So I'm interested in hearing about some of the terrible/hilarious/just plain bad ideas and products that went on in the model railroading community. There have to be some good stories about this stuff.
Anyone that's been in it a long time care to chime in?
I've tried to stay away from ranking things to do with technological limits or things that were just industry stabilization (like X2F), and focus on things that were terrible even in their time. Here's my top 10 so far:
10. Foam lump tunnels (me)
9. The "I Hate Brass Track" bandwagon in the 80s, even though nickel silver had been around since the '60s. (eaglescout)
8. Instant roadbed (BMMECNYC)
7. Cold Steam (tomikawaTT)
6. Pink Trains (Railphotog)
5. Flex track held together with staples(eaglescout)
4. Mixing slot cars with rail (nycmodel)
3. Cleaning track with Steel Wool (Darth Santa Fe)
2. Making lead figures out of recovered lead + molds. (BRAKIE)
1. Asbestos Plaster Mountains (NVSRR)
0. Steven Otte wins the thread with that awful, awful mixture of hazards.
Julian
Modeling Pre-WP merger UP (1974-81)
The use of aspestos plaster for fire saftey. I have a couple scenery books fro the period of tbe 60s to 80s. That have that in it. The fibers were also suposed to keep it from cracking. And hold shape better. This one hits all three in the title
A pessimist sees a dark tunnel
An optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel
A realist sees a frieght train
An engineer sees three idiots standing on the tracks stairing blankly in space
Would the "Olfactory Airs" layout scents from Mikros around the mid/late '80s be in the running for either silliest and/or lamest?I guess it was the peak of the Scratch & Sniff era after all...
I still have some.of those. I figire at some time in the future it will probably be back. It looks like a loco, sounds like it, now it smells like it too
The "train set" military cars that shot missles, until consumer produce safety comcerns realized that kids could be injured by fast flying objects
(Olfactory Airs was my first choice, but chutton01 beat me too it; some environmental health concers there as well)
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
Who can forget Lionels train sets marketed for girls, with pink steam engines and such!
Bob Boudreau
CANADA
Visit my model railroad photography website: http://sites.google.com/site/railphotog/
Railphotog Who can forget Lionels train sets marketed for girls, with pink steam engines and such!
They didn't learn:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/39603781?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222227028866761&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=48328967672&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=97577312192&veh=sem
What's great about this one is the cars it comes with. I like how it references animals, but there are no stock cars. I guess the gondola is for the horse manure?
Tyco's Chattanooga Choo-Choo with the tender drive and the front of the engine just going along for the ride. One of the magazines gave it a sterling revue!!!
Rick J
Rule 1: This is my railroad.
Rule 2: I make the rules.
Rule 3: Illuminating discussion of prototype history, equipment and operating practices is always welcome, but in the event of visitor-perceived anacronisms, detail descrepancies or operating errors, consult RULE 1!
chutton01 Would the "Olfactory Airs" layout scents from Mikros around the mid/late '80s be in the running for either silliest and/or lamest?I guess it was the peak of the Scratch & Sniff era after all... I liked Olifactory Airs. It added another dimension to the hobby which is now limited to 5..........relief (which is 3 dimensions), sound, and movement. Only when I suggested to Micros to do an outhouse smell, they thought I was nuts. HZ
Pan cake motors and Tyco trains in general
Jim
To be a little more serious, what about the hyperdetailed urethane kits from Sunshine Models, Railyard Models, Speedwitch Media, etc? Some are still available, but little is said about them, and I suspect they are a niche not too much larger than American TT or American OO.
JOHN BRUCE III To be a little more serious, what about the hyperdetailed urethane kits from Sunshine Models, Railyard Models, Speedwitch Media, etc? Some are still available, but little is said about them, and I suspect they are a niche not too much larger than American TT or American OO.
I wouldn't include Railyard Models in the "terrible/hilarious/just plain bad ideas" category which this topic was intended to encompass. They may have been semi-niche because many don't have the time or skills to build them, but they did give people an opportunity to build models of unavailable prototypes. IIRC, they offered a oft photographed D&RGW combo door box car that has never been availabe in plastic, for example.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
JOHN BRUCE IIITo be a little more serious, what about the hyperdetailed urethane kits from Sunshine Models, Railyard Models, Speedwitch Media, etc? Some are still available, but little is said about them...
The "average modeler" isn't the market for these, since most hobbyists have never attempted a resin car kit and never will. For those who are the target consumers for such models, they're a fine idea, as they allow for representations of prototypes that aren't available from higher volume manufacturers. You probably see a lot more of these in the pages of MR and elsewhere than you realize, as they fit in with more typical plastic cars once complete.
Instead of categorizing these cars with the "terrible fads/ideas/products that died off," I'd consider them successful products that cater to a limited market.
Rob Spangler
A bad idea from the very early days was giving your railroad a silly name. Thankfully that died out in the '40's - maybe the last well known 'silly' model railroad name was John Allen's "gory and defeated" G&D Line.
Using joke names for cities or industries...often with a pun or two... lasted a bit longer. 50-60 years ago I suspect 100's of model railroads had a "George's Gorge", playing on the name of then-well known TV wrestler Gorgeous George.
wjstix A bad idea from the very early days was giving your railroad a silly name. Thankfully that died out in the '40's - maybe the last well known 'silly' model railroad name was John Allen's "gory and defeated" G&D Line.
