Released on = February 14, 2007, 4:30 am

Press Release Author = SpottingWorld.com

Industry = Transportation & Logistics

Press Release Summary = St Valentine\'s Day, Wednesday, 14th February 2007. Train
Spotting World is the first of a family of special interest \"Fandoms\". It runs on
the same software as Wikipedia, from the Wikimedia Foundation, and allows members
and non members alike to create articles and reports about the global phenomenon of
train spotting and love of railways.

Press Release Body = The early articles are drawn from public domain sources around
the globe. Spotting World\'s founders, Bernd Heller and Tim Trent, have spent long
hours making careful selections of the initial set of articles, and there will be
several thousand already present by the end of Valentine's week.

Asked \"why Train Spotting?\", Heller said \"A huge number of people have this interest
worldwide, but there is nothing that caters for them in this way. Spotting World is
designed to give the enthusiast a place to share that enthusiasm with others, and
also to provide a wealth of information for anyone who drops in. It\'s a community,
run by the community.\"

Everything on Spotting World is, just like Wikipedia, released freely under the
terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, a true collaborative effort. But does
the Wikipedia look and feel worry the founders? Trent says not. \"Spotting World is
not an encyclopaedia,\" Trent said. \"Obviously we respect copyrights and decent
behaviour, but we don\'t have the bureaucracy of an encyclopaedia, nor the need for
rigorous citations and proofs. Spotting World articles have no particular need of a
formal, encyclopaedic tone, no need of neutrality, and may be wholly \'Original
Research\'. What we're providing is a virtual place for enthusiasts to share
enthusiasm. Of course there is a serious side, but we expect it to be fun and
light, too.\"

As the site says:

\"It\'s not an encyclopaedia. There are no heavy rules or processes except to respect
copyrights owned by others and to behave to others as you wish others to behave to
you.\"

\"It\'s what you make it to be. If you want to write reports of a great day at Grand
Central Station or at Clapham Junction, great. If you want to upload your pictures
of the Flying Scotsman, Mallard or the Golden Arrow great.\"


Web Site = http://train.spottingworld.com

Contact Details = Spotting World
30 Redditch
Bracknell
Berkshire
RG12 0TT
United Kingdom

+44 (0)7710 126618

press@spottingworld.com