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The hobby today is stronger than ever if you measure it by the shear variety of high quality products we enjoy. Fifty or so years ago, serious modelers had to make due primarily w/ Varney, Mantua, Silver Streak, Ulrich, Ambroid, the bare beginnings of rubber-band drive Athearn, Walthers' craftsman kits, early MDC/Roundhouse, and some really awful white metal and brass pcs that were trickling in to the US market. Most all track was brass, and flex track was typically attached to none too forgiving fibre tie strips that shrunk and buckled as soon as you ballasted them w/ a bit of diluted white glue. Turnouts were either #4 Atlas usually w/ above the table balky switch motors or make your own. We used a simple 'transformer', perhaps left over from the tinplate set we threw away, or gave away, as I did. Electrical supplies for block controls, throwing switches, etc.. came from surplus distributors. (my first 4x8 layout - S scale -was completely done w/ used engines, rolling stock, track, etc. from Madison Hardware and WWII surplus from junk stores on Canal St. in NYC. It became a weekly ritual for my Dad & me to make that journey) Scenery was basic plaster over newspaper and window screen. No premade or fancy kit trees, or ground foam (we used twigs, pcs of colored paper from a hole punch, and real dirt). Structures were either Plasticville or other simple kits - 'craftsman' described what you had to be to make due w/ basic materials incl, cardstock, paper, clear plastic brochure jackets, balsa, bits of metal, and sandpaper for tar roofing. And we used a lot of imagination, and made sounds with our mouths, instead of a digital sound system. Somehow we survived without DCC, or imported, brass costing $1000 or more, or even BLI plastic at $300 or more a pop. And so on. Older modelers who have been in the hobby a good part of their life will probably understand my point. You and I have never ever had it so good. And it will not go away, and it will continue to boggle our minds and empty our wallets - if we so choose - as long as we can imagine. It is absurd to think that manufacturers will abandon the hobby; even if some get out, others will fill the void. Like everything else in life. Has Walthers' catalog lost any pages over the years, even if it doesn't feature some of the manufacturers it used to, or all of the frankly,' very long in the tooth' detail parts they used to market under their own label? And their catalog doesn't even begin to represent all the manufacturers available to us today. And I'm just refering to HO. N and Z scale didn't exist 50 yrs ago. O scale is bigger than ever now, and S is making a serious resurgence in popularity. Although G scale as a track gauge existed then, garden railway type G scale was only for the filthy rich, as opposed to the 'just rich' as it is today ! And now we have suppliers for Nn3, HOn30, HOn3, Sn3, On2, On30, On3, and I'm sure I missed a few more. And back then we had MR and RMC and they were our very thin bibles. If you needed reference data, you went to a rail yard w/ your non-digital camera and a tape measure. There weren't books on every facet of most every railline, a dozen magazines addressing every aspect of the hobby, historical societies for all the fallen flags (and their publications), the NMRA as we know it today, the Internet as a resource tool, as well as chat groups for most aspects of the hobby, and of course this Forum. If you wanted a mug for the New York Central or Santa Fe, you probably had to take the the train and swipe one in the dining car. I could go on adnauseam and I'll spare you and me, both. This premature prediction of the end of the world is just that - enjoy what we have today - it is absolutely incredible. If you're concerned about a possible rip and gouge about to happen, don't just female dog and predict the worst (okay to say that?) about it on the Forum, and then not do anything about it. Let the manufacturers know that they'll lose your business if they act in a fashion you deem is unethical, or unfair. Really folks, lets all act in unison and determine what is the most effective, results-orientated and pro-active approaches to pursue to make our collective points with UP, CSX, the model manufacturers, those involved in the DCC scenarios, and so on. This pissing (woops, I did it again !) into the wind approach of making personal attacks against fellow hobbyists because they model (or refuse to) model a particular railroad, threatening boycotts against a Class 1 railroad, as opposed to doing so towards a manufacturer of HO or N models - if they take advantage of the royalty fees imposed on them, and so on, achieves nothing - absolutely nothing, except hurt feelings, wasted energy, misdirected emotions, and lost credibility. Price increases due to the absorption of the costs of royalties as a consequence of licensing agreements will most likely be quite insignificant, however annoying. More of a mosquito bite, than a sting from a brown recluse spider. If Lionel got sued for doing something blatantly dishonest - like stealing from a competitor and profitting from the theft, they deserve to be fined, and pay dearly to the victim. I can't comment on how the award amount was determined - frankly it isn't that important - MTH was damaged. Lionel associates were guilty of committing the crime. That the specific crooks were foreigners is very significant, and hopefully will send a clear message to other foreign interests contemplating similar industrial espionage. I hope that those who rip off our manufacturers get fried, big time. All this hysteria is nutty. The sky is not falling !
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