If anyone from Ctt reads this, i would love to see some more articles on prewar trains of any type. Im a young collector, and have been reading Ctt for about 10 years. In this period ive noticed an intense decline in the already pathetic array of articles involving prewar. It seems that all the articles anymore involve only postwar or new trains. Save this for O gauge railroading. I love your magazine, but it is called Classic Toy Trains, so lets see some classic trains. How about an article on the evolution of the prewar lionel 800 series small freights. Thanks, Dave. Grove City, Pa.
I’m with you on this one, prewarboy - I would love to see more prewar coverage in CTT. I wouldn’t hold my breath, though; the Baby Boomers seem to be driving the toy train markets right now, and that means post-war trains are going to take precedence. As for me - I just can’t appreciate trains made from plastic [V] By the way, I’m a (fairly) young collector myself at age 35, but I’ve been into prewar trains since I was in my late teens. I think it all stems from a prewar O gauge Lionel set that my Mom threw away when I was about four years old (oh, the horror of it all!). The thing didn’t run, but it could have been restored, I’m sure. I can still remember what it was like holding that train in my hands. Oh well - so it goes…
Thats great prewardude, Im only 21 and started collecting prewar when i purchased a forgotten and battered 1689e at the Underground Railroad Shop in New Castle PA. I was 11, and ever since ive been hordeing them. Plastic trains have no appeal to me either. We’ll win in the end. Some of my trains are already turning 100 yrs old. They are bonified antiques not “collectibles”. My father always told me that when the baby boomers are gone and we are old men. The prewar trains made of metal will be prized and the postwar trains demoted back to layouts. One thing remains undeniably true. Prewar trains are in some respects industrial art, inspired by the great artisans and architects of their day, men like Raymond Loewy, and Otto Kuhler. Postwar trains are simply toys.
I’m also young (17) and a prewar collector. I also collect postwar too, however. I agree that CTT should do more articles on prewar trains. There were many more articles about prewar trains 10 years ago than there are now. Modern era trains are nice and everything, but there really should be an even mix of prewar, postwar and modern era to satisfy the tastes of all toy train enthusiasts. I certainly agree that prewar trains are in a way works of art and indeed something very, very special. It’s hard not to be fascinated by holding a train that someone bought new 80 or more years ago.
You won’t get an arguement from me, either, about the editorial change in CTT from CLASSIC trains to NEW trains. As an immediate prewar/immediate postwar collector/operator, I too am discouraged by the dearth of “classic train’” articles.
Having read the magazine almost since its inception, and having read what they’ve said in other publications, you can pretty much guess what the rest of this note says…
“Our surveys indicate the majority of our readers are interested in newer offerings from train manufacturers” (has anyone ever SEEN one of these surveys? Over 10 years of subscribing, and never has one passed thru my house)
“We welcome articles from our readers” (how about this instead ~ dig through old issues of Model Builder and Toy Train magazines. Kalmbach rehashes articles into book form; why not reprint articles from those magazines as “Heritage Articles” in CTT? ‘Twould cost alot less than paying a new author. Besides, not all prewar collectors are writers. And then, after about 2 years, THOSE articles could be brought together in ANOTHER Kalmbach book!)
In fairness, though, what specifically do you seek in a prewar article? Repair info? I’d suggest you check with Ray Plummer’s series’… and make a suggestion to CTT that he do more on prewar repair. History? Joe Algozzini does a great job of that; again, maybe we just need to prod CTT a bit more in the ‘prewar’ direction. Layouts? Unless it’s something by Chuck Brasher or another collector, you won’t see much of the ‘run of the mill’ prewar stuff.
Personally, I’d like to see more about restorations and ‘tricks of the trade’ when it comes to repair. Certainly we don’t expect an article in EACH issue ( I don’t see why not), but prewar and postwar collectors/operators are paying subscription rates the same as the ‘newbies’. Aren’t we entitles to see OUR interests recognized in a magazine whose first word is “Classic”?
Or, maybe we should contact Rich Melvin over at at the “O Gauge Journal”.
Thanks for the comments, guys! Have a great holiday.
Bob Keller
Classic Toy Trains
Thanks, Bob… you too!
Hope you found the comments useful.
[:)]
Great idea here. There was a cover story in 2001 issue regarding restoring old trains and that was the last I have seen on restoration. How about an article showing some of the best restoration jobs from readers? I would send in some pictures of my own set which I restored. I also would lik emore on the care and maintenance of these old beauties.
I’m not a pre-war collector at all, but boy - I’m surprised and pleased to see the young ages of you guys who are into it! That’s great!
