Railway Travel Wiki

[Railfan2156]

http://railway-travel.wikia.com/wiki/Railway_Travel_Wiki
Example Article:
http://railway-travel.wikia.com/wiki/Exeter_St_Thomas

What do you guys think? I wanted to create a wiki that, as I stated on its project page, "hope to document all aspects of rail travel from a commuting view, with useful information on platform arragements, safety procedures and train usablility", and as I say on the main page, "Unlike our friends at Wikipedia or Locomotive Wiki, our site is aimed at the average commuter, and we keep useful information about getting the right seat, finding a spot where you can open the window and knowing all of your safety procedures - and more."

Would anyone like to become an editor? If not, I'd still love to hear you opinions!

118 Views, and 0 replies? Please, if you have 5 minutes it would be great to get a bit of input!

--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I've made another one, about Dawlish Warren:
http://railway-travel.wikia.com/wiki/Dawlish_Warren

 

[bb21]

What I would generally say to people wishing to start such projects is to start small. Focus on one aspect/area first and try and make sure that the end-product is something you can manage/are happy with before expanding into other aspects/areas. What is your primary objective? To provide useful information for commuters/leisure travellers/enthusiasts? Think about your audience and only proceed when you are clear about what it is you want to achieve, even if you can only start by offering commuters advice on, for example, the place to wait on the platform at each station for the best chance of a seat. Find your niche. "... the most comprehensive source of railway information available on the internet ..." is not a sensible thing to aim for from scratch. It is too broad, and unless you have a massive team, it is unlikely to be realistic.

Once you have completed a small project which you are happy with, you can then expand, and will have gathered useful information on what you have done well and what to avoid for the future.

 

[plymothian]

SABRE - our roads counterparts have their own wiki devoted to the highways, so why not a RailUK version?

 

[talldave]

Things to fix:
It's too "busy" - pointless background images behind the page wasting bandwidth for no reason. Keep screen clutter to an absolute minimum as the plethora of ads are already an evil necessity.
Spelling - "exert", "platfrom" ??? But pleased to see no apostrophe abuse yet!
Accuracy - "in the picture on the left..." when it's on the right!
Consistency - "Platform One" or "Platform 1"?
Verbiage - "electric ticket machines"???

Useful things to add:
What carriage to be in for quick interchanges/exit. I have this on a London Underground app and it's invaluable.
Hints/tips for other local transport interchanges - where are buses/taxis, what tickets to buy, etc.
Best coffee shop on station or nearby.

 

[GrimsbyPacer]

I'm having trouble adding stuff.
It just says "something went wrong" when I preview and loses it all.
Good idea for a site though. Wikipedia is filled with lies on many train pages.

Also I can't create a user as a 'sign in' pop-up blocks the form.
I'd be happy to edit stations I've been to.

 

[CharlieSpotted]

What I would generally say to people wishing to start such projects is to start small. Focus on one aspect/area first and try and make sure that the end-product is something you can manage/are happy with before expanding into other aspects/areas.

Having created a Wiki before (using MediaWiki rather than Wikia) I think the above point is critical. Start off focused - instead of trying to cover every single aspect of the railway, start on (for example) stations. When you think you've got stations pretty well covered, then move on to the next thing that interests you (and might interest others).

It helps hugely if you have access to a large, like-minded community on another site who might want to help you to add information. In fact I'd say it's critical.

My wiki (which is now in someone else's hands) has now been running for nearly a decade and has thousands of good quality pages. I contributed very few of those, really, so building your community of like-minded individuals is crucial.

 

[Railfan2156]

Things to fix:
It's too "busy" - pointless background images behind the page wasting bandwidth for no reason. Keep screen clutter to an absolute minimum as the plethora of ads are already an evil necessity.
Spelling - "exert", "platfrom" ??? But pleased to see no apostrophe abuse yet!
Accuracy - "in the picture on the left..." when it's on the right!
Consistency - "Platform One" or "Platform 1"?
Verbiage - "electric ticket machines"???

