User:Trainsandotherthings

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This image was my first ever contribution to Wikipedia.

An endash, because I keep forgetting to use them

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–

About me

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My username is Trainsandotherthings, and I joined Wikipedia on July 22, 2021, but I've been a reader for years. My username reflects my areas of interest on Wikipedia - primarily articles related to trains, but plenty of other areas as well, depending on what interests me at the moment. I specialize in New England, especially Southern New England where I've lived most of my life, but I on occasion edit other train articles in the United States and Canada. Some of my favorite articles to work on are rail yards (I consider Cedar Hill Yard my very best work), former railroad companies largely forgotten, and current shortline/regional railroads. I consider my very-long-term goal to bring as many train related articles as possible to good article status, especially in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts.

I love Wikipedia because I strongly support its mission of making information more widely available, and how it allows such a wide variety of voices and perspectives to contribute. The truth is, Wikipedia is taken for granted by millions every day, but by comparison a very small number of people work to keep it going and expand its scope. There are issues with Wikipedia, sure, but nothing else comes close to making so much information widely accessible and (usually) truthful and verifiable.

View this page in Swedish Chef language: [1]

WP policy

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For the most part, I don't have hard and fast rules to describe my editing style. I do identify as a mergist, primarily because there are so many articles out there on subjects which barely meet notability and have so few sources that they can never expand past a stub. In my opinion, such subjects should be merged together into more comprehensive articles, which better serve the reader by providing more context. I suppose you could say I lean towards deletionism, though I wish to pursue alternatives to deletion when reasonable.

I have not used, and will never use, large language models or any other form of AI in my editing in any capacity. Everything I write is 100% human generated. AI (and those who misuse it, which is most of the people who use it) is a threat to Wikipedia's integrity and should be treated as such. It has the potential to flood the website with garbage at a rate exponentially higher than anything we've ever dealt with before. Ensuring articles are verifiable is paramount to combat AI hallucinations and misinformation.

Pending changes backlog
(review log)

Level 5

Very low backlog

[view • purge • update]

0 pages according to DatBot 16:30, 9 February 2025 (UTC)

Subpages

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User:Trainsandotherthings/Guestbook My guestbook.

User:Trainsandotherthings/sources Holding area for references I am using or plan to use.

User:Trainsandotherthings/Train Editing Toolbox This is a reference for myself, but anyone is welcome to refer to it. Much of this is just my personal practice and does not necessarily reflect Wikipedia policy.

User:Trainsandotherthings/The problem with galleries User essay I wrote about my issues with the use of galleries on Wikipedia.

User:Trainsandotherthings/Tables and citations Turns out tables require citations. I'm not sure why people think otherwise.

User:Trainsandotherthings/Whistle-stop tour Because all the cool editors have soapboxes nowadays.

User:Trainsandotherthings/The Earth Test A short essay I wrote about article length.

User:Trainsandotherthings/Work Full listing of my content work.

