User talk:Vaoverland/archive2

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Welcome to my Archived Talk Page. Please use the box above, or manually enter new messages at the end of my current Talk page, whcih is located at User Talk:Vaoverland. I try to check for messages frequently. 06:33, Apr 3, 2005 (UTC)

Redirects and proofreading
I just read your comments over on Template talk:US class 1. I've seen some of your writings already as I update WikiProject_Trains/Todo and I must say that your contributions are certainly more thorough than I've seen others make. As I see a new railroad article, I'll usually make a quick pass over it to ensure that spelling and punctuation are as correct as I know to make them. Also on my first pass, I'll do a couple of quick searches to fix any "red links" on the page, adding redirects or correcting links where appropriate. If you write a railroad article that you know you want proofreading help with, edit WikiProject_Trains/Todo and add it to the "Articles to improve" section so it looks something like "Norfolk Southern (proofreading)". You can also add on the article's talk page and then edit the page's todo list to include a note about proofreading (see Talk:4-6-0 for an example of an article todo list), but adding it to the project's Todo page is more likely to be seen by other users.

As I find other locations that would make good places for redirects, I'll usually add them (like this morning I created the redirect for CNW to point to Chicago and Northwestern; there are quite a few others that I'm adding into the Lists of TLAs as well. Regarding historical names for a railroad, if there should be or if there is an article with the historical name, then it should be a link.  If the historical name was merely a different name for the same subject, then it should generally not be a link within the article (as it would be a circular link), but a redirect using the historical name may be appropriate.  My guideline so far has been to create a redirect for a historical name or a railroad nickname if I think the alternate name is well known enough that someone might use it as a search string.  Whether it's a historical name, a nickname, a reporting mark or whatever, I'll typically linkify only the first instance of the string in an article.

HTH. slambo 13:47, Oct 27, 2004 (UTC)

Auto carrier Auto-rack Auto Train and Auto-Train Corporation
I created Autorack about a week before you created Auto carrier. The two articles should be merged, as they both have good information in them (mine is more historical on the development and yours is more focused on current usage in passenger service). May I suggest that we combine our efforts into Autorack as that article was created first (yes, there is a little bit of bias :) ), and also because my friends who work for railroads call them autoracks and not auto carriers?  Thoughts?  slambo 16:50, Nov 15, 2004 (UTC)

Sean, that's an excellent suggestion. I will work on it right now, but feel free to edit away. I will merge the stuff from my article into your as I have all the photos and a few others available and the copyright criteria from TrainWeb, which we will meet with the new and improved autorack listing. I also know where to go and change the working for internal links in several other railroad articles I have been working on. Please take a look at Seaboard Coast Line. Someone added in a section that doesn't seem to fit. I am hesitant to alter someone else's work. All in all, I think we are making a lot of progress in railroad articles. Please also look at Auto Train in particular, as I think it may warrant a nomination to be a Featured Article. I think it would have broad appeal, especially to families and younger Wikipedia users. It's mostly my work, so someone else should do fac nomination if warranted (hint, hint). Mark. Vaoverland 02:30, 16 Nov 2004 (UTC)

UPDATE: autorack articles has been consolidated from auto carrier under this heading, and internal links in a number of related articles have been updated. I saw a photo of a what looks like at tri-level railcar full of cars with a 1964 date in the NRHS article. Do we have a bad date for development of tri-levels saying its was in the 1970s? Vaoverland 04:06, 16 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Yes, that's exactly what I was hoping we could do. I like the result. I'm searching through my photos to see if I've got a good side shot of one of these cars, and I also want to add in some text about Trailer Train's involvement and the fact that Trailer Train owned the cars while individual railroads owned the racks. I haven't read Auto Train yet, but it's been on my list as one to look at soon. I'll check out SCL later this week too. As to the date for trilevel cars, now that I think about it, I've seen some other photos of them in the 60s as well (one notable example in my collection has a trilevel car carrying new Sunbeam Tigers; I've got a '66 Tiger in my garage);. slambo 11:55, Nov 16, 2004 (UTC)

TrainWeb will allow use of any of its photos, but most I have found are passenger equipment. I read the tri-level in the 1970s in 2 different places, but the photo in NRHS story you linked to says 1964. And, I think that's right. I've got articles started in SAL, SCl, ACL, and RF&P. Bill Griffin Jr., an author belongs to my yahoo groups and we e-mail trying to get him to help with those, as he has written several books on them. I think Auto Train might be a winner for featured article status due to broad appeal of subject. My William N. Page article was nominated, and it is good, but I would think that the subject isn't as interesting to younger Wikipedia readers especially. I can hear the CSX trains on the Rivanna and North End subs from home on the James River about 2 miles west of pier 5 on the bridge connecting the old ACL and RF&P (Rich Folks and Preachers), You will need to organize a section for "When Good Acronyms Go Bad" for stuff like that. SCL was named when they realized what their first choice Atlantic Seaboard System would spell. 12:17, 16 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Ha ha! That's a good one. I'd only heard about C&NW (Cheap and Nothing Wasted), O&W (Old and Weary) and SPSF (Shouldn't Paint So Fast). I suppose we could start an article about US railroad humor... :) slambo 14:49, Nov 16, 2004 (UTC)

Sean: After a lot of thought, I think that most of the Auto-Train Corporation article should be consolidated into the Auto Train article, leaving a short item on the fallen flag and a "see also" to make sure readers can get the rest of the story. I will make that a project for tonight. I also have asked TrainWeb for help with TTX photos. TTX is one of their advertisers, so that might not be too hard. I got permission from the photographer to use caboose photo from the original Auto-Train (now in that article), which adds interest and appeal. I still think we have a featured article candidate here, and may go ahead and place it for nomination. Thre only good one in transport area is Air Force One, which is worth a look. Can you get something started on the P40 and B36 types so they aren't dead links. I have a B36 photo of an auto-train loco we can use. oh, and one more WGAGB: CSX = Combination Still Experimental. Mark. Vaoverland 03:24, 17 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Well, there's one more red link down; I just added dome car starting with text that I first added to passenger car and then adding some more of the history of the car type. I should be able to get something on the two locomotive types later tonight. slambo 12:31, Nov 17, 2004 (UTC)

I was just working on the article, and saw your new dome car entry within 5 minutes of creation. Excellent! I have nominated the Auto Train article for featured article candidate status. Vaoverland 12:39, 17 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Boy, it's easy to get distracted. I've been looking through my photos to find a U36B that would work for an article on the type, but found a bunch of others that I added to other new (like Observation car and Tank car) and existing (like Caboose) articles instead. I found a U30C, but no U36B yet. I did find a couple of side shots of autoracks, but I was standing too close to the tracks or I was zoomed in to close because the entire car is not visible in them. Maybe a little more searching will find something... slambo 12:01, Nov 19, 2004 (UTC)

So it's started in the morning, but at least it's started. I put up some text for GE U36B, but there's still more that needs to be added to it (like adding the specifications and expanding the History section). Now to look through my books to find more information... slambo 16:09, Nov 20, 2004 (UTC)

Congratulations
I finally got around to checking if William N. Page actually became a featured article, and see that it did. Nice work. Because of the large overlap of content, I'd think it best to wait a month or so, but after that, if you don't nominate Virginian Railway as an FAC, I will (assuming I remember). Niteowlneils 19:32, 23 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Thanks. I think some of William N. Page could be edited down, but I am working on enhancing the Virginian Railway article, and don't want it to get too big either. We finally found a published photo of Page, but we cannot use it. Vaoverland 19:43, 23 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Henry Rogers
Henry Rogers contains a ton of stuff from other websites. I presume that's temporary, and that you're only using it as a base for your information. -- user:minimum. That's correct. Most of it came from other WP articles. Vaoverland 12:53, 26 Nov 2004 (UTC) The working copy, which has information at least 6 sources, has been moved to Talk:Henry H. Rogers/Draft. It will take some time to do it the way I in tend to. Vaoverland 18:24, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Manchester
I liked your addition to the Richmond page. I never knew that bit about Manchester! Good work. --MaxPower 21:13, 2004 Dec 1 (UTC)

Thanks. I plan to go to Va. Historical Society to look over some old manuscripts regarding the 1910 consolidation. Vaoverland 18:21, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Auto Train
Sorry it's taken so long to get back to you--very time-consuming computer problems have kept me mostly off Wikipedia most of the past week. By the time I looked at the article, Raul had removed it 6-8 hours earlier (and several others), since it had been more than a week. While Jeronimo didn't use the words oppose or object, I think it may be difficult to get it featured without addressing the comments. The 'sources' one should be easy--just move some of the appropriate external links to a new =References= section, and maybe find an applicable book or two to add to the list. The other is a bit tricky--maybe some of your on line enthusiast buddies live near the line and can take and submit pictures? You could also try posting on Requested pictures, and perhaps leave a short note and link to the appropriate section of that page on Village pump. Maybe go to forums related to the cities served by Auto Train, and ask for people's help in submitting any pictures they have (or are willing to take) to Wikipedia, either as public domain, or a 'copyleft' license, such as, , or (GNU Free Documentation License and Creative Commons Licenses). Good luck. Niteowlneils 05:19, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Thanks.

