A great time

By the time all of you read this, Christmas will be fast approaching, along with the end of another year. “Oh, here he goes,” you say to yourself, “with another sappy, ‘Boy this year has been really swell,’ editorial.” Well, it has been really swell — in fact, down right fantastic!

For one thing, the Y2K bug was no more than a mere gnat — and for us Mac users, not even that! No, society did not come to a catastrophic conclusion caused by an over dependence on technology, and I for one think that was a pretty good start to a new year. Some may disagree — not to the pretty good start, but to the over dependence on technology. But, who am I to debate the course of human kind. After all, model railroading is relying more and more on technology every year. The number of electronic systems and enhancements introduced for model railroading this year alone is proof of that.

As notable as they were, releases of electronic items for model railroading made up one of the smallest categories. Of course, locomotives and rolling stock saw the greatest number of releases, followed closely by new structure kits. Release of these items was prevalent in all scales. As well, let us not forget those all important reference sources in the form of new books and videos released this past year.

The total number of product releases in 2000 set an all time record, proving that the vast majority of manufacturers are optimistic about the future of model railroading. If I had the patience (and the time), I could tally up the total number of individual items announced in MRN during 2000. For an educated guess, it would certainly be safe to say that the number of new products announced by MRN during the past year number in the thousands!

What will next year bring? Only time will tell, though we can get a pretty good idea by the number of new items announced at the 2000 National Model & Hobby Show. Check out our annual report, which begins in this issue.

On a personal note, this year seemed very short. As the saying goes, “Time flies when you’re having fun.” I did manage to find enough time to sit down and draw up a track plan I could live with — sort of. I even began to move things out of my potential layout room, in the process making my garage even more cluttered than it already was. All this was sabotaged by an ever increasing work load, robbing me of precious play time. Then again, that work load usually consisted of reviewing one great new product after another.

The world did not crash, and model railroading appears as strong as ever. What more could we ask for from another year. If the new year matches the previous one, then we should all have a great time — and who knows, I may even get started on bench work! See you next year.

—Michael J. Pratt Michael J. Pratt Managing Editor