Northlandz is a joke.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jondrd

3rd rail,
Is 90% of the expansion going to be done by one person?
Pointing at someone to do something doesn't mean you built it single handed.(in model railroading; business world is exempt from this rule)
Guess if the display is to undergo a huge expansion the owner is laughing all the way to the bank.

Jon

I'd only stated there was a planned expansion and said nothing of anyone doing anything. [B)]

[Anonymous]

I haven't been to Northlandz. If I were in the area and time permitted, I'd go just because of the sheer size of the thing, but this is quite unlikely to occur.

I believe that anyone with an Internet connection (which is to say, anyone who attends this forum) can get a pretty realistic notion of what Northlandz is about, in five minutes or less. If you are only interested in an accurate model railroad (with all that that implies), then clearly Northlandz is not for you. Don't go in the first place.

But whether you personally are interested in the Northlandz concept or not, I heartily endorse the viewpoint (offered by several) that Northlandz is still a good ambassador for the hobby of model railroading.

Having said all that, when I first read about it in MR (seven years ago?), I wondered if the guy was going to be able to maintain it. According to Brunton, sounds like the answer to this question is a resounding "No".

[BigRusty]

Jeez guys. If you want to nit pick, go nit pick a model railroad. This a toy train exhibit, nothing more, nothing less. A REALLY STUPENDOUS toy train exhibit. You wouldn't nit pick a toy train exhibit in a store window would you.

I have been in scale model railroading for going onto 60 years and over 20 years of Lionel toy train fun before that. I have seen Northlandz and what I saw was the most imaginative, creative, whimsical and fantastic toy train set I could ever imagine. Every kid I saw, and there were hundreds of them, were all entralled.

It is not, and was never intended to be, a scale model railroad.

[steveblackledge]

Lets Bring this thread to a close i think that enough has been said about northlands, Love it or Hate it, it's HERE TO STAY

[Anonymous]

I saw Northlands featured on some sort of "grown up boys toys" type TV show a few years ago.

Something I found quite interesting when I saw it was that it was powered with MRC power packs.

That's right - just like the one's we'd buy at the hobby shop. I expected to see some more complex system.

My guess is the owner is trying to keep it simple with this railroad - which totally makes sense considering the size!

Hey, we're all playing with toy trains here, no matter how you look at it. We all just play with them our own way.

[palallin]

"If it ain't 1:1 scale AND generating revenue, it's a toy."

By this classic definition, Northlands is 50% closer to being a real railroad than anything produced by virtually all of its detractors.