MRR Forum Survey Results

Classic Toy Trains Forum
1

Well, that thread that I started last Friday has drawn around 230 views and 17 replies. Not too bad, but definitely fewer views than the usual thread. I suspect that is because my subject was very specific:

How many MRR Forum users also go on the Classic Toy Trains Forum regularly?

Most of the MRR Forum members probably took a look at the subject title and moved on without viewing the thread because they don’t go on the CTT forum. Those that did view the thread and posted a reply said that they did not go on the CTT Forum, with a few exceptions, because they were already consumed with HO or N scale and had no time for other forums or they simply had no interest in O scale or S scale.

However, no one said that CTT members should “buzz off” should they show up on the MRR Forum. Nor did anyone indicate that he or she looks down on O scale or S scale. Nor did anyone demean O scale or S scale as “toy trains”.

In conclusion, I would say that most, if not all, of the various forum members, MRR, CTT, or whichever, respect each other and each other’s branch of the hobby. it’s just that each of us has his or her own interests insofar as the model railroading hobby goes. And there simply is not a lot of interaction among the various scales.

Rich

2

I think your conclusions are pretty accurate. I previously modeled in HO scale so I can at least describe my thoughts as they relate to my own experience. My dad had a Lionel train layout when I was born in 1967, so this was the first layout experience I remember. This layout was later dismantled when we moved to Wisconsin. All the items were kept, but there was no room for a layout of that size in the new house. This , plus the fact that by the early seventies, most of the Christmas catalogs and stores carried HO scale, meant that my train set would end up being be a Tyco set. It was actually a good set. It contained a die cast 4-6-0 Pacific and a crane car that was very well detailed. This set started me on the path of HO scale. As a teenager, I subscribed to Model Railroader and Railroad Model Craftsman and built a couple of layouts. I enjoyed building the Mantua locomotive kits and began scratch building some structures. My model railroad hobby continued until college when academics, cars, and women took priority over trains.

My involvement in model railroading as an adult was a bit sporadic. I was always somewhat active in the hobby, but at times some other hobbies would take precedence. Nevertheless, I always modeled in HO scale. This may come as a surprise to many people, but until about 2005, I really didn’t know if Lionel still existed. I certainly didn’t know about MTH or any of the other excellent manufacturers out there. To be honest, I wasn’t really interested because HO scale provided all the model railroading I needed-or so I thought. A chance encounter with a Lionel Copper Range train set at a hobby shop changed all of that. I was familiar with the prototype Copper Range Railroad due to my snowmobiling hobby…long story. In any case, I discovered that not only was Lionel alive and well, but the entire 3-rail O scale hobby was a fascinating scale that I had previously ignored. I soon put HO scale on the back burner and concentrated my efforts on reacquainting mysel

3

I agree with your analysis. It seems that those members who do post in both forums do so because they model in multiple scales. Whereas those who model in only one scale tend to stick to the scale-appropriate forum.

Relevant to the subject, I pose the same question over here that I posed in your MRR thread: Of all the people who post in this thread, how many of you frequently visit the Garden Railways forums? It’s the same difference.

4

Rich - Hi! Yes, for the most part I agree. With the exception of one or two responses I received from my post on MRR, you may know who they are, they were just the same as we get here. Just different worlds. I think we enjoy the hobby in different ways.

As Karl did, so will I. Just a little background on myself. My dad used to set up his 1953 American Flyer set under our Christmas tree each year. When it wasn’t there it was on our ping pong table in the basement for a few months. My first set was a Marx Wells Fargo set given to me around 1959 or 1960. I was born in 1957.

My next set of trains was Lionel HO. I have alot of them from the mid sixties although I never got into the model railroading like you see today (which amazes me what detailing some can do). All I did was run trains and use all the accessories they came with, and I had alot!

Well, my dad passed away in 1971 and by that time other things got in the way [swg]. But still setting a set under our Christmas tree. Go ten years into the future, you know, kids and such. Well I still kept a train under our tree for the kids and now they, all 3 kids in there 20’s and two in there own houses, well they run trains under thier trees as well.

I got back into the hobby about 2 years ago more than ever. My main passion today is to build a set from American Flyer from each decade starting from the 1910’s. So far I’m more than ha

5

On the Model Railroader thread Atlantic Central has a well written long post. One thing that stuck out to me is they see O as collecting or value focused. In HO and N they see their trains like used cars - resale drops as soon as it is run at all. O trains used to be considered a investment that may go up but after buying several expensive engines in the late 80’s and early 90’s that you can get on eBay now for 1/3 of what I paid it’s obvious to me that trains now are just like everything else as far as resale.

Fwright says most O people do display running where a train is run for several circuits and then another is brought out. This isen’t good enough for the dead serious scale guys. It’s true in O the trains are the star of the show. In N the overall scenic view shines. I do display running now but thats because my other track isen’t done yet. Im working on it. I dont know if I will like switching, I kind of doubt it. On modular layouts at shows in all scales thats what they do, display running.

Dennis San Fernando Valley CA.

6

Well, since I started both threads, this one and the one on the MRR forum, I thought that I would chime in here.

The replies on the MRR forum were entirely civil and respectful for awhile. But, then Penny Trains stirred the pot, so to speak, and the responses got a bit contentious.

Now, I have no quarrel with the CTT folks posting comments on the MRR thread but, with all due respect to Becky, I think she went over there looking for a fight. Here is the excerpt that I am referring to as posted by Penny Trains.

Anyhoo. Many O and S gaugers feel that the HO community in particular looks down on them, and we’ve been talking about how posts concerning those gauges don’t get any attention on this forum. I realize that personal interrests are what they are, and if I wanted to talk about Batman or Ghost In The Shell I probably wouldn’t get a response. (Or I’d be told to get lost. ) But to many of us, trains are trains and many of the tinplaters will tell you that “they’re all toys” or something to that effect. (That includes all scales, from the tiniest to the biggest.) There is a rift, and there shouldn’t be.

Things went a bit downhill from there because the MRR guys began to feel defensive IMHO. That is what prompted Atlantic Central’s reply which stated in part:

From where I sit, you are in a different hobby, a related one, but a different one - but so are some of my fellow HO modelers. Not looking down on anyone, simply not looking, and not needing those in other branches of the hobby to look at or validate me.

So, if you go looking for a fight, you are going to find one.

Returning to the original topic, shared interests in the model railroading hobby, I can speak with some authority since I have layouts in both S scale and HO scale. It all starts and ends with the same thing, plugging in to an electrical outlet, running trains, and then unplugging from an e

7

No, I didn’t. And if you had asked me directly, I would have told you as much.