EFFECTS of the worst model train company

[Mark300]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Ray Marinaccio


I just finished reworking a pair of Minitrix F-units.
http://www.the-gauge.com/showthread.php?t=10943

Ray;

A little detour on this thread - [#offtopic] regarding your #1665 restoration; What a marvelous variation on the boring PennCentral 'winding snakes' logo; doing the 'P" in pale tuscan is something refreshing that I've never seen before. Nice; the way perhaps it should have been done.

Sorry to go off topic,

Mark

[Mark300]

A variation on this theme;

Getting some real nice appearing, old rolling stock by Tyco/Mantua Metal 'second hand,' only to find the couplers are the old Tyco-NMRA nylon type. The cars feature metal wheels, metal car bodies, movable doors, decent roads, old but good markings (which is actually better than weathering), so overall they look good. However, the couplers are a real bear to replace and keep the cars balanced.

I finally gave up and cut the couplers off of the trucks. I attached new Kadee #5s to the underside of the car bodies jus' like on the real railroads. From a modeling and collecting standpoint this modification SHOULD make the cars more valuable and morph them from toys to models.

The point is; In getting back into this hobby, I found that 'NMRA label' on the boxes when I first received them to be a little misleading. Furthermore, I fould little help as to what is considered desirable until after I made the modifications. I do design for a living so I can deal with this kind of insecurity. However, for the 'newcomers' to model railroading, dealing with some of these EFFECTS (in this case couplers) can be a real stumbling block if not an outright turnoff.

Fortunately I guessed right.

Mark

[jrbernier]

In retrospect, we all understand what a good starter train set should be. The problem is that it is way to expensive to compete with the shrink wrapped train set in the local discount store. The same thing happens in the R/C field: All summer long folks bring in airplanes/cars they bought at the discount store to the local hobby shop to get 'fixed'. The LHS cannot even get parts for this stuff! The purchaser finds that he spent $50-100 for something that ran for maybe 10 hours, total. And now there are no parts available to fix it. I am sure if I got into R/C, I would look at the discount stores/mail order/internets sites and compare them to the LHS - And base my decision on price. It is just normal human nature....

Jim Bernier

[twhite]

At fourteen I paid $5 for an HO metal Athearn reefer, a metal Varney flat car, a metal Ulrich gondola and a wooden Silver Streak boxcar. Bought it from a friend of mine who didn't want to be in HO, it was too small. Went down to the local hobby shop and bought a $8.95 Athearn F-7 in SP Black Widow with a rubber-band drive. At eighteen, I bought my first brass loco for $45, a PFM Santa Fe 2-8-0. Been going strong ever since. Back when I started, we didn't expect HO to stay on the track, if it did, we'd done something

[twhite]

Hit the wrong darned key on this computer again! Anyway, back then if HO stayed on the track, it was a miracle. I see some of the starter sets these days--bought my grand-nephew a Bachmann a couple of years ago, and he's been adding to it ever since, on his birthday and Christmas (with a little help from dad and Uncle). Some of it is sheer crap, but if you look carefully--especially in your LHS, you can usually find a starter set that is of good enough quality that you can add on with the good stuff later. I watch some of these starter set locomotives and flash back to my rubber-band Athearn and just grin and shake my head.

[Anonymous]

Mark,
I'll try to bring that on topic.[:D]
Some of the inaccurate paint schemes were a little depressing if not down right discouraging.
For example one manufacturers PC locos were Jade green.
Back in the early 70s I saw PC locos with a variety of schemes. Black mostly, some Brunswick green. There were some with red Ps and some with orange Cs, but I don't recall any Jade green locos.
I had to live with an F7 in that color for a while, as it was the only one I could afford.

twhite,
I felt very lucky back then if I could complete 2 times around the layout without derailing, I just accepted that this is how it was, but kept fussing with the track anyway and really felt good when I got it to the point where I could run with only minor derailments.

[Anonymous]

Most of the first train sets that we are talking about are tossed into the trash can sooner or later. The first experience with HO is a lasting impression for many and the Hobby is hurt by it. Lionel, LGB or MTH train sets usually run fairly well and would be better to get a kid started into the hobby. The cost for the larger sets is higher and that is the reason the cheap HO sets still sell during the Holidays.
The slot car racing sets are much the same quality and rarely last a month or so.
My first train was an American Flyer, which still runs today, over fifty years later. I have the American Flyer Northern also, purchased in 1955, which still runs.
My first HO was in 1969 and I still have the engines from that era. Even then, the hook horn coupler was on every thing you purchased and the operating results were poor. The only reason I stayed in the hobby was an intense desire to buy the NKP 2-8-4 for $64.95 in the Brass shelf. Not exactly a started set in those days, but I stil have that engine today.

[vsmith]

This entire topic can be summed up in one word:

TYCO

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by krump

can't kick a gift horse, or something like that...

my intro to trains was a starter HO set (that I still have, circa 1973?)... my parents also bought my brother an N scale... we were thrilled with these Christmas gifts and knew that my parents, with a modest single income, had saved up particularly for these items. I loved the trains and was hooked right from the start. (my brother discontinued his involvement within the year, and went into the rockets - no longer busy with that either)

yes, my starter set was a "crappy" one, but I loved it, it served the purpose - basic intro to the hobby, brass track, no frills, however I recall that my dad and I had it running within the hour. Great memory! I still have the train...

I believe that the companies make a basic starter set for even the leanest of (crappy) budgets - to get your attention, give you the idea and the dream about a product (any product?)... it is not their intent to satisfy all of your ambition with that one purchase, but this "low end lost leader" if you will, hopefully leads to more purchases, additional accessories, etc - just gets you hungry for more. The same goes for most other products: other hobby items, scrapbooking, tools, automobiles, boats, houses...
how many starter homes are actually considered to be the first time buyers dream home, more likely something that got the buyer into the housing market... that's the way I consider the starter sets... and the cheap tools ( for example, I might need a rotary tool, but do I need to necessarily buy a dremel?) etc. You get what you pay for - as a novice model railroader the starter set might be fine, as a Master Model Railroader (my ambition) I may want something a bit more advanced.

cheers

Krump

That was extremely well-said. It sounds EXACTLY like my story. I think low-enders really do have their place. Sure, they are not as good. I still have (and run) my classic TYCO's, Bachmann's, and the like as well as my KATO"S and Athearns and have alot of fun with both!

[darth9x9]

The hobby as an industry should be thankful we don't have Tyco sets available through Toy-R-Us or the Sears catalog any more. I do have to commend Walthers (and Athearn to a degree) for stepping up to provide a 'better' introduction set to the newcomers of the hobby.