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Anthony Stucchio’s Greatest Find
OK, are we moving to creating a new magazine, called something like… Classic Toy Trains? Maybe we can call the paper magazine Hi-Rail Scale Trains, or something similar.
I recently found my archive box of earlier CTT’ s (1991 - 2001) and found them to be way more interesting than the current issues.
I’m all for the “Focus on classics” idea. Why not make it an insert in the paper mag?
I totally agree with Bob. I and a couple of collector friends have been considering nor renewing our subscriptions as we collect and run CLASSIC TOY TRAINS , not the new trains which are the focus of the vast majority of articles in the magazine. Every month I open my magazine looking for the very few articles on prewar trains of any manufacture. I have great hopes for this new classics area online.
Last October at York, I wanted to meet with the editorial staff of CTT and broach this issue. It was clear to me at that time that CTT had changed its subject matter content and direction, and was attempting to appeal to what it obviously feels is a broader audience that focuses on hi-railing and modeling. I ran out of time and could not talk to the staffers present, but will make the time to do so at the upcoming York in April. I would encourage others to do the same. It’s unfortunate we have to go on-line to read Classic articles, when that was the original goal and focus of the magazine when it first appeared in 1987. Does Big Carl get it or are we all reading Model Railroader with a toy train twist and a red in lieu of a blue banner?
Just do it. Us baby boomers will read (and buy) anything that would enlighten or enhance the knowledge we already have on pre-war and postwar trains. I have to admit I have thought of dropping my subscription; the same for your competitor. I am tired of hearing about the sound, sounds, sounds. Tell me how to repair a 65 handcar with it’s ho motor and rectifier etc. I can’t afford the new trains. But if I look long enough, I can find the postwar train car or accessory I am looking for at an affordable price. I don’t want the new 342/345, it runs perfect I admit. I rather have to play with my postwar version for minutes at a time to get it to funtion each time I use it. What a great way to spend my time. I love smelling the steam engine with it’s white pills. I buy em whenever I can find and afford the original ones. Well, enough from me.
good set
I have to disagree with people saying the “Lady Lionel” set failed because girls wanted a “real” trainset. BS! I have a niece and when she was little she played with Barbie dolls. These dolls came with pink houses, helicopters, and a realistically style limosine complete with the cell phone antena on the back on the car, you could have called it “scale-detailed” and, it was PINK! She played with it and loved it. Did Tony offer real trains to his daughter first? Was this a last ditch effort to get her to like trains? Look at Disney’s princess line where girls can have parties, games and clothing. Girls mostly like girl stuff. It wasn’t totally stupid on the part of Lionel to try a pastel colored train set. Maybe it failed because of not marketing to Rosie The Riviter and her daughter after WWII that helped doom Lionel. Ignoring half the country didn’t help it’s fortunes. It wasn’t that the train was pink! Get it now?
While I can appreciate all the details of modern O scale trains, the vast majority of my collection is semi-scale or O27 “classic toy trains”. Too often I hear and read the criticisms of less than scale trains or non-prototypical fantasy locomotives and cars. This should be the one magazine that embraces toy trains for what they are TOY TRAINS. What’s wrong with finding enjoyment in running trains with fantasy cars and engines? They can be very colorful and lots of fun to collect and operate. Why can’t I mix NYC, SF, UP and Penn cars in the same train if I like each car? I say to each their own, but please don’t criticize or neglect those of us who like toy trains. I hope to see a refocus in CTT as well.
Probably a girl who liked trains would like normal trains. The pink wouldn’t make a difference, although Beth in our club likes her modern girl set from 1991. It’s real obvious at train shows which train is Beth’s train, although she also likes the purple Atlantic Coast Line set. The story was good,tho. I’m interested in the variations of stuff.
in defference to Mr.Zeller from Lousiana, I must disagree about the Lady lionel set reference. While I agree that The marketing was off and this is why the set did not go over well. The remark about marketing to Rosie the Riveter is correct it was a time when girls were still in the groove of doing things like the boys and the girls who grew up around this time were not interested in frilly toy trains. and this is a quote from my Aunt who In 1957 was given a Lady lionel set by her father. Like so many stories She opened the box looked at the set and then boxed it up and put it on the top shelf of the closet. Then continued to the train room and fired up their layout while Muttering her quote.
Thanks