While watching Mythbusters on the Discovery Channel I sit and often think: “What kind of model railroading myths are out there that could be tested by these guys?” So, are there any that you are aware of? Maybe if we’re lucky they would test a few. Wouldn’t that be great?[8D]
Heres a few…
MYTH: You can’t have a realistic layout using Tubular track (see the lionel lines by Frank53)
MYTH: I am looking to buy a pair of 2343 Santa Fe’s JUST because they are a good “investment”.
MYTH: The 464 lumber mill really cuts those logs into flat boards which are wider than the origional logs.
hmmm…maybe they could try and see if postwar trains really are more durrable than the new stuff. Run them for long periods of time until they break down.
Boy, there’s a whole load of 'em and you won’t need the myth busters to validate them.
All 3-rail trains will be worth more money tomorrow than they are today. There’s a joke and a half. The market determines prices, not the price guides. And if you have a collection you need to sell quickly, chances are you’re going to lose money unless you were able to buy dirt cheap and you have trains that someone really wants.
All low end beginer non-scale trains are junk. Some may call MPC “more plastic crap.” I’ve read comments that early K-Line, RMT and Industrial Rail are all junk too. I won’t try to convince anyone that some MPC products are more than what they are. But they fill a niche, and because prices are down to more realistic levels, they sell and there’s definitely an audience for them. And like most postwar trains, parts are available. High end trains that have limited production runs to start with, often do not have replacement parts available - or you have to wait a few years for them to gradually become available… maybe.
Any train that fails to work out of the box, and has no parts avaialble, or has to be serviced several times before it works as it was suppose to in the very first place qualifies more as “junk,” regardless of retail cost or how great it looks.
The hobby is going scale and traditionally sized trains should be discontinued. Well, there’s a SMALL segment of the hobby that gets an undue amount of attention that is certainly going scale. But production run numbers show show the exact opposite - there is still a strong market for traditionally proportioned, affordable trains. Today’s catalogs may lean heavily towards selections of scale products, but the non-scale ones are made in far greater quantities. Nevermind the millions of non-scale trains out there. There are even far more MPC-period trains out there than there are full scale high end ones.
Tho
It’s always the person just right ahead of you that walked away with a box full of postwar Lionel trains,and the person that sold them practically gave them away [sigh] .
Wait [#dots] that’s happened to me before .
Myth CONFIRMED !
Related myth - there’s lots of money to be made by selling that box of rusty trains.
Related myth - all toy trains made by Lionel are worth lots of money.
Related myth - Lionel trains are an ‘investment.’
Here my personal take on what might be a myth - kids are crucial to the hobby’s future.
I’d say adults-needing-a-hobby are crucial to its future. Adults-of-means who are going to buy ‘new to them’ old and new stuff.
I think this perception arises from toy train marketing of the 50s and early 60s - that many of today’s hobbyists have internalized – that this is a father-son, family-togetherness activity. Of course it is, and hobbyist’s kids or relatives are certainly exposed to the possibilities, but there’s also some other perspectives (collector, club layout, lone-wolf, etc.) out there. And there’s a certain amount of personal angst behind the occasional hand-wringing on the forum which I’d generalize as ‘I liked the hobby when I was a tad. Who’s going to inherit / love my stuff?’
Doug,
You used the term “lone wolf” in your post. Although the following “musing” of mine is akin to the substitute teacher saying at morning roll-call, “Anyone not here, please raise your hand”, I would love to get a count on all the lone wolves in our hobby. I know from time to time I feel like becoming one (and enjoying it, too!). There must be people out there who have gotten into the hobby via the various avenues, but have chosen to go it alone and sincerely enjoy it.
They may or may not frequent LHS’s and may or may not read hobby mags. But they avoid or are oblivious to other hobbyists, or certainly non-family hobbyists. They maybe even attend swap meets and train shows, but afterwards, go home to the peace and solitude of their collections and/or layouts. Perhaps they lurk on the various forums, too.
Maybe the Mythbusters could find a way to count these folks… without disturbing them, of course! [;)]
Good point, Richard. Locally, I know only one other fellow hobbyist… I certainly don’t mind ‘futzing’ with the layout by myself. But then again, I’m a misanthrope…[;)]
Here’s another myth - All toy train hobbyists are just like me.