Wall of Userboxes

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This user is a participant in the Trains WikiProject .	This user is a fan of Arcade Fire .	SSPU This user is waiting and fading and floating away	IWTF This user is skeptical of MBTI , regarding it as pseudoscience.	mer This editor is a mergist .
This user lives in the U.S. State of Connecticut .	gtr-2 This user is an intermediate guitarist .	In Flames This user is a fan of the band In Flames.	<ref> This user would like to see everyone using inline citations . Please...	A giant panda. This user claims sovereignty of Marie Byrd Land.
WikiProject Connecticut This user participates in WikiProject Connecticut.	This user is an atheist, but believes Pastafarianism is the most humorous religion he doesn't believe in.	C:S This user thinks that the slope is too steep.	D:< Nothing annoys this user more than when a teacher says that Wikipedia isn't reliable and that anybody can enter anything completely untrue that'll stay.	N I И This user is a Nine Inch Nails fan.
en-us -N This user is a native speaker of American English .	Dieser Benutzer ist ein Fan von Rammstein .	KSP This user has made it to orbit in Kerbal Space Program! Probably crashed soon after..	This user thinks you can learn a lot by editing an Encyclopedia .	This user believes that many articles on Wikipedia are poorly written and NEED fixing.
This user is a member of the endangered WikiPuma species. Approach with caution and professional grammar.	This user likes alternative rock .	CIV This user loves to play Civilization .	This user knows that his user page is a mess, and likes it that way.	This user is straight but not narrow.
Like Winston Churchill , this user is in good health because they don't practice any sport.	Help! I'm suffering from extreme userbox overload .	This user is interested in tanks .	{{!!!}} This user over-uses userboxes.	♂ This contributor to Wikipedia is male .
Weird Al Yankovic This user is both White & Nerdy	C₂H₅OH-0 This user is a non-drinker .	exclude This user is a Wikipedia exclusionist .	+1 This user has made more than one edit. What now?!?!	This editor is single-handedly attempting to save Wikipedia .
BS This user has a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering .	UH This user attends or attended the University of Hartford .	This user is a civil engineer .	This user has Asperger's .	This user prefers the topping-free purity of cheese pizza .
This user believes that New Haven-style pizza is the best in the world!	BLOCK This user is not blocked from editing Wikipedia, but would like to be some day.	This user is only happy when it rains.	This user is a member of WikiProject Military history .	la-1 Hic usor simplici latinitate contribuere potest.
This user eats bagels .	This user likes to use the thank button.	This user has successfully nominated 2 featured articles for deletion on Wikipedia.	This user wants to save the whales.	This user thinks the rent is too damn high !
This user is a former resident of the U.S. State of Rhode Island .	This user received the Editor of the Week award for the week beginning January 29, 2022.	This user is a railfan .	This user lives in New England.

People who think I'm cool

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The Special Barnstar

Thank you for creating Erie and Ontario Railway. Clovermoss (talk) 19:49, 7 September 2021 (UTC)

The Railway Barnstar

Thank you for all your work on trains, railways and other related articles such as Railroads in New England, Erie and Ontario Railway, New Haven and Derby Railroad and congratulations on your GA and DYK of Cedar Hill Yard! — Berrely • ^Talk∕_Contribs 17:55, 1 October 2021 (UTC)

The Copyright Cleanup Barnstar

Thank you for helping out at CCI. Your help is greatly appreciated, especially as you been tackling an old and long CCI as your first case! Keep up the good work :) MrLinkinPark333 (talk) 02:49, 9 October 2021 (UTC)

The bahn star award

You still hadn't received one of these yourself, so here you go: #A railway barnstar :) but in German! ~~~~

User:1234qwer1234qwer4 (talk) 10:00, 12 October 2021 (UTC)

The Citation Barnstar

Nice work on the references for the Milford-Bennington Railroad article! Whiteguru (talk) 07:59, 22 October 2021 (UTC)

The Nuclear Barnstar

For your creation of Railcar-launched ICBM, I award you this barnstar to recognize your dedication and contribution to Wikipedia's coverage of nuclear warfare. Display this with pride... just in a lead-lined case. –♠Vami _IV†♠ 15:13, 26 October 2021 (UTC)

Some stroopwafels for you!

For some extra energy while you keep hacking away at train - great work :) MSG17 (talk) 21:19, 6 November 2021 (UTC)

The Socratic Barnstar

Taking a featured article to AfD is no easy task, especially when it's already survived once before. Props for successfully persuading others to upmerge to a more encyclopedic level! {{u|Sdkb }} ^talk 00:34, 8 November 2021 (UTC)

trains and other things

Thank you for quality articles around trains, such as Boston, Barre and Gardner Railroad, Railroads in New England, New Haven and Northampton Railroad and Cedar Hill Yard, and for other things such as Erdowie, Erdowo, Erdogan, writing in teamwork, for encouraging merges, for - you are an awesome Wikipedian!