I have contact with G.R. Harper who has agreed and encouraged use of his photos. These, along with those from TrainWeb, should be OK, but I do not know just what process to follow to get proper permission and use them. I have read a lot of the stuff you suggested, but I still don't seem to get it. Help? Vaoverland 06:35, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Images and copyrights really aren't one of my specialties, but I think Jeronimo's query related to clarifying exactly what rights the photo owner was giving you/Wikipedia. A GFDL or CC license, or what. A 'you can use, but no one else can' probably is not acceptable, as the rest of Wikipedia content is mirrored on many other sites. 'Non-commercial use only' may be iffy, as some of the mirrors seek revenue thru ads. You might want to ask User:Jeronimo for clarification. (PS see this--I assume this is what you intended.) Niteowlneils 17:43, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)

"Enhance My Search" nightmare: virus, spyware, help!
I am battling a "Enhance My Search" nightmare on one of my home computers. It jumps up whenever you open Google or Yahoo searches, and opens a window in front of either. Whether it open in a windows or not, it adds language to your text in any apparent attempt to create links to certain words (IE "work"). None of the programs I have used so far have been able to get rid of it. Vaoverland 06:36, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Hi Vaoverland. Most results from a Google search seemed unhelpful, but try the instructions from this particular CastleCops thread ( http://computercops.biz/postp377005.html ) and see if that helps. Bumm13 07:44, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * Firefox! =) Oven Fresh 22:11, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * If you want a clean version of IE, instead of/in addition to Firefox, and the usual suspects (AdAware, Spybot S&D) were unable to help, you might try Hijack This, which should be able to get rid of practically everything, but it requires you to manually identify the offending spyware from a list of possible offenders on your machine, so it is preferable with a bit of computer knowledge. Wålberg 18:38, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Regarding using Firefox instead, I do not want to give up on IE explorer because I just recently started using the IeSpell program (recommended by other WP users) which has turned out to be a big help with my typing transposition disability I have to overcome. I will trust advice from here which was right on target with the ieSpell program, and face with the rather complicated procedure to try to get rid of Enhance My Search. Drat! I fortunately have more than one computer, but the stronger one is the sick one (of course!). I'll update here with news on "how it goes". Thanks for all the help folks! Vaoverland 20:40, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Try http://www.download.com/Spybot-Search-Destroy/3000-8022_4-10289035.html (and be careful what you say "yes" to in the future ;) )Niteowlneils 17:43, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * Shazaam! It seems that following the CastleCops thread carefully worked. The dreaded Enhance My Search window is notpopping up in front of Google and Yahoo searches and my text is not being attached by insertions of weblinks to Enhance My Search. I suspect the duplicate text noted in the preceding message was done by my computer. SBTC (sorry 'bout that chief). Now, if only I can keep from getting EMS again! I am running ad-aware and Webroot's Spysweeper programs. Thanks to all for the help. Vaoverland 02:01, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Re: Chesterfield Railroad
Got your message. I've got some extra time this afternoon, I'll take a more thorough look at it then. slambo 11:43, Dec 6, 2004 (UTC)

I am working on Richmond and Danville Railroad also. Vaoverland 11:53, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I found an extensive list of named passenger trains at http://monon.home.insightbb.com/mpages/pn.html --K4 pacific 02:40, 17 Nov 2004 (UTC)

WikiProject Trains
I have been doing a lot of research and some article work on things related to Virginia's railroads.

1. some older railroads don't seem to have AAR symbols and/or logos 2. project would benefit for a consistent way of indication of progression/succession to current major US railroads 3. individuals are becoming identified, some rather obscure I want my work to fit in properly, and would appreciate some guidance, and help so I can concentrate my work on content. The following are suggestions/problems for the coordinator for Wikiproject Trains. I do not have a problem with eliminating some which may be considered inappropriate for the project or WP.

Thanks for any help! Vaoverland 22:01, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Books

 * Barger, Ralph L. (1983) Corporate History of Coal & Coke Railway Co., Charleston, Clendennin & Sutton R.R., Roaring Creek & Belington R.R. Co., as of Date of Valuation, June 30, 1918. Baltimore, MD: Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Historical Society.
 * Cartlidge, Oscar (1936) Fifty Years of Coal Mining Charleston, WV: Rose City Press.
 * Conley, Phil (1960) History of the Coal Industry of West Virginia Charleston, WV: Educational Foundation.
 * Conley, Phil (1923) Life in a West Virginia Coal Field Charleston, WV: American Constitutional Association.
 * Corbin, David Alan (1981) Life, Work and Rebellion in the Coal Fields: The Southern West Virginia Miners, 1880-1922 Chicago, Illinois: University of Illinois Press.
 * Corbin, David Alan, editor (1990) The West Virginia Mine Wars: An Anthology Charleston, WV: Appalachian Editions.
 * Craigo, Robert W., editor (1977) The New River Company: Mining Coal and Making History, 1906-1976 Mount Hope, WV: New River Company.
 * Dix, Keith (1977) Work Relations in the Coal Industry: The Hand Loading Era, 1880-1930 Morgantown, WV: West Virginia University Institute for Labor Studies.
 * Dixon, Thomas W, Jr., (1994) Appalachian Coal Mines & Railroads. Lynchburg, Virginia: TLC Publishing Inc. ISBN 1-883089-08-5
 * Frazier, Claude Albee (1992) Miners and Medicine: West Virginia Memories Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press.
 * Huddleston, Eugene L, Ph.D. (2002) Appalachian Conquest, Lynchburg, Virginia: TLC Publishing Inc. ISBN 1-883089-79-4
 * Lambie, Joseph T. (1954) From Mine to Market: The History of Coal Transportation on the Norfolk and Western Railway New York: New York University Press
 * Lane, Winthrop David (1921) Civil War in West Virginia: A Story of the Industrial Conflict in the Coal Mines New York, NY: B. W. Huebsch, Inc.
 * Lewis, Lloyd D. (1992) The Virginian Era. Lynchburg, Virgina: TLC Publishing Inc.
 * Lewis, Lloyd D. (1994) Norfolk & Western and Virginian Railways in Color by H. Reid. Lynchburg, Virginia: TLC Publishing Inc. ISBN 1-883089-09-3
 * MacCorkle, William (1928) The Recollections of Fifty Years	New York, New York: G.P.Putnam's Sons Publishing
 * Middleton, William D. (1974) When The Steam Railroads Electrified (1st ed.). Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing Co. ISBN 0-89024-028-0
 * Reid, H. (1961). The Virginian Railway (1st ed.). Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing Co.
 * Reisweber, Kurt (1995) Virginian Rails 1953-1993 (1st ed.) Old Line Graphics. ISBN 1-879314-11-8
 * Sullivan, Ken, editor (1991) The Goldenseal Book of the West Virginia Mine Wars: Articles Reprinted from Goldenseal Magazine, 1977-1991. Charleston: Pictorial Histories Pub. Co.
 * Striplin, E. F. Pat. (1981) The Norfolk & Western : a history Roanoke, Va. : Norfolk and Western Railway Co. ISBN 0963325469
 * Tams, W. P. (1963) The Smokeless Coal Fields of West Virginia Morgantown, WV: West Virginia University Library.
 * Thoenen, Eugene D. (1964) History of the Oil and Gas Industry in West Virginia Charleston, WV:
 * Traser, Donald R. (1998) Virginia Railway Depots. Old Dominion Chapter, National Railway Historical Society. ISBN 0-9669906-0-9
 * various contributors (1968). Who Was Who in America Volume I (7th ed.). New Providence, New Jersey: Marquis Who&#8217;s Who
 * Wiley, Aubrey and Wallace, Conley (1985}. The Virginian Railway Handbook. Lynchburg, Virginia: W-W Publications.

Periodical, business, and on-line publications

 * Beale, Frank D. (1955) The Virginian Railway Company 45th Annual Report Year Ended December 31, 1954. published in-house
 * Cuthriell, N.L. (1956) Coal On The Move Via The Virginian Railway, reprinted with permission of Norfolk Southern Corporation in 1995 by Norfolk & Western Historical Society, Inc. ISBN 0-9633254-2-6
 * Dept. of the Navy - (2004) Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships - article on steamship William N. Page. Washington DC: US Naval Historical Center
 * Huddleston, Eugene L, Ph.D. (1992) National Railway Bulletin Vol. 57, Number 4, article: Virginian: Henry Huttleston Rogers' Questionable Achievement
 * Reid, H. (1953) "Trains & Travel Magazine" December, 1953 "Some Fine Engines", Kalmbach Publishing Co.
 * Skaggs, Geoffery - (1985) Page-Vawter House Project in Ansted Ansted, WV: Fayette County Government

Misc References (unsorted)

 * Burke Davis (1985) The Southern Railway: Road Of The Innovators Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press
 * Historic Railroad Maps commercial site
 * Confederate Railroads website
 * Dan River Tour website
 * Georgia's Railroad History & Heritage website
 * Special Collections, Virginia Tech University Library
 * Civil War Richmond
 * College of William and Mary, Railroads in Antebellum Richmond
 * Virginia Places, Sectional Rivalry page
 * Lee's Retreat - A Driving Tour
 * An Abbreviated History of Pittsylvania County, Virginia - Transportation and Routes
 * US Civil War, Appomattox Campaign
 * History of Western North Carolina - Railroads
 * The Stranger's Guide and Official Directory for the City of Richmond Electronic Edition
 * Iron Confederacies Timeline

Vaoverland's External Links for WP work

 * Special Collection William Nelson Page Papers, Library of the University of North Carolina
 * US Dept. of the Navy, Naval Historical Center
 * Millicent Library, Fairhaven MA, Henry Rogers homepage
 * Mark Twain and Henry Huttleston Rogers in Virginia featuring excerpts from their trips together to the 1907 Jamestown Exposition and the 1909 Dedication of the Virginian Railway
 * Mark Twain's Correspondence with Henry Huttleston Rogers, 1893-1909
 * New River CVB Guide to Ansted, WV
 * West Virginia Coal Mines site
 * Norfolk & Western Historical Society covers Virginian history
 * Virginia Museum of Transportation displays 2 of only 3 extant VGN steam and electric locomotives, located in Roanoke, VA
 * Virginian Railway (VGN) Enthusiasts non-profit group of preservationists, authors, photographers, historians, modelers, and railfans
 * listing of Virginian Railway authors and their works
 * Mullens West Virginia Caboose Museuma community project with photos
 * Victoria Virginia's new home for Virginian railway Caboose 342 a community project with photos
 * Lynchburg Virginia's project to save the oldest extant Virginian Railway Caboose # 64 a community project with photos
 * preserving the Virginian Railway Passenger Station at Roanoke Virginia a community project with photos (requires a pdf file viewer)
 * Winding Gulf MSN GroupA group focused on one of the VGN's most productive coalfields, with information about many coal camps, family histories, maps, photos and links
 * Norfolk Southern Corp website
 * link to site of Railfan.net forum for Virginian Railway which has Roanoke Times story and photos
 * Historic Railroad Maps commercial site
 * Confederate Railroads website
 * Dan River Tour website
 * Georgia's Railroad History & Heritage website
 * Special Collections, Virginia Tech University Library
 * Civil War Richmond
 * College of William and Mary, Railroads in Antebellum Richmond
 * Virginia Places, Sectional Rivalry page
 * Lee's Retreat - A Driving Tour
 * An Abbreviated History of Pittsylvania County, Virginia - Transportation and Routes
 * US Civil War, Appomattox Campaign
 * History of Western North Carolina - Railroads
 * The Stranger's Guide and Official Directory for the City of Richmond Electronic Edition
 * Iron Confederacies Timeline
 * Southern Railway Historical Association
 * Norfolk Southern Corporation official website
 * Virginia Museum of Transportation displays famous N & W steam locomotives, located in Roanoke, VA
 * Southern Railway Yahoo Group a Yahoo group for former employees, railfans and modelers of the Southern Railway
 * Norfolk Southern Yahoo Group a Yahoo group for current happenings of Norfolk Southern Railway

