THE SOUTHERN RAILWAY E-MAIL GROUP -
WHO WE ARE, WHAT WE DO AND WHAT TO EXPECT:
- The group is formed for discussion by e-mail over the
internet between Railway Enthusiasts, Historians and Modellers interested in
the Southern Railway of the United Kingdom (including those railway companies
that were merged together to form it and those that succeeded it).
- We are each at different stages of the hobby. Questions
and discussion from those less experienced in matters "Southern" are
welcomed as much as those from those more knowledgeable. We hope the more
experienced among us will give a little of their time to pass on some
experience to those new to railways or modelling. Whether your particular
interest is SR; LSWR; LB&SCR, SECR or perhaps S&DJR - or later users of
their rails - we'll be glad to read your remarks and send replies to your
questions whenever we can.
- To elaborate on the above, the Southern Railway E-mail Group is not
an elitist group of super scratch building modellers or historians. On the
modelling front our members range from scratchbuilders through kit builders and
kitbashers to those who only own ready to run items, and in scales ranging from
large live steam through to 2mm. We welcome newcomers and members who feel no
impulse to do or make anything. We ask simply that a member has an
'interest' in the Southern Railway, (plus its predecessors and
successors) and if someone new to the hobby wants help building something or
needs some information then there's usually someone in the group willing to
assist.
- The group operates its mailing list (SREmG) via the Groups IO server which receives e-mail
addressed to the group and then despatches it to all group members on its
membership list. You do not need to maintain your own address list, merely to
know the address of the group's mail server - which will be given to you if
you decide to join the group. If you are already registered with Groups IO note
that we are a "closed" group so you will be assisted with adding the
SREmG to your subscription list.
- Although by the nature of our subject the majority of members reside in the
UK we have a significant number of members from all over the world and our
mailings are truly a 24 hour operation.
- At first you will be receiving messages on topics already in progress, so
during the early days of receiving messages they may not make much sense. If you
ask a question of the group or start a topic there is no guarantee it will get a
response or take off. However experience has shown that an identical
question/topic posed later may get a completely different and productive
response. It all depends upon who is active on the list at the time and how much
time they have to provide a detailed response.
- At certain times correspondence can be at a high level so collecting your
e-mail after a few days break can lead to extended download times. Even with the
best will in the world not all messages at any given moment will be of interest
to any one individual! Established SREmG members handle this by speed reading
each message received and then deleting those not of interest, preferring to
spend more time over reading the messages of interest they have retained.
- Membership of the SREmG is free of charge though periodically voluntary
donations into a trust fund may be solicited to ensure the group has funds to
cover its very low but necessary operating costs. Donations into this trust fund
should be made on the understanding that they do not buy any privileges.
- The SREmG is a group of volunteers working in their - often scarce - part
time and not a business. All members aim to respond promptly but tolerance is
asked when personal and business concerns result in delay.
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Members who submit e-mail posts to SREmG assume full
legal responsibility for the contents of their submissions. Contributors to
SREmG are expected to own the copyright for all materials submitted, or to have
obtained permission from the owner of the copyright to use the materials. The
SREmG Committee assume no legal responsibility or copyright for other legal
infringements contained in postings to SREmG. |
I understand the above and want to Subscribe to SREmG |
Please send an e-mail, using the address where you wish to receive postings,
to:
SREmG+subscribe@groups.io |
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If you have problems with subscribing to the group please contact our
Mailing List Manager;
who will do his best to assist you.
OUR MEMBERSHIP ETIQUETTE:
The Southern Railway E-mail Group is for the majority of the time a
self-running and self-moderating group. This is because although we only have a
few rules we ask members to observe them to ensure that things do run
sweetly......
- Please remember the subject scope of SREmG (on topic), which is the Southern
Railway (and its predecessors and successors).
- Please be polite and avoid personal attacks. Attack the idea not the person.
Depending on the severity of the attack, the moderators will apply a double
yellow, yellow or red signal. If more than one member gets involved (often known
as a flame war), normally both or all will be given a yellow signal (moderation
for one month), to avoid making any judgement on who started the flame war (as
it usually takes 2 or more to start an argument). So if you are attacked, appeal
to the Listmaster(s), rather than attack back.
