Awards Page
Okay, there aren't any. Sites don't win awards unless they have lots of eye candy, Java scripts, and other
bandwidth-eaters. I'm more concerned with quick loading and 100% compatibility with all browsers.
But although my site hasn't won any awards, it has scored the following minor triumphs for me:
- The section called "How to Show Off Your Layout" (Trains => Advice page) was published (in improved form)
in the November 2001 Model Railroader magazine.
- The map called "Robber Baron" (Mike's Stuff => RR Tycoon II page) caught the eye of the makers of the computer
game Railroad Tycoon 2, and they included it in the game's Platinum Edition. They wanted to use the
"Monopolize" map as well, but I declined, fearing copyright troubles.
- My poem, "I Am the Very Model of a Modern N-Scale Modeler" (Trains => Humor page), caught the eye of the
publisher of N Scale Railroading magazine, and he printed it in the Nov/Dec 2002 issue.
- More than one model-railroad club has asked for (and gotten) permission to reprint parts of my
Trains => Advice page in their newsletters.
- Every December, somebody posts either the link or the full text of my Model Railroader's Night
Before Christmas (Trains => Humor page) in various model-railroading newsgroups.
- A chief warrant officer of the US Marine Corps has expressed in interest in using my wargame,
Gators!, for training exercises with his unit.
The first three items were accompanied by checks in the mail. The last one is the highest
compliment I can imagine for a game. So who needs awards?
About the Site
My little site has gained a presence on the web! The train trackplans page is quite well-known among N-scale model
railroaders; I get one or two e-mails a week from total strangers, thanking me for my designs or asking for advice
on how to build them. The home-made-wargames page is also gaining a following. Both have made it into the search
engines, although I never submitted them; they made it on word of mouth and sheer volume of hits.
The overall theme is, "All original, all downloadable, all free." Everything on my site is my own creation,
except for a couple of the graphics. Everything can be downloaded, and I don't charge a cent for any of it.
The thrill of knowing that people -- not just friends and family, but total strangers -- like my creations
enough to use them, is all I need in return. I like the idea of free stuff on the internet, and I'm doing my
part to maintain the supply.
How This Site Was Made
The architecture of this site is somewhat unique. Technically, there is no home page - you can access any of the
main pages from anywhere in the site. Also, the top-of-page menu system serves as its own site
map, since it shows you exactly where you are at all times. This is a bit of a pain for me to
maintain, but it makes the site flexible and easy to navigate. I used text instead of graphics
for the menus so it would load faster and be more accessible to those with visual handicaps.
I wrote the HTML for this site myself, using WordPad. Menu buttons, train trackplans and game graphics were
created in MS Paint and converted to GIF's with IrFanView. My MIDI files were sequenced with Anvil Studio.
In plain English, I didn't pay a penny for the software that created what you see and hear, and I didn't rob
anyone to do it.
No electrons were harmed during the testing of this site.
