Llangollen Railway

Presumably the plc website and domain name was paid yearly upfront and may expire sometime if the next payment is not made.
It's possible the administrators may allow the domain name to be transferred to the trust's new website, which does not need to be swish, the important details are timetable, costs and contact info. Then electronic tickets and billing can be added at a future date.

 

Why assume when you can look it up? - at least the registration (which expires 29/3/2027).

 

I'd suggest that the old website is doing actual harm to the railway at the moment, as it's now unmanaged and contains unhelpful, out of date information (particularly, 'we are running no trains for the foreseeable future'), and has a security warning because the certificate is out of date. Googling 'Llangollen Railway' brings up the old website as the top result with the text 'the railway is currently closed'… not good.

I assume (literal guess, so feel free to contradict if you know different, and I'll delete) that the receivers are treating the site and its domain as a saleable asset, so would be reluctant to release it unless there's a way to get some money from it.

I am a bit surprised that anyone would try to build a new website to release at a new domain, rather than move heaven and earth to get hold of the old one. Website domains are persistent and valuable, but the value is still predominantly in the context of their primary use – in this case a heritage railway in Wales. They do have financial value to spammers and squatters and the like who sell ads off the back of domains, but I can't believe the returns are significant in comparison to the value they present to the 'new' Llangollen Railway.

Does anyone know if all possible avenues have been tried with regard to taking over the old site/domain? If so, presumably they're a bit stuffed, but if not, I'd definitely recommend going that route than building something new.

Simon

 

Bit surprised that the builders of the original website didnt keep a copy of the site code or a mirror copy on a different server which could be accessed.

Going forward I would suggest keeping a copy of the code in an escrow account.

 

The code is pretty much disposable though, where the domain isn’t. And frankly a lot of the site is probably out of date now anyway.

Simon

 

I believe link popularity* is still an important factor in search engine rankings, so every effort should be made to maintain continuity regarding website address.

* Link popularity is where a search engine counts how many times it finds your website address linked from other websites. The theory being that the more other webmasters (who are assumed to have some expertise in whatever the subject of the website is) consider your site worth linking to, then the higher it should show in search results.

 

Someone should be telling the receivers that the domain has negligible value to anyone else, making a modest offer to buy it and, if the receivers are not at present disposed to sell it, requesting that the website be updated to a single page with a correct summary of the current situation instead of information that misleads the public.

 

seems sensible
Good to see on Facebook and the webcam steam is now working.

 

Sad news on the official Llangollen Facebook page:

 

Ye gods! Surely CCTV cameras have to be cheaper than rectifying the attentions of these mindless cretins?

Is there not some form of coating, lacquer or varnish which renders unwanted paint jobs readily removable?

 

Ask any old time copper. A brake van made comfortable for a man and large and vociferous dog. Add a mobile with good imaging and there is your security sorted!!

 

FFS

We had a similar attack at CVR - thanks to a good bit of elbow grease we managed to get the worst of it off fairly quickly but even so, this we can all do without.

 

Just look what happened to the teak set based on the NYMR..... The cuprits were aprehended and had their medal prsentation in court, trotting out all the usual excuses like, i.e. "we thought they were abandoned! We're terribly sorry..... We come from a broken home.....etc." Yes indeed the Buffet had been abandoned with a kitchen full of food................

 

CCTV is only really effective if there is someone watching a screen as the perpetrators are on site. Recorded images are of limited value as these cretins are usually masked to avoid being identified. Strong local publicity of the crime might be the best way of getting the local population to assist in identifying them. Having said that, even when culprits are caught the punishments are usually pathetic.

 

Can but whole heartedly agree. As I highlighted with their counter parts visit on the NYMR and their day in court we had the usual sob story etc. And in turn they got a collective slap on the wrist and don't do it again. The unfortunate thing these days many look on a Day out in court as a "medal/badge of honour" sort of event.

 

True, although incorporating movement sensors and phone alerts is perfectly practical. Unfortunately, provision of an automated "release the hounds" feature is liable to fall foul of the courts and any device physically restricting the range of any such hounds to anger animal welfare types. How practical (or legal) an option something along these lines may be, I'd not care to speculate:
https://www.predatorpeestore.com/Skunk-Um_moreinfo.html

Though far from ideal, I suspect measures to mitigate the effects remain the most useful.

I've personal experience of police attitudes to CCTV image capture. Sussex plod would appear unsatisfied with much short of an entrant in the Oscars 'Best Cinematography' category. How that squares with the official rationale for such tech would be interesting to learn.

 

I should like to see their aerosols shoved up a part of their anatomy that sounds very similar!