Here's my too long editorial about bringing new people to S Scale. I think the transition era is the absolute worst era to entice anybody younger than 60 into the hobby of model railroading or into S scale.
I am 47 years old. I never saw a steam locomotive operating until 1975 when I saw the Freedom Train. I have seen diesels all my life, probably started noticing them about GP9 era. The most popular modeling era is the transition era. If you are a small manufacturer, you zoom right there, where you have some hope of a profitable product. Steam locomotives have a unique attraction, especially for men. They are massive machines with hundreds of moving parts, generating immense power, noise, steam and smoke. Building even a simple model requires time, accuracy, and skills that must be developed. I think if people are willing to go to a Renaissance Faire and try to immitate a thousand year old world, it shows a certain attraction to the lost past, even if we never experienced it. Even among people who never saw it, there will always be an attraction to the steam era. Diesel locomotives have their own attraction, but why would someone my age or younger be interested in RS1's, SW1's, PA's, E8's? I've never seen any of these operating, but I have seen modern diesels. Why would I rather purchase a model of an RS1 than an SD60? As long as there are trains there will always be an attraction to the modern era. I believe the transition era is modeled for two reasons: a lot of people currently in S Scale were impressionable young lads during the transisiton era; and I can buy a low priced diesel for half of what it costs for a low end steam locomotive. In twenty years one of those reasons will disappear, and I expect there won't be enough market to sustain the other reason. I believe the attraction to the transition era will almost completely disappear. By the way, does it escape our notice that, unless I'm mistaken, AC Gilbert manufactured modern era equipment? The company that is responsible for many of our senior S scale friends choosing S scale and staying with it for decades? What we need is someone who can float a couple of million dollars to manufacture modern stuff for the next 20 years with no expectation of profit. -Michael Eldridge -San Jose, CA -Modeling the 1920's, before my dad was born. To REPLY to the list, use REPLY ALL; to reply to the sender, use REPLY. For those of you on DIGEST mode, all REPLY messages go to the list (remember to edit the SUBJECT of your message). Change message settings, use our CALENDAR or LINKS, view shared files or photos, view the list archives, GO TO http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