Image:Vgn-36 south norfolk.jpg license and source?
There is no license nor source info on Image:Vgn-36 south norfolk.jpg. Can you let us know? Thanks, &mdash;Morven 01:15, Dec 8, 2004 (UTC)

I have added information. I hope this is correct way to do this. Vaoverland 02:47, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Replying to the call for help
Hey there. Saw your note. In future, I would prefer if such notes would be done on my talk page; add new discussions to the bottom of the list. That way I don't have to move them myself and WP will automatically put an attention box at the top of whatever page I'm viewing when there's a new note there (so I don't have to rely on checking my watchlist to see the note). I should probably put something on my user page about such a preference as I've seen done on other user pages. Oh well, I'm having too much fun finding and adding railroad data. B-)

Anyway, to answer your questions... You've probably noticed that I took a look through Chesterfield Railway. As I added the infobox, I was also thinking about the AAR reporting marks issue, and wondering how best to put it in the box. In the end, I thought it best to leave that field blank. Perhaps we could come up with some verbiage to indicate that railroads such as this ceased to exist before the AAR was formed and therefore the railroad doesn't have any "official" reporting marks...

On the Wikiproject:Trains todolist, I don't think I have a good answer for you right now. I started the todolist merely as a way to indicate articles that have not yet been written or that I found needed improvement in some way or another. There was talk on some article's talk page recently about system maps for the railroads that we're documenting here. I'll probably build a subsection of the todolist to address this need at some point too; I just haven't taken the time to do it yet.

I don't think anyone's put a priority on what subjects need to be covered. If I had to put a priority on article creation, I guess I'd say that the major railroads need to be documented first and then we work out from there filling in red links and building and completing lists based on those articles. As far as I'm concerned, I don't see any reason not to include at least one article on every railroad that ever existed in North America. In fact, I see it as a challenge to find and publish as much information as I can. I choose articles to write based first on subjects that I know a little about (like with Passenger car), then move on to subjects that interest me but that I don't know as much about (EMD BL2), and finally to subjects that I have to research to find out information beyond the most basic (John Bull (locomotive) or American Car and Foundry).

Okay, I'm rambling now. I guess the best answer that I can give right now is to keep going with writing the articles that you want to write. Until the todolist is much, much shorter than it is now, I don't think there will be any shortage of good article subjects. There are several more that I plan to write but haven't added to the todolist only because I want to be the one who writes them. B-)

So, does this help? slambo 01:54, Dec 8, 2004 (UTC)

Yes, it think it helps. I will use your talk page in the future, and try to keep my projects organized on my talk page, which you are welcome to review. I am also writing on subjects where I have good, multiple sources, and mostly some personal knowledge. Vaoverland 02:50, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Article Licensing
Hi, I've started a drive to get users to multi-license all of their contributions that they've made to either (1) all U.S. state, county, and city articles or (2) all articles, using the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike (CC-by-sa) v1.0 and v2.0 Licenses or into the public domain if they prefer. The CC-by-sa license is a true free documentation license that is similar to Wikipedia's license, the GFDL, but it allows other projects, such as WikiTravel, to use our articles. Since you are among the top 1000 Wikipedians by edits, I was wondering if you would be willing to multi-license all of your contributions or at minimum those on the geographic articles. Over 90% of people asked have agreed. For More Information:
 * Multi-Licensing FAQ - Lots of questions answered
 * Multi-Licensing Guide
 * Free the Rambot Articles Project

To allow us to track those users who muli-license their contributions, many users copy and paste the " " template into their user page, but there are other options at Template messages/User namespace. The following examples could also copied and pasted into your user page:


 * Option 1
 * I agree to multi-license all my contributions, with the exception of my user pages, as described below:

OR
 * Option 2
 * I agree to multi-license all my contributions to any U.S. state, county, or city article as described below:

Or if you wanted to place your work into the public domain, you could replace " " with "  ". If you only prefer using the GFDL, I would like to know that too. Please let me know what you think at my talk page. It's important to know either way so no one keeps asking. -- Ram-Man (comment| talk)


 * While I do some original writing from my personal knowledge and recollection, most of what I write for Wikipedia is compiled from multiple sources, including other Wikipedia articles, books, magazines and periodicals, special collections, information including some special collections held by organizations such as Virginia Historical Society, Library of Virginia, West Virginia Historical Society, Virginia Tech, University of Virginia, and many others. I also do a lot of web searches looking for specific information. Depending upon my perception of the veracity of the information source, I try to verify something from more than a single source before including it in an article. I also look further when I find conflicting information, which usually amounts to misspelling or incorrect dates, particularly on older subjects and sources. I am grateful for the access I have to the writing of others.

I agree to multi-license all my contributions, with the exception of my user pages, as described below:

Vaoverland 22:15, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Work in progress
I understand that your article was a WIP, but it included content from other sources, and as such I had to remove it as a copyvio. I know that by the time you were finished, it would have been reworded enough that it would no longer be a copyvio, but the copyvios would still be in the history, meaning we'd still be breaking the law. Sorry about this. Do feel free to do your rewriting in Word before posting it here. Thanks. - Vague | Rant 11:16, Dec 12, 2004 (UTC)

Ok, I suppose I understand, but... Vaoverland 11:23, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC)


 * No need to apologize. As for what happens, the admins will move your stub article into place after about a week. Possibly sooner. Good luck. - Vague | Rant 05:39, Dec 13, 2004 (UTC)

Autotrain images
Vaoverland, you asked me about the pictures for autotrain. In general, pictures you use should be released into the public domain, or under a license such as the GFDL. Other license are sometimes possible. More details can be found at WP:ICT. That's about all I know about it too, so if you still have further questions, I recommend the WP:VP. Jeronimo 07:27, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)

NPOV on bus collision
Your preaching on the 'horror' of 'that terrible night' in Bus Accident at Carrollton, Kentucky in 1988 is shocking. Please remember that Wikipedia is neutral. 119 04:02, 18 Dec 2004 (UTC)

No harm intended. However, it was a horrible accident. When compiling it, I treid to leave out some of the more gruesome details, many of which were published in the media. I do have strong feelings about prevention of a recurrence. If the article needs help with NPOV, how about some help? Vaoverland 16:29, 18 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Rail suburbs
Vaoverland - good bits on the rail suburbs of RVA... I have lately realized how tremendously the streetcar lines influenced and motivated the development of Richmond's near suburbs. I recently saw some postcards of the parks you mentioned... would be nice to get some of those in the article if available??. I read your bio and recalled that you might be interested in a book for sale at the RVA visitors center downtown... all about the RVA rail systems. MPS 22:01, 18 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Thanks for the kind words. The problem we run into with old postcards, etc. and image in general is the question of whether they in the public domain. I would love to see some included. I have been pretty busy working on content for some other articles, but would like top see the Richmond one improved. I recently completed initial articles (could use improvements) for Chesterfield Railroad and Richmond and Danville Railroad. One of the Virginia Overland companies I formerly headed was the successor to the company which operated the Richmond-Ashland and Petersburg-Hopewell interurban lines prior to 1939. I have a good general understanding of where the streetcars in Richmond and Petersburg ran, etc. Glad to help with anything streetcar ro railroad related which may be worthy of more detail. Vaoverland 23:17, 18 Dec 2004 (UTC)

"consist"
Sometime if you or one of your rail buddies has time, it would be great if you could find a way to work in the noun definition of consist at the first usage in Autorack (and any other articles you've used it in, and preferably add it to Rail terminology). I have a larger vocabulary than most native English speakers, and I still had to look it up to find the definition in this context. I don't think I'm familiar enuf with this usage to do it myself. Thanks. Niteowlneils 04:17, 19 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Excellent observation! This use of the word seems to have developed in railway use as a way of abbreviated way to describe a listing of the individual rail vehicles in a train. I have added a short article consist and an entry on the railway terminology article. I have also added internal links in the Autorack, Auto Train, and Auto-Train Corporation articles. Vaoverland 09:26, 19 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Battle of Hampton Roads
Looks like I did a pretty thorough proofing about 6 weeks ago, so I didn't find much to change. One sentence seemed to imply that the Portsmouth drydock had the iron plating, which I "fixed" with a couple commas because I couldn't come up with anything better, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if there isn't a less kludgy way to address the problem by re-casting the sentence. Nice work, as usual. Niteowlneils 05:41, 25 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Pieces of the iron plating from the CSS Virginia are on display at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard at Portsmouth. Thanks for your support. Vaoverland 05:54, Dec 25, 2004 (UTC)
 * FWIW, the sentence I was referring to was "The CSS Virginia was rebuilt at the Gosport Shipyard at Portsmouth in the first dry dock in America with ironclad plating..." which I changed to "The CSS Virginia was rebuilt at the Gosport Shipyard at Portsmouth, in the first dry dock in America, with ironclad plating..."

