...

...Oh, and don't feel bad about sounding like a broken record, you're in good company...

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

Post on!

Rick,

Like others on the forum, I've thoroughly enjoyed your posts on the Richlawn Railroad. And I've learned quite a bit from them, too. I don't think there's anything wrong with re-posting your material, particularly on the forum. It continues  to provide inspiration to many of us and, who knows, it might show up at just the right time to motivate someone to dig into a project that's been on the back burner for some time. So I say post on, and thanks for everything you have contributed.

Tom Patterson

It's funny, Rick, .........

...........that you posted this as it just happened to me with the sanded grout issue in the Dirty Ballast Post.  I re-posted some of the pictures of my small yard to show what sanded grout looked like.  These were originally posted about 1 1/2 years ago in a thread about different approaches to ballast.  I see nothing wrong with re-posting if it will help explain a current question to someone who is new.  I also think the Prof makes a good point that our newer members could use the search function more to see if an issue has been covered before.  As Joe said, it's one of the reasons this is a very helpful forum for newcomers.  We don't just do "look what I did!" Posts!!!

Peter

Just Do It

Answer as needed.  There isn't too much that's more off-putting to a newcomer than to have forum veterans answer a question with "use the search function."  Using the search may not turn up what you wanted, and while you're off sifting through search results you're probably not thinking kind thoughts about the turkey that decided to give you the non-answer.  Provide a link to the old thread if you know where it is, and there's just too much to re-post, or give the same answer again if it's short.  I doubt you're boring the veterans in the process.

Keep on posting Rick

First, I'm relatively new to MRH so I greatly appreciate your posts and everyone else's, Rick. This is a fantastic forum and resource. I have had two questions answered quickly and with great detail and accuracy.

As far as repeating yourself, I'm the new guy so it certainly doesn't bother me and even if I'd read it before, the discussion that follows is going to be brand new.

And lastly, we should not assume that everyone is an expert at searching. I do a little SEO work so I've studied some about "searching." People go about it in myriad ways. One should never assume that because you posted about it, people will find it. I will give a very small and general example. 

Peter talked about his post on dirty ballast which is what led me to look at ballast vs ballasting. People might be researching this and use either term to start. If you search "ballasting," there are a total of six posts.

But if you search "ballast" it returns with 19 pages (almost 190 posts). 

That's a lot of information to wade through. Most people will realize they need to refine their search from this point if they doing more than just general research, but that can take time and everyone does it differently and a few may just give up and go elsewhere. Sooo, we shouldn't assume that "do a search" will be all that helpful sometimes.

Interesting note. I wondered if I could find Rick's post by doing a search for "Rick" under the Personal Journal category. It returned five pages. I did not do a detailed look at all the returns but it appears that the search function just captures some of the text before and after the search term. So, for example, it will return the last sentence in a post by Rick, his sig "Rick" (which, being the search term, is bolded), and then the first sentence of the following post. I did not notice any posts started by Rick; most especially this one, "Recycling material" was not listed.

Jim and Rob, those are good points........

.....As the forum and the thread count grows, so do the search query answers.  When I was looking for those pictures I posted so long ago I typed in grout and there were far fewer hits than you found.  I think Rob's right, just re-post and if it's a re-run for some of us, we skip to the next one.  I don't read every post, just those that interest me or pique my curiosity.

Peter

Other search methods for posts

You can also go to Google and type "MRH ballast" and you will get pages from our website, using a Google search.

You can also find the posts made by one person by clicking their name at the top of the post, then click the Track tab to get a list of threads they have posted to.

Thanks Joe!

"You can also find the posts made by one person by clicking their name at the top of the post, then click the Track tab to get a list of threads they have posted to."

I did not realize you could see all a person's posts that way. The old adage is proven true again - you learn something new every day. (There's another one about old dogs too. )

Thank you all for your input

Thank you all for your input and advise.  I know that finding information can be a challenge and for "newbees" we want the process to be as painless as possible.