The hobby has gone in all directions lately, not only with collecting but with operating too. One of the reasons I post here now instead of at the OGRR site is that I got tired of all the denouncements of 027. When you post over there, speaking for myself, I got the firm impression that the vast majority of folks there were financially well-to-do retired operators who want all new product to absolutely scale with total realism and everything - everything - to be command control. Even threads on Williams or the new RMT Beep moan that it’s too bad they don’t come with TMCC.
DESPITE the fact Lionel’s own surveys found disappointing results in the numbers of command users. Seems for every thread on the wonders of electronic command, there’s another two on the pitfalls of waiting for repairs or having the product fail straight out of the box. Even the train magazines have reviewed product that was defective. And I get a laugh out of how folks want more and more detail and yet complain some of extra the details are fragile. Even the train mags point that out in the reviews.
I guess what I’m saying is that there are lots of different areas of appreciation in this hobby. Obviously the postwar Lionel period is the most popular, as it was also the most successful. But dollars can speak louder than words. From eveything I read and from people I talk with and know, command control IS NOT the most popular way of running trains. AND there are FAR MORE 027 operators out there than Lionel or K-Line want to acknowledge. BUT it is the few folks with money to burn that must buy every new scale detailed engine that are driving the hobby. This along with ego… the companies are in a dead heat with eachother. You don’t forge ahead into the future by putting out product that isn’t totally new and improved. Since Lionel developed TMCC, I doubt they are going to back aw
I’ve actually been tempted to try and get a story about myself into CTT, but haven’t had the guts to do it yet. Writing is something I’m quite good at and I enjoy very much. I did try sending photos in to CTT for their photo gallery, but had them rejected. It certainly wasn’t my trains or layout, though. I have a pretty good camera and I thought they turned out alright, but I think that the main problem was that the lighting in my basement wasn’t the greatest for the pictures.
Well Sask, down here in the states in my neck of the woods, Wegmans (a grocery store) has a photo department with these digital Kodak machines where you can manipulate the color and the tone on your prints - it’s pretty amazing what can be done. I was in the newspaper business at one time… readers would submit photos and there were times I had to mess with them a little in Photoshop to make them look good. Of course, when the photo is of a news event that we wanted to run, that’s a little different from the CTT Photo Gallery. But I’d urge you to try again.
I do think it’d be an interesting article on some of the young modelers out there. Maybe one article that covered a bunch of younger modelers such as yourself. Not that some of you guys don’t have layouts and things to say that wouldn’t warrant an entire article. A visit to any train show, especially YORK overwhelmingly shows this is a hobby of much older participants. And I would say the majority of feature layout stories in the train mags are also about older modelers.
I used to co-direct an art gallery. We held these juried photo exhibits that were open to the public. One of our seasoned photographers, also a judge, was dumping on everything: “Oh I’ve seen that before… Old hat… Been done before… How boring.” Not one to mince words, I finally told him to shut up. “What, you mean you never took a photo of a sunset when you first started? These are possibly the future pro-photographers. If you can’t view the work on it’s own merits for what it is, then put on your coat and leave.”
This is part of the attitude that exists in the hobby today. The established modelers only want to hear about what interests them: large professional layouts, top-line scale only product reviews, pricey collectibles, command control, etc.
Guess I’m the odd ball. I enjoy the above articles but I enjoy ALL the articles and stories!! So Sask, go for it… take some pics and give it another shot. These older modelers frequently forget t
I think you’ll get the same answer from Neil that I get from him. It will go something like this: “We have to do articles about items that will sell the magazine. If we did a lot of prewar, we’d lose a lot of the people that want to see the TMCC stuff.” Balance is all I ever want to see here in CTT. I agree that prewar has taken a back seat. Pity.
Hi.I’m new at this.Got any tips?
I believe you’re right about CTT’s response, Jack ~ I just never understood it.
TMCC guys will read what thy want. Postwar guys will read what THEY want; same with prewar guys.
But when you intentionlly leave out one group, even for a short time, what do you think happens to THEIR subscriptions?
I didn’t renew my subscription for exactly that reason. Too much NEW stuff in a magazine that proclaims, “CLASSIC”.
Now I just visit my LHS and ‘pick and choose’ what issue I want. I’ll change when THEY change.
Trainbud, your summation is indeed part of what is wrong with the hobby… the “I, Me, Mine” way of thinking to borrow George Harrison’s song title. If George was still with us and was a train guy, he could have written the same song again with much of the same frustration that prompted to write it in the first place.
I am different and I like reading ALL the articles. I learn something from all of them. BUT I know what you are saying. There was a thread on the other forum questioning the logic of wasting editorial space on starter set reviews and articles on holiday layouts. This line of thinking is so narrow-minded and selfish. When someone mentions Williams product, someone else chimes in and wishes it all had TMCC (as if they’re are no other options TMCC out there). The final straw for me with the other forum came when someone said they wished 027 would just go away and be dropped forever.
