CTT ARTICLES

[Anonymous]

To Ogaugeoverlord; (and his staff)

You guys MUST hire Brianel! This guy's great! He could be your
next staff writer! I mean this sincerely! He is able to vocalize the
majority of the operators' feelings here in a balanced, easy-to-
digest manner! Listen to him! You won't be sorry!

[cheapclassics]

Brianel,

Please do not take offense at what I said. I am on your side of the fence here. Most of my stuff is O-27, and I must admit I have some self-interest in seeing more O-27 articles. Sometimes I just relay what appears to be happening from my standpoint. I, like yourself, may not like what is going on, but I have to tread a little carefully here.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[brianel027]

Mike C., I took no offense at what you or the others said. But I did feel it was important to make what I believe is an extremely important clarification.

I am not at all convinced that the sole future of the hobby is with full scale and command types of trains. Again, I would have to see sales figures. But I wouldn't be surprised if they bear out what I already suspect. There's a lot of talk of the future of trains even being more hi-tech. But that won't grow the hobby or even help it until the technology is A) affordable B) simple to use and set up C) reliable. And right now in my opinion it is none of those things. It's is expensive, not simple to use for a novice and exceptionally prone to failure and unreliable. The many many complaints on failed product bear me out completely. A train engine being returned to whoever isn't much fun for a kid who just got his first train set. It's probably not much fun for the adult who has just got his 43rd train engine either.

The electronics should be something a modeler can easily grow into. Engines that allow the components to be easily plugged in by the owner as their interest in the hobby grows. As will their willingness to devote more discretionary income into trains once they are interested. That doesn't mean though that they'll come to accept spending $600 on a train engine.

I buy a lot of trains, but I will NEVER spend $600 on a train engine, or any amount of money even close to that on one thing. Even though there are modelers who do willingly spend that amount of money on one thing, there are many more who feel as I do.

The train companies are in a battle of trying to out do - and more importantly - outlast the others. Part of this will hinge on sales. But much will come from internal operation, investors, financing, debt, capital investment, owners, etc... things we train buyers often know about.

Overall sales may be up some, but the real battle involves one company taking away more sales from the other company. MTH has a well known grudge against Lionel. K-Line made the statement they wanted to be the number one company. I doubt Lionel plans a new motto which reads "We're happy to be number 3." And I haven't even mentioned Sunset, Atlas, Williams and Weaver - they're in this too.

This competition to outdo certainly helps account for why there is so much duplication of products and innovations. MTH was once leading the way, while others were looking to catch up. MTH had RealTrax. Now Lionel has FasTrack. Atlas 0 is still better, but you think Lionel and MTH will admit that???? Lionel had their new Milk Cars a year or two ago. Now the others have their. Lionel introduced the hidden coupler tab. K-Line has one now. And I could go on and on...

Chrysler Motor Co. has had the right idea... introduce new vehicles that are new, innovative, exciting BUT practical and affordably aimed squarely at the masses. The Chrysler minivan for a prime example of that.

The new scale features-loaded train product naturally generates the most excitement and press - because it's new! And in all honestly, some of the stuff is pretty darn impressive. The Lionel 4-4-2 starter steam engine isn't new. It's not real exciting or cutting edge. But it helps introduce the hobby to far far more people than any scale prototypically accurate offering. And it works and runs well. I bet that 4-4-2 probably outsells them all too. BUT there's no prestige in it either. So you won't see it on the cover of the next Lionel catalog, even though it should probably be there. Same could be said for the K-Line MP-15.

Why you ask? Because the future of Lionel (and the whole hobby) is as much about hi-tech scale innovation as it is about bringing kids into the hobby. And having a selection of product that appeals to a broad-base of modelers. Which means quality and affordable prices much more than electronics and prototypical detail.

The plain Jane 4-4-2 Lionel starter steam engine is every bit (if not more) important as any top line offering.

[Anonymous]

BRIANEL

Dave V is right on the money. CTT needs to run Viagra adds to increase the advertising revenue so they'll have the space for those CLASSIC toy train articles for all the old farts that have them,

Alan (LioNelson)

[Anonymous]

I have a Lionel 4-4-2.... they even offer it with Railsounds in some sets. I think I'm in the same ballpark with you, I have never spent more than 250 on a loco. I don't even bother reading reviews for the expensive stuff anymore.

All good arguments there, and if you're running for office, you have my vote, you can represent me!

