I occasionally post on and read the 2 rail section of OGR. I went to sign in and was having a problem. Tried again and got a message that “only digital members” may post!!!!! When did this happen? Good bye OGR! I’ll be damned if I want to pay to share my thoughts and information.
Peter
OGR
Re: OGR
Thats been going on for many years now. Sometimes it takes a while to get booted off. Pay to play.
I find it ironic is they are asking folks to subscribe to their youtube channel so they can get a kickback after throwing them out.
Most of the talent has left that place, many voluntarily.
Pete
I find it ironic is they are asking folks to subscribe to their youtube channel so they can get a kickback after throwing them out.
Most of the talent has left that place, many voluntarily.
Pete
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Rufus T. Firefly
- Posts: 41965
- Joined: Wed May 16, 2007 7:52 am
- Location: To be Determined
Re: OGR
Norton wrote:Pay to play.
I find it ironic ........
It's all about monetization of their platform. It was never about model RR'ing.......
There are 3 kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few that learn by observation. The rest of them that have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.
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bob turner
- Posts: 13478
- Joined: Sat Jan 13, 2007 7:57 pm
Re: OGR
They unceremoniously dumped me for asserting copyright on my photos. I'll look, but I won't register until Alan is gone.
Their content is mostly toy trains - very little 2-rail scale goes on there - and they have forum police! Turn your neighbors in for the slightest offense.
Their content is mostly toy trains - very little 2-rail scale goes on there - and they have forum police! Turn your neighbors in for the slightest offense.
Re: OGR
As Norton said, this has been the modus operandi over there for years, myself included. You gotta buy a subscription to a 3R-train-focused magazine to get in. Scott Mann was going to try to get me back as a rep for him over there, but I basically refused. I won't put up with their practices for the privilege to post there, especially since the expectation was for me to help him discuss his products. I get its their playground, and I choose to play elsewhere. I don't agree with their behavior, and prefer to own and control my content. I've been better off since. (as have many others)
You can probably google "banned from OGR" or similar and find complaints scattered across half a dozen other forums and reddit. I've seen it mentioned on some discords too where 'younger' folks hang out instead. They also critique OGR and its leader just like everywhere else. It's refreshing to see.
I think a common theme across all of the postings is that OGR's place at the top of the totem is over and its been a sinking ship. In trying to further monetize it (rather than find alternate technologies, etc to lower costs), they have alienated almost everyone who made it the place to be. Heavy-handed and unequal moderation. Quick to close or delete posts, especially if they are reviews of bad products or service in the hobby (unless ofc the vendor refused to advertise in OGR, lol) IMHO, Norton is again right and most of the talent has left that place. I'd go further and say that it's maybe only attractive to newbies who don't know better and anyone needing technical advice to fix their 3R trains. (but only 3 or 4 guys actually know what they're talking about; IMHO if you need GRJ, just hit him up for free on another forum that he moderates.) I still recognize a handful of OG's that post there that probably will sink with the ship.
I also don't understand why vendors still pay the [exorbitant IMHO; based on invoices shared online] costs to advertise with them unless they're just lazy and don't want to determine OGR's ROI to them. (or maybe OGR is enough in some cases) If I saw less and less participation over time, I'd start looking elsewhere. IMHO they should take a weekend and and identity where everyone hangs out online now and advertise there. (I see some shops advertise their custom runs in some select Facebook groups. I bet that's for free too.) At this point, Jay is all over social media that he probably doesn't need OGR anymore to discuss and advertise his projects.
Back to talent and inspiration, posts like that are rare there now, especially for 2R. I'm not discouraging participation here, but if you wanna go where the action is, groupthink has currently solidified Facebook as that venue.(specifically https://www.facebook.com/groups/2railoscale) O Scale Resource magazine (https://oscaleresource.com/WP/) has some innovative content too from time to time. I appreciate Dan and Amy for sacrificing their time to give us this. I bet it too is more a labor of love than a steady income.
(The discords I'm on are 3R, but people are sharing a lot of interesting things there, but by nature are decentralized, so it adds to the splintered culture that online O scale has become.) So much GOOD content is being shared elsewhere online. OGR is no longer the place to go for new, intriguing content outside a narrow set of 3R topics and 3R technology help.
If you just want a general vibe of the hobby and the scale (including 3R), you gotta jump all over the place and lurk. I don't love the splintering, but do understand the logic for it. Each place attracts different sets of people. It's hard to keep up. I usually let things build up for a month or two at a time and binge content. Kinda wish I could win the lottery and just build a place to reunite the scale; not that OGR was ever the one-stop-shop, but it was pretty close for awhile. Until then, Facebook is still 'free', easy to read/share content, and quickly see the pulse of the scale for those who are technologically savvy and have time to share. The latter of which I need to find more time. Maybe I can throw all of my photos at AI and have it write content for my blog. I still think blogs are better reference materials than videos for sharing non-weathering content. I don't have to replay a video multiple times to find what I need. Weathering is an art and it's easier to watch the process vs a before/after. You don't need a video of me screwing in screws, drilling holes, cutting styrene, unless there is a special technique.
edit - I used their instead of they're and caught it in a re-read.
