Toy AND Scale Trains

Classic Toy Trains Forum
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In a recent email exchange with someone I met over on the MR forum, I mentioned that he may not have seen me around quite as much lately, as I had been spending a great deal of my time over on the CTT forum.

His reply was short and simple. “Where is CTT located?” What follows is my reply.

Mark, CTT is Classic TOY Trains. You see it right at the top of the list of forums, probably every time you check in, but don’t notice it because you’re looking to go straight to MR. If you mean where are their offices, they are just down the hall from MR. Sisters, you know?

If you have noticed my signature has changed slightly in the last month. In addition to my trademark saying “If it has flanged wheels, I like it!!!”, I added my name and member numbers from two clubs. The NMRA you know, this is my 30th year in that one. The TCA is the Train Collectors Association, and is made up of people that collect mainly Lionel, but there are a lot of other brands of toy type trains too. I have 22 years in that club.

Membership in both the TCA and NMRA, especially for those lengths of time, makes me quite unusual, as there are not too many people who can claim that kind of tenure in two organizations that are so different. I’m not sure if this makes me the king of the WEIRDOS or what, since most people consider SCALE and TOY trains to be mutually exclusive. It is in a way somewhat of an OXYMORON, though I am sure that there are some people who just think I’m a MORON, but I don’t mind.

IF IT HAS FLANGED WHEELS, I LIKE IT!!!

Elliot

This is my 1000th post. I always try to say something meaningful on milestone occasions such as this, and I feel that these words are most appropriate at this time.

Please don’t think that I’m picking on anyone when I say these things, as that is NEVER my intent. Trains.com is a vast landscape of train related material, just waiting

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congratulations on your 1000th post big boy 4005. Ive only been here for a short time, but, I can already see that you have a wealth of information that helps veteran & “newbie” train hobbyists alike.

KEEP ON POSTIN’

pennsy_fan[8D]

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Thanks Elliot for all your help and advice to me and to CTT. You remind me of a guy on a boating and fishing forum that I am a member. He called me tonight with some help on a minor fix on an outboard [he is a factory service rep]. He did not have to do it but did. You do the same. Its good people like you that makes the world go around and a lot better. A big thanks. [:D]

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Well Elliot, I don’t belong to the NMRA. I don’t even belong to the TCA. But I understand from the academy that I’m in the running for nomination in the weirdo [8] category.

I know you’re asking… how can that be?? Oh I dunno… maybe because I seem to be the only voice that wishes Lionel would scrap plans for just one - just one single scale-to-the-rivet engine and PLEASE for the first time in 50 years, tool up a single new style 027 engine that doesn’t look like a shoebox on wheels like many of the Railking locos. Like a 14 inch SD90Mac with the usual steel frame and handrails attached to that, a total height of no more than 3.625 inches, in a modern roadname, with 2 motors and no electronics. Or an FP40 would be a nice candidate too.

“There he is boys, let’s get him!” “Chase him down to the train tracks.” “Let’s set him on fire!!” “We’ll knock some scale sense into him.”

Ooooops Elliot, gotta run… here comes the mob from the Frankenstein movie and they’ve mistaken me for the monster. [banghead]

“Friend! Friend???”

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AND NOW AN IMPORTANT APOLOGY FROM DOCTOR BARON VON FRANKENSTEIN:

Dear Elliot, I want to apologize for my monster and his previous comments. I told Egor to bring back a good working brain with either TMCC or DCS. But he brought back an undersized 027 brain. You’d think at $5.15 an hour, I could get some decent help. Anyways, I’ve had the monster back for repairs several times… you’d better believe the UPS man hates me now. Can’t say as I’m happy about the shipping costs either.

Anyways the service reps tell me he’s fixed, but as you can read above, he’s obviously not.

Well I’ve learned my lesson. Next time there’s a thunderstorm I’m staying out of the attic. It’s hopeless… I can’t do that. Alright, instead of making monsters, I’ll try my hand at making politicians.

Sincerely, Baron Von Frankenstein

This message was sponsored by Federal Express - don’t trust your little monster to anyone else! [:D]

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AND NOW another important response from President George ZW Bush:

Dear friends and fellow Americans, these difficulties experienced by Baron Von Frakenstein could have been avoided. He should have outsourced his assistant needs - the work done by Egor - to either India or China where qualified workers could have cut his payroll expenses dramatically. This is the American way. And instead of using unreliable thunderstorms, he should rely on oil based energy. The vice-president will be speaking with him on the benefits of this. And now that our economic recovery plan is in unstoppable full swing, Egor won’t have to worry about finding good paying work with security. Though he may have to relocate to either Sanda Kan or Bombay.