Now if Lionel will just ship my 027 L&N Berkshire.....

[Anonymous]

I think that AlanHN needs to apologize to people here! That comment is not needed!
I have some those "classic" trains and I'm only 22! I don't need Viagra! You have a very bad opinion of some people in this hobby! This and greed by the train companies is why the hobby is dying! You sound like some of those people I read over in another train forum. They don't like "classic" or "toy" trains either.

[Anonymous]

Whoa! I have to stand with 'Pease' on this one! This should be a place for
trains, train information, and train opinion. NOT a place for name-calling
or smart-aleck remarks! This is one of the reasons why so many have left
other boards to come here. We should all try to get along and enjoy our
trains, no matter what kind they are.

By the way...SOME of us "old farts" can , and STILL do MORE in one DAY than
most do in one WEEK! So take the nastiness somewhere else.

Say "I'm sorry." and go stand in the corner for 10 minutes.

[cheapclassics]

I think we may have touched on a dilemma facing the magazine people. They can only write about what is new, different, new spins on old material, or new discoveries about older trains. Yes, the Lionel 4-4-2 is very popular in starter sets, but how many new articles can be generated about (although I do have an idea for a version of its 2-4-2 predecessor). Early in the history of CTT, there was a very fine set of articles on the 6464 series. Recently there was one on scarce variations. How much more can be done? I do not know. As with many others, I do enjoy reading about areas which I do not collect, such as Flyer and clockwork trains. All toy trains are fascinating, and I do not envy the editors of either magazine.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[Anonymous]

I, too, would like to see more articles about prewar trains.... especially, the restoration of them.

Often, you will see "restored to like-new" on the auction web sites. And, the photos appear to be professionally done.

Just who are the best "restorers" of pre and postwar trains, and what methods do they use... or, which methods are the best... i.e paint, decaling, engine tune up... etc. etc.

Yes!!! More articles on the above.

I'd also like to know more of the history of the model railroad items that have been manufactured. For instance, I've been trying to find out when Lionel's 027 track was first introduced... and, if there have been various modifications to it over the years. But, I haven't been successful. One resource stated it was introduced in the early 1900's... but that's all I could find... even though this track system is still widely used.

Is there a good website that gives the history (size, when it was made, who made it, when/if it was modified or improved... etc. etc.) of the various types of track systems made?

Thanks for any information you can give me.

Alan-H

[brianel027]

Well I have another idea for an off-shoot story on 6464 box cars. I'd love to know about the "real" versions, when they were run, why they were done and when did they stop being used. For example, the B&O TimeSaver and the B&O Sentinal box cars? I know nothing on those, but would like to... and how accurately did Lionel reproduce their versions. I've seen Pacemaker model box cars with all red doors, red and grey doors, variations in the lettering, but I don't know if the NYC actaually had all those variations.

I know the NYC Pacemaker was often run in unit trains. I've also found out that the "Early Bird" scheme came next... I thought it came first.

I found out that the Reading's slogan "Bee Line Service" was part of a promotion and guarantee to customers that cars would be brought in and out in a set specified amount of time.

Every model train company seems to offer blue Conrail box cars. Truth is, Conrail had one and only one done as a test. There were far many more Conrail box cars done in Penn Central green, though you'd never know it from the manufacturer's offerings. In addition to the regular tuscan color, left over paint from the predecessor lines was also used. Again, there were more CR box cars in EL brown than CR blue.

Anyways, you get the idea... I think it'd be facinating to know a little bit about the real life counterparts of some of our favorite box cars... 6464's or later Lionel MPC versions.

[FJ and G]

Regarding CTT articles and getting published, I have a list of 7 tips. (I am the editor of "The Military Engineer," magazine):

1. Compile your ideas and the cost/benefits of each
2. Put together a well-written proposal(s) specifying exactly what you hope to accomplish by writing the article and why the readers would be interested in said proposal
3. Email the proposal and perhaps a jpg or chart to illustrate to CTT.
4. CTT then approves or disapproves it and makes some recommendations
5. Do the write up, including all elements (who, what, when, where, why, how), ensure the article flows logically and every detail is covered if writing a how-to. Ensure photography is high quality--well lit with natural-type lighting from several angles and everything is in focus
6. Bounce your article and ideas off someone with a critical eye for details
7. Be prepared for a wait. Magazines with non-time-sensitive material like CTT may use material a year or so later, as they try to plan their editorial calendar and themes far in advance.


dave vergun