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Paul III, <br />First off,you state that you got serious into MR in the 1990's. I've been into model railroading since I was 3 years old.(birth year 1970) Secondly,have you worked in a hobby shop? I worked in several;4 in the state of California,2 in Wisconsin,and 1 in Minnesota.Now......I am an owner of a trucking and a road construction firm. This may not be a big deal to you,but could you manage a company,and listen to your customers,and what they want done,and have the product / structure work without any flaws,for many years? And then want you to come back to us more more business?As for the metal handrails,they didn't break,as the plactic ones will.Do you see plastic handrails on the real locomotives? If so,lets see a picture of it. Does the paint stay on the plastic handrails for a long time,or do you have to repaint them? As for the detail part companies.....do you think its fair that Athearn should put something on a product,that takes away a small,if not a huge profit out of a company that made that product first? Its nice that you model the NH,but how long did YOU have to wait for Athearn to make the locomotives you wanted,when you could have built them yourself ?As for the Schnabel cars with the "transformer" on them,you show me an ACTUAL photo of one of those on a train,and I'll show you several transformers on a CN freight,loaded on " depressed center " flat cars.These were the right way to transport them,as they had weight/height restrictions on them.Those straight flat cars were designed for hauling sheet steel in bulk quantity,not a transformer. As for the semi trucks,they were first produced in the late 1970's,at $5.00 a piece,a great deal for them,but now it isn't worth it.Years ago there was a company called Yatming. This company produced true and accurate1/87th scale trucks,ranging from the Kenworth aerodyne conventional,and aerodyne cab-over engine,the Ford 9000 cab-over, the Peterbilt 359 conventional,and the Mack Superliner conventional,all produced in the late 1970's to the early 1980's. I own 450 models of these trucks in my collection.All were painted and decorated by Yatming,and sold at different stores. You say Horizon has a on-line catalog...... whoopdee do!!! Who's going to look on the internet, if they are near a hobby shop,let alone some people who cant afford to have a computer? Why should model train companies care about the detail part companies?..........gee Paul,the company makes the spare part for a freight car/locomotive,which in turn will make the consumer go back to the hobby shop,and want to buy more of their product,further more,there are certain parts that some manufacturers will not make anymore,so in return a different company will make the product for the person who needs it. I'm wondering if you have had to buy a part 'cause Athearn doesn't make it no more.As for scratchbuilding,Yes i do it,and I'm proud of my results.When is the last time you went out into a field,a forest, a place where you can find little pieces of rock to make a quarry,or fine sand to put in dump trucks and use some to color and use as a asphalt material,or tree branches that you can cut to make logs for pulpwood,to put in gondolas,and flat cars? For the "veterans" of this hobby,who is going to buy a RTR product,when for many, many years,they have been building kits.Why should they change their way of modeling to fullfill,something that is not going to fair well on their layout. As for hobby shops..........alot of them are far and few,..............why?.........for one thing,products are too expensive,who wants to pay for stuff,when the cost has gone up to cover a percentage of it,that has to go to a railroad( Union Pacific ) for their licensing of that product. Why are there then hobby shops selling Athearn and MDC kits at very cheap prices? Why are some hobbyshops discontinuing carrying the Athearn and MDC line on their shelves,and only "special ordering" them? Why should a hobbyshop buy mass quantities of MDC and Athearn products,when some may not even sell? Answer......Horizon signed a deal with the devil (Union Pacific). And you are so right Paul,the company (Horizon ) doesn't care about the hobby,they just want money.They don't care what they make,as long as a sucker will buy it for a great amount of money. Its interesting that you ONLY put down model railroad clubs in your area of the country.What about others in the Midwest,South,and the West coast? Do you think that they are going to change their layout wiring to fit those that have DCC trains? You stated that I am wrong in what we as modelers want............REALLY!!?........who then makes the CNW Pioneer steam locomotive,who makes the Milwaukee Road Little Joe's, the Milwaukee Road electric box cabs,the centipeedes of the the E,J,&E,a SP U50C,and since when did the ATSF,SP,PRR,and the B&O have a DD40,that Athearn produced many years ago.As for the Walther's catalog,you show me in the past years of their catalogs,where Athearn had certain products outlined in blue,that were made years ago,and are still in production.Has the NMRA ever had a review or endorsed a Athearn product recently?I agree with AntonioFP45 and what he has said recently,and as for my comments,gee Paul when did you ever put up a post or written an article on how you have built something using your imagination,and hands to create a project that others can follow? I have many people who agree with what I have said,and i'm pretty happy about it.At least I know that they ARE modelers, and enjoy the hobby. Your statement about why I am on the MR forum,let me tell you sonny boy,for 33 years of my life I have seen quite alot of changes and products come into this hobby,and as a member of the NMRA,CNWHS,Milwaukee Road,Soo Line,and the Santa Fe railroad historical societies,as well as volunteering my time to help out at train shows for these groups,I have talked with,helped and have given my knowledge of what I may have to them, to make their enjoyment of this hobby a more pleasant one,and make copies of articles that I have from my vast collection of 1960-present RMC 's, 1950-present Trains,1940-present Model Railroader,and other rail related magazines, and books to those who need and want such info. What have you done lately to help other modelers? Paul3,I dont know you,as you dont know me, and thats fine,but the one thing that I have more of,is experience in this hobby than you seem to have. Next time you are in a hobby shop,ask that person there what they have to do to make their customers come back,and what certain (if any) sacrifices they have had to do to stay in business,then maybe you can see what us "veterans" of this hobby have done lately.If you want to run your trains on schedules,timetables,waybills,etc, thats great,so be it,but dont think that you know more than any of us...'cause you dont, and neither do we,nor I. We just know what we know,from our trials,errors,knowledge,and experience and are happy to pass useful info along to you.
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