I just checked over at the “Classic Trains” forum, and there were all these posts asking about Classic TOY Trains!
I like both kinds, so maybe I’ll start posting about REAL trains here just to make up for a bunch of blockheads!
Jon [8D]
They’re all nuts. Thats the problem with people.[:P]
I just noticed in the Trains.com forum, “Kids and model railroading”. I dont think I ever scrolled down all the way to even see this part of the forum. Who knew[?]
I think its the time of year also. lots of new model railroaders getting into trains. Shows on ebay too. Prices seem to be up.
Maybe when you got to the forums their would be a sub menu with “Real Trains” and “Model Trains” to choose from. This might help.
Be Kool man. That’s a little harsh calling a likely newcomer a blockhead just because they didn’t immediately discern the difference between the similar sounding forum names: Trains, Classic Trains and Classic Toy Trains.
And anyway, we frequently do talk about real trains on this forum, as well.
I hear you, Jon, but even if one gets to the “proper” forum it is still quite confusing:
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Gauge vs. Scale
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Trainsounds vs. Railsounds vs Tru-blast vs Signalsounds vs ProtoSounds vs …
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FasTrack, RealTrax, ScaleTrax, SuperOTrack, sectional track, flextrack, etc.
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Type Z, ZW (postwar), ZW (modern), the look-alike quadruplets: BW-80, CW-80 original version; CW-80 revised version, PowerMax, etc.
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Transformer power ratings in watts: “Postwar” – input power in watts, which compares to around 70% of “Modern” output power in watts, everything else being equal – which it generally isn’t.
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Transformer waveforms: sine wave; cropped (or chopped) waveform
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Alternating versus direct current
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Operation: Conventional, TMCC, DCC, DCS, heaven-knows-what else
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Electronic vs. traditional electro-mechanical, as in e-units and whistle/horns
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Layout schemes and details: loops, blocks, dog-bones, wyes, switch-backs, reversing loops, frogs…
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Wiring-convention terminology: hot, positive, plus (+), power, red; vs., neutral, negative, minus (-), return; black, etc. (After all these years, this terminology is still awful!)
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Manufacturers: MTH, Weaver, Bachmann-Williams, Atlas-O, Lionel (“I didn’t know they still made those…!”), RMT, etc.
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“I don’t need no owner’s manual. I had one of them (Hogwarts sets) when I was a kid.”
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Era: Prewar, postwar, MPC, LTI, modern…
And on and on and on. No wonder folks sometimes get in the right pew but the wrong church. Ya just gotta be patient.
…
There’s an old saying in the “helping” professions: “You have to start where the client is, not where you would like him to be.”
Note: I made absolutely no effort to check the spelling of proprietary t
What’s the deal with people? There are three kinds of people, those who are good at math, and those who aren’t.
This would explain why I wound up with 280 tons of steel girders in my driveway when I ordered a disassembled tressle for my classic toy trains. The shipping costs when I returned the stuff makes the ebay seller shipping costs seem reasonable. Jack.
Yeah, some of the folks get bent out of shape if a model train post shows up on the classic forum. I don’t think they mean any harm but I can see how a person new to the hobby or these forums can get a little upset at the tone some members use if you violate their precious forum. I just tell them to lighten up and be glad there’s a new kid in town. It doesn’t take but a few seconds to politely point someone in the right direction.
We get their (Classic Trains magazine) phone calls and letters, and they (and Trains magazine) get ours. Model Railroader gets a lot of our calls and letters too.
When I was in college I worked for a large consumer electronics chain that will remain unnamed (I was young and I needed the money). We couldn’t figure out why people were bringing toilets and lumber into the store and trying to return them. Then someone pointed out there was a large home-improvement store in the same plaza.
Some people thought it was funny. Some copped an attitude. Some of the stuff the place sold then (and still sells now) belongs in toilets, so I didn’t see any need for an attitude.
Dave,
Some ten years ago when I came to work at “KOOL 105”, I was doing a live broadcast from a supermarket. Some “crunchy-granola”, Birkenstock-wearing, NPR listening, Volvo-driving, hairy-legged woman came up to me and did this screaming tirade about how ASHAMED I should be for working for “Big Tobacco”.
I finally said: “Lady… what ARE you talking about?”
Turns out she thought I was hawking KOOL cigarettes. I told her that I had never smoked a cigarette of ANY kind, which is probably more than she could say…
Jon [8D]
I think if you new at this hobby going to the wrong forum is an easy mistake to make, I know from first-hand experiance because I did!! But as far as whats up with people, it seems that around the holidays they can act quite different. Case in piont, I hate to go shopping, but the local WalMart was have thier day-after-Thanksgiving sale. They had a tv there for 60% off reg price and my wife just had to have that tv. Well she was’nt feeling well that morning so I had to get there by 5;30am, there was already a line 2 blocks long, when I got into the store it really was a mob mentallity. Some little old lady was looking for an item, and asked the sales clerk where she could find it, when he told her they did’nt have it in stock, she screamed at him for it beeing in the sales ad, and SLAPPED him!!! REALLY it’s true, when I saw that I immediatly left the store with no tv, and will never go shopping the day after Thanksgiving.
Paul
“Volvo-driving”–so you mean she had at least one redeeming quality?
Jon,
I’m speechless. Utterly speechless. Just goes to show, I guess, what happens when you jump to conclusions.
I had a “Peanuts” calendar a long time ago and kept one page of it for a long time. Linus is shown holding his blanket and the caption is:
“I love mankind; it’s people I can’t stand.”
That about says it all.
.
I’ve accidentally confused classic trains with classic toy trains too. Maybe just call them all classic toy trains as they’re all just toys, even the 1:1 stuff. [:D]
Hey Jon, did the hairy-legged lady’s Volvo have a “Baby On Board” sign hanging in the back window? How about a Greenpeace bumper sticker?
Hi, I would like to say, Having been one of theblockheads in the wrong forum, that it is better to be an blockheads than a jerk like the guy who started the post. this is especially true when you look at just how these forums are set up. I was reading a post about toy trains and hit start new thread and was in the wrong forum before I realized it. perhaps I’m in the wrong place still. I thought this was a place where folks enjoyed meeting people with similar likes. is there another toy train forum where the people are friendlier? perhaps it’s just the “Real Train” people who are so disagreeable! remind me not to go to their forum any more.
Scott
To be charitable to the posters you might want to consider the fact that Classic TOY Trains is listed right above Classic Trains. It is very easy with a missed mouse click to wind up in one and not the other and if you are already in the let’s-compose-the-post mode it would be very easy to send your query to the wrong one. While I’ve never done a mis-posting of this kind I have, on several occasions, clicked on Classic Trains by mistake and had to read a few thread titles before I realized I had gone to the wrong section.