Don't know about others I have not been able to access any threads from the Kalmbach web sites. Did their hamsters go on strike and stop powering the site? I am getting 504 Time out Errors.
It is still timing out on me beyond calling up the master index screen. When I try to call up a individual thread it ends up in a 504 Time Out. All threads listed on the master index screen are 24 hours old or older.
Just now tried it again. Site comes right up. Am able to surf various pages, with no difficulties. Problem might lay between your ISP and their server(s).
It's possible there was a DNS update that hasn't rolled out everywhere due to ISPs caching DNS results...
I visit numerous web sites and forums on a routine basis daily. Trains Forum is the only one I am having issues with over the past 3 days.
What I get to look at - As can be seen only one thread has had activity in the past two days and that access was from a poster that is domiciled in Israel - if that makes any difference.
With, observably, only ONE post from OUT of the COUNTRY, for TWO days or more - I am not the only one with the issue. All the regular, in country, people would also seem to be having issues.
It's not just you, I've been having the same problem. "Sorry, there was a problem with your last request!" I didn't appreciate how much useful info was on the Trains/MR/etc. forums until this week when my every train-related Google search turned up at least a few promising leads that all lead to that same error message.
I participate in a variety of forums in a number of different subject areas - I was a 'computer professional' for a decade of my 51+ year railroad career. I know things involved with computers can fail, that being said any organization that is involved with computer strives to make their systems and applications to be both foolproof and failproof. Kalmbach and the software that have implemented and operated over the 20+ years I have dealt with them has left a lot to be desired from both viewpoints - foolproof and failproof. Certain aspects 'work' when tickled just right, other aspects just plain don't work and have never worked, further aspects worked once upon a time but no longer work. Almost from 'day 1' the software or server has had habit of 'Timing Out' - taking too long to respond to a user request. None of the other forums I participate in have this much trouble - this includes some 'individually funded' niche sites. None have the continuing issues that Kalmbach's do.
Just did a Google search. Seeing enough comments to note this appears to be a well known and long running issue.
Well known, long running and unfixed. Kalmbach for whatever their reasons want to run software of their own design and making rather than use one of the many forum software packages that are widely available and basically rock solid in their operation. While they are using their own software, not all aspects of it actually work. A present, when it is working, you can't create a Personal Message - if you have an existing message stream with another poster then you can append a new message to that stream, but you cannot create a new message stream to a new (different) poster. There are too many quirks in the operation of the entire system to mention.
I have gotten into the Forum as far as the Forum Index page That pages indicates no one has posted for the past 3 days
Another location on the net that I frequently visit had a hardware catastrophe and notified its users
Well Kalmbach has managed to be unavailable for the entire Monday - Friday week. Without any info to users. Bad PR.
I was also having issues accessing the Model Railroader forum. I don't normally post over there, but I was trying to read the thread about wheel inspection dots and the page would not load. Not sure what the problem was, but the site works now.