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Excellent as always Brian!!

The name on the jar said Abby something, I can’t remember. Oh yes, Normal, that’s it Abby Normal!!!

I felt that was more of a Jekyll and Hyde performance, but none of that really matters.

I was thinking about my collection as I wrote that, and noticed that it is split pretty evenly between the non scale and even some whimsical pieces, and the serious scale stuff. I don’t seem to be living on either side of the tracks, I LIVE ON THEM. Its OK as long as a train’s not coming.[:P]

Even though I may lean a little toward the scale side, I will never forget my roots. I swear the manufacturers do this crap to torment us, to see how deeply they can drive a wedge into the 3 rail market, and how deeply they can dig into our wallets. They know we’re hooked.

In order to understand the whole situation, we need to go back 25 years, and remember what things were like back then.

“Sherman, set the wayback machine for the year 1979.”

“Yes Mr Peabody, who are we going to visit today?”

“We’re going to a small town in Michigan, just outside of Detroit, where they made toy trains, Sherman. And faster than you can say Rock Island Rocket , we were there, standing in front of the Lionel Train factory in Mount Clemens, Michigan.”

Well, you get the idea, and if you don’t, check out the 1979 K-line catalog. There’s a great pic… sorry must have been the MTH… Atlas? no, Weaver, well they might have had a catalog, but it didn’t have any 3 rail stuff in it. Williams? maybe, but I hadn’t heard of them in 1979.

No, Lionel was KING, with no contenders for the throne. Life was simple then, but all of that would soon change.

I’m going to stop right there, at a period in time where anything was possible.

With apologies to Robert Frost: Two tracks diverged at a junction, and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the diff

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Congratulations on your 1000th post and fourth star!!!

I myslef am perhaps a bit of a weirdo, too because I have both O and S gauge toy trains as well as HO trains (plus other stuff, too). I’m the type of person that wants any train that I don’t already have.

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Thank you Elliot. You also made me laugh too. [^] I’m sure if by living on the tracks, you DO ever see the train coming, Dudley Doright will be along. Maybe he’ll bring Bullwinkle Moose for his expertise.

I do agree with you that trains are trains. To use a baseball phrase, you are one fellow who seems to have all the bases covered. But even though I have my preferences, when I get both train mags, I do read everything - whether it’s a review of the lastest scale steamer or the story on how to build a 027 layout.

I recently saw a documentary on the Cartoon Channel featuring two CEO’s from different train companies arguing over scale and non-scale trains. Sure, it was cleverly disquised… but it was obvious to me Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck’s dilemma over “Duck Season” or “Rabbit Season” was a metaphor for the train business.

I for one am really wondering what “Elmer Season” will bring for us train guys???
Better keep the Way-Back machine running… [:D]

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Way to go, Professor Feinberg…or, should I say, Professor EMERITUS Feinberg. I’m proud to be your student and need to start studying for my mid-term exam…

University of Train Errata,
St. Paul, MN
Jim Duda - Freshman

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Elliot
Way to go on 1000 post. Thanks for the links will
be sure to check them out.See you on the fourm.
Keith

no stars by my name but plent of bars on my windows
[:O][%-)]
visiting hrs. sat. & sun. 10-3
send train mags [swg]

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Elliot and Brian,

Elliot,
Congratulations and many thanks for helping me the past few months.

Brian,
Great post – heck I don’t see what is wierd about the engines you spec’d. I’d buy both of them. Thanks for helping the past few months as well.

Steve

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Sherman…Set the way-back machine to 1955 and the location to
Hillside, New Jersey. THAT is where Lionel was king of the train
world! There NO ONE dared to challenge King Josh or his band
of industrious elves who toiled all year long so that we could en-
joy GREAT trains on Christmas morning!

THOSE were the days! ZW’s, Milk Cars! Steam! Diesels! Cattle
Cars! The list goes on and on…

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“ZW Bush”

Very funny, Brian.

Kudos B-B on 1K. If you can clone yourself about 10 times, that will give us the critical mass needed to really get CTT forum going full-speed down the tracks. I think it is headed that way fast, thanks to an influx of us refugees as well as plankholding stalwarts like yourself.