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 Posted - April 01 2015 : 11:49:37 AM
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Once, I tried to assemble a Campbell's grain elevator. It came out looking like
a house of cards in a state of near collapse. After laying out Woodland Scenic's
roadbed, with great care and precision: looked, and operated, like a over
cooked lasagna, in black. Ballast: my trains ran like they were on square
wheels as they pounded over the gravel; many turnouts were welded
permanently or rendered impassable.
I even went so far as to mail in an article to a famous model rail publication,
"Less is More," extolling the virtues of a small layout. A few months later,
I was astonished to see the same title, same topic, under another byline.
But, fail as I would, I loved it. And when someone gave me a Tyco pipe
unloader as a joke, with respect to my over reaching ambition, I soon found
myself madly in love with the easier, simpler days of my early days
of model railroading, and went sliding helplessly down the slippery slope.
I almost fell out of my chair laughing when I saw a post from a guy who
claimed to want to collect every Tyco covered hopper known to man.
Brother, do I get that.
In the pre-home computer days, I used to dream of starting a model rail
journal where every Tom, Jack, and Harry could post their attempts,
whether low scale, like me, or top shelf. Imagine my amazement, when
scarcely one and a half years ago I bumbled across the Tyco Forum
for the first time. I seriously believed I was one of a very small
minority who loved this stuff.
The first thing I read was this breathtaking analysis of the breadth
of Tyco and its remarkable history and historical context under the
heading of "Going in Circles." This guy had taken incredible effort
and attention to detail to compose a fascinating and illuminating
study of Tyco in all its variants.
The next thing I read was this guy who was building slot cars into
his largely Tyco layout, something I had once tried to do. An
extraordinary effort, and a passion for the unique oddness of
Tyco. His droll sense of humor has kept me laughing.
And then the contributions from teens to seniors, true scale
to garage sales, all of it an enormous expression of creativity,
passion, intellect, knowledge, and humor. All of the best
attributes of humanity, in short.
No where, in the history of civilization, has such a free wheeling
and egalitarian Forum existed. I am sure there are a jillion
other forums, but with respect to our corner of the world, this
TF is a pearl in the onion patch. You, nor I, no matter
how well we model, or write, will ever, ever, get to
be in any model rail publication. The TF gives us
that every day, every week. It is the genius of some
guy named "Todd."
Besides bad ballast and lasagna roadbed, I've made some
rip roaring mistakes on line. This might be one of them, I don't know
yet. I'll even tell you about them, in a PM, but not here.
Life can be tough, no easy day, least not for me. So forgive,
forget, Tyco on.
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Posted - April 01 2015 : 11:54:02 AM
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| Long live Tyco!
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Posted - April 01 2015 : 4:05:44 PM
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Chops you hit it on the head. That is why I joined this forum. I have no particular love of Tyco per say, but I love the fact no one here takes themselves too seriously. We are PLAYING with TOYS and I don't think anyone here is going to take offense at that statement. Elsewhere in the modeling world that would be fighting words. A friend at the company I just retired from said he expected to see my work one day on the cover of Model Railroader. I explained to him that what I do, MR wouldn't want. My vision is not their vision of what model railroading is and that's OK by me. I'm enjoying myself with a layout that barely runs and scenery I'm never quite done with. I model on the cheap. Sometimes second hand, discounted or using found objects. I like sharing my world with like minded people and so far the feed back I've gotten is positive. I also enjoy seeing what others are doing. Lastly it confirm I'm not the only crazy old guy who enjoys this stuff!
Master Of Plasticville
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Posted - April 01 2015 : 5:16:18 PM
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Ok Gary, there are a few points I need to clarify for you.
1. These are NOT TOYS ( at least after we get our hands on them).
2. We do not use "second hand", "discounted" or "found" stuff. They are "re-purposed"
accessories and trains.
3. WE ARE NOT CRAZY! (the rest of the world is).
I hope this is sufficient clarification. Thank you.
Edited by - oldtimer52 on April 01 2015 5:18:05 PM
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Posted - April 01 2015 : 6:01:48 PM
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Notice I always use the words "work" or "experience." Try getting a pancake motor
to come back to life, that is work! As for myself, I hope I never stop being six years old.
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Posted - April 01 2015 : 8:02:39 PM
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quote:Ok Gary, there are a few points I need to clarify for you.
1. These are NOT TOYS ( at least after we get our hands on them).
2. We do not use "second hand", "discounted" or "found" stuff. They are "re-purposed"
accessories and trains.
3. WE ARE NOT CRAZY! (the rest of the world is).
I hope this is sufficient clarification. Thank you.
Originally posted by oldtimer52Â -Â April 01 2015Â :Â 5:16:18 PM
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1. They are toys. Just ask my girlfriend 
2. When you find a heap of brass track and a jar of steam loco parts IN THE MIDDLE OF A FOREST like I did today (not kidding!), tell me that's not "found stuff" 
3. We ARE crazy. But this is usually a good thing. If we weren't, what would become of all those sad and lonely old trains at garage sales and in attics?
Beyond that, Chops, wonderful summary of our forums. I have everything from Tyco and AHM up to brass, and it's an absolute blessing and a bewildering wonder that there exists a place where that's perfectly ordinary, and everyone can share their interests in whatever part of HO scale equally, to the benefit of everyone, without fighting (mostly). Long life TF!
--CRC
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Posted - April 01 2015 : 8:09:05 PM
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quote: quote:Ok Gary, there are a few points I need to clarify for you.
