The key point is that a wiki is reader- or member-contributed. (Not
sure etymology of "wiki".) Wikipedia is a large project, an
encyclopedia consisting of wikis on many topics. There are also wikis
outside Wikipedia. The *up*side of wikis is that they can collect
information rapidly from a wide variety of sources, whom the
organizers needn't seek out. Their archives are easily searchable. The
*criticism* of wikis is of their quality control; at best, they're
refereed less rigorously than professional journals. Note that BNSF's
northern route through Flathead and Cascade Tunnels is said, if I
understand the article, to have been built by the Northern Pacific.
For the administrator, maintaining the cross-links and graphics in
working order is difficult and exacting, at least for a friend of mine
who does it. One can readily imagine a freight-car wiki, together with
its advantages and disadvantages. Whether there should be one, I guess
depends on whether someone wants to run it. I don't, and lack the
computer skill anyway.

Al Brown, Melbourne, Fla.


--- In STMFC@..., "Dave Nelson" <muskoka@...> wrote:

Martin McGuirk wrote:

I know even less -- let me start with "What's a Wiki?????"

Here is one example on the BNSF:
<<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BNSF_Railway>>

And a different one (chosen at random) on the C&EI

<<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_and_Eastern_Illinois_Railroad>>

Dave Nelson