LNWR Society Forum

We have just launched an official LNWR Society Facebook page to promote the Society to a much wider audience and hopefully to attract more people to join the Society too. Its open to members and non-members of the LNWR Society.

We have available on line a number of archive videos, digital copies of historical documents and books as well as photographic albums for your enjoyment and trust that you too will support our efforts. Contributions from some of the three hundred members who have signed up in less than four weeks are also providing lots of interesting LNWR related material.

As stated above, as part of our promotion of the LNWR and the Society we have created albums and we have an embryonic LNWR Signalling Album which we invite you to not just to look at (along with the other albums) but to add more photos and information too.

The link to the album is via: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 462&type=3

Why not join us too? You are most welcome.

I have a very large number of LNWR signal cabin photos, but I regret that I am unwilling to have anything to do with Facebook.

Philip could you say why.
With the photos that have been posted on the Society page what control has the Society on these being used elsewhere. I suspect none. It is a bit of a catch 22 situation as the Society needs to promote its self but I do wonder if to much is being put out there tho I have enjoyed some of the photo's.
Also with some of the questions about where a particular photo was taken I wonder if the Society Webb page on mystery photo's is being ignored.

Murray

Hello Murry,

With a collection of over 30,000 photos what has gone on so far has bately scratched into the surface plus Mike has been using the NRM ones and repros from the Journal to build it up, so I am not worried about over exposure as such.

The mystery photo is far from forgotten. Our webbmaster has been exceptionally busy at work and has also had some technical issues with his equipment, hence why one has not been posted since the 18th feb.

The whole idea of the facebook page was to promote the LNWR and the Society to a wider audience, which it is doing. We have gained a number of members from it and we do need to gain more from all the areas we can identify.

I very much appreciatte Philips view on Facebook and respect he, like my own Father wants nothing to do with it. Social media with its pits and downfalls also has benefits, and if by using it we can gain members then I think it must be done alongside the other recruiting areas such as the webb site, attending shows etc.

Philip, I will be in touch regards your photos.

David

Thank you for the reply David.

Murray

I agree with Murry, there is far too much on the facebook page and it is not a good platform for serious research. Much better to start a website properly designed and where one can find a particular picture.

Mike

I am 100% with you Mike that it is not a platform for serious reasearch, but it is not intended for that at all. Its intention is to raise our profile and attract new people to join us.

The serious reasearch can then follow on from people vising the Study Centre/Joining the society.

David

Like others, I have no wish to buy into the rather shabby Facebook business model - and did not miss the barb that this position is just some inflexibly in our fathers' generation. It is actually a decision many thoughtful, informed and wise people of all ages have made.

I do not have a great problem that some Society resources, and in reality this appears to be images from the photographic collection, are shared gratis with non-members on the internet through the Facebook Group. It may well be that this is a useful way to bring in members in future.

The paid up membership though should always come first (whether Facebook devotees or conscious objectors), not least because it is through their subscriptions, gifts and bequests that the photographic archive has been resourced. There must be a very reasonable concern that the value of membership is diminished if there is less available from the Society to members which cannot be also publicly accessed free of charge.

I guess most members these days (including the oldies like myself) would like to be able to get hold of an electronic file of a high resolution image, rather than a hard copy print, from original photographs in the Society's collection, and probably for a reasonable charge to assist the process. What I can't understand then is that (according to what I can find published on the Website) the only way for members to acquire copies of the images in the photographic collection (16,000 of which are said to have been scanned) is to obtain prints at the market cost via Zenphoto. I did email the Photographic Officer in February to ask if there was a way of getting hold of a electronic files of scanned photos instead but had no reply as yet. Am I missing something?

With a simple system for electronic access to the images in the Photographic Collection as a core benefit of membership, serious research can then follow on from people joining the Society and working at home, without the barrier of a hike to the Study Centre.

Melvyn

I do not wish my personal details to be made public and possibly (almost certainly?) harvested by hackers (criminals), nor do I wish to be bombarded with advertising messages.

Unfortunately this has been a problem heard many times over the last 25 years. I suggest you send a copy to the Chairman. One advantage of this forum is that the acting Chairman is of course the person who approved your post on here, so with luck he has already picked it up and you will by now have received a reply?

Mike