1. These are NOT TOYS ( at least after we get our hands on them).
2. We do not use "second hand", "discounted" or "found" stuff. They are "re-purposed"
accessories and trains.
3. WE ARE NOT CRAZY! (the rest of the world is).
I hope this is sufficient clarification. Thank you.
Originally posted by oldtimer52Â -Â April 01 2015Â :Â 5:16:18 PM
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1. They are toys. Just ask my girlfriend
2. When you find a heap of brass track and a jar of steam loco parts IN THE MIDDLE OF A FOREST like I did today (not kidding!), tell me that's not "found stuff"
3. We ARE crazy. But this is usually a good thing. If we weren't, what would become of all those sad and lonely old trains at garage sales and in attics?
Beyond that, Chops, wonderful summary of our forums. I have everything from Tyco and AHM up to brass, and it's an absolute blessing and a bewildering wonder that there exists a place where that's perfectly ordinary, and everyone can share their interests in whatever part of HO scale equally, to the benefit of everyone, without fighting (mostly). Long life TF!
And Gary, you might not be the only "crazy old guy doing this", but us few crazy YOUNG guys do still exist in this hobby too! A perfect stranger at the Solebury train show once joked that in another few decades, I'll be sitting around taking care of about a hundred people's trains, because I'll be just about the only one left!
Originally posted by PRR 4800Â -Â April 01 2015Â :Â 8:02:39 PM
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--CRC
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Posted - April 01 2015 : 8:33:19 PM
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quote: [
And Gary, you might not be the only "crazy old guy doing this", but us few crazy YOUNG guys do still exist in this hobby too! A perfect stranger at the Solebury train show once joked that in another few decades, I'll be sitting around taking care of about a hundred people's trains, because I'll be just about the only one left!
Originally posted by PRR 4800Â -Â April 01 2015Â :Â 8:02:39 PM
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Originally posted by PRR 4800Â -Â April 01 2015Â :Â 8:09:05 PM
[/quote]
Lucky you! I tell people spending big money on this stuff is silly because as the older guys die off, their collections will flood the market. The law of supply and demand will make it more and more worthless (money wise) So good luck on future scores, I've made a few myself.
My definition of a 'TOY' is anything you buy for just the fun of it. New Corvette Stingray? Yea, it's a TOY.
Master Of Plasticville
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Posted - April 01 2015 : 8:52:08 PM
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quote:
2. When you find a heap of brass track and a jar of steam loco parts IN THE MIDDLE OF A FOREST like I did today (not kidding!), tell me that's not "found stuff"
Originally posted by PRR 4800Â -Â April 01 2015Â :Â 8:02:39 PM
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pix! or it didn't happen hehe
real cool tho 
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Posted - April 01 2015 : 10:01:31 PM
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Nice summation, chops! Not every modeler dreams of bringing to life in every "rivet-ing" detail some small corner of some railroad empire - some, like you, me and others, prefer to just "play" at railroading. So WHAT if we don't do Operations, or have the best equipment? For us, it's just fun and play. There is no shame in that!  It's all about the enjoyment. I mean, if Lionel guys can "play", because, for real, how much realism do those guys strive for anyway, why do HO modelers think it necessary to be scale and detail accurate? Why can't WE just play with our trains? I want a slot car plus train layout as well, and hope to someday get one built, no matter how small-scale. I am with many on this forum who just want to enjoy trains and not worry about being judged on their worth or value as realistic operating miniatures. One reason I am building the AMC train consist, a Tyco Turbo Train with DCC, and the haunted caboose/tender/boxcar . WHY NOT?! Indeed....lets enjoy them at our leisure and our pleasure. Tyco may you live for many more years !
Jerry
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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Posted - April 01 2015 : 10:48:33 PM
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quote: quote:
2. When you find a heap of brass track and a jar of steam loco parts IN THE MIDDLE OF A FOREST like I did today (not kidding!), tell me that's not "found stuff"
Originally posted by PRR 4800Â -Â April 01 2015Â :Â 8:02:39 PM
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pix! or it didn't happen hehe
real cool tho
Originally posted by microbusss - April 01 2015 : 8:52:08 PM
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 Totally take pics, man.
-Steve
"A lot of modellers out there who go to these train shows see broken HO stuff and go, 'This is useless' when, in reality, they can still be used for modeling whether it's as a prop on your layout or a cool project to make something old new again."
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Posted - April 02 2015 : 12:03:34 AM
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It's interesting to note that, in the past, the Great Ones of model railroading like John Allen included whimsy in their modeling. To name a few, he had swaybacked boxcars, flatcars with crates labeled "IBM Typewriters" headed for logging camps, and the "Ruptured Duck" inspection car.
That whimsy seems to have become less common in the last few decades, but it's still here, right in this very thread.
While people write articles about building a realistic engine roster (using words that imply necessity rather than desire), folks here are restoring 400 mph rubber band drive Athearn Little Hustlers or propeller-driven railcars. And, there's the aforementioned ghost caboose.
I'm not trying to harangue against serious model railroading, but a "just because" project can sure lighten things up when we're tempted to turn a hobby into a job.
Carpe Manana!
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Posted - April 02 2015 : 12:42:22 AM
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Some of my best friends are rivet counters. We run trains every week. I go on
Thursdays and he goes on Saturdays. Just kidding. The egalitarianism of the TF
allows the best work by the best rivet counters to display their work cheek by jowl
with the shake-the-box guys, like me. Just like the RC's, I would never make
it to the glossy train mags, ever.
The TF is a true blessing that all of us get to see and be
seen. It is an ultimate democracy.
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