- Take care with negative remarks about books and models. Authors, editors and
model manufacturers (and their consultants) are members of SREmG. Try to be
constructive in your reviews of books and models. Don't hide behind quoted
speech unless you can provide a solid reference to a magazine or website. If you
do say something negative, make sure it is completely factual and you can backup
what you say if challenged in court. Unjustified negative remarks or negative
remarks based on hearsay may receive a penalty, usually a yellow signal
(moderation for one month).
- If you want to change the subject, please post a new topic (on the website),
or send a new e-mail to main@SREmG.groups.io. If you think this post is
logically related to the current subject and you really want to continue the
discussion, edit the subject line with "new subject (was old
subject)". You may be penalized for starting a new topic using an old
e-mail, just send a new e-mail to main@SREmG.groups.io with the new subject
line. At first the penalty will be a double yellow signal, but if you repeat the
offence within one month (and the moderator notices), it will get changed to a
yellow signal (moderation for one month).
- Trim your posts. Don't include text from previous posts unless really
necessary. Delete as much as possible of the older e-mails and just leave enough
to explain your reply (this is trimming). This is especially important when the
topic diverges and several different topics are being discussed under the same
subject line, or when attempting humour or irony as these remarks can seem too
cryptic to understand without a reference to the original remarks. On the
website, look for the Lasso or Bubble Icon ("Quote Post") at the beginning of
the Format Toolbar, which allows you to include the previous message and then
edit (trim) as much as possible.
- Modelling subjects are allowed, but they must be directly related to SR
prototypes. General modelling subjects (like Baseboards, Soldering, DCC) must be
avoided as we do have many non-modellers on the group that are not interested in
these subjects, and there are hundreds of groups and forums that cover these
subjects. You may be penalized for starting, or digressing into, a general
modelling subject. At first the penalty will be a double yellow signal, but if
you repeat the offence within one month (and the Listmaster(s) notices), it will
get changed to a yellow signal (moderation for one month).
- Here is a prefix you can use to classify certain subjects, which are not in
the main stream of SREmG. OT: for off topic subjects, There could be more added
later.
- Try to avoid OT subjects. Some small discussion may be allowed but the
Listmaster may close you down. Avoid posting on hot subjects in the media (e.g.
HS2 or accidents) which are not in the area defined by the Southern Railway. You
may be penalized for starting an OT subject. At first the penalty will be a
double yellow signal, but if you repeat the offence within one month (and the
Listmaster(s) notices), it will get changed to a yellow (moderation for one
month).
- Please sign e-mails with a first name and town of residence (if outside the
UK, it is customary to add the country as well). This is just to be able to
identify you in the group, like "live, Huddersfield" or "John,
Probstdorf, Austria".
- Rude messages and messages which start a discussion on nationality, race,
religion, gender or politics (not related to railways) will receive a yellow
signal or red signal. The normal penalty will be that all your postings will be
moderated for the next month (Yellow Signal). Repeated violations (i.e. more
than two Yellow Signals) will result in a Red Signal, which means you will be
banned from the list. Three strikes and you are out!
- In June 2014, the long standing system of penalties from Yellow Card
(moderation for one month) and Red Card (banning) was changed to a more gradual
system of Double Yellow Signal (Warning, be careful for the next month), Yellow
Signal (Moderation for one month) and Red Signal (Banning). Moderation may
introduce a delay of one or two days to your postings and some may be rejected
if they are rude or off-topic. The original system was based on soccer game
penalties, now we have a more relevant system based on colour light signals.
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CONTACTING THE SOUTHERN RAILWAY E-MAIL
GROUP AND ITS OFFICERS:
If you experience any difficulty with this website please contact the SREmG
If you are new to e-mail and/or have difficulty sending your messages to the
group please contact the group's Mailing List Manager
who will do his best to assist you.
The SREmG Founder and Honorary President is David Lawrence.
The SREmG Treasurer is
SREmG Officers without Portfolio are and .
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