Just got a new auto rack from Inter-Mountin. The car is so finely detailed that I’m afraid of touching it for fear of breaking some part off. It used to be that this was a hobby that you could share with your kids and grand kids. Now you don’t dare to let them touch anything.
Gidday Bruce, the downside of modelers asking for and getting more for their buck. Not made for Bears paws.
However , and this is definitely not a criticism, there are still the likes of “Accurail” and “Bowser” for that tactile experience.
Cheers, the Bear.
So just buy cheaper clunkier cars. There are plenty out there. Problem solved.
You are welcome.
I said the same thing about my P2K E6’s and E7’s a few years ago, and indeed they were fragile. I had to stop and think before picking them up lest I bust another handrail or lift ring, and despite my efforts I busted enough bits off to require a rebuild with metal parts.
However, my Intermountain FP7’s seem to be much more robust. I have both the older versions with metal grabs and one newer version with plastic grabs. Unlike the P2K stuff the IM units don’t seem to mind being handled, gently of course.
I guess the only way you are going to find out if your new auto rack will stand up is to give it a go. I think lots of people would be interested to find out if your concerns are validated.
As far as running trains with the younger generation(s), there are still less expensive and tougher options available like Accurail. If all the kids want to do is run he… bent for leather then you won’t have much to lose by making less expensive rolling stock available to them. One would hope that they would soon get tired of top speeds at which time you could introduce the finer aspects of operations, and then offer them the opportunity to run your really good stuff if they have proved that they can control things properly.
I see it as an opportunity to interact very positively with your younger family members, but you might have to bite your tonge a bit at first.
Dave
The cars are getting to be Fantastic good! This is what we wanted.
I share every angle of the hobby with my kids, ages 4 & 8, and I shall continue to do so. Don’t be afraid to handle a detailed model. We, as model and hobby enthusiasts can fix it if it breaks…right?
Be careful, that’s all.
I’ve somehow managed to teach some degreel of model-handling care to my children without a harsh word. I suppose it’s leading by example.
Yes,newer cars are fragile to the touch so no sneezing,coughing,no deep sighs allowed around these cars or itty bitty parts will fly.[:O]
Solution:leave the car in its box, put in glass collector case or place on layout and do not touch and use magnets for uncoupling.[swg]
Solution for some Athearn RTR boxcar stirrups: Place car in foam cradle upside down and apply glue to the stirrups.
No joking here…These stirrups will fall off with a accidental bump or even while in motion since they’re not glued on.I even found stirrups laying in the plastic cradle the cars come in.
Yes, there is more separately applied detail. You also have to be careful getting them out of the box. I recently had two grab irons missing on a covered hopper. Don’t know if that was from them putting it in the box or my taking it out. One grab iron was lost and one was loose in the box. I suspect they weren’t glued in very well since they didn’t actually break. Anyway. I glued the one I had and replaced the lost one. A dab of paint and good to go.
Until kids are older, I think Thomas the Tank or other wooden trains are the way to go. Follow this with O27 trains. Then get into scale models. It’s the route I plan to follow with my 2 year old grandson.
Enjoy
Paul
“Are the cars getting to good?”
Is it a good thing that the cars are as fragile as you describe? My interest in this hobby is in building models, not buying RTR, so I have no experience with what your describing and although I build cars that have small-fragile details, I’m not beyond replacing (where I can) with metal parts to make my rolling stock more robust.
I would say that the vast majority of the model railroading public wants these highly detailed and therefore very fragile RTR, freight and passenger cars. So, I guess they are asking the manufacturer to make these ever more detailed and evermore fragile cars! It does seem to me like they (the majority of model railroaders) are painting themselves into a corner. They do not want to build these cars, that are highly detailed and fragile; so, the manufacturer is only doing what they feel their customers are wanting and charging a higher and higher price for.
I like to buy derelict rolling stock at train shows & detail & weather them or scratch-build. I put them on the track & my ,so far, unattainable goal is to never touch them again. We can teach our kids that some"toys" are meant to be handled & some are not.
My grandkids get the cheaper old stuff to run so I don’t have a meltdown if they run something off the tracks or drop it. My nicer trains and locomotives are reserved for my running only.
First, this is not a new condition - the only difference now is models of that detail level come ready to run, rather than having to be built from craftsman kits.
Two, “scale model railroading” was never intended to be a hobby for children. As others have suggested, Lionel, Thomas, and similar products are designed for children.
Three, Some adults prefer or do better with “Toy” trains as opposed to model trains - this is not snobish or critical - just simple fact.
Four, children should be taught from little up what is “theirs” to play with and what belongs to “others” that they cannot play with - a common shortcoming in our culture today.
