All --
I am intrigued by all the opinions about why such-and-such sellsor not, and
whether we are modelers or not, and whether we would buy parts instead of
kits or not.
All of you are of course correct.
How can that be? It's because each of us is at a unique point in the life
cycle
of our hobby. The beginner who wants to run trains wants a quick start with
ready-to-operate supplies. The beginner who is interested in modeling will
want parts and kits. The old-timer wants parts to complete stuff he's had
lying around for 30 years. The layout-builder will be more interested in
lumber,
track, and wire than anything else. The fellow whose benchwork, track, and
wiring is complete will be interested in scenic products and structure kits.
And so on and so forth.
My personal experience is probably like a lot of old-timers. When I was a
teen-ager I had a hi-rail layout in my parents' basement. Then off to college,
where I built rolling-stock kits in my limited spare time. By the time I got
out into the world, all the hirail wheelsets had been replaced with scale. I
contented myself with building car and loco kits for many years until we bought
our house in 1971. Then I shifted from rolling stock to layout-building. I
got
all the benchwork, track, and wiring done and even had op sessions, but never
got around to scenery. During this phase I found that I had more than enough
rolling stock for the layout, which was basically a folded dogbone with a
600-foot run.
At this point, kit acquisition stopped in favor of upgrading with brass and
plastic RTR. However, I continued with a few cherished projects that provided
me with desired pieces that were not commercially available. My philosophy is
if it's RTR, buy it. If it's not RTR but available as a kit, buy it and build
it. If not, buy something that can be converted to it. If that's not
practical, scratchbuild it.
When my wife wanted to convert a third of my train room into a guest room, we
made a trade. I got a new layout space and she got her guest room. The old
layout was torn out and a new one was built with half the mainline run, but
oriented a lot more toward operation. Now all the landforms are in, and most
of the detailed scenery work is finished. I have long ago purchased my last
piece of freight rolling stock. DCC was my largest recent purchase, followed
by
many $$$ worth of scenicking products.
Once my catenary is finished, I will settle into the mode of building the 18 or
so passenger car kits I have waiting for attention, plus a few locos that have
been put on hold for several years. I am no longer in the market for any more
locos or rolling stock (with the possible exception of a few X29s).
In a nutshell, I passed through several stages, each of which was characterized
by differing purchasing patterns. First was accumulation sans layout, Then
came
layout-building with a lot less emphasis on acquisition. Then came
rolling-stock "tuning" in keeping with the theme of the railroad. Then
scenicking and control-system enhancement. And finally completion of pet
projects.
Each of you is in one of these phases, and your purchasing preferences reflect
this. As for me, my rolling-stock acquisition phase is long over, despite the
introduction of new products. And at this point, scenery product purchasing is
also over. I have enough scenic supplies for the remainder of my scenic
detailing, and I have already built my last tree! Now my emphasis is on
operations and maintenance.
I question whether any group in any scale would exhibit a significantly
different level of interest in any particular potential product. It all has to
do with where we are in our lives and in our hobby. I believe most model
railroaders do not have a layout. I also believe that most model railroaders
--
these days at least -- do not do significant rolling stock kit
building. The fact that more O or HO gaugers than S gaugers buy kits than we
do
simply means that there ARE more O and HO gaugers.
Dick Karnes
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