The USA Trains set you donated to the 25th Annual Rogue Valley Train Show is a joy beyond our wildest dreams and confirms that adults are never too old to become excited about trains.
When we shared the news with our two grandsons in Minnesota they exclaimed, "We’ve got to go