Now now, You're treading holy MR ground there with John Allen. He is worshipped, er, well respected by many. He did seem to be quite artistic from everything I've seen but to me it was in a Disney Land sort of way. Now there have been some realistic artists since then such as Mike Danneman etc. well I'm biased. He did a wonderful rendering of the D&RGW and scenery. I have to add that Rob Spangler has done some wonderful photo-realistic backdrops and scenery too in this day and age.
Well, there sure have been some real doozies from the past out there...
But——
I'm going to add a contemporary product to the list, with the caveat that "time will tell" but this is my early impression, anyway.
Rolling Thunder!
http://www.broadway-limited.com/rollingthunder.aspx
I just set up the system last night and gave it a cursory tryout. Somehow, I was expecting more!
Now, I only have the one Paragon3 locomotive to base this on, the Pennsy L1s, which— by itself has IMHO, awful sound reproduction. You would think things would improve as companies got more experience... but NOT this!
So, I have an engine with awful sound, and an amplified subwoofer to make that sound even worse. I'm sorry I didn't wait for reviews before I jumped in.
Maybe, after some tweaking, I'll be able to get something of use out of this but for now... no way!
My L1 has other problems as well but that's for another thread!
Happy Railroadin' Ed
Horn hook couplers!!!
For "just plain bad" I nominate: Horn-hook (X2F) couplers!
-Ken in Maryland (B&O modeler, former CSX modeler)
Cheap shot and really now, out of bounds for this topic. Shens!
I too have wondered about the Rolling Thunder. The name alone makes me chuckle and sure, it builds on the popular sound craze, but I'm not sure if thats something that has staying power either.
I have to add, some of the names of products these days are a bit commical, including the afformentioned Rolling Thunder, and I'll add TCS Wow Sound too. I mean, how do you top "Wow!", someone else will have to name their new sound product OMG! anything more superlative and it may be sensored! :D
I know we all used lichen "back in the day" and many still do, but I love how it was packaged. You can use it to scenic your layout AND make a table centerpiece!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/See-Niks-Landscaping-Accessories-Mixed-Lichen-Model-Train-Nature-Scenery-NEW-/191699021398
I disagree on the Tyco trains. They got a lot of folks including me started in model railroading. They were affordable and mine ran pretty well.
Enjoy
Paul
ctyclsscs I know we all used lichen "back in the day" and many still do, but I love how it was packaged. You can use it to scenic your layout AND make a table centerpiece! http://www.ebay.com/itm/See-Niks-Landscaping-Accessories-Mixed-Lichen-Model-Train-Nature-Scenery-NEW-/191699021398 Jim
How about Lone Star's old rubberband drive N Scale locomotives? In all fairness, these did actually give rise to N Scale as we know it.
Modeling the Pennsylvania Railroad in N Scale.
www.prr-nscale.blogspot.com
cold steald.c.c.
Having a laugh aren't you. How do you figure DCC fits the "terrible/hilarious/just plain bad ideas" when it has been gaining steam for well over 20 years now and most loco's are either DCC ready or have DCC installed. Uh huh, thought so. Enjoy yourself.
Yet those "lump tunnels" got Life-Like into the ice chest business (now called Lifoam)
Don't be dissing the Tyco brand - yeah, some of their stuff was rubbish, but lots could be upgraded to nice looking daily runners with some effort, and the structure kits improved with some paint and rework.Sadly, their line of freight cars with fantasy corporate branded liveries was in retrospect pretty silly, although probably very effective in catching a parent's/grandparent's eye when looking for a neat gift for little Johnny's trainset at the local Woolworths or Korvettes.Of course, in today's modeling marketplace, no serious manufacturer would ever consider producing freight cars in fantasy corporate liveries...
Gotta stick up for the NMRA horn hook couplers - as weird looking as they are. Prior to them, each manufacturer kind of did their own thing. When the NMRA developed the horn hooks (early 60s???), many companies adopted them and all of a sudden we could buy to much more equipment that could be readily used with one another.
Even with the advent of KDs, horn hooks were still a god send for the hobby. After all, they were "free" with Athearn and other kits, where as KDs were pricey (for that time of course). I still recall my first venture into installing KDs back in the early 1970s. It took me years to convert all my cars, and always had a couple of connector ones in service with NMRA on one end, KDs on the other.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
Folks, neither Tyco or horn hook couplers were a bad thing for the hobby. I was wanting to hear about seriously awful things like the asbestos plaster that only few remember. Or the silly-named railroads/industries.
Yes, there have been some railroads or businesses on layouts that are puns or a play on words, but I don't think they ever really died out.
There is a guy who posts on another site whose railroad is the Ruphe & Tumbelle and for the images I have seen of it, it is a really nice layout.
One of the guys who posts here has a liqour store on his layout, Beaver Liqours. I can't help but to chuckle everytime I see it. If you just look around you still see it.
One thing I always thought that was bad were any of the Tyco automated items; operating crane unloader, coal unloading trestle, log dump unloader.
Robert H. Shilling II