OK, that certainly was poorly-worded. Thanks. Vaoverland 07:54, Dec 25, 2004 (UTC)

Can you tell me where you got the map that you used for this image: ? The only info listed is that it's a state map from 1858 or 1859. Can you provide more info, so I can maybe get a higher resolution version? Thanks. --brian0918&#153; 05:34, 26 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Virginia map 1858-59
Sure, and congrats on the Battle of Hampton Roads featured article! It is my second, and with several failure, I can attest that it is not easy to accomplish. The map came from the library of Virginia website. They have 4 old state-sponsored maps of the entire state (on-line), one done around 1827?, and then a revision put out in 1858-59. The on-line version has ability to zoom sections, etc. You can get a lot more detail if desired. I used the later, multi part version, and zoomed in to get the Hampton Roads area as it was presented just before the Civil War. I have read both dates in various places (1858-59).

Here is the link: http://lvaimage.lib.va.us/cgi-sid/local_image.cgi?ox=0&oy=0&filename=/BPW/maps/712-4.sid&referer=http://lvaimage.lib.va.us/BPW/indexes/711-712.html&title=++STATE+MAPS+OF+VIRGINIA.+1827,1859.+&res=3&size=12&part=1&fullwidth=4602&fullheight=2981&parts=0

In case that long link doesn't work, go to Library of Virginia, the maps you want are in the Board of Public Works Collection, under County and sate Maps, near the end. http://www.lva.lib.va.us/whatwehave/gov/bpw.htm

I am also interested in other Virginia Civil War activities, and have a good book on the Peninsula Campaign (To the Gates of Richmond, by Stephen W. Sears.

I prefer to work on content items, so let's stay in touch and maybe we can collaborate? Let me know how the Library of Virginia things goes, I'll be glad to help if needed.

Again, congratulations on the Battle of Hampton Roads. Vaoverland 05:53, Dec 26, 2004 (UTC)
 * Hi, you got the wrong guy.. I wrote the Brandy Station Foundation article, not the Battle of Hampton Roads one..   &mdash; Nathanlarson32767  (Talk) 05:57, 26 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I've added a few more pictures to the Battle of Hampton Roads article, and replaced your map with a map I found that lists ship positions during the battle. The image isn't very clear, but my library carries the article that it is from (Century Magazine, 1885), so I may be able to check the magazine out and scan a much clearer map, as well as the other images in the magazine article, such as those shown here: http://www.rugreview.com/cw/cwj1.htm. --brian0918&#153; 07:00, 26 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Henry H. Rogers and Staten Island
I'm afraid I can't offer much in the way of Rogers involvement in Staten Island transportation. I know the trolley in Staten Island came to grief early and put their systems in City hands, which was an unfortunate circumstance, since subsidized city competition brought an end to passenger service on the East Shore and North Shore lines of the SIRT in 1953.

You may already be aware, but Staten Island Railroad, SI Railway, SIRT Railway, SIRT Railroad, all refer to what is now the Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority (aka Staten Island Railway) for passengers and the Staten Island Railroad for freight. -- Cecropia | explains it all ® 08:05, 28 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Bus
Hi, just wanted to say nice job on adding to the bus article over the past day or so. -- Solipsist 09:40, 28 Dec 2004 (UTC)

MdTA
I took care of fix the MdTA stuff that you added and cleand up som of the links. Thanks for adding the info that you did and if you can expand on any of the articles that would be cool. I was reading you user page and it seems we have a fair bit in common and a lot similar, when i was a kid i was diagnosed with add, it's since made my life, in my opinion, a living hell, espically in the past year. Anyway thinaks for the help and all. --Boothy443 10:06, 2 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Midnight Oil
Up late tonight i see--Boothy443 10:32, 6 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Cool i'll take a look at the articles, and i'll vote for the skyway, been over it my self a couple times. As for my work, IATA coeds for most of the major airlines in the world, i have nothing else better to do, and i am a big Avation nut, so i like those kinda things. --Boothy443 11:27, 6 Jan 2005 (UTC)

thanks. Vaoverland 11:31, Jan 6, 2005 (UTC)

Civil War
Hey, how well versed are you on the civil war?--Boothy443 06:36, 8 Jan 2005 (UTC)


 * I would say moderate. I am in Richmond, Virginia. I am most familar with events in Virginia, particularily the 1862 Peninusla Campaign and the 1864 Overland Campaign, Seige of Petersburg, etc. I do not know much about the western front. Vaoverland 06:41, Jan 8, 2005 (UTC)


 * FYI, I just finished work on Tredegar Iron Works and Joseph R. Anderson articles. I have been monitoring (but not participating) in the debate about the NPOV issue of the American Civil War article. Vaoverland 12:32, Jan 8, 2005 (UTC)

Midnight Oil once more
Kewl kewl, i'll have to take a look at the articles. As for the civil war thing, i am not involed in that "big" argument, i made my points, changes were made for the best, i think it could be better, but i am no scholar on the war, be better left to someone that is. --Boothy443 10:46, 10 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Walt's Carolwood Pacific Railroad
I am a railroad and transportation nut. As much as you enjoy all things Disney, you might want to do a little research and help write an article about Walt Disney's Carolwood Pacific Railroad. It is on my to-do list, but I haven't gotten to it (yet). Here are some links:
 * hhttp://www.burnsland.com/sdra/
 * http://www.carolwood.com/
 * http://www.disneylandtoday.com/Railroad/railroad.htm
 * http://www.startedbyamouse.com/features/railroads.shtml
 * http://www.hiddenmickeys.org/WDW/MagicKingdom/Secrets/General/Trains.html

If you do, I would appreciate a note when the article is ready for reading. I have enjoyed your other Disney articles. Vaoverland 10:44, Jan 11, 2005 (UTC)

I've just looked at the Carolwood article - it's amazing. I never knew you wanted an article of that size! Looking back on the original article, my writing was pathetic - sorry! You have done a fantastic job. *clap* Andy, 17:00 14 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Autorack is used as an example of good style
I just added a stub for Flatcar and in checking the "What links here" link, I found that the Autorack article we both worked on is now referenced as an example of good Wikipedia style in Annotated article (referenced in How to edit a page, Tutorial (Formatting) and Tutorial (Wrap-up and more info)). This was a bit of a surprise to me, but a pleasant one nonetheless. B-) slambo 20:52, Jan 11, 2005 (UTC)
 * I meant to let you know I'd used it. I explained why at User talk:Slambo. Niteowlneils 21:28, 11 Jan 2005 (UTC)

You may be right on the lack of a book for Autotrain, but there were a few magazine articles as listed at. I'd been thinking lately about transferring some of my writing experience here into dead tree editions (I talked with the head librarian of the Kalmbach Memorial Library at the NMRA convention about this last summer), but wasn't sure what topic I would want to research/write about. Maybe it's time that I start looking into this possibility more thoroughly... B-) slambo 21:59, Jan 11, 2005 (UTC)

Carolwood Pacific Railroad
I've put the article on Wikipedia. Now, no way at all do I believe it's finished, or is informative enough. That's where you come in. I know you were too busy to do the article in the first place, that's why I'm hesitant in asking for your help but I would very much appreciate it if you added everything you know about it to the article. It's been a pleasure working with you by the way, anything you need doing to do with Disney transportation/Disney that your too busy to do yourself, just ask. Andy, 19:52, 12 Jan 05 (UTC)

Crossing Jordan
Thanks for the help on Crossing Jordan. I just fixed up the article, particularly the "Characters" section. Check it out and, if you feel necessary, fix any inaccuracies that I make.

...Jeez, I can't believe I missed Lorraine Toussaint (I actually wrote her article, the first article I ever wrote from scratch). I'll add it in a minute. As far as the detective goes, I left him off because I didn't know anything about him. If I find anything, I'll add that too. ral315 02:50, Jan 25, 2005 (UTC)

Battle of Hampton Roads
As soon as the article became featured, I posted on Wikipedia talk:Tomorrow's featured article, requesting it be put on the main page. There had already been a few battle articles on the main page around the time that I put in the request, so they waited a few weeks. Finally! --brian0918 &#153; 02:05, 26 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Hey, Mark. Congratulations! Not just an FA, but a 'today's FA'--outstanding work. As you probably remember I recently did most of the work to resolve objections to San Jose, California, but it's probably too dry a subject to be a TFA. Today I started doing the same type of work on Dawson's Creek, which probably would have a better chance. Again, nice job. Niteowlneils 02:18, 28 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Peninsula Campaign
I'm not sure if campaigns should have battleboxes. I think for now I'll just add its campaignbox to the page. --brian0918 &#153; 23:03, 26 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Delaware Memorial
Dosen't 40 cross it on it's way to AC? --User:Boothy443 | comhrÚ 11:26, 29 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Yes I believe it does!

Jubal Early
I have been dueling with this guy StopHillary'08 for a while on this page. He keeps restoring his old version, which includes grotesquely long quotes, lots of typos, and a copyright-violation image. Now I guess he's been trying to get around my reversions in another way. Fun in Wikiland...

big_hal 02:12, 30 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Mahone
I reviewed your William Mahone article. Very comprehensive. What is your source for his middle initial? My primary source, Eicher's "Civil War High Commands," doesn't list a middle name. And Google comes up dry.

big_hal 17:57, 30 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Mahone
Interesting that that exhaustive geneological info never expands the T. Men of that era used middle initials a lot more than today [and a lot used their middle names instead-- Porter Alxeander, Dodson Ramseur, etc]. I checked through the ORs and he didn't sign his correspondence with the initial. Oh, well.