I even enjoy reading the Model Railroader magazine. If you approach it with an open mind, there’s information and tips that are easily adapted to our 3-rail trains. But on the other forum, you admit to reading the MR and you get called a “weenie.”
The hobby is not about labels. It is about trains, regardless of size or scale. I’ve never understood how some can just dump on another scale as if it were the enemy? The hobby needs to be more inclusive, not exclusive! People have different incomes as well as different interests and different amounts of space they can devote to a layout. How is it that any of these modelers are any less than another? Besides, some of these scale-sized trains look just as toylike on a 31-inch or 42-inch curve as do the less-than-scale trains on an 027 curve!
It is so ironic that the train forums are filled with ligitimate gripes about the failure rate and high level of returns on command based / electronics loaded trains. The problem doesn’t appear to be getting better either. YET the forums are also full of complaints every time a product appea
I have had a subscription with CTT since issue #2. I have a copy of issue #1 that
my late father gave me and that started my preference with CTT. I had been a
subscriber to Model Railroader since the 1970’s, but I fell away due to the fact
that they seemed to cater only to HO’ers and most of what they did there was not
applicable to my O Gauge stuff. Great mag, though. I had then become an O Scale
Railroader subscriber in the 1980’s in order to try to get the info I desired for my
use. Again, that magazine became a very narrow-viewed publication. In the past
year it has degenerated into really a catalog with three or four small articles (and
a LOT of blank page space) so I have decided to let it go. I continue to stay with
CTT because they have been, for the most part, fairly well balanced in their coverage
of the O Guage segment of the hobby.
However, I must agree that lately there has been a distinct lack of coverage of
“Classic” toy trains. I think that the balance is getting a little lopsided. There are
still MANY PreWar tinplaters out there and I don’t think that an occassional bit
piece on tinplate maintenance, operation, or history would hurt the magazine.
On the contrary, it would break the “routine” and maybe, just maybe regenerate
the interest in the hobby where it is needed most. Playing with the trains, not
what costs the most, or has the most dodads, or whose is “better”, but actually
PLAYING with trains! The article(s) on table layouts are a step in the right dir-
ection. There have been a few such articles in the past that featured tinplate.
I even recall one that featured a portable tinplate layout that folded into a self-
contained carrying case. It even had tinplate buildings andd accessories! Why
can’t we have a few more of these?
As for the latest dodads…How many of the tech-heads out there know that the
“new” issues of clas
I could go for some standard gauge articles. Even tho I try to read all the articles, some just don’t interest me much. I’m sure that someone else is passionate about the subject.
Sask_Tinplater: The TCA has an online mag called E*train. They are always looking for articles and are quite willing to assist new authors. Maybe you could get your feet wet with them.
Dale
I’d second the recommendation concerning writing articles on prewar trains for the TCA e-train magazine. I’ve written a couple of articles for them. The most recent one dealt with the prewar AF automobile car. I know Bob Mintz would be delighted to see any article on prewar trains you might be interested in writing. I’ve got a couple others in the works which I hope to send in before the end of the year.
If you have a real interest in some aspect of prewar and if you have spent time gathering the information, the odds are that you probably know more about that particular subject than most of the people you are likely to meet. With that level of expertise why not have a go at being an author and share your knowledge with others.
I’m a avid pre-war collector who has a very limited budget. So, to collect pre-war I came to the conclusion either to rob a bank or restore junkers. So I got into the restoration end of the buisness. I buy the cheapest, dirtiest, worse condition possible and fix 'em up like new. I learned alot from my father who did this in the 70’s and 80’s and just from ‘getting my hands dirty’ approach.
There is so much about the restoration side of the hobby that it needs some form of documentation on ways to do things. For example, stripping old pieces for painting. There are a few ways to accompli***his. Boiling in detergent, paint stripper, bead blasting… I’ve experimented with all of them to find that bead blasting works the best (at least for me). No fumes, no gunky mess, just quick and easy. But to the hobbiest who would like to do this task, and is new to the restoring ways, a list of the pros and cons for each would come in quite handy.
My vote would be for a reccuring department in the pages of CTT that is devoted to the restoring side of the hobby.
Dave
You know…The original mission statement of CTT was to preserve and promote
the knowledge of collecting, restoring and operating classic toy trains of ALL brands
and eras. The founders of the magazine were/are TCA members and wanted to
get the message out to the general hobby folks as well as serve as a vehicle for
TCAers who wanted a more diverse and voluminous publication to go along with
the TCA Quarterly. Maybe they need to be reminded…?