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Thanks Emerald for the time and effort spent on those polls. I realize that these are merely opinion polls but sometimes these things have a way of foretelling trends. Anyway, here's MY opinion or [2c] worth. Poll Nr1. Yes, people's attitudes do and are now doing a lot of influencing on newcomers to the hobby. Maybe we should tell people to join this forum or some like it to see what the REAL hobbyists are doing and how they help each other. I've seen members of clubs go from the extreme of what happened to juby4ever (destruction of private property) to a total ignoring of new people as though they didn't exist. This is not the way to gain new members folks. If I go to any membership type socitey whether it be church or a model club. if people ignore me or act superior to me I go away, not because they scare me off but because I figure I can better spend my time where I am accepted. The second most-voted on item was prices. I look at some of these locomotives that are priced at several hundred dollars. I can't afford that. I'm retired and have a fixed amount of money to spend on my hobby. One reason why I'm modeling my layout standard gauge instead of narrow-gauge (heresy) is that I refuse to pay between $500 and $1,000 for a single loco. Until recently, with the advent of On30, you saw few manufactures giving thought to narrow-gauge modelers. I guess they were considered outsiders to the mainstream and not worth bothering about (another attitude). Limited-edition kits. They really get my goat. There are some pretty fabulous kits out there, selling for $300+. The manufacturers keep the edition limited to jack the price up (their right to make money) and then there are those who call potential subscribers and ask them if they would like to give the manufacturer their credit card number and they will be sent a copy of each forthcoming kit. In a lot of cases, these kits arrive at their destination and without even being unwrapped are stored in a closet somewhere until 4 or 5 years have passed. The kits are then brought out and offered for sale at 4 or 5 times their original value. It's a unique way to make a lot of money but very selfish. Of course when you've got the money in hand who cares about selfish ? The young 'uns. Until the advent of TAMR, these people were virtually ignored. I mean, after all who want's a bunch of brats wandering around inside of a model railroad club? They'll cause problems and probably destroy things. But they don't do they? Think about it. These are the future of the hobby. If the hobby is to have a future, we need to include them. It's a little bit like life isn't it? If you don't show interest in your kids, they won't show any interest in you. I've seen some of the layouts that these kids have built and wish I could do as well and I'm 70. Now that I've had my say and generated some hate and discontent I'll get off my [soapbox] JR
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