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Turtle Creek MRR layout
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It's interesting that this discussion seems to be continuing after 6 months or more. The issues with the Turtle Creek layout are among the most recent MR's I've purchased -- I buy it at the hobby shop less than half the time now. The Turtle Creek is one of the reasons I buy it less -- here is why, though it's probably not for the reasons most posters have given here. <br /> <br />First, MR is increasingly dominated by a small clique of insiders, former staff, and other regular contributors. I would agree that the layout as executed is mediocre, and I suspect that it got into MR because the author has connections -- decisions appear not to be made on merit. I don't like seeing this in MR any more than I like it in the New York Times. <br /> <br />Second, I'm bothered by the post from the guy who's trying to build the layout and finds that the track plan doesn't work as published. I simply don't know -- and don' want to take the time to investigate -- if this is a misreading of the track plan or layout instructions, but a 90 degree crossing is a standard component, and it seems like this would be a hard thing to screw up. If it's been screwed up at the magazine end, then there's that much less reason for MR to continue to be the hobby's flag-bearer. <br /> <br />Third, the perennial MR "beginner's project" continues to carry on the strange MR editorial voice: on one hand, talk down to your readers as though they're all beginners. On the other, dazzle them simultaneously with ostentatiously big layouts that in many cases stress the owner's economic status as much as his interest in the hobby (the Southern Railway layout in the current issue, which I browsed but didn't buy, is a good example -- not only do we get a photo of the owner, but now we see a photo of his HOUSE, apparently in a "good" neighborhood). <br /> <br />What's increasingly missing is what's in the middle -- layouts built by ordinary people of ordinary size, as well as challenging modeling projects that appeal to a wide audience. I suspect, for instance, (based on the ones that have been published from my area) that a fair number of layouts portrayed in MR and GMR have had extensive paid help with construction -- sometimes this is acknowledged, sometimes not. <br /> <br />This contributes to an elitist approach to the hobby -- the impression is semi-deliberately put out that it's a rich person's activity; the ordinary joes should be happy with the Turtle Creek Central. I've been voting with my pocketbook. <br /> <br />
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