You can probably google "banned from OGR" or similar and find complaints scattered across half a dozen other forums and reddit. I've seen it mentioned on some discords too where 'younger' folks hang out instead. They also critique OGR and its leader just like everywhere else. It's refreshing to see.
I think a common theme across all of the postings is that OGR's place at the top of the totem is over and its been a sinking ship. In trying to further monetize it (rather than find alternate technologies, etc to lower costs), they have alienated almost everyone who made it the place to be. Heavy-handed and unequal moderation. Quick to close or delete posts, especially if they are reviews of bad products or service in the hobby (unless ofc the vendor refused to advertise in OGR, lol) IMHO, Norton is again right and most of the talent has left that place. I'd go further and say that it's maybe only attractive to newbies who don't know better and anyone needing technical advice to fix their 3R trains. (but only 3 or 4 guys actually know what they're talking about; IMHO if you need GRJ, just hit him up for free on another forum that he moderates.) I still recognize a handful of OG's that post there that probably will sink with the ship.
I also don't understand why vendors still pay the [exorbitant IMHO; based on invoices shared online] costs to advertise with them unless they're just lazy and don't want to determine OGR's ROI to them. (or maybe OGR is enough in some cases) If I saw less and less participation over time, I'd start looking elsewhere. IMHO they should take a weekend and and identity where everyone hangs out online now and advertise there. (I see some shops advertise their custom runs in some select Facebook groups. I bet that's for free too.) At this point, Jay is all over social media that he probably doesn't need OGR anymore to discuss and advertise his projects.
Back to talent and inspiration, posts like that are rare there now, especially for 2R. I'm not discouraging participation here, but if you wanna go where the action is, groupthink has currently solidified Facebook as that venue.(specifically https://www.facebook.com/groups/2railoscale) O Scale Resource magazine (https://oscaleresource.com/WP/) has some innovative content too from time to time. I appreciate Dan and Amy for sacrificing their time to give us this. I bet it too is more a labor of love than a steady income.
(The discords I'm on are 3R, but people are sharing a lot of interesting things there, but by nature are decentralized, so it adds to the splintered culture that online O scale has become.) So much GOOD content is being shared elsewhere online. OGR is no longer the place to go for new, intriguing content outside a narrow set of 3R topics and 3R technology help.
If you just want a general vibe of the hobby and the scale (including 3R), you gotta jump all over the place and lurk. I don't love the splintering, but do understand the logic for it. Each place attracts different sets of people. It's hard to keep up. I usually let things build up for a month or two at a time and binge content. Kinda wish I could win the lottery and just build a place to reunite the scale; not that OGR was ever the one-stop-shop, but it was pretty close for awhile. Until then, Facebook is still 'free', easy to read/share content, and quickly see the pulse of the scale for those who are technologically savvy and have time to share. The latter of which I need to find more time. Maybe I can throw all of my photos at AI and have it write content for my blog. I still think blogs are better reference materials than videos for sharing non-weathering content. I don't have to replay a video multiple times to find what I need. Weathering is an art and it's easier to watch the process vs a before/after. You don't need a video of me screwing in screws, drilling holes, cutting styrene, unless there is a special technique.
edit - I used their instead of they're and caught it in a re-read.
Last edited by DaveJfr0 on Sun May 17, 2026 6:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Focus: 2R O-Scale, SOU/SCL 1967-1972
Blog: http://davejfr0.blogspot.com/
Blog: http://davejfr0.blogspot.com/
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Rufus T. Firefly
- Posts: 41965
- Joined: Wed May 16, 2007 7:52 am
- Location: To be Determined
Re: OGR
DaveJfr0 wrote:...............O Scale Resource magazine (https://oscaleresource.com/WP/) has some innovative content too from time to time. I appreciate Dan and Amy for sacrificing their time to give us this. I bet it too is more a labor of love than a steady income.
Agree. And also why I give my articles to Dan.
There are 3 kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few that learn by observation. The rest of them that have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.
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herronpeter
- Posts: 747
- Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2014 9:13 pm
- Location: Clifton Park, NY
Re: OGR
I had mixed results there. Most posts were ignored. I did post a tutorial about how to match LEDs with resistors that received over 40 replies thanking me for "de-mystifying" this subject. Not one negative comment. I was very surprised at that result. I decided to see if there was any interest in the same type of tutorial post about making corrugated roofing material and lampshades for large interior spaces. When I went back to see if anyone responded I found out about the "pay to play" policy. Love that term!
Peter
Peter
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Rufus T. Firefly
- Posts: 41965
- Joined: Wed May 16, 2007 7:52 am
- Location: To be Determined
Re: OGR
herronpeter wrote:............tutorial post about making corrugated roofing material........
Bring that here, please. I'd be interested.
There are 3 kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few that learn by observation. The rest of them that have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.
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