Poll #2 Pros & Cons

[Anonymous]

I would like it if prices were a little cheaper, but as I said before, It makes me work harder to earn money which makes the enjoyment better. I think the people is one thing that needs help. very few adults I meet at trainshows and hobby shops taker me sierously.

[CP5415]

I would have to say a lot of things are wrong within this hobby today.
The first one is definatly price. I will miss buying a BB Athearn SD40-2 for $50 CAN.
I still can't see spending $50 on a freight car just because it's got separate grab handles on it.
The Second is attitude.
I had someone say to me in these very forums that because I was doing something the way I wanted to do it, that it was wrong, even though it worked for me.
That left me shaking my head wondering if I should continue being an active participant in these forums.

Gordon

[darth9x9]

The biggest problem is that the average age of model railroaders is getting higher each year. More needs to be done to bring in MORE of the younger crowd.

[Big_Boy_4005]

QUOTE: Originally posted by railman

QUOTE: Originally posted by dougal

Read juby4life's story about the guy who smashed his Rock Island SD90MAC because RI never had 90MACs. That's why I picked #1.

After what's been said here, I tried finding it on the forums...no success. Does someone have a link, or can tell the tale? Thanks. For a Milwaukee Road modeler that likes to wonder "What if?" with new units, this sounds scary.

Here it is Ron, almost a year old. Francicso hasn't found it yet. [swg]

http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=8583

[CBQ_Guy]

RTR, prices, AND Limited editions.

[rogerhensley]

You forgot 'All of the Above'
More than one item would qualify as 'Wrong'.

[Anonymous]

Quote from dragenrider:

Ten dollars for a set of six plastic figures?

$29.00 for a RTR box car?

$2.50 for a single piece of flex track?

$75.00 for a railroad book?

$29.00? Seems like all the ones I see in the ads are 40 and up! Compared to seven or eight for a cheaper kit plus and extra four or five for the details that make the high-end car noticeabley different.

$2.50 for flex track? The cheapest I've EVER seen it was Atlas flextrack for $3.15.

I guess scratchbuilding isn't as irrelevant as the industry might suppose...

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: The question is directly related to rivet counters and the clickish attitudes of so many clubs in this country, that we have seen talked about on this forum in the past.

As far as being a rivet-counter goes, I'll count rivets on my own work (and literally have!), but I won't do it to someone else's, because my own work has fallen short of my personal level of "attainable perfection", but high enough that I'm satisfied with it. In other words, I tried to get the correct number of rivets onto a piece, missed by one, and said "oh well, it's not worth doing over for one rivet".

As for clubs, I was in a club 10 years ago. I was assigned to build a mountain in one corner of the layout. I spent about 9 days building the mountain, and it was beautiful. I came in the next week and it had been ripped out by the roots. The scenery committee decided they didn't want one there after all Ten years later, there's still nothing there. I don't even know who was responsible for the decision, nor do I care. I'm a lone wolf and happy to be that way. I can work at my pace to my own standard of perfection with no one to satisfy but myself.

[railman]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Big_Boy_4005

QUOTE: Originally posted by railman

QUOTE: Originally posted by dougal

Read juby4life's story about the guy who smashed his Rock Island SD90MAC because RI never had 90MACs. That's why I picked #1.

After what's been said here, I tried finding it on the forums...no success. Does someone have a link, or can tell the tale? Thanks. For a Milwaukee Road modeler that likes to wonder "What if?" with new units, this sounds scary.

Here it is Ron, almost a year old. Francicso hasn't found it yet. [swg]

http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=8583

Thanks, Big Boy 4005. The man in the story, who would smash a expensive engine over Rock Island paint is a terrible human being.

[Anonymous]

I voted for #1 cause it isn't good for the hobby. But if people are truly interested, they won't let a few local nuts disuade them.

A couple people in the local club, look down upon your $35 Athearn diesel?
try another club.
Local hobby store clerks have a rude and offensive demeanor?
shop elsewhere.

But I think another problem is poor quality. Not just the problem of cut corners in entry-level trains. But across the board, because even if one company produces a pretty bad model of -something nice but not a guarenteed cash cow- other companies who were interested in trying their hand at it, may not try at all, since they'd still have to compete with that model, even if the one they offer is much better. But that problem isn't unique to model railroading by far.

It seems that model railroading is definetely getting expensive, as it becomes more sophisticated. I personally don't care as much about sound and DCC. And I'd rather have the option of not having to buy a locomotive with them, and save some money.

Alvie.