I need your help!

So here's the good news: we're almost ready to update the bad and outdated photo and video links on the PNAERC list. Webmaster Jeff hasn't yet been able to code the media links section so that we can update them as we go along, like we can with the other data. As such, the plan is just to upload a large spreadsheet file - with all of the new and replacement links - directly to the database backend. This will update all of the records at once and should fix most or all of our old or broken links.

And that's where you come in! I need as much help as I can get to add better and newer media files - both photos and video - to the database. The best way is to e-mail me the links* at fullparallel (at) wideopenwest.com. There are a few suggested guidelines:

PHOTOS
First off, you do NOT need to e-mail me repairs to links that are already in the database. A lot of the links (notably the ones to Dave's Rail Pix) have changed, but I've already caught all of those. What I'm looking for are better or newer photos of the cars on the list, in cases where photos currently on the list are poor or out-of-date. If there's a car that has been repainted (or, conversely, deteriorated significantly) since the photos currently in use, I want a photo of the car as it appears now. Or if the photo linked from the database isn't very good, I'd love to find a better one. One important rule I use: for the time being, at least, I am not looking for in-service photos. I'm really only looking for photos of cars on the list after they entered preservation (or, in cases where they're arguably not preserved, photos of them showing their current use).

*All photos used in the database need to be online. We will be linking to where they're currently hosted, so you don't need to e-mail me the photo, only the link. However if you have your own photo of a car that's better or newer than anything currently online, e-mail it to me and I can host it on this blog (credited, of course). Please no files more than 1 MB apiece. Thanks!

VIDEOS
The same goes with the photos, that I'm looking for videos that are better and more updated. For the most part I'm trying to limit the host to YouTube, as it is pretty consistent and doesn't seem like it's going anywhere for a while. But with videos, I really make an effort to only show a single car. This video of ConnCo 1160 has been edited to show only that car; that's good. This video, while very interesting, is not what I'm looking for - it shows a variety of cars in operation. Of course, there are times when a solo appearance isn't possible. In those cases, I'm looking for videos where the car being highlighted can be easily identified. This video is okay for Chicago Rapid Transit 1268 because it's leading, can be identified by number if you look closely, and hey, it's a trailer - it's not making any one-car trips down IRM's railroad. And a video doesn't need to show the car in operation; this video showing the curve-sider plinthed in the Cincinnati History Museum is quite good, if a little quirky. Finally, the video should show the outside of the car. There are a lot of "a ride on car 123" videos on YouTube and I'm not looking for those because they may show the track very nicely but I'm looking for images of the car.