During the time I've been managing the site, I've tried to be as transparent as possible regarding its operational and financial stability. Like it or not, there are aspects that need to be managed like a business, mainly making sure costs are covered adequately by donations and memberships.
As mentioned on a few occasions, the price of the First Class Membership has remained at $29.95 since 2012, even though the costs of running the site have changed. Some (particularly storage) have gone down, but most have gone up. While I've been able to balance that out to some degree, I've had to dip into reserves again over the last couple months, and dipping into savings to have to meet the monthly bills isn't a good long term strategy for anyone.
On July 1, the First Class Membership will see a modest increase to $32.95, which will help ensure that the costs of servers, storage and bandwidth are properly covered for the foreseeable future.
Those who want to save the $3 increase can renew before July 15, and your membership will be extended for another year beyond the current expiration date...
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#8dnewmanjr commentedEditing a commentI don't see any issues with the price increase. -
#9landnrailroader commentedEditing a commentEric, I have no problem with the increase. My renewal comes due in December but I could renew now and pay the higher price, this site is so useful. And I thank you for the response to my "403" error blocking my IP. I got in this time but I hope that blocking of IP addresses can be rectified. I guess it is a necessary security item. It would be better for your mental health if these BOTs could be kicked out. -
#10solarnet commentedEditing a commentI have no problem with the increase. I understand the cosy have risen. Although, I have just recently renewed my subscription I would be willing to send the an aditional dontion to help out also.
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During the time I've been managing the site, I've tried to be as transparent as possible regarding its operational and financial stability. Like it or not, there are aspects that need to be managed like a business, mainly making sure costs are covered adequately by donations and memberships.
As mentioned on a few occasions, the price of the First Class Membership has remained at $29.95 since 2012, even though the costs of running the site have changed. Some (particularly storage) have... -
Sorry Folks, but it's getting out of control again. I've had to lock down "Guest" access.
If you're a legitimate user who doesn't want to create an account just to browse, you can try logging in with Ghostuser as the user and password.
Older members, queue up Thin Lizzy: https://youtu.be/X5SrvSeYe9k?t=22
Younger members... here's the modern AI generated version:
Guess... -
Yep, it's May. And I skipped the April monthly site update entirely.
To be more accurate, I wrote an update, and then the bot attacks hit (all remedied....), so I scrapped it. And then, well....... as I've found out a few times in life, God has a sense of humor.
As some might recall, my wife and I bought land in Tennessee last year, with the plan to move sometime in late 2026. In early April, our plans got moved up with very little notice, and we put our house up for sale.... -
I'm sure you've probably noticed some server instability over the last couple days.
There's no clear smoking gun, but what I did discover digging around is that we saw a huge jump in site access starting on Saturday. By Monday, there was 20 times as much activity...
I suspect the real issue was the access logs. When you have increased activity, logs grow accordingly.... As a log file size increases, the amount of time needed to insert each new transaction also increases,... -
Geez, time flies. I just realized what week it was.... I really hate forgetting things like an anniversary, and here I just did that.
As of March 12th, we've been a fully independent site for two years. I couldn't be happier with how the community has responded since "The Split", and how you've all continued to help make this site a fun place to stop by.
Thanks to the moderators and others who help keep the forums moving along, those who contribute to the library,... -
HyRail Simulations and Run8Studios are out with a new route expansion to their Jacksonville Region -- the CSX Savannah Sub.
The new route starts about 50 miles north of Savannah, and continues south another 40 miles, where it joins with the CSX Waycross Sub and ultimately to the A-Line Sub.
There are two major yards in Savannah, two smaller yards, and some 20 industries along the way. CSX also hosts eight Amtrak movements a day across this line, including the AutoTrain,...