To be fair, it said model train sets have an infamous reputation in pop culture. I don’t think that’s completely untrue.
Yes, it’s used properly here.
Sorry gents, but I have to respectfully disagree with both of you. The author’s use of infamous in this case is poor English.
One last example:
“Yesterday, December Seventh, 1941, a date which will live in infamy…”
Unless the article is referring to a never before discovered standard gauge M10000 set, there’s no such thing as a “1934 Lionel Standard Gauge Diesel Set”. [;)]. So add as many grains of salt to your opinion of the article as you see fit . [;)][;)]
I don’t think so. Pop culture has always shown model RRing in not the best light, or its participants as social outcasts. That’s why its reputation (in pop culture) can be seen as infamous rather than famous.
OK Zug, in that respect I can agree with you, model railroading does have in pop culture the aspect of a society of social misfits “living in their mothers basements” which unfortunately many seem hell-bent on living up to! Not many, but some.
Thankfully O, S, and G Gaugers don’t fall into that category! [;)]
And the “mom’s basement” thing seems to be slowly passing over to the computer geeks! [(-D]
Prob more computer geeks with impressive O scale layouts than anyone else.
Yeah, especially if they’re involved in IT equipment sales! Those guys make some GOOD money!
It’s funny how quickly society changes it’s views on technology isn’t it? Between Trevithick, Stevens and all the others that created the practical steam locomotive and 1869 when America “reached the moon” with the driving of the spikes at Promontory, railroads were THE peak of high technology and growth and enginemen were heroes.
By the dawn of the 20th century, automobiles, airplanes, zeppelins and other high tech devices would come along and grow and improve at about the same rate as railroads had in the first half of the 19th century. But probably most important was the advent of home electrification. That advancement made electric model railroading possible and of course electric trains became the high tech toy dujour.
So when did it happen? When did model railroading become a “geek” thing practiced mostly by social outcasts? I think evidence points to the late 1950’s. Cars were cool, music was cool, football was cool. Space exploration was the highest of high technology and if you weren’t interested in cars, music, sports and girls you were an outcast.
Smart, creative people are often outcasts and model railroading is a perfect outlet for these talents. The high end Legacy trains in the Lionel catalog are smarter than the computers they used to land on the moon 54 years ago but that fact hasn’t brought model railroading back to the universe of “cool” in most minds.
They want tok tok, games and drones.
A very cogent and insightful analysis Becky!
(I might have added slot cars pushing model railroading out of the collective conciousness but they’ve kind of had their day and lost it too.)
The funny thing is though, when I’m at a train club open house, holiday display, or train show I see a lot of young families in attendance with the kids all wide-eyed and Mom and Dad grinning wide enough to eat bananas sideways! Which might bode well for the future.
Discarding rare one-off prototypes and samples, one of the most valuble regular prodution items would be the Father & Son / Over-Under set from 1960. Complete with original boxes it would easily fetch 10K plus at auction.
I suppose the rarest item would be a 1900-1902 “Electric Express” wood gondola powered by a battery, the first thing Lionel made. I doubt very many were ever made. I don’t know if that would translate into a huge sale price if one ever came up for sale / auction.
That’s a pretty good choice, especially if it’s pencil signed by Cowen himself. [;)]
Rarer though, I think, would be the batteries themselves that Lionel sold in the catalogs. Both the dry and wet cell types, and especially the component parts of the wet cells, usually show up in guides with notations like “No Known Examples” or “No Market Data Available For Estimating Value”. 2 7/8 Gauge is so rare most of us will never even see examples outside of a museum.
It would be interesting if someone could produce an authentic Eastern or Everbest dry battery with the identical dust and patina to an original gondola and track found in a disused storeroom of a turn of the twentieth century store. Probably not quite as rare but a set of glass jars, wood box, metal plates, hook-up wire and an unopened bag of “magic sand” bearing Lionel Manufacturing Company info would blow collectors minds.
But there is one item more valuable, more rare and more grail like than even the Brute to Standard Gauge collectors because no one has found an authentic original yet. Any guesses?
Hint: it’s 2 7/8 gauge. (Because 2 7/8 gauge is so rare, I assume standard gauge collectors would be the most likely segment of our community to be looking for one.)