Smokin' Award
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Criteria: do you have what it takes to win this award?

Winners: check out these smokin' sites!

Railroad Award Sites: other awards that you could win.

Hook & Eye: visit the railroad site sponsoring the Smokin' Award.

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The Awards
The Smokin' Award features #2082, an old ex-PRR (Pennsylvania Railroad) D16sb locomotive, from the Kishacoquillas Valley Railroad. See "Hook & Eye" on the left for more information. The award is 175 pixels wide by 76 pixels high and weighs between 6 and 7 kb. Winners can choose to have the award animate or not . See below for the points required for each level.
Do you think your site is smokin'? Does it have what it takes to win this award? Do you want to find out? Well first, your site must meet the following criteria.

Caution Signal Bullet Thou shalt have a railroad-related site. Be it a personal, commercial or model railroad site.

Caution Signal Bullet Thou shalt have at least ten pages of railroad-related content (excluding single photo pages, guestbook, links and introduction).

Caution Signal Bullet Thou shalt not submit a site mainly consisting of links to other websites or that is strictly forum based.

Caution Signal Bullet Thou shalt abide by copyright and trademark laws. Description

Caution Signal Bullet Thou shalt have a clearly marked privacy policy statement if you collect any personal information from a visitor other than name and email address.

Caution Signal Bullet Thou shalt have no more than two pop-up window ads on your site.

Caution Signal Bullet Thou shalt have no "Under Construction" signs or links to pages with no content.

Caution Signal Bullet Thou shalt not open an external site within your frameset.

Caution Signal Bullet Thou shalt not link graphics or other files from a non-local server (bandwidth stealing). Example

Caution Signal Bullet Thou shalt have a site written in the English language.

Caution Signal Bullet Thou shalt have a family-friendly site. Meaning NO hate, NO pornography and NO racist or violent content.

Caution Signal Bullet Thou shalt display the Smokin' Award if your site was a previous winner (for two months before applying).

Caution Signal Bullet Thou shalt be the webmaster or in some way be affiliated with the site being submitted.

Caution Signal Bullet Thou shalt be 13 years of age or older (see COPPA).


If your site meets the above criteria, congratulations, you are eligible to apply for the Smokin' Award! BUT, if you do, be prepared to have your site dissected, scrutinized and critiqued!

Your site will be graded on a point system. Depending on how many points your site receives will determine the award that it may win.

Bronze Lantern Bullet  70 - 80 points will receive a Bronze
Silver Lantern Bullet  81 - 90 points will receive a Silver
Gold Lantern Bullet  91 + points will receive a Gold

Below are the five main categories used in determining a grade. Click on a category for the breakdown of points. Carefully review the points under each category, for they will determine your score.

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Category        

Points

Content         40
Interface         20
Design         20
Usability         20
Smokin' Factor (Bonus)         5

Total
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105

Criteria last revised on 10/27/05

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The Smokin' Award is not a freebie or a handout; like all reputable awards it must be earned. If you are honored with this award your site will be proudly listed in the winners section. All that is asked in return, is that you display your award prominently on your site and to link it back to the Smokin' Award so that others can access this resource.

Continue to Points: Content

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