Useful things to add:
What carriage to be in for quick interchanges/exit. I have this on a London Underground app and it's invaluable.
Hints/tips for other local transport interchanges - where are buses/taxis, what tickets to buy, etc.
Best coffee shop on station or nearby.

Thanks! I will try to change/add all of this stuff
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I'm having trouble adding stuff.
It just says "something went wrong" when I preview and loses it all.
Good idea for a site though. Wikipedia is filled with lies on many train pages.

Also I can't create a user as a 'sign in' pop-up blocks the form.
I'd be happy to edit stations I've been to.

Try asking Wikia Staff, i can't help :/
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Having created a Wiki before (using MediaWiki rather than Wikia) I think the above point is critical. Start off focused - instead of trying to cover every single aspect of the railway, start on (for example) stations. When you think you've got stations pretty well covered, then move on to the next thing that interests you (and might interest others).

It helps hugely if you have access to a large, like-minded community on another site who might want to help you to add information. In fact I'd say it's critical.

My wiki (which is now in someone else's hands) has now been running for nearly a decade and has thousands of good quality pages. I contributed very few of those, really, so building your community of like-minded individuals is crucial.

Hence why I'm on forums!

As for the other suggestions, much as I sort of agree I'd rather not pin down potential editors too much.

 

[alex17595]

I think you need a standard format for different types of articles (about stations ect) and I'm a big fan of using information boxes like they do on the main Wikipedia.

Also I think the background is horrible, especially in a higher resoultion.

 

[Railfan2156]

I think you need a standard format for different types of articles (about stations ect) and I'm a big fan of using information boxes like they do on the main Wikipedia.

Also I think the background is horrible, especially in a higher resoultion.

I've removed the background

Also, I agree, and I'm typing up an MoS as we speak.

 

[GrimsbyPacer]

Grimsby Docks is a railway station in Grimsby's Eastmarsh ward. It is located near Freeman Street, which is a major shopping area with an indoor market and various shopping facilities, the station is also located near to Railway Street Industrial estate, the Blue Cross pet hospital, the impressive Dock Office, six residential blocks (to be demolished), and the Kasbah area of Grimsby's extensive docklands.

Facilities:
The station has just one platform, a brick shelter, a carpark, frequent bus services on Freeman Street, lighting, bins, etc.

Services:
The station is served by Northern Rail's Humberlinc service every 2 hours from Cleethorpes; New Clee (on request only); Grimsby Docks; Grimsby Town (for wider connections); Great Coates; Healing; Stallingborough; Habrough; Ulceby; Thornton Abbey; Goxhill; New Holland; Barrow Haven; Barton on Humber (for the Humber Bridge), in both directions.
Services also run every 3 hours on Summer Sundays, and a direct one-way service from Doncaster and Scunthorpe runs early in the morning.


Is this okay for an article?

 

[Railfan2156]

Grimsby Docks is a railway station in Grimsby's Eastmarsh ward. It is located near Freeman Street, which is a major shopping area with an indoor market and various shopping facilities, the station is also located near to Railway Street Industrial estate, the Blue Cross pet hospital, the impressive Dock Office, six residential blocks (to be demolished), and the Kasbah area of Grimsby's extensive docklands.

Facilities:
The station has just one platform, a brick shelter, a carpark, frequent bus services on Freeman Street, lighting, bins, etc.

Services:
The station is served by Northern Rail's Humberlinc service every 2 hours from Cleethorpes; New Clee (on request only); Grimsby Docks; Grimsby Town (for wider connections); Great Coates; Healing; Stallingborough; Habrough; Ulceby; Thornton Abbey; Goxhill; New Holland; Barrow Haven; Barton on Humber (for the Humber Bridge), in both directions.
Services also run every 3 hours on Summer Sundays, and a direct one-way service from Doncaster and Scunthorpe runs early in the morning.


Is this okay for an article?

Yes, but I wouldn't mention what's nearby in the "facilities" paer