Model railroading, yesterday and today

[Mr Ron]

Long before Model Railroader magazine came about, there were no kits or RTR railroad cars or engines on the market. There were a handful of railroad enthausists who made wheel castings and small parts that someone with the skill and tools to make a model train could start with. Everything was scratch built. Today the skills that came with the early model railroaders has been lost. We buy kits, that are no more than "toss the kit in the air and it comes down assembled", track that snaps together. I am 87 and in my day, a kit was a box of pieces of wood and an instructional sheet and that was it. Fine details were non-existant. Couplers and trucks were extra. Things like handrails, ladders, underside details were to be devised by the buyer. How easy it is now. With RTR, there is now not the same pride that came with building from scratch. Today, its just another way to get instant gratification; turn on/off the TV; run/stop your train. I would guess that model railroading in the early days was 95% building and 5% running. Today the percentages have reversed the other way around. I laid my track one tie and 2 spikes at a time. I built my own turnouts. Why? Because I got much satisfaction from making it myself and little was available on the market. I'm no longer able to do that today due to age, dexterity and health, but I can still remember. Back then a power supply was two 6-volt car storage batteries and a wire wound rheostat. Switch machines didn't exist. we threw a turnout either by hand or with a system of piano wire and bell cranks. That was real model railroading. I still enjoy model railroading, but not to the same extent I did many years earlier. Building a model railroad would follow the steps needed to building a real railroad, but instead of hand laid track, we now use sectional track. My first exposure to model railroading was with a Marklin train set my friend had. The center rail was a turnoff to me, so I went with the "build it yourself" route. Lionel, Marx and American Flier were around, but they didnt feel real at all. but just a toy to place around a Christmas tree.

   I thing it would be interesting to hear from others and the experiences they have had .

[tstage]

Mr Ron

That was real model railroading.

Sorry, Ron.  This topic has been discussed several times before on the forum and it almost always erodes quickly into who is a real MRRer and who isn't.  Therefore, I'm locking this argument before it starts.  Thanks for your understanding in the matter.

Tom