I have to remind myself that not all toy train hobbyists are forumites. I’ll bet the great majority have a minimal (if any) Internet presence. Interesting if very broad comparison is to compare user stats on the CTT forum vs. CTT circulation.
Kids per se are not crucial to the hobby. They don’t have the means, the income to buy any of this stuff. It is an adult hobby by and large. Seeing kids involved in the hobby is wonderful. And hopefully some of them stay or come back to it. But the vast majority of people in this hobby are adults. It’s been that way for decades now. The vast majority supporting the hobby are adults.
great thread! never before discussed.
Myth #1
Real railroads don’t use a center rail (not photoshopped, in front of Crystal City VRE station; Amtrak heading toward Union Station)
Myth #2
Toy trains cannot/should not be run outside
some of my personal favorites:
Myth - I can build really tight curves and then still run any locomotive I want.
Myth - If I cant run any locomotive I want, its the manufacturers fault for not designing it to handle my really tight curves. (its never my fault because I choose to use those curves.)
Myth - I wont look like an idiot if I complain about those myths on model railroad discussion forums!
Scot
If I lay the track / accesory / building / tree there, it will have enough clearance
My (mostly electrical) myths:
“No harm can come from connecting outputs of a multiple-output transformer together.”
“E-units that stick are magnetized.”
“Accessory transformers must be in phase with track-power transformers.”
“Track feeders are always needed.”
“Track feeders smaller than 16 AWG are useful.”
“An ordinary voltmeter or ammeter works with a modern ‘transformer’.”
“If Lionel made it, it must be safe.”
“‘Common’, ‘neutral’, and ‘ground’ all mean the same thing.”
“Transformer terminals are ‘positive’ and ‘negative’.”
“Fuses or electronic circuit breakers are sure protection against voltage spikes.”
“It is dangerous to ground your track.”
I claim to have busted Scot’s first myth: I use really tight (O27) curves and I run all the locomotives I want, e.g., Rail King Big Boy, scale Hudson (773), Train Master (2321).
That track kinda looks like super “O” track. I hope amtrak changed the rollers from cast steel to hard steel on their engines so they dont get worn down too quickly!
Myth: Nice old trains cost mucho bucks.
Myth busted: Persistance, patience, and keeping one’s eye’s on the lookout can garner some incredible deals.
$90 (admitedly not the norm. Right place at the right time would be an understatement)
$200
$75 (4 car 2400 series set)
$29 (similar to this one, but LL tender)
$8 (6464-475 x 2) $12 (9768)
These are just some of my great deals, and don’t include the numerous trains and accessories people have given us for free. I could go on and on all day. But the point is made. Affordable bargains are out there if you look for them.
Myth, you can’t run a engine upside down like from a ceiling. With use of MAGNATRACKTION.
BUSTED, A guy from YORK developed his own Magnatraction, had an oval spinnig with two beeps running upside down. Neat if your into running your trains from the ceiling.
laz57
welllll…that doesnt really count, because I was refering to model trains, not toy trains…
[}:)][:-^][}:)][:-^][}:)][:-^][}:)][:-^][}:)][:-^][}:)][:-^]
Scot
The vast majority that you refer to that are adults now, were kids of the 50’s. Without the influence of what we called “electric trains” in our youth (before video games) many of us would not be “into” toy trains today. I’m glad the attitude of “adults only” did not prevail when I was growing up. My Dad always found a way to buy me a new set every couple years and they were every bit as expensive then as a train set is today, maybe more.
I’m not saying that we have an obligation to bring kids into the hobby in order to have it stay alive. I am saying that without young people in the hobby there will not be enough “adults” interested to keep it alive when the Boomers die off.
Any references to DVDs and VCRs coming down in price are moot. The are millions of buyers for those products and only a few hundred thousand for trains and even less for “Toy” trains, I’m suprised that trains are not more expensive. They will continue to go up as the buyer population dwindles.
Here are some levitating toy trains; watch especially near the end
Speaking of which, that’s a favorite myth of mine.
I’ve bought trains that were run heavily on Super O for years and show no abnormal roller wear. I’ve never seen any abnormal wear on my own trains for that matter either.
From a scientific standpoint, the top of the Super O center rail is flat anyway, so there’s actually more area contacting the roller than there is on tubular track or types of track.
I’ve replaced many a roller that had a deep, narrow groove in the middle.