User talk:Slambo/Archives/2008/November

Risk of articles being deleted as not notable
Sean, as you know I have been gaily adding articles on German railways as part of the project. However I am just a tad concerned that I could log on one day and find most of them deleted as not notable enough. After all is a small branch line in Saxony notable? Is a small Bavarian halt notable? To a fan of German railways, the answer would be yes and Wikipedia may be the only place he could get this information (one such fan flatteringly said I had made one of the greatest contributions ever to the subject of German railways in English, so he clearly welcomed their presence here!). So do I carry on, or is it going to be a waste of time? Bermicourt (talk) 19:58, 25 November 2008 (UTC)
 * There's a very strong presumption that railway stations and lines are automatically notable, with which (on occasions they come up at AFD) I tend to flame anyone who suggests deletion back to the stone age. Even if we don't currently have the sources cited in the article, it's always reasonable to assume that any railway station or line has been the subject of significant coverage in reliable sources (e.g., the article "New Station Opens" in the local newspapers). So far, I'm not aware of a single railway station or line article ever being deleted, although I will sometimes merge very stubby articles on disused very insignificant stations into a single article on the line or town (see Railway stations in Cromer or Hammersmith & Chiswick railway station for example). – iride  scent  20:31, 25 November 2008 (UTC) 

(Aside: that's the second time someone thought my name was Steve. It's Sean.) Many editors believe that railway infrastructure is inherently notable because articles about them describe discrete locations that can be visited with manmade objects that can be touched, and those objects took considerable planning and resources to install. The more accepted reasoning is like Iridescent described above where it is likely that we would be able to find reliable sources for every station and line with a thorough search of local newspaper archives. The notability guideline makes a distinction between popular (or important) and notable; a subject is notable if it has received coverage in independent reliable sources. So the best way to avoid notability questions is to add citations to the sources as you add information.

As to whether adding material on the more esoteric subjects of German railways is relevant, my own view is that it is vital to help avoid a systemic bias where English-speaking regions are covered more thoroughly than others.


 * Sean, Many apologies - I've corrected my error! Thanks to you and Iridescent for your advice, clarification and encouragement. I will continue to add to the body of knowledge and to supply references where possible. One issue is that German Wikipedia seems to quote one or more sources covering the subject at the end of the article rather than using in-line citations or references. So to provide them is quite a lot of work. Nevertheless, I will do what I can. VMT. Bermicourt (talk) 20:12, 28 November 2008 (UTC)