You are recipient no. 2669 of Precious, a prize of QAI. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 13:05, 16 November 2021 (UTC)

The Purple Star The Purple Star

Just spreading a little kindness and purple is one of my favorite colors so it seemed appropriate. Thank you for all your many contributions, whether they are great or small. Every one of them matter. Please accept this barnstar as a symbol of peace, wikilove and true gratefulness. ARose Wolf 21:43, 30 November 2021 (UTC)

The Baseball Barnstar

Thank you so much for your GA review of Ronald Torreyes! I know that it can be difficult reviewing articles that aren't exactly in your wheelhouse, especially ones that have been sitting in the slush pile for a while, so I commend you for taking it on. And I'll finish my FAC review tonight! — Ghost River 18:19, 8 December 2021 (UTC)

bonus points

well done for reviewing that really long article! DirkJandeGeer (щи) 19:28, 5 January 2022 (UTC)

The Original Barnstar

I really appreciated your opinions and ideas. Thanks for making your voice be heard. Rlink2 (talk) 15:49, 25 January 2022 (UTC)

The Quarter Million Award

For your contributions to bring Train (estimated annual readership: 455,000) to Good Article status, I hereby present you the Quarter Million Award. Congratulations on this rare accomplishment, and thanks for all you do for Wikipedia's readers! {{u|Sdkb }} ^talk 18:35, 26 January 2022 (UTC)

My Book Collection

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I have a number of books on the subject of railroading, mostly focused in the New England area. If you think I might have a book that could help an article with references, feel free to let me know on my talk page. Here is a partial list, which I also keep to help me add citations to articles because I'm too lazy to type out the ISBN each and every time:

Vintage Diesel Locomotives, by Mike Schafer ISBN: 0760305072
Railway Maintenance, by Brian Solomon ISBN: 0760309752
Diesel Locomotives: The First 50 Years, by Louis A. Marre ISBN: 0890242585
American Shortline Railway Guide, by Edward A. Lewis ISBN: 0890242909
Field Guide to Modern Diesel Locomotives, by Greg McDonnell ISBN: 0890246076
Streamliners: History of a Railroad Icon, by Mike Schafer and Joe Welsh
Train Wrecks, by Robert C. Reed
Freight Train Cars, by Mike Schafer with Mike McBride
The Great Railroads of North America, by Bill Yenne
Atlas of North American Railroads, by Bill Yenne
CSX, by Brian Solomon
The History of North American Steam, by Christopher Chant
Railroads: The Great American Adventure, by Charlton Ogburn
Passenger Trains of Northern New England In The Streamline Era, by Kevin J. Holland
The Rail Lines of Southern New England, by Ronald Dale Karr ISBN: 0942147022
The Art of the Streamliner, by Bob Johnston and Joe Welsh with Mike Schafer
Giants of the Rails: Accurate Drawings in Full Color and Descriptions of Modern Locomotives of Every Type on the Major Railroads of the U.S.A., by S. Kip Farrington Jr. (this book is from 1944!)
Railroads of Rhode Island, by Frank Heppner
The Blackstone Valley Line: The Story of the Blackstone Canal Company and the Providence & Worcester Railroad, by Edward A. Lewis
Two Tickets on the Wood River Train: The Life and Times of the Wood River Branch Railroad 1872-1947, by J.B. Kennedy
Just about every issue of Trains Magazine going back to 2010

What other editors have to say about me

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As of November 16, 2021, I have been the subject of 1 ANI thread.

"What are you a Wikipedia police officer?"

"Your crazy, this all doesn’t need sources. No matter how many times you remove all this, it’s gonna freaking stay here no matter what! Now stop touching this article and leave it alone!!!!"

"Can an editor personally enter bias into an article?, because that is what Trainsandotherthings has done."

"Busybody deleter."

"Deleted a page I found as a red link while I was having dinner and coming back to it."

"With people wanting the page to be deleted with their illogical points espacially User:Whpq and User:Trainsandotherthings who see deletion of these pages as the only solution."

"As I have said, given his appalling attitude and obvious superiority complex, I have no desire to have any further contact with Trainsandotherthings."

"I am requesting investigation into the dilettante cabal (User:Jpgordon, User:Diannaa, User:Sphilbrick, User:Trainsandotherthings, and User:Ravenswing) for harassment (including bullying, intimidation, talk-page spamming, false accusations, mis-gendering, and unwarranted destruction of good faith edits and contributions totaling hundreds of hours of work) and abuse of power culminating in the suspension of my account without due process."

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