I have yet to find the HO model train that is too fragile - they are after all 1/87 scale models. I will say that some of the packaging today could be more “removal friendly”, but once on the layout I don’t have any problems - I run them, not handle them.
My grandson is 18 months old and already understands that he has his train items and that “poppy’s” trains are “no touch”. He will be introduced to the hobby as his age, skills and interests advance - or not. He has his Thomas battery powered Trackmaster set he can touch - and he likes to look at my trains.
I almost hate to say this, but for those of you who experience the hobby in some sort of “family activity setting”, I have a bit of news - you are a distinct minority in this hobby. Not that there is anything wrong with that, it simply is not how it works out for most people. I think every discussion among modelers regarding spouses/family I have ever read or heard suggests while many are “supportive”, few are really interested and fewer actually “participate”.
Sheldon
I consider the better quality but more delicate rolling stock and engines to be a challenge to me to step up and provide not only close-to-perfect trackwork so I don’t need to handle them, but also better scenery so that the surroundings come up to the level of the models.
Actually, to say that “the majority” of the public wants highly detailed rolling stock is a falsehood perpetuated by those few who spend a lot of time on internet forums. The vast majority of buyers don’t take the time to come on internet train forums.
Bowser knows that more than 90% of their actual buying, paying customers do not want all the extra details that add cost and fall off–and they still cater a significant portion of their product line to those buyers–though some of their newer stuff is very highly detailed, indeed. However, if I handle it carefully, I have no problems at all. The intermodal spine cars are highly detailed–and much of it is metal and has real strength.
It is only when I do something really stupid that I have broken a handrail on their newest diesels–and with the plastic change, those handrails can be glued.
John
Well, where is the problem. Things fall off of 1:1 cars all of the time. They get banged up, scuffed, dented, painted, and then come back for more. Think of all the time you will save weathering your cars.
ROAR
I tend to do the same, although not entirely derelict cars. I enjoy the building/ modeling aspect of this hobby, as others have already posted. I get a great deal of satisfaction seeing a piece of rolling stock on my layout that I brought back from the depths by adding details, scratch building, updating, weathering etc. I really like the old rolling stock kits from Roundhouse and Athearn. Sometimes this is cheaper then buying the latest and greatest RTR piece…sometimes it’s not. But I enjoy it and I find it highly rewarding to see the fruits of my labor on my layout.
My 4 year old son loves spending time with me at our layout and has learned a great deal of respect and patience for the hobby at his young age. He knows what he can and cannot touch and it doesn’t hamper his interest or enthusiasm. He is a definite future generation model railroader.
Bruce LA,
Wait. You just bought one of the most expensive plastic freight cars I’ve ever heard of ($68.95 each!), one that is over a foot long and so incredibly detailed that you can literally see through it, and you are actually thinking of letting children play with it? [sigh] That’s what Brio is for.
If you want more robust Autoracks, get some old, non-see-through Walthers ones. They’ve been around for, what, 20 years? I just searched eBay and there are 20 of them listed right now and most of them are under $20 ea. They are perfect for the “Gomez Addams”-type of operators as they are solid cars that, other than the stirrups, don’t have much that can break off them.
That you, Bruce, chose to buy cars too delicate to let children play with them is your fault. It is not the manufacturer’s fault for making delicate cars.
Paul A. Cutler III
Yep! On more than one occasion, I have had to make the car look rather beat up in repairing it, just so you could not see it had been repaired. I was quite please with the job I had done. Now to keep people out of the train room when I’m not there.[:-,]
This is demonstrably false and a false equivalency.
The vast majority do want the products made, or their sales would suffer and the products would no longer be offered. Just because Bowser’s customers seem to offer kits (and you dismiss or ignore the extensive Bowser RTR under the Stewart name)…that only means that customers seeking out the products offered by Bowser have an interest in kits. This does not demonstrate a blanket preference.
If 90% (which is a bafflingly huge percentage) of a customer based preferred something, the market would not cater to the 10%.
Agree’d. I think the sales figures and what manufacturers are ACTUALLY making tells the true story. People can say what they want about what “the majority of the public wants”, but it seems pretty clear that detailed RTR rolling stock sells. Athearn discontinued blue box kits because they didn’t well well enough and their wasn’t any profit in it any longer. Why people can’t see the obvious and smell the coffee is beyond me.
UP, if you are addressing my statements in your response above, you left out an important word in what I stated and that is (snip) “the vast majority of the model railroading public wants these highly detailed and therefore very fragile RTR, freight and passenger cars”.
If you disagree with what I’ve stated, then please explain the popularity of Ready To Run over kits? Many of the hobby shops that I visit, no longer even carry any kits of rolling stock!
Also, because the vast majority of model railroaders do not “come on internet train forums” how does that tie into proving what is selling the best in the hobby?