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Latest comment: 6 years ago by Eheaps in topic Proposed deletion of No. 9

Please see also[edit]

Zig Zag v Switchback[edit]

I would prefer term Zig Zag over Switchback, because:

With so few matches you can draw no conclusions. That's true generally. For one thing they become too dependent on the idiosyncrasies of a few individual persons. For another, you always have to look what the matches are about. If you look at these Festipedia matches (I got five), two of them concern stretches of railway and of these one (1) seems to have been built. (And that stretch, for that matter, was in this British encyclopedia called "switchback" until you added the word "zig zag".)
All the other matches concern stretches of road, which is another matter entirely, because the expression is used in another setting and in quite another way. (You don't design a road so that a horse or motor car needs to be driven onto a stub section, then reversed all the way onto another, before it can proceed normally again. On the other hand, there's a lot of railway hairpin curves in existence and has been even more, where the train just proceeds through a curve with no points in sight just like a road vehicle on a "zig-zag" road.) And once within quotation marks, for that matter.
So, being both about roads and another thing technically, just one of those reasons suffices for not including those hairpin curves into any category in this railway encyclopedia. Except if you make some supercategory aimed at road users or aficionados as an extra. --IP (talk) 14:26, 16 August 2015 (UTC)Reply[reply]
To summarise the differences using your letter method: a hairpin curve or road zig-zag is a U: the route bends back on itself. Makes a U-turn. Vehicles need not reverse. A switchback or railway zig-zag is a Y, where the upper arms are the line, the lower the stub track, and the junction the set of points joining each portion of the line with the stub track but not with each other. Forcing the train to reverse. There's the technical difference. IP (talk) 18:52, 16 August 2015 (UTC) Reply[reply]
One thing more: in this ambiguity as to what "zig-zag" means, this scope for misunderstanding between road and railway usage (and careless everyday usage for that matter), you can see a reason to be careful with the term. Terms like "switchback" and "hairpin curve" are much less ambiguous. --IP (talk) 14:53, 16 August 2015 (UTC)Reply[reply]

"Cheap railways"[edit]

Yes, an article about the influence of the Ffestiniog could certainly fill a gap here. At least if it isn't too Antipodean-heavy ;-) (or too light on research from other parts of the world). I don't want to curb your enthusiasm for this encyclopedia, but I get a little afraid that you'll put in too much Australian material with too tenuous connections to our main subject.

Of course it's up to everyone of us active and now passive users to contribute with what he or she knows best; but balance is still something to think about as starter of an article, because the first impression can do more than the title to determine what later contributors feel okay with putting in. --IP (talk) 17:13, 16 August 2015 (UTC)Reply[reply]

My sources are mainly from the National Library of Australia newspaper archives, which do quote from English newspapers. There are mention of the Fairlie locomotive, (originating on the Festiniog) which are not course confined to narrow gauge. There are some mentions of Fairlies in say Russia. A very high proportion of citations about cheap (usually narrow gauge) railways consider the Festiniog, with some mentions of Carl Pihl in Norway coming second.
The article about Cheap Railways can beneficially use the FR (with its interesting complexities) as its case study, and using matters raised in the NLA, detail:
Sounds like a good start. Just remember, the FR is and should remain more than just a case study here. It's the focus and determines the outlook. --IP (talk) 16:21, 17 August 2015 (UTC)Reply[reply]

Template links - square or curley[edit]

I linked "Template:Moelwyn Tunnels Old & New‎‎" with square brackets rather than curly braces, because:

  • the text was/still_is somewhat incomplete in the sandbox stage
  • I can click on the square brackets link and go and edit it
  • I do not seem to be able to edit it if accessed by curley braces.

You changed square to curly. I propose to have both square and curly, as this achieves best of both worlds. FarleyBrook (talk) 03:27, 17 August 2015 (UTC)Reply[reply]

See: Template:Moelwyn Tunnels Old & New‎‎

If you don't think the template is presentable, I suggest you refrain from using it until it is. The purpose of templates is to embed them in other pages. If not embedded, you could as well write an article. --IP (talk) 16:14, 17 August 2015 (UTC)Reply[reply]

Questions needing answers[edit]

One of the reasons for cataloguing/tagging as having "Questions needing answer" is to make it easier for other wiki editors to notice that such questions exist.

Should such tag exist for an article, is appears neatly on the bottom of that article.

The actual matter within the article can be marked with a comment <!-- QNA Blah Blah --> , but such comments cannot be search for, particularly as you might not know the "search string" in this case "QNA".

  • But strings such as "QNA" cannot be searched for within comments.
  • But strings such as "QNA" cannot be searched for with "talk pages"
  • By accident rather than design, "QNA" is not an English/Welsh word, and is a good abbreviation for "Questions needing answers".


Of course if is possible that a new user may not know what a Category is, and may not explore it by clicking on it. QNA currently has no "false" matches and no deliberate matches.

Watchlist[edit]

It has been suggested that QNAs might be implemented using Watchlists.

This unfortunately is less effective for the following reasons:

  • users do not seem to be able to view other user's watchlists
  • users might not know whose watchlists should be examined
  • watchlists are not listed in alphabetic order, or in order of priority
    • a catalog can be arranged so that important changes are listed at the top
  • watchlists are fairly indiscriminate and contain lots of entries for trivial changes.

Category[edit]

To make the QNA category a little more obvious, without "yelling", an administrator might be asked to modified the Home page to suit.

QNA and SIC[edit]

  • Spelling errors found in the original text which should NOT be corrected are often marked [sic], even though "sic" is not found in the original text.
  • Unknown details that need clarification might be marked [QNA] __________, etc. with some underscores to provide space for hand written corrections, neither of which are found in the original text.
  • Try searching for QNA and SIC
  • QNA does not seem to have false matches.
  • SIC may have false matches such as SICK. FarleyBrook (talk) 01:47, 18 August 2015 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  • Note: wiki does not seem to search for the square brackets "[" and "]", only alphanumeric characters.

" Note: search function of Festipedia and Wikipedia may be a bit different. [QNA] Need to check _________.

  • For consistency, use [SIC] and [QNA]
  • Rather than ________ (sic), [sic] and QNA:
  • "Category:QNC" points to the _____________article
  • _________"QNC" points to the line in that article, which is useful if the article is long and/or needs multiple clarifications.
  • FarleyBrook (talk) 01:56, 18 August 2015 (UTC)Reply[reply]

Wiki v Festi[edit]

On wikipedia

  • QNA has 87 false matches - "Questions ___ Needing Answers" ; 87 is reasonably small.
  • _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ "Questions 'n' Answers"
  • QNNA has 0 false marches - "Questions Now Needing Answers" ; 00 is best ; "NN" as easy to type as "N".
  • _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - "Quibbles Now Needing Alteration".
  • For compatibility's sake, it would be better to adopt QNNA rather than QNA.

Proposed deletion of No. 9[edit]

Hello, IP. I wanted to let you know that I’m proposing an article that you started, No. 9, for deletion because I don't think it meets our criteria for inclusion. If you don't want the article deleted:

  1. edit the page
  2. remove the text that looks like this: {{proposed deletion/dated...}}
  3. save the page

Also, be sure to explain why you think the article should be kept in your edit summary or on the article's talk page. If you don't do so, it may be deleted later anyway.

You can leave a note on my talk page if you have questions.

Eheaps (talk) 17:18, 18 July 2017 (UTC)Reply[reply]