On Sat, 10 Dec 2005 09:34:13 -0500, Thomas Baker wrote
> Fred's comment reminds me that model railroading is an art form.
> Its fullest representation is in a completed, operating layout.
> Constructing a prototypical car with adequate detail, making
> buildings, and creating scenery are all parts of the whole. Those
> who have brought this off successfully probably never thought of
> themselves as artists, but they are. They are also craftsmen, but
> craftsmanship is part of the art. Just take one look at Ed's NYC
> layout, a group project or one built with help as I understand, but
> nonetheless a work of art. Many others visited at conventions and
> the like are also representative. A dying breed perhaps but not
> going gentle into that good night.
>
> One wonders what the teenagers of today will have to represent their
> interests, a video game collection, Grand Theft Auto?
>
> Tom
You never know. A big return to the original Atari 2600 is an interesting
phenomenon right now. You can get all those game and the controller for some
ridiculous price of $29. I can recall when one game was $50.
I had some students in my Computer Engineering class 2 years ago that
designed and built a system called GenTendo. This system allowed the user to
play any game from any platform on their machine. It was quite ingenious and
I am sure it broke a whole lot of patents if it was going to be sold. The
point is that they were having fun playing all these older games that were
out of date.
My school model railroad club has four stalwart afficinados including one
girl. That is out of 800 students. A lot of them look at the layout and its
progression and show interest but when it comes to patience (I believe is the
key) and commitment, they simply turn away. Today's youth is not patient.
They have grown up with Microwaves, video games, cell phones and computers.
All provide almost instant gratification. It is a rare youth that displays
any form of patience.
On another note, we replaced some of the handlaid track with Tomalco. All of
the club agreed that the handlaid looked better but the Tomalco went down so
much easier and stayed in gauge. They still prefer the handlaid in spite of
the difficulty that they have had with it mostly from learning how to lay it
properly.
We are now on our sixth four foot module. The next will be corners to start
going around the room.
cheers,
Andy Malette
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