Asking a random audience to identify the most innovative modeler is like asking a group of people in a parking lot to identify the most beautiful woman ever. You won’t get much in a meaningful answer.
My opinion? I am. I don’t think anyone here will agree…
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - my way)
i think Linn Westcott has contributed many fundamental ideas to model railroading from benchwork, scenery, layout design, transistorized throttles, …
Certainly he probably had more time than most to focus on model railroading as contributor and editor of model railroader magazine.
greg
I’ll second Westcott. For variety and overall contributions to the hobby he would be hard to beat-L girder bench work, zip texturing the TAT throttle-one innovation after another.
Allright! Just to DISAGREE with Chuck when he so sweepingly and unsupportedly asserts that not ANYO NE here will agree that he is the most innovative modeler, I’m going to agree with him that he is superlatively innovative.
Disclaimer. I only know what what I see on these Americentric English-language boards and a lifetime of meeting model railroaders. He may be only slightly above the average of Japanese modelers, and we just don’t know it.
Just my personal opinion, so I can start a disagreement. Harrrumphff.
I was surprised to read all the way to the end to find Linn Wescott. You did say most innovative, not who had the best scenary or most trains, or whatever. When you look at what he did and the time frame of what was available, he invented much of the baseline we take for granted today – TAT IV and it’s predecessors; Twin-T; zip texturing in the days before ground foam; l-girder, etc.
You know, when you really look at things and separate out the biggests, mostest, artisticest, etc and just look at those who changed HOW we do things, WHY we do things, or WHAT things we do, there are probably only a handful of true innovators in the hobby. I would name Minton Chronkite, Frank Ellison, Linn Wescott, Ed Ravenscroft, Allen Mcelland, Bruce Chubb.
Other than them, and perhaps a few others, we have great artists, those who build great scenary, or more realistic operations, but innovators???
And lest we forget the likes of masters like Dave Fraray. Tony Koester, Doug Tagsold, Rand Hood, Liionel Strang, Ian Rice, Lance Mindheim (sorry about the mispelling of some of the names), in additon to the ones that arguably can be included in this list. I have learned from all of them and probably others that weren’t mentioned above.
Thanks for the vote of confidence, pardner. It’s almost enough to give me a swelled head.
Fortunately, I have a pin readily at hand. The latest issue of Tetsudo Mokei Shumi is sitting on my worktop - filled with examples of things produced by modelers far more skilled, inventive and knowledgeable than I will ever be. Someday I hope to reach a level half as good as their average - but every time I think I’m getting better something gets published that raises the bar…
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
I think a better title for this post or a new post for that matter would be Who influenced your modeling and why? in fact that gives me an idea …
There are quite a few grand model railroader and a number of the names have been mentioned here, but I have to agree with Chuck, just because he shares the love for modeling Japanese prototype with me. [:-^]
We have yet to see a picture of his work, though [swg]
Seriously, for me, the most innovative modeler is an unknown (to me, because I can´t read Japanese) fellow model railroader in Japan, who introduced me into the art of building mini-modules, allowing me to re-enter the hobby instead of being condemned to armchairing.
What about John Armstrong?
That is about what I was going to say, after reading the thread this far. The question wasn’t about who had the best model railroad X, but the greatest inovator. I am guessing the greatest invovator might have had a really junky layout, if they had one at all.
As for the idea that the DCC person (Lenz) is the greatest inovator, I have to disagree. I see DCC as an evolution from the many earlier command control systems (CTC-16 et.al., RailLynx, OnBoard, among others) not a suddenly new thing. In fact DCC did not have that big of a following until NMRA decided to make it the standard. Before that I believe the CVP Railcommand had the greatest following.
One could also argue that Atlas Tool Company should get the credit for the most inovative when in 1984 they went to Japan to produce a precision engineered drive train for their RS-3. That one thing really changed the way HO modelers considered the performance of their locomotives.
How about Kadee? Perhaps Lionel just for making toy trains popular? Who was the first one to actually operate a model railroad instead of just running trains around the track? How about Kalmbach for taking a risk and publishing a MR magazine? First company/person to produce styrene (plastic) RTR cars, or Athearn for the affordable BB Kits that ruled the HO side of the hobby for what almost 50 years? The first person to use a staging area?
Inovation is a funny thing one can never put their finger on.