I haven't heard of Ranson, so I can't be much help there. My semi-focus has been on the Battle of Gettysburg and famous people and units involved there, but I do find WP irresistable in taking me to corners I didn't expect, where I feel compelled to clean things up. :-)

big_hal 01:20, 31 Jan 2005 (UTC)


 * I've been trying to find his middle name, but no luck. I couldn't even find a source with T.  The only one that I saw that seemed like it might be legitimate was a C.  --brian0918 &#153;  01:44, 31 Jan 2005 (UTC)

message posted to N&W historical society, 2 yahoo groups I moderate
I am working with several other editors on several articles for Wikipedia of interest to N&W historians. We are trying to find what the letter "T" as his middle name stood for in the name of William Mahone (1826-1895). For the benefit of anyone not familiar, Mahone was the Confederate Major General who built the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad between 1853 and 1858, including the famous roadbed through the Great Dismal Swamp which is still in use today by Norfolk Southern. Popular legend has it that he and his wife Otelia Butler Mahone named the stations along the 52 mile tangent from Suffolk to Petersburg from Ivanhoe, a novel she had been reading, and invented the name for Disputanta. One of their three children was William T. Mahone Jr. Any help would be appreciated. The usual Civil war and Genealogical sources we consult are coming up without an answer. Also, any errors or improvements in the articles would be appreciated as well. The links to the articles are: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Mahone http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otelia_B._Mahone http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norfolk_and_Petersburg_Railroad http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norfolk_and_Western_Railway Teachers and schools are using Wikipedia extensively as a research resource for today's kids who are very computer-savy. We'd like to get good, correct, and interesting content for these articles. Again, any help from rail-sources would be especially appreciated. Yours in Richmond, Mark Fisher, co moderator Virginian Railway Enthusiasts group on yahoo Richmond Rails group on yahoo

More Mahone
I've been looking on ancestry.com for information on Mahone, but haven't found many specifics yet. I posted some of the stuff I found in his talk page. If you are able to get to a library with newspapers on microfilm, check his talk page for a list of papers that mentioned William Mahone. I was going to post it here, but the list got pretty long. --brian0918 &#153; 04:20, 31 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Alexandria
Nice job on the Alexandria, Virginia history ... since my parents still live there, I should have done more before now! (How do you do this "add comment" box, by the way? Very cool.) - DavidWBrooks 22:01, 31 Jan 2005 (UTC)

comment box
I'd love to have your comment box on my talk page. Did you invent it yourself? (By the way, I grew up in Fairfax County - back in the 70s, that was a whole world away from Richmond. These days, I think the Greater Washington Metropolitan Blob has swallowed all of 95 down to the capital building, and maybe it's eyeing Petersburg!) - DavidWBrooks 13:19, 1 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Thanks
The comment box works great. - DavidWBrooks 14:26, 1 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Virginian Railway
OK, I've nominated it--good luck. Thanks for the Dawson's hint--there isn't a whole lot on the Web about it (even IMDb doesn't know about it), but I found two articles saying they did some filming on the UoR campus in 1999, so I'll add it. As for Autorack and Auto Train (Amtrak), I think they are probably only missing explicit references--in my mind, I assume some or all of the external links provided some reference material, but, from what I've seen, there are several people who will object to any article that doesn't have explicitly stated references. A couple Web links and one print book, explicitly labeled "References" would be almost certain to avoid those objections. As for William Mahone, I think I need to read it when I'm more awake--the other articles I've looked at before, but this one is totally new to me. I do have some ideas to address a couple things I noticed. More later. Niteowlneils 17:08, 1 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * From what I've seen, the duration partially varies because Raul seems to tend to process them in batches once or twice a week. The timing was also unfortunate in that I noticed I happened to post it right before you were off Wikipedia for a few days, so you weren't around to respond to the comments and keep the discussion moving forward. I would hate to see all that pre-history info disappear, so I would strongly encourage you to put some thing like "See main article: Pre-history of the Virginian Railway " (or some other title) at the top of the condensed section, and put the full version on that page (it also might make it easier to write the condensed version, since there won't be the worry of deleting anything entirely--it'll all be there on the sub-page). I'm sure Raul has no beef with you--one oppose and one 'I can't support yet' is pretty objectively a failed nom. I had never visited the FAC page until relatively recently, and I tend to only read the discussions of articles I'm interested in so, while I know some things that are guaranteed to get oppose votes ('too many redlinks', 'too many lists', and 'no references'), I'm sure there are others I don't know (yet). Someone butchered San Francisco, California pretty badly, so I'll probably work on fixing that before I go back to Dawson's Creek--I'm also a bit chicken--'prosifying' the cast and crew sections will probably be my single biggest edit to date. Niteowlneils 00:47, 10 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Great Lakes Storm of 1913
I'm going to be writing an article for the Great Lakes Storm of 1913, and created a map of the shipwrecks. Any comments? Things to add/remove/change? Thanks. --brian0918 &#153; 01:53, 2 Feb 2005 (UTC)

William Mahone
OK, I have a few things, nothing major. First (in article order, not necessarily importance) the Battle of the Crater gets kinda lost at the end of the list of other battles--I'd start a new paragraph with the "William Mahone was widely regarded..." sentence. I'd also add a very brief (maybe 20-30 words) summary of what he did that gained him that distinction. The battle article seems to imply that MG Johnson's men were the primary victims of the blast that made the crater--I'll write my suggestion (not word-for-word, just what approx. level of detail I'm thinking--there are probably better ways to word parts of it) assuming that, and if I am wrong hopefully you can use it as a model for a description of what really happened:
 * As part of a larger plan of attack, Union forces surreptitiously planted and set off an explosive charge under a key Confederate fort ["in the area"?], killing approximately 300 soldiers under the command of Maj. Gen. Bushrod Johnson, and dampening the surviors' morale with such a successful surprise attack on such a key installation. When Union soldiers made the mistake of trying to attack by going straight through, and thus down into, the crater, Mahone was credited with rallying his and Johnson's remaining troops to counter-attack by firing down from the rim of the crater, winning the battle while losing only 20% as many men as the opposition. He was promoted to a Major General as a result..."

OK, so I went way over my suggested word count, but hopefully you get the idea: enuf about the crater-creating incident to set up why Mahone's getting his and Johnson's men's in position, with spirits up enuf to win the battle, would have been a challenge, and thus heroic.

Second, much simpler. The VSU founding is a little hidden, especially heading-wise. I'd suggest putting a == or === header above it's paragraph, something like "Railroad sale funds used to found a university". Something that will catch someone's eye if that was the part of the intro that interested them most, and they're scanning for details about the univ. (I was going to complain there was no follow-up to the comment in the intro until I used my browser's text-find feature).

Third, the first sentence in the highway paragraph in the Heritage second seems to be actually a sentence fragment--a lengthy desciption of a subject, and nothing else; and the second sentence is a bit jarring to me at the ", and". I think the paragraph needs a copyedit to be clear, self-contained prose. Maybe something like:
 * There is large portion of U.S. Highway 460 between Petersburg and Suffolk, that parallels the 52-mile tangent tracks of the railroad he engineered. As the road passes through some of the towns he and Otelia are believed to have named, sections in several counties surrounding those towns are labeled "General Mahone Boulevard" and "General Mahone Highway" in his honor. [assuming all the changes I made are accurate--I am assuming a correlation between the towns named, and the counties using his name on roads, without knowing if that is true.]

Finally, I have, and think others would have, issues with using the word "Trivia" for a section header for a discussion of his being a slave-owner; slaves' descendents might find it offensive, and given how close it was to the Civil War, it seems of some import. I would make the heading something more, um, academic, like "Historical footnote" or something like that. I'd also add some context to the front like "As was common in the Southern United States at the time, although increasingly controversial, William Mahone owned slaves. As of 1860, he owned...". Or it seems to read better as a single sentence, making the year parenthetical, as in "...controversial, William Mahone owned (as of 1860) 7 slaves, all black...".

Oh, just remembered one other nit. Some might find "beautiful monument" too POV, mostly due to its imprecision. Looking at the pic of it here, "imposing granite monument" (or "compelling" might be better) or something else a bit more specifically descriptive like that (again, assuming some assumptions I'm making are correct--that it is granite, and there is nothing but more rough stone above where the pic cuts off) might get around that.

So, that's it. I didn't bother doing any fact-checking, as collecting and verifying info seems to be one of your biggest strengths--I was mostly looking at organization and readability and Wikipedia style, and all the rest is fine. Niteowlneils 05:37, 2 Feb 2005 (UTC)


 * OK, now I understand why you didn't want to over-emphasize his part in the VSU roots. In keeping with Wikipedia's NPOV values, thus having bios with both laudable and nefarious, or even just questionable, facts present, I think you should add a sentence about questions about his motives. If a historian or author stated it explicitly, quote them. If it's just inferred from his other political actions at the time, maybe say something like: "Given his other actions at the time, largely to gather support for his newly founded political party, his role in establishing the college likely also had political motivations." or "Given his drive to gain political power after the war, his role in establishing the college likely had political motivations." Does any library near you have "William Mahone of Virginia. Soldier and Political Insurgent" by Nelson Morehouse Blake (none of mine do--probably not too surprising, as West Coast libraries would have little incentive to pony up for rare books about East Coast generals)? It seems like it might be the best source of info on William, and hopefully Otelia. If not, there is apparently a copy of the actual book (note that the others listed are not only even pricier, but are 'print-on-demand' with disclaimers that illustrations might not reproduce correctly, plus it takes up to a month or two to get them) for sale fairly near youfirst hit (Williamsburg), but it isn't cheap--$100.

New ship table template
I've spent the last few days working on a new ship table template to enable us to centralise the editing of things like weapons outfits for a particular class of ships in one template (so with the Fletchers or Gearings or other big classes you only have to edit in one place to alter a mistake rather than in dozens or hundreds). Please have a look at the WikiProject Ships page's talk section and see what you think. I haven't written the instructions for using it yet, and I want to see whether there are any table cells people would like me to include that aren't present yet. There are two example tables, one with all the optional cells present, and the other with some excluded. David Newton 14:12, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Jubal Early
I'm actually quite quick at editing [when the system cooperates], so I don't mind the Jubal Early changes. I did suggest to the guy that he clean up any that I didn't have in my watchlist. We'll see.

On Walter Taylor: I can provide you some info on his ranks, promotions, etc. if you want to include them. I see the picture you selected is a clip from one I saw here: http://webpages.charter.net/mkmjr/, which you may find useful.

