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| To respond to this month's Editorial, send comments to: Editorial@modelrailroadnews.com |
| The Idea Book | |
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In January 2003, I wrote an editorial lamenting the disappearance of train sets and model railroad stuff from the catalogs and advertisements of general merchandisers. The days of the old Sears Wish Book with a train racing around the tree while rapt youngsters watch with smiling eyes are over. The big box retailers may have a few train sets down the toy aisle (or they may not), but they don’t bother to advertise them. Rather than recap the whys of this situation, let us turn instead to something more than the Wish Book. I like to call it the Idea Book, because every time I get it out, I find myself getting ideas. I am, of course, describing the 2005 edition of the Model Railroad Reference Book from Walthers. In this case, I have the HO book, but they also have books for other scales, as well. This is the same book they use down at your hobby shop, but you can have one of your very own. I started into model railroading over a half century ago, and Walthers was there. Small wonder that each new Idea Book is instantly an old friend. Yet the changes from one year to the next tell me about how the industry is changing, because the Idea Book is an honest reflection of contemporary model railroading. |
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This year, as we expected, old friends Athearn and MDC/Roundhouse are absent. Walthers is a distributor and the Idea Book is also a catalog of all that they carry. Athearn and Roundhouse are now exclusively distributed by Horizon Hobby, so unless something is worked out, we won’t be seeing them in these pages again. Inside the back cover is a list of manufacturers; bold-faced type indicates which ones are carried in the current catalog. There are other major omissions, each for its own reason. USA Trains doesn’t distribute through Walthers, so its name is in regular type. LGB isn’t listed at all. Not everything made by a given company is listed here; some manufacturers choose to not offer everything through Walthers. Companies also make new items and put them on the market after the book has gone to print. Not everything listed is available. A book of this size and complexity takes a while to publish, and the marketplace is volatile. By the time you get your copy, items, product lines, and entire companies may have disappeared or merged. The backup to this marvelous book is, of course, the Walthers web site at www.walthers.com where they have a pretty good search engine. Best of all, the book gives you the idea and the web site is updated daily. And that leads to an interesting observation: we model railroaders are pretty lucky to have this resource available to us. Most hobbies and activities lack the comprehensive source book that we have here. Model railroad manufacturers distribute through Walthers, though they may also sell direct and distribute elsewhere as well, and they do so because they want to be in The Book. This means that most of what the hobby has to offer is in this one catalog. They even have trainsets for your Christmas gift giving! Maybe you should do your holiday shopping here this year. To get your own copy for $22.98, contact Walthers at: Walthers, Inc. P.O. Box 3039 Milwaukee, WI 53201-3039 (414) 527-0770 www.walthers.com |
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— John Sipple
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To respond to this month's Editorial, send comments to: Editorial@modelrailroadnews.com
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