NOW RECRUITING FOR THE AUSTRALIAN SEED TRAIN!
After the Success of the first Australian seed train (see http://thehotpepper.com/topic/63922-all-aboard-the-aussie-seed-train/)
we're back, and better than ever!
That's right folks, this time, we're going Perpetual!
What exactly does that mean?
It means that the train never* comes to a stop, and just keeps looping around and around, picking up new seed and dropping off old seed as it goes. Same goes for participants, if you want to join in, you hop on-board, and when you've had enough, you hop off. Easy!
The Route
The route will be constantly calculated and recalculated every time someone hops on or hops off to minimise the distance between stops.
For Example:
The current route is:
1. Melbourne
2. Perth.
3. Darwin
4. Brisbane
5. Sydney
6. Canberra
7. Repeat
But someone at Adelaide hops on, so the new route is
1. Melbourne
2. Adelaide
3. Perth
4. Darwin
and so on.
The somebody at Sydney wants to hop off, so it now becomes
1. Melbourne
.......
4. Darwin
5. Brisbane
6. Canberra
7. Melbourne
and so on.
When you hop on, you may be near the top of the route, or near the end, depending on
a) where you are and
b) where the package is
Say, for example, when Adelaide hops on, the package is at Perth. They then have to wait 7 stops. Alternatively, the package could be at Canberra, making their wait only 2 stops.
Make sense?
The Route will follow a rough circle, so that it ends relatively close to where it starts.*
If you have any questions, fire away!
Who Can Join?
Any Australian THP Member can hop on the train, as long as they meet these very basic requirements:
- Their Account is at least 3 months old
OR
- They have at least 50 posts.
So, if you are a new member, the longest you will possibly have to wait is only 3 months, unless you post and/or comment on topics here on THP.
How To Join?
Just comment on this thread, indicate that you'd like to take part, and provide your suburb
E.g. "Hey, I'd be interested in joining in the seed train because I have a few cool varieties to share, I'm in Portland, NSW."
Don't post your address here!
If you want to drop off the train, just say so in this thread, and the route will be updated without you in it. Easy!
A Few Rules
This is not an opportunity to get free seeds. To get some, you have to give some. If you have nothing to contribute, please don't hop on board expecting charity. There are plenty of members on here (and plenty of them in Australia) who are more than happy to donate you some seeds if you ask. There are also dozens of Facebook groups and the like that you can investigate.
Having said that, we don't want the package overflowing with seeds, so you do need to take some!
We also don't want it running empty, so don't take too much! Be considerate of the other participants when you take from the train!
It is a seed train, and this is a chilli pepper forum, so the majority of the train should be chilli pepper seeds, but a small amount of other seeds, or chilli products (e.g powders), is allowed. Do keep in mind that we are trying to minimise weight so that we can minimise postage costs.
Speaking of which, the package currently fits into a Small (or Medium?) AusPost Tough-bag satchel, and postage costs $7.95 between stops. If we can keep it that way, then that's great. If we need to go bigger - not so great.
So try to keep the package in equilibrium! Take out as much as you put in, and vica versa. This also applies to the type of seed you're adding; we don't want a package full of bell pepper seeds!
Labeling: At the very least, the name of the variety. At the most, the name, species, year harvested, your name, pollination (open or isolated), even a picture!
I think that should do for now, if there's anything else, I'll add it later. As I said, if you have questions, ask them! Please!
So, when do we start?
Before we can start, we need to establish a route, and for that, we need a few participants. I'd say at least 5-10 would be optimal, but we'll work with whatever we get. Once we have participants, the initial route will be calculated, and off we go! The package is already housing a wide range of seeds, and is rearing to go!
So, if you're interested and you meet the requirements, put your name down!
We'll sort out the rest when we get closer to launch.
All The Best, TBG, Coordinator.
dance: 
*if all runs smoothly, that is. (touch wood)