On JEB: I can make some improvements to the military section if you'd like. BTW, in "dashing image, sword, and plumed hat" be aware that all cavalrymen of the era had swords.

big_hal 21:07, 8 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Comments
Mind taking a look a a major edit i am doing and giving some comments on it, it's at Detroit, Michigan/Temp--User:Boothy443 | comhrÚ 00:44, 9 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Yeah the transit system is Detroit is strange, their are seperate systems in the city and and in the suburbs, they hardly mesh (stops for the two are sometimes blocks apart), and their service out of area is extremely limited, DDot has a large system in coverage of the city but it's not know for it's relibality, i recall redaing articles in the Freep about people waiting hours on end for a bus. As for amtrak, it bairly serves the city, and train service is a shadow of what it used to be in the Michigan Central days, the sataion is basically a modified am-shack. I know GM has their HQ still their in the Renn Center, and i think their the only one that has any plants. As for wrting, i am maily cleaning it up, compre it to Detroit, Michigan and you can see the diffrence.

tagging articles
Please put semi-permanent templates like that only are useful to editors, on talk pages (the only major exception I can think of would be the different stub templates). This is to Avoid self references as much as possible and make our content more useful to third party users. Thank you. :) --mav 09:03, 10 Feb 2005 (UTC)

N/P
Yeah, no problem, gives me something to do. --User:Boothy443 | comhrÚ 18:16, 10 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Colonial Parkway
I have no current plans to add anything more to the article; do what you wish with it. As for a map, remember that US Government stuff is public domain; the official site probably has a decent map. --SPUI (talk) 14:31, 11 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Trimble
Hi. Would you consider reviewing my article on Isaac R. Trimble and sprucing up the railroad portion? Thanks.

big_hal 21:55, 11 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Bridge-tunnel
Nice photo. I must admit that I'd had in mind something more like a line drawing showing a simple example of the bridge-tunnel scheme, but the photo certainly helps. Mel Etitis ( &Mu;&epsilon;&lambda; &Epsilon;&tau;&eta;&tau;&eta;&sigmaf; ) 11:23, 12 Feb 2005 (UTC)

William Mahone, Norfolk and Western predecessors
Note: This is a copy of message posted 2/15/05 to a Yahoo group I co moderate

Thanks for the responses to my inquiries about the South Side Railroad. It appears clear that it began as two words, and operated under that spelling during its lifetime, although the name stated with a single word "Southside" became used by others very early. This reminds me of the many places where we find Virginian Railway described without the final letter "n". Try a Google search on it if you want to see what I mean.

After reading Nelson Blake and others about William Mahone, it is easier to appreciate why so many things developed as they did. In writing (editing) information for Wikipedia, the goal is presenting factual information from a neutral point of view. With a controversial figure such as WM, this takes some effort. You have to admire much about the man and his accomplishments, but he made lots of enemies including many former friends.

Richard Prince quotes him as saying "Well, who in the hell can I cuss out if not my friends?" That kind of sums it up rather well.

I will be working on articles for the N&W predecessors AM&O, SSRR, and V&T, and let y'all know when I have more questions or we are ready for review and tweaking. One other thing: There is a need for more description and details of the Roanoke Shops in the N&W article. Would anybody here like to provide some content? You can edit it yourself, or I would be happy to use any appropriate content which comes in text form here in the group or via my email.

Trimble edits
Thanks for the updates. The sentence you put in that starts "He spent the next year and a half in Northern hands ..." is contradicted by the following paragraph, so perhaps you can combine them and fix one or the other. big_hal 21:17, 15 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Isaac R. Trimble
You wrote:


 * I have added what I could find. Here is a link to a National Park Service image of Trimble, not the best, but probably usable if nothing else can be found. [1] (http://www2.cr.nps.gov/abpp/shenandoah/svs3-5.html). I will be watching for more on him. Feel free to change what I added to your article. Mark in Richmond. Vaoverland 20:29, Feb 15, 2005 (UTC)


 * It is my understanding that he was captured in summer, 1863, exchanged in February 1865, got back too late to join Lee and was parolled with other confederates in Lynchburg at the time of the surrender. (As opposed to Early, who fled). Did I get that right from your sources? If not, or if that is so technical as to be confusing, how do we fix it? Vaoverland 22:03, Feb 15, 2005 (UTC)

I added another photo, under the assumption that anything filmed in the 1860s can't be copyrighted. I have my fingers crossed. As to the capture, I'm using Eicher as a Reference, and that's normally very accurate. What is your source for the Feb release? big_hal 23:19, 15 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Trimble parole
I'm still working on this. The OR shows a letter from Ft Warren that says Trimble left there on March 10, so we know the February date is wrong. I'll update the page when I'm sure. big_hal 02:22, 16 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Otelia Mahone
I found references to Otelia Mahone in the following newspapers. They might even have pictures:
 * Washington Post - June 2, 20, 21, 1907; Nov 14, 1911
 * Trenton Evening Times - June 21, 1907
 * New York Times - Nov 28, 1883; Sept 12, 1895
 * Atlanta Constitution - Sept 12, 1895
 * The Landmark (Statesville, NC) - Sept 13, 1895
 * Daily Independent (Kannapolis, NC) - Jul 10, 1955

You could probably get these papers on microfilm through interlibrary loan from libraries in the areas where the newspapers originated. --brian0918 &#153; 07:00, 16 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Trimble again
I decided to go with the Eicher parole date of 4/16/65. I found corroboration on this site: http://www.virtualology.com/davidtrimble/ although they oddly have it in an entry with his portrait, but his uncle's name.

Rodes
Another VA railroader bio for you to check: Robert E. Rodes big_hal 18:36, 18 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Argh! To my utter disbelief, the page is missing! I must have spent two hours on that guy and it's gone! Lesson: back up all work.

big_hal 23:18, 18 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Whew! Found I did have a backup file. big_hal 23:24, 18 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Rodes etc.
You wrote:


 * Is it helpful when I do the sectioning in these articles? Vaoverland 00:39, Feb 19, 2005 (UTC)

Doesn't hurt, but I don't do it myself unless an article's a lot longer than a page. I like to imagine reading a printed encyclopedia [although I haven't done so in years!] and style my articles after that. Also, I generally tend to edit the entire text in a separate editor, so having bite-size chunks is not an advantage. [I'm also not one of those obsessive "box" guys who want tables and boxes all over. I try to concentrate on the text itself.

BTW, you put that question on my User:Hlj page, not User_talk:Hlj.

big_hal 01:37, 19 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Amtrak
You might want to check out the Amtrak discussion page. --User:Boothy443 | comhrÚ 06:01, 21 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * N/p, Ill take a look.--User:Boothy443 | comhrÚ 08:01, 21 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Lost counties
Hi. I don't know what's going on with your lost counties article, but it's very odd. There are several sections that are duplicated multiple times, and you seem to be introducing more duplicate sections with each edit! Morwen - Talk 14:06, 23 Feb 2005 (UTC)

School bus yellow
I found the page where DYK candidates are submitted, Template_talk:Did_you_know, and submitted it since a) there were no other suggestions for that day, b) I wanted to get a feel for the process, if nothing else. I also found a couple more cats and an external link to add to the article. Niteowlneils 01:42, 26 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * I don't know if you noticed, but it did make in on the front page in the DYK section. Niteowlneils 23:09, 27 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Pioneer Zephyr
Hey, thanks for helping out with this article. I've added a few items into the todolist that I plan to research and add (I thought I had a CBQ timetable around here but I can't seem to find it right now), but if you've got the data already, all the better. This is starting to look like a good candidate for featured status. slambo 23:02, Feb 26, 2005 (UTC)


 * After what I've added this morning, I thought it looked good enough to nominate, so I've done so. slambo 17:32, Feb 27, 2005 (UTC)

Adminship
I'd like to add a request for you to be given administrator abilities, via Requests for adminship. Would you be alright with that? Admin abilities are listed at: Administrators' how-to guide. --brian0918 &#153; 05:46, 27 Feb 2005 (UTC)


 * Ok, I've created the request page at: Requests for adminship/Vaoverland.  You need to replace the text "Candidate please indicate acceptance of the nomination here" with an indication that you have accepted the nomination.  You also need to answer the 3 questions on the page.  Place your response after each A. They don't have to be long -- one liners are alright.  --brian0918 &#153;  06:22, 27 Feb 2005 (UTC)

I'm also running for adminship at: Requests for adminship/Brian0918. You're definitely on a better course for adminship than I currently am. :) <font color="#BA0000">brian0918 <font color="#BA0000">&#153; 00:46, 28 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Image:Alfred.jpg
Thank you for uploading Image:Alfred.jpg. Please leave a note on that page about the source of the image because of copyright law. Thank you. --Ellmist 06:26, 27 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Repeated bio, e-mail
Somehow your bio got repeated... also I would strongly recommend not posting your e-mail on Wikipedia. If members wish to contact you they can do so through the "E-mail this user." If you do wish to post it change the formatting so it cannot be lifted easily by a bot. Something like vgn700(at)aol(dot)com would be more secure. - RoyBoy 800 07:40, 27 Feb 2005 (UTC)

thanks. Vaoverland 08:48, Feb 27, 2005 (UTC)

Adminship, etc.
I'm kinda in the middle of creating a big table right now, so I'll respond to the rest later, but being an admin can involve as much or as little as you want. (FWIW I happened to notice your nomination a few hours ago, and already added my support.) I prefer 'housekeeping' to writing text, so doing more admin-ish things (such as monitoring the Category:Candidates for speedy deletion and deleting candidates that meet my very conservative deletion criteria) is a natural fit for me. I think there have only been one or two occasions where someone has contacted me for help out of the blue, just because I was an admin. There have also only been a few times that I've blocked someone, mostly because I do far more 'newpages' patrol than "RC patrol" ('recent changes' patrol), where vandalism is more noticeable. Some admins help by processing Votes_for_deletion entries, once the voting period is complete--I've only done it once, when it was quite backed up, as it's fairly onerous--since then there has seemed to be enuf people doing it to keep things more up-to-date. Frankly, in your case, I think you are far more valuable to Wikipedia as an editor/contributor than janitor, and while I certainly think you should have the admin powers for if and when they would make things more convenient for you, I would discourage you from spending much time seeking out places/ways to use them. Maybe spend 5% of your Wikipedia time doing recent changes patrol rolling back vandalism, if you feel like you should 'do something' with your admin powers once you have them, but it's really up to you. I have long believed Wikipedians should contribute in ways consistent with their interests and skills, rather than what they think they "should" be doing, as there seems to be enuf variety in people's interests that generally everything seems to work out. Niteowlneils 22:16, 27 Feb 2005 (UTC)

On the CL&N
Salve, Vaoverland! Thanks for your support on the FAC candidacy of my Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railroad article. The issue about a map was discussed when I had it on peer review and I agree a map would be nice but I don't have the technical know how to create one. I'm glad to see there's some understanding about the red-links. There are thousands upon thousands of roads out there and, as you say, Wikipedians just haven't gotten to them yet. A couple of the places I mention, e.g. Brecon, Ohio, I do need to create stubs for. Again, thanks for your suppport. Ave! PedanticallySpeaking 18:00, Feb 28, 2005 (UTC)

Adminship
If you feel I am deserving, I'd like to ask you to support my adminship at Requests for adminship/Brian0918. Thanks. --brian0918&#153; 18:54, 28 Feb 2005 (UTC)

DYK
<div class="boilerplate metadata" id="inuse" style="background: #cfc; border: 1px solid #aaa; margin: 0 2.5%; padding: 0 10px"> Did you know has been updated and a fact from the article school bus yellow, which you recently created, has been featured in that section on the Main Page. If you have another interesting fact to submit, then please suggest it at the section's talk page.

