Back in the old days...

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by CNJ831

QUOTE: Originally posted by trainluver1
[. He was telling me that when he was into it back in the 1940s and 50s that he had to make just about everything except the train and track. He said he built a typical 4 X 8 layout, made trees, telephone poles, buildings, signs, etc out of wood, poster board or what ever worked, and that he would buy lead cowboys and soldiers and trim them with a hot knife and paint them to use as people.

Well, yes, things have certainly improved but not really to the degree being inferred here.

Considering the gentleman in question refers to altering lead soldiers into everyday people implies he was working in O-scale, not HO. I'll readily admit that in the 40's and 50's O-scale was no piece of cake and you had to work largely with "Lionel-type" items when it came to commercially available structures, scenery items, etc. HO was not so desparate, however. By the mid 1950's there were a great variety of structure kits available commercially in plastic, wood, and cardstock. The magazines were filled with creative articles on modifying/kitbashing these (and don't most of us still do this?). All manner of writings were appearing on the use of new materials for scenery (even the use of foam insultation board, believe it or not!). And while scenery materials have definitely improve, who doesn't make their own trees, bushes, etc. for a quality layout today? Available kits for steam locomotives back then far out-distance what is currently available RTR and manufacturers were offering car kits for a truly vast assortment of rolling stock, many of which are likewise unavailable today in any form.

So, don't sell "the old days" short. While the hobby certainly did require more creativity and skill than it does today, it definitely wasn't the dark ages.

CNJ831

As a matter of fact it was O scale that the man modeled. And it wouldn't have mattered if he had had a well stocked hobby shop right across the street from his house, he's the kind of person that prefered the challenge of scratch building and saving a few dollars.
He's a perfectionist at everything he does, so I can imagine his layout must have been really something.

trainluver1

[rrinker]

The only sad addition to that is that some of the steam loco kits available int he 40's and 50's are STILL around, in original form - the Penn Line PRR prototypes now made by Bowser. They may have improved the motor, but the castings are still the same, which isn't always a good thing. And even then they were not cheap - 1957 MR ad has the Penn Line T-1 kit at $49.95.
Although I often wonder what happened to the Silver Streak turntable, it came complete with a control system and everything, but didn't appear to last long. By 1957, AHC was closing them out at $17.95!

--Randy

[CNJ831]

QUOTE: Originally posted by trainluver1
[. He was telling me that when he was into it back in the 1940s and 50s that he had to make just about everything except the train and track. He said he built a typical 4 X 8 layout, made trees, telephone poles, buildings, signs, etc out of wood, poster board or what ever worked, and that he would buy lead cowboys and soldiers and trim them with a hot knife and paint them to use as people.

Well, yes, things have certainly improved but not really to the degree being inferred here.

Considering the gentleman in question refers to altering lead soldiers into everyday people implies he was working in O-scale, not HO. I'll readily admit that in the 40's and 50's O-scale was no piece of cake and you had to work largely with "Lionel-type" items when it came to commercially available structures, scenery items, etc. HO was not so desparate, however. By the mid 1950's there were a great variety of structure kits available commercially in plastic, wood, and cardstock. The magazines were filled with creative articles on modifying/kitbashing these (and don't most of us still do this?). All manner of writings were appearing on the use of new materials for scenery (even the use of foam insultation board, believe it or not!). And while scenery materials have definitely improve, who doesn't make their own trees, bushes, etc. for a quality layout today? Available kits for steam locomotives back then far out-distance what is currently available RTR and manufacturers were offering car kits for a truly vast assortment of rolling stock, many of which are likewise unavailable today in any form.

So, don't sell "the old days" short. While the hobby certainly did require more creativity and skill than it does today, it definitely wasn't the dark ages.

CNJ831

[Todd McWilliam]

I started in the 70's and I am a blue box guy all the way. I love to build kits, I love to build building kits also. I have some rtr stuff and its nice!, but I love to build kits and that is never going to change. I'm not 50 yrs past bluebox or building kits, I just like them.[:D][:D]

[IRONROOSTER]

I've been in the hobby since 1971. There has been a great increase in the level of detail, as well as a lot more products to choose from.

Enjoy
Paul

[selector]

I agree. We have it made, ....if we have the dough. When you think about it, for those whose pockets are not very deep, things have not changed a great deal. Some of the materials may have changed (WS Realistic Water, DCC decoders for locomotive motion control (let alone sound), but if you are on a budget, bashing and scratching are very much the way to go. In fact, virtually all locos were die-cast, and could therefore pull the couplings out of a chain of ore cars. Now, we have super-detailed, but plastic ones that, like my necessarily light LL Heritage 0-6-0, can be pulled back down hill by a chain of ore cars.

[AntonioFP45]

No doubt, that to a degree we as modlelers are spoiled and "have it made"!

I've been in this hobby since 1977, and the changes I've seen have absolutely amazed me!

Sound, electronic Gyra-light ciruits that look incredibly realistic, DCC, highly detailed models right out of the box, Walthers passenger cars, Code 83, 75, and 55 track, this forum........

We've come a long way!

[Anonymous]

I was talking to an older guy a while back that was in his late 70s, and model railroading entered the conversation. He was telling me that when he was into it back in the 1940s and 50s that he had to make just about everything except the train and track. He said he built a typical 4 X 8 layout, made trees, telephone poles, buildings, signs, etc out of wood, poster board or what ever worked, and that he would buy lead cowboys and soldiers and trim them with a hot knife and paint them to use as people. When I told him what all was available today, he just shook his head, laughed and said "you guys are spoiled"... He went on to say that he really admired how far the hobby has come since his day.

trainluver1