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I absolutely concur. 10-20 years down the road, you'll hear "I got started with Thomas" as often as you hear "I got started with a Tyco/Bachmann box set" or a "Lionel setup" today. Plus, if the Thomas stuff is so rotten, why does the store carry it? Can't be that bad. I don't think there's anything wrong with Sodor as a layout. If you took the one I see on TV with my kids and pulled off the bright-colored, smiley-face trains and replaced them with something more "real" I bet those same guys who poo-poo it would talk about the nice scenery, the cool use of real running water, etc. and so forth. I, for one, would LOVE to see some overall photos of the layout, a documentary on the modelling aspects of the show, or even a tour! And while my layout is not Sodor, I do own several of the Bachmann Thomas trains in order to get my kids involved, and I have no shame about it. They live in the roundhouse with the 'real' locos - I don't "hide" them when the kids aren't around. Heck, I put DCC decoders in 'em that cost more than the dang loco! Now that's crazy-talk right there! It's not just Thomas. You get many who 'look down their nose' at those who don't: <UL> <LI>superdetail their locos</LI> <LI>handlay track (at least switches, at least some of them)</LI> <LI>build everything from kits or scratch, rather than buying RTR</LI> <LI>build 'craftsman' kits rather than walther's plastic stuff</LI> <LI>build scratchbuilt structures rather than 'craftsman' kits.</LI> <LI>adhere slavishly to prototype - both operationally and equipment wise</LI> <LI>weather their rolling stock</LI> <LI>ballast their track</LI> <LI>And the big no-wins: do/don't like sound, do/don't like DCC. That's a friggin' holy war. </LI> <LI>And Heaven Forbid you simply have a loop of track and enjoy making the trains go roundy-round on it...</LI></UL> See, there's a whole hierarchy of skills and a whole hierarchy of how intense you want to get versus just enjoying it. I think the skill of 'imagining' is woefully undervalued in this hobby. Is it a matter of "you'll never be good enough." OR, is it a matter of "You'll never be bored..." It's a matter of attitude by those with the skills. Now, I msyelf do some of those things above, and some I don't do. I think ALL of them are great, and I think doing ANY of them is a fine skill. I hope one day to do all of them myself (except maybe the truly slavish prototype thing... That's not for me). More importantly, I hope they're all skills people are willing to share rather than hoard.  It's a lot easier to sniff at someone who doesn't know how to handlay a turnout than it is to teach them how to do it. Seek out the clubs, shops and groups that lean toward the latter. They do exist.
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