Pioneer Zephyr, etc
I've gone through and cleaned it up a bit, and provided my support. Extremely informative article! I think it would be alright for you to show support for the article, as long as you clarify that you contributed to it.



As for the Civil War, I only became interested in it after noticing the lack of articles, categories, campaignboxes, etc. The whole thing seemed in complete disarray, so I decided to read up and sort everything out. The Great Lakes Storm of 1913 article is the result of my genealogical research, from which I discovered that some distant relatives (2 step-great-great uncles) were on the Hydrus which disappeared during the storm (picture on the right). In that case, I checked out every book on the topic, collaborated through email with numerous individuals, searched through microfilm from all over Michigan (I'm in Ohio :)), and that was that.

My work on Wikipedia seems to be pretty random. I get extremely interested in a topic, read up on it, contribute all I can, and suddenly become interested in something else, and so on...

If you have any janitorial work, such as major categorizations, creation of templates for WikiProjects, application of templates, or finding public domain photos for articles, let me know. I'm still waiting to see what my next interest will be... -- <b style="color:#000000;">BRIAN</b> 0918  06:48, 1 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Sears Catalog Homes
I'll be able to go through the article later today and add links and do general cleanup. Can you pick out any interesting facts for Did You Know: any facts that would pull in someone with currently no interest in anything closely related to the topic. -- <b style="color:#000000;">BRIAN</b> 0918  14:11, 1 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * I did a little of that myself. Would you mind moving the trivia and most of the Sears history to the Sears article instead of this one only about the houses? Rmhermen 14:15, Mar 1, 2005 (UTC)
 * I would also draw your attention to this page. Any of the house drawings from the catalogs from before 1923 are public domain, so you can take your pick to illustrate the article. Rmhermen 14:23, Mar 1, 2005 (UTC)
 * I'll go through and add several pics and do the other work in a couple hours. -- <b style="color:#000000;">BRIAN</b> 0918  14:28, 1 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Thanks, both of you. I didn't write the Sears article, just this new one, so that helps explain why I had history and trivia which I agree go better in main article. When I started writing, I didn't realize how interesting the subject was and the depth of info I would find. I only knew that Hopewell (near me) had some, and they though a lot of them.

I agree with suggestions, and moved all of the trivia and a lot of the history to the main Sears article. The rest of the history is supportive to explain of why people would buy a house sight unseen from Sears. I put a condensed draft for DYK use on the talk page Talk:Sears Catalog Homes. I've been working about 8-10 hours on this article (I think, lose track of time), and I need to take a break. The pics look good. 115 was a very popular model, among many choices on the linked page. the color one might also fit well for WP. 3 or 4 images wouldn't be unreasoanble, since the message was variety, 447 models in all!! Your choice of images and better working for DYK is all good with me, Thanks again. Vaoverland 14:52, Mar 1, 2005 (UTC)


 * What other models besides the 115 do you think should have images on the page? -- <b style="color:#000000;">BRIAN</b> 0918  17:38, 1 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * Also, I'm wondering if this article should actually be moved to Sears Catalog Home, Sears Catalog House, or most likely Sears Roebuck House or Sears Roebuck Home (possibly with lower-case "catalog" and "home/house") Any ideas?  In any case, the term should be singular, unless Sears actually titled the division "Sears Catalog Homes".  -- <b style="color:#000000;">BRIAN</b> 0918   17:43, 1 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Great work
Just stopped by before supporting your adminship. Great work. On a side note: It seems you accidentially duplicated a section of your user page, lots of headings are there twice. Ok, now off to vote for your support. -- Chris 73 Talk 02:52, Mar 2, 2005 (UTC)

Beltway sniper attacks
Hi, Vaoverland. I see that you made a lot of corrections to the Beltway sniper attacks article. Unfortunately you added back in a fair number of problems that I had just fixed. I thought it would be a good idea if I explained them to you so you don't just go and undo them again.

First up, you restored capitalization to be Beltway Sniper. The name of the article shows the preferred capitalization, and consistency is a good thing.

Second, many of the wiki links you put back in are duplicates. We only need to link to an article once, not everytime the word is used, which makes reading more difficult.

You also added some other duplicate info. We don't need to see their ages multiple times, for example, and things mentioned in the lead do not need to be repeated.

When adding wiki links, it's a good idea to not place ones to nonexistent articles for which there is little likelihood or reason any article will ever be created. For example, Una James and Rupinder "Benny" Oberoi go nowhere, and following the logic given in most VfD actions, if such pages were created they would extremely likely end up being deleted or changed into a redirect for not being noteworthy. The same goes with having Legal Action Project and Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence be separate links. The only reason the first exists is I created it as a redirect to Brady Campaign. Those three would not have three separate articles. I think I'll make the second a redirect to the third and remove the wikilink on the first.

I'm going to go back and refix these things, and I hope I can count on you to leave the changes alone now that they are fully explained. DreamGuy 15:10, Mar 3, 2005 (UTC)


 * Got your response, thanks. The Bushmaster link I'm sure is a keeper, I also don't think I touched the Bull's Eye one either, though that one may be questionable. I see in the meantime you made a page for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which is good info and deserves to be somewhere. My only question is how to tie that in with Brady Campaign article, which already exists. I don't know if a merge is appropriate, but if not the two of those should refer to each other in some way.
 * I went in and already made my changes to the Beltway sniper attacks page that I mentioned above. At least I think I got them all, but you know how that goes. So if you went in and did tweaks now we shouldn't end up with an edit conflict. And like I said on my earlier edit today, you made good additions to the information there. DreamGuy 15:37, Mar 3, 2005 (UTC)
 * I went in and already made my changes to the Beltway sniper attacks page that I mentioned above. At least I think I got them all, but you know how that goes. So if you went in and did tweaks now we shouldn't end up with an edit conflict. And like I said on my earlier edit today, you made good additions to the information there. DreamGuy 15:37, Mar 3, 2005 (UTC)


 * Err, and the James Brady page is another one to consider. It mentions the Brady Center but under a slightly different name there with a red link. DreamGuy 15:39, Mar 3, 2005 (UTC)

Brady Campaign vs. Brady Center
The last line on that page (that you referred to on my talk page) makes it clear that they are separate entities, both of which changed their names a few different times. That actually makes sense now that I think of it, as the Campaign would be involved in political lobbying while the other could be tax-exempt, I believe. The Law Project one would be part of the non-campaigning one, as I understand it, and as you had it. OK, so, I haven't taken a look at the various Brady pages since I looked last, so you may have changed them already, but that contradicts info on the Brady Campaign page, which would need to be updated, and the redirect I set up earlier for the Law one was wrong. Then there'd be three pages that should link together in some way. I'd guess you're on top of this already, but since they'll all be on my watchlist I'll be swinging by and trying to catch anything you haven't already modified. 17:04, Mar 3, 2005 (UTC)


 * OK, I think I got the Brady Campaign one up to snuff so that it also links to the Brady Center but explains the difference. I really don't know much about it, obviously, so can;t add a whole lot. DreamGuy 18:05, Mar 3, 2005 (UTC)

DYK
<div class="boilerplate metadata" id="inuse" style="background: #cfc; border: 1px solid #aaa; margin: 0 2.5%; padding: 0 10px"> Did you know has been updated and a fact from the article Sears Catalog Homes, which you recently created, has been featured in that section on the Main Page. If you have another interesting fact to submit, then please suggest it at the section's talk page. Warofdreams 11:23, 4 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Congratulations!
Congratulations! It's my pleasure to let you know that, consensus being reached, you are now an administrator. You should read the relevant policies and other pages linked to from the administrators' reading list before carrying out tasks like deletion, protection, banning users, and editing protected pages such as the Main Page. Most of what you do is easily reversible by other sysops, apart from page history merges and image deletion, so please be especially careful with those. You might find the new administrators' how-to guide helpful. Hope your admin duties won't slow you down on your transportation editing! :) Cheers! -- Cecropia | explains it all ® 19:51, 6 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Adminship
No problem, you entirely deserve it. Keep up the good work. Smoddy (t) (e) 21:21, 6 Mar 2005 (UTC)


 * You're very welcome! Good luck with the janitorial keys,  -- R yan!  |  Talk  21:44, Mar 6, 2005 (UTC)

Congratulations; I'm sure you'll make a great administrator. Jayjg <sup style="color:darkgreen;">(talk) 02:46, 7 Mar 2005 (UTC)


 * Congrats from me too. I'm sure you'll do well. Grutness|hello? [[Image:Grutness.jpg|25px|]] 04:54, 7 Mar 2005 (UTC)


 * I'll second that! Thanks for the nice note on my talk page as well. - Lucky 6.9 05:43, 7 Mar 2005 (UTC).
 * Guess I'll third that now :) Congratulations -- Chris 73 Talk 07:45, Mar 7, 2005 (UTC)

