My opinion, of one cent, is that the milk car and the cattle car are great crowd pleasers, especially with children and us childlike adults.
When, they are tuned up they work great, even with some adjustments, now and then.
Ralph.
Firesteel Dennis, your point is well taken. Roger's book includes so many items that it is easy for someone like me, who is relatively new to 3 Rail O gauge, to think that he covered a majority of postwar trains. The more I think about it, 101 items is probably only the tip of the ice burg. Roger did indeed do a great job of explaining his criteria, and like you said, this is what he based his rankings on. I personally found the book to be valuable for the information it provides about the various toy trains. I learned about manufacturers that I had never even heard of before. I guess this just shows that the world of toy trains is much larger than I originally thought when I switched from HO scale. Pete, I agree Lou's columns are often written tongue in cheek. I think this is what makes them entertaining. Of course I still agree with Roger's choice in regards to ranking the milk car. Karl
Dennis, your point is well taken. Roger's book includes so many items that it is easy for someone like me, who is relatively new to 3 Rail O gauge, to think that he covered a majority of postwar trains. The more I think about it, 101 items is probably only the tip of the ice burg. Roger did indeed do a great job of explaining his criteria, and like you said, this is what he based his rankings on. I personally found the book to be valuable for the information it provides about the various toy trains. I learned about manufacturers that I had never even heard of before. I guess this just shows that the world of toy trains is much larger than I originally thought when I switched from HO scale.
Pete, I agree Lou's columns are often written tongue in cheek. I think this is what makes them entertaining. Of course I still agree with Roger's choice in regards to ranking the milk car.
Karl
No foolin'! That's why a 3662 Milk Car is my first ever genuine post-war item, and why I think Lou just has to be kidding.
Pete
"You can’t study the darkness by flooding it with light." - Edward Abbey -
Pretty sure that Mr. Palumbo had his tongue planted firmly in cheek when he wrote his "losers" list.
Firesteel I think Roger wisely took an optimistic and diplomatic route by listing the "Best" rather than the "Losers." Even listing the Best carries some risk since leaving something off the list can be interpreted as being a loser. Still, it is not like coming right out and saying it. Karl
I think Roger wisely took an optimistic and diplomatic route by listing the "Best" rather than the "Losers." Even listing the Best carries some risk since leaving something off the list can be interpreted as being a loser. Still, it is not like coming right out and saying it.
I have to respectfully disagree with your assertion that leaving something off the list can be interpreted as being a loser. Roger thoughtfully explained his criteria to arrive at his picks. There are no losers--only a ranking of 101 items that fit his parameters. And even Roger struggled with his choices. And, as he said, you may certainly disagree.
Dennis
I was just reading Lou Palumbo's Column in the March 2011 issue of CTT. His opinions regarding some of the rankings in Roger Carp's book "101 Classic Toy Trains" are interesting, but I disagree with his opinion of the Lionel Milk Car. I think Roger placed it exactly where it should be--near the top of the list. Lou thinks highly of the smoke units, and rightly so, but I think of these as a feature of the locomotives rather than an actual toy train or accessory. This of course, is just my opinion and compared to Roger and Lou, I have approximately zero experience in the field of Postwar trains.
I do find Lou's idea of a list of "Postwar Losers" intriguing, but I would not want to be the one to write such a book. There would be a definite risk of offending someone if their favorite item was on the list. I think Roger wisely took an optimistic and diplomatic route by listing the "Best" rather than the "Losers." Even listing the Best carries some risk since leaving something off the list can be interpreted as being a loser. Still, it is not like coming right out and saying it.
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