So what will become of this forum? [asked and answered]

[BlueFlag]

I am a long-time lurker (pre-PAS) who, like many others, has found the PAR forum among the most interesting and knowledgeable of them all. So if and when the CSX sale is completed, does that necessarily fold this uniquely New England forum into the general CSX mix?

Then again, if I read the numbers correctly, this Class II railroad forum already contains more than two and a half times the posts for all of CSX, and even there, it seems a disproportionate number of posts are New England-centric when one considers the entire CSX system.

Still, if this forum goes the way of PAR, while it might not be the most be the most eventful of the sale’s impacts, I, for one, will miss its quality and uniqueness.

[Shortline614]

I certainly agree with you there. As a non-New Englander, my interest in railroading in that part of the country has greatly increased over the past year, in large part to the Pan Am and CMQ forums. I'm in the early stages of planning a trip up there to see Pan Am in action before it's gone.

I guess we could transfer it to the "fallen flag" section and put all the still active threads into the CSX forum. Maybe combine it with the Boston & Maine and Maine Central forum. The CMQ forum still exists even though the CMQ disappeared 6 months ago already. Might as well transfer that into the "fallen flag" section as well. Of course, this isn't my decision. It's the decision of the people who run the site.

Regardless of what happens with Pan Am, I'm sure we will be here to talk about it!

[neman2]

You bring up a good point here, for all the faults everyone finds with Pan Am will a change to "boring predictable CSX with blue and yellow wide cabs, PSR, etc,etc. " be more desirable than quirky Pan Am?

[newpylong]

I hope the discussions can live on, even if only within the aegis of CSX. I am sure the moderators can get creative to make sure things don't die out.

I have joined, and then left multiple Facebook groups because the content is simply just not what the types of discussions that we have here.

[GuilfordRailSD45]

I agree with newpylong 100%. I can't tell you guys the number of times I've started a sentence with "per the guys on railroad . net" when talking about Pan Am doings with fellow railfans... on the other hand, I've rarely started a sentence with "per chatter on the Facebook group" (although there sure are lots of good folks on there too).

I'm not sure how I ever stumbled across this forum years ago, but I'm very glad that I did!

[coopercat1]

Perhaps it can become a sub-forum under CSX. As a lifelong New Englander who moved south of the Mason-Dixon line for a job offer for my wife that was simply too good to pass up (we still own land in the Upper Valley of NH), its nice reading about the goings on with Pan AM.

[MEC407]

Thanks for the questions, folks.

My plan (after consulting with site owner/admin Jeff Smith) is to move the Pan Am forum to the Fallen Flags section after the acquisition has been completed and the PAR system has been fully integrated into CSX.

Likewise, I plan to do the same thing with the CMQ forum. I would've/should've done that sooner, but I've had some family emergencies to deal with this year, which I'm sure you all can understand without my having to go into any detail.

Rest assured that none of the topics/posts in the PAR forum or the CMQ forum will be deleted! They will simply appear under the Fallen Flags heading.

[Jeff Smith]

Thanks MEC.

I'm still ruminating upon how to handle. When P&W was purchased, it remained a separate line.

Much depends on the legal nature of the takeover. Will P&W remain a distinct entity under a parent CSX? How will it effectively operate? STAY TUNED! But as MEC notes, this forum will NOT go away.

[Jeff Smith]

I hope the discussions can live on, even if only within the aegis of CSX. I am sure the moderators can get creative to make sure things don't die out.

I have joined, and then left multiple Facebook groups because the content is simply just not what the types of discussions that we have here.

I appreciate the vote of confidence. I'm wrestling with how to handle this, but hope, with MEC's help as well as fellow admins/owners/mods, to find a "creative" solution.