The following is some information which could be helpful to members who are unfamiliar with coupons trains and their purpose. These guidelines are not set in stone, they're just a basic overview of how a coupon train can run and some tips to try and make it run more smoothly. The path that a coupon train takes will be the decision of the Conductor/Members of that particular train. ENJOY YOUR RIDE!
COUPON TRAIN OVERVIEW
A COUPON TRAIN IS A FUN WAY TO GET YOUR UNWANTED COUPONS USED AND GET SOME COUPONS YOU CAN USE.
It is led by a leader (Conductor) and consists of a group of people (Passengers) exchanging coupons. Person #1 fills an envelope with coupons and sends it to person #2. Person #2 will take the coupons they need out of the envelope, add some new ones, and all the unused coupons will be put in an envelope and sent to person #3 and so on down the line. Once a train gets back to person #1, the process continues down the line again.
A Conductor will post on the message board that they wish to put a train together and will look for passengers. Once the Conductor gets the group together, they will decide the order in which the mailings will begin. The Conductor also sets the ground rules such as:
*Criteria for being able to join a train (whether a person must send out a sample train to the Conductor or whether they must have a certain number of posts in GFL.)
*How many passengers are allowed on the train.
*What type of coupons are included in the train and whether the train is only for specific coupons (ie. baby/childrens coupons only.)
*Make sure that the passengers are aware of who they receive and send the train to.
*Whether multiple copies of coupons are allowed and how many.
*How many coupons should be included in the train you mail out (or aproximately how much it should cost.)
*The turnaround time (how long from when you receive a train it must be mailed from the post office to the next passenger.)
*Making sure the passengers post when they recieve and mail the train so everyone is aware of where the train is.
*Action taken if a train is derailed (a person does not send the envelope to the next person.)
*If conductors need to close or split off a thread they should PM a moderator.
SECURITY
Exercise caution when joining a coupon train. You might not wish to send your real name and address to a conductor you are unfamiliar with. Use only your screen name on the message board and please do not post your name and address. Exchange confidential information such and name and addresses via PM or email only. Some people may wish to have the envelope addressed in their screen name only and not use their real name. Be Aware and if you have any security concerns at all, please notify your Conductor immediately.
TIPS
*Be courteous to the next person on the line and leave some good coupons for them in the envelope, be fair in trading.
*Try and find out what type of coupons the person you mail to is looking for so you can include them in your mailout if possible.
*Remove expired or soon to be expired coupons from the envelope. Your conductor should be able to let you know how much prior to expiry they should be removed.
*Identify on the envelope which train you are mailing (eg. Western Canada Baby Train) so the person you are mailing to knows who has sent it and who they should mail it to. Some people belong to many trains so it would really help if they knew who sent it.
*If the train is a miscellaneous one, include a good variety of coupons.
*Let your conductor know if the mailout will be late.
*Once the Conductor has a full train, they should edit the title of their post and put (FULL) in it. Also, if they are still looking for passengers, they can include something like ( 2 PASSENGERS REQUIRED) in their title.
These are only general guidelines to try and make your train ride more enjoyable and run more smoothly.
Happy Couponing and Enjoy Saving Money! CHOO CHOO!!!!
Please note that the mods will not have much of presence in this subforum.
The conductor is free to run their train as they see fit as long as it's within reason and kept within the spirit of sharing. None of the above guidelines will be enforced in any way whatsoever.
As usual, the staff of Goldfishlegs.ca will note get involved in any disputes concerning the "derailing" of a train (i.e. someone keeping all the coupons and not sending it out) or any other dispute we haven't thought of yet. 
As always, any posts that break the "Rules of the Bowl" should be reported to the mods via the "Innappropriate Post?" link. This is especially important in this subforum because it will not be actively monitored by the moderators.
Choo-choo.
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These are just brief comments/guidelines to try and help the people who've never been on a train and don't know what one is. Maybe they can help also in smoother running of a train, I'm not sure. I'll edit and mention that these are not specific rules that trains have to be run by and are not set in stone. 
