Pieter: No problem - at least you're getting his feet wet! A good many of us who were too young to enjoy the best of times with brand new mid-50's American Flyer trains (not me - I'm not THAT young!) got started with HO, most likely, anyway. I even went through the HO phase, myself.
ILLINOIS MIDLAND should have reached out to those who already had some modeling experience, would like to try S but have always heard/considered that it was a "craftsman" scale beyond their talents I designed ILLINOIS MIDLAND to dispel that theory and demonstrate that building a layout for realistic operation with off-the-shelf components in S is not only possible, but practical. Bob Nicholson ______________________________________ --- In [email protected], Pieter Roos <pieter_r...@...> wrote: > > Hi Bob; > > I may have a different view from some (most?) here. > > Two years ago when my Grandson wanted a train, I got him a Bachmann Thomas HO > set. He also liked Chessie System and found an HO Athearn locomotive and some > cars at a train show. > > Why didn't I support S and buy him a set in the scale I model in? I figure it > is more important that he see things he can use in local shops or train > shows. The nostalgic idea of "reading the American Flyer catalog to pick the > new train items you want for Christmas this year" is a form of delayed > gratification so foreign to recent generations that I suspect it would keep > many kids from developing any sustained interest in model trains. He already > has many other interests; Transformers seem to have died off in favor of Lego > Star Wars and now Halo; so competition is already stiff! > > Having a kids interested in trains IN GENERAL is far more important than > having them interested in S in particular. They can settle on a scale later, > once (if) they develop and adult interest in the hobby. > > > Pieter E. Roos > > > --- On Tue, 10/19/10, Bob Werre <b...@...> wrote: > > > From: Bob Werre <b...@...> > > Peter and All, > > > > Yes, this show was designed to bring in masses of people to > > pay for that > > large a space--I was told they needed 10K to break > > even. So tons of > > little kids similar to the mall shows were expected. > > However, most of > > those kids will be into something else next week. > > This is especially > > true down here in the basement-impaired South. where the > > parents will > > find it difficult to find space for any kind of > > layout. > > > > The Division 8 of the NMRA has a yearly scholarship for a > > youth > > member--they haven't been able to find one yet! I'm > > President of the > > San Jacinto model RR club, probably the largest in the > > metro area. I > > think we have one member under 40. I put out a sheet > > inviting the > > teenage kids to join us, that was given out at the show to > > a few kids. > > The best age to get the kids into modeling is from about 10 > > to 17, after > > 17 most are into other interests, but if the hook is still > > there, they > > will come back in their late 20's. The days of Lionel > > and Gilbert > > running TV ads to hook the kids is long gone. I > > remember Gilbert > > sponsoring "Mr. Ed the Talking Horse" bi-weekly with > > Studebaker. Funny > > that both those companies faded into history about the same > > time. > > > > Regarding, having S on site... that's something I've been > > complaining > > about for years. However, we've had two regional > > part-time dealers > > (Pufferbelly from Waco and Tom Henderson formally of Austin > > (SideTracks > > in Ouray now) appear with both AM and SHS plus vintage AF > > items, but not > > really train sets. I don't think either one did that > > well at the shows > > and with much of their revenue coming from the AF collector > > crowd. Tom > > has left for the high mountains and I haven't seen > > Pufferbelly in > > several years. At this particular show I didn't see > > but two S items at > > all--one of the Casey Jones engines and a NH Pacific. > > I bet there was > > over 100,000 HO or N cars on display (you can stash > > hundreds of N items > > in those plastic bins). > > > > I had proposed (to anybody who would listen) that the > > suppliers send > > down items to the various clubs who display in areas > > without a reliable > > dealer. The club then would become a temporary dealer > > to sell those > > items. Of course unsold items would then go on to the > > next show with > > sold items replaced. The club could receive some of > > the profits and > > the supplier would sell to a new crowd without having to > > actually be on > > site. With the exception of liability and shipping > > costs, it would be a > > win-win situation. > > > > Bob Werre > > BobWphoto.com > > > ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> 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/