Carl G. Fisher
I've added Carl G. Fisher to Template_talk:Did_you_know. This time there are several DYK candidates to chose from, so I guess we'll see. Niteowlneils 23:15, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * Yeah, I wasn't really thinking of it as a competition either, I just meant that, while School bus yellow was an almost sure thing to be chosen, given the lack of other suggestions at the time, since there are a number of articles for whoever next updates DYK to choose from, whether Mr. Fisher's article gets placed on the main page is less certain. Glad to hear you're finding your new admin tools handy--I, too, reverted vandalism a lot before I became an admin, but I agree having the Rollback feature available sure is a time-saver. Sounds like you are using your new abilities just as I had hoped--a convenience, not an obligation/chore/distraction. Niteowlneils 02:24, 10 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Welcome to Adminship
Salve, Vaoverland! Congrats on your election as an administrator. While I like to read the debates at WP:RFA, I don't often vote unless I've dealt with the candidate myself. Some of our frequent voters, e.g. User:Netoholic and User:CryptoDerk, like to really go in depth in the "user contributions" before casting their ballot, but I'm more anecdotal. I liked the intelligent statement you made when someone questioned the red-links in my Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railroad article so when I was browsing the RFA page and saw your name I examined your page. How could I fail to vote to support? (Just looking at your user page with its list of work you've done makes me wonder what I've been doing; it is staggeringly impressive next to my listhere). I've been an admin for four months now (see my candidacy here) and I bet I could count on my fingers the times I've used our special powers. I've deleted a couple of my own pages and one other (Bartlett's Familiar Quotations) that I was intending to replace wholesale with one moved from my in-progress pages, and. . . that's about it. I've never blocked anyone or protected a page, though I was tempted to impose a cooling-off period on this page (see the discussion here for why). Officially, being an admin is "no big deal" but I think it is because our fellows have vouchsafed for them. As there's only a few hundred out of thousands and thousands of users, it is nice to know others appreciate our work. Oh, I have a page of resources you might be interested in as an admin. It's here. Ave! PedanticallySpeaking 18:21, Mar 10, 2005 (UTC)

Callsign
I really don't believe that the "Trivia" section you added to North American call sign belongs there. The first item I believe to be adequately covered in the main discussion (if not please feel free to edit it in) and the second doesn't have anything to do with callsigns at all; it's a discussion of a controversial former FCC policy regarding spectrum allocation for TV stations, and probably belongs under Federal Communications Commission or somewhere nearby. 18.26.0.18 04:54, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Carl G. Fisher
Great article, but I should probably wait until Seattle, Washington has cleared, one way or the other, until nominating another. One comment--it seems a bit US-centric at the moment--AFAIK, sealed beam headlights were a standard at least throughout the western world, if not everywhere--I think the article should reflect that--this is a world-wide encyclopedia, not just a US one. Niteowlneils 17:21, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I did vote in favor of the article. Fisher was a significant figure, though not well known. The article is a good biography, IMO, though I would like to have seen more on his run-in with Henry Ford inter alia. Poor Fisher had the notion that the industry should build roads, as railroads do, but didn't see the potential to get Uncle Sugar to pay for it. -- Cecropia | explains it all ® 05:18, 21 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Image source
Thank you for uploading Image:Auto-Train Corp southbound at Richmond.jpg (which is a duplicate of Image:Auto-Train Corp southboard at Richmond.jpg). Its copyright status is unclear, so it may have to be deleted. Please leave a note on the image page about the source of the image. Thank you. --Ellmist 02:01, 18 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I believe this to meet criteria for fairuse. I have noted that on the image page. Thanks. Vaoverland 02:17, Mar 18, 2005 (UTC)

Please give a source for the image. If you believe that Wikipedia can use the image as fair use, please give a fair use rationale. Thank you. --Ellmist 02:21, 18 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Image:AutoTrain Caboose 93 at Acca Yd July1978 3791.jpg also does not have an image source. --Ellmist 02:25, 18 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I wrote and requested and have an email form the author granting permission. Is that sufficient? Vaoverland 02:59, Mar 18, 2005 (UTC)

Message box
Sure, if you're so inclined. It would be nice. Thanks! -- Cecropia | explains it all ® 05:21, 21 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * Looks good, works great! Thanks again. -- Cecropia | explains it all ® 06:14, 21 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Highway to Heaven
Salve, Mark! Good work on the Carl G. Fisher article. I did some minor editing and rephrasing, trying to reduce surplusage. I also posted a support vote and a few minor issues on its FAC page. Hope your nomination is a success. I have an article up as a FAC as well, The Western Star. PedanticallySpeaking 17:27, Mar 21, 2005 (UTC)

Amtrak routes
Hi Vaoverland, would you please take a peek at the controversy at WikiProject Trains/Strategy, I would appreciate your feedback on this - I'll be willing to go with whatever consensus emerges there. Cheers Fawcett5 21:15, 21 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Dixie Highway
Hmmm, I'm not seeing much online about the earlier highway to Montreal - this seems to be a minor footnote, probably not worth mentioning in Carl G. Fisher. Traffic to Montreal would split from the Dixie Highway in or before Detroit; the northern end at Sault Sainte Marie is far from Montreal. --SPUI (talk) 03:22, 22 Mar 2005 (UTC)

has some Collins Bridge photos - tag them flphoto. --SPUI (talk) 04:23, 22 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Image:Naturalbridge2.jpg
Thanks for uploading Image:Naturalbridge2.jpg. I notice it currently doesn't have an image copyright tag. Could you add one to let us know its copyright status? (You can use if you release it under the GFDL, or  if you claim fair use, etc.) If you don't know what any of this means, just let me know where you got the images and I'll tag them for you. Thanks so much, Tagishsimon (talk) 23:36, 22 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Seattle, etc.
Thank you for the note. I had made a similar effort (tho' less contentious) when San Jose, California was an FAC a few months ago, even tho' I lived there less than two months (altho' I've been in the general area about 5 years), so I figured I should be willing to do the same for my hometown. The somewhat conflicting objections were frustrating enuf that I stayed off of Wikipedia entirely for two days, but I was able to use the conflict to give Raul a reason to promote it despite not having all objections closed, so I guess it worked out. Re: Annotated Article. I don't know of any precedent for having pages that aren't in the main article space getting selected for FA status, but I guess it would be interesting to see what people think of the idea, since it is based on an actual article. Re: Dawson's Creek. I've mostly been working on things related to current FACs recently, but I still intend to gradually work on DC from time to time--I get bored working on the same thing for very long. Also, I have an idea of how the credits section should look to overcome the previous objections, but I need to find out a lot more about the people who currently have redlinks in the article before I can know which ones I would want to leave in the main article, and which ones I'd want to only mention in the subpage I intend to create. Niteowlneils 01:47, 24 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Mess-up on FAC page
Vao - two FAC project pages got conflated ("Collapse of WTC" and "The Giver"), but now it looks like my efforts to fix succeeded (should have checked after refreshing cache as you said). If you look at history you can trace the problem. Thx. JDG 09:02, 24 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Yeah I guess that mixup righted itself. I agree the refresh cache requirement of FAC is off-putting but it's probably made necessary by the unique sub-nomination pages... BTW congrats on the elevation of your Carl G. Fisher article. Richly deserved (smoooth writing and first rate photos perfectly placed). JDG

DYK
Thanks for your submissions to Did you know. Unfortunately, we don't have much room on the main page. Could you please shorten the items you submitted so they show the most interesting fact about the topic? This way I'll have enough room to featured some other items as well. Happy editing! Mgm|(talk) 23:21, Mar 25, 2005 (UTC)

Wikipedia meetup
Hey, I wanted to let you know that there's a Wikipedia meetup being planned which would meet in DC for a weekend in late April or early May and visit various musuems, etc. Check out: Meetup. There's also a Northern Virginian Wikipedia meetup group that would probably interest you. It meets in Fairfax, 2nd Monday of every month, 7pm. See http://wikipedia.meetup.com/28/. -- <b style="color:#000000;">BRIAN</b> 0918  03:43, 27 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Image source
Thank you for uploading Image:James-river-bridge.jpg. Its copyright status is unclear, so it may have to be deleted. Please leave a note on the image page about the source of the image. Thank you.--Aqua 06:49, Mar 27, 2005 (UTC)

Collins troubles
Mark:

Take a look at Collins Industries' Yahoo message board; seems they've been pulling some fast book-cooking. CFO and ops Dir. suddenly resigned. Wonder how long that will keep Collins and Mid Bus in business. Hmmmmm....... Maybe You'd like to buy a bus company?????

Collins
I need the exact name of the Collins Yahoo Group to read up on the previous message, or better yet, paste a url here. Thanks. Vaoverland 02:44, Mar 28, 2005 (UTC)

Congrads
I hear you made sysop, sorry i would have did congrads eariler, but i have been caught up in my own work. Well just figure i drop in and say whats up. --Boothy443 | comhrÚ 06:42, 28 Mar 2005 (UTC)

DYK
<div class="boilerplate metadata" id="inuse" style="background: #cfc; border: 1px solid #aaa; margin: 0 2.5%; padding: 0 10px"> Did you know has been updated and a fact from the article Anthony T. Rossi, which you recently created, has been featured in that section on the Main Page. If you have another interesting fact to submit, then please suggest it at the section's talk page.

<div class="boilerplate metadata" id="inuse" style="background: #cfc; border: 1px solid #aaa; margin: 0 2.5%; padding: 0 10px"> Did you know has been updated and a fact from the article John S. Collins, which you recently created, has been featured in that section on the Main Page. If you have another interesting fact to submit, then please suggest it at the section's talk page.

Apollo 8
I would appreciate it if you could take a gander at Apollo 8, and weigh in at Featured article candidates/Apollo 8. I am not asking for a blind support vote--if you see anything lacking, please mention it. It's just that Raul has promoted the much more recently nominated Kibbutz, despite outstanding objections (to its size), but left the voting open on Apollo 8, so I have to assume it's for lack of votes. User:Evil Monkey has continued to address my comments, even after I changed my vote from 'comment' to 'support', which to me indicates a motivation to make the article the best it can be, rather than simply to get an FA under his belt. Niteowlneils 14:12, 30 Mar 2005 (UTC)

As Grand Duke, my first point of order is...
...to ratify the Peanut Stand Treaty of Freedonia that resulted from the UnSALTed talks of 1933. slambo 14:29, Apr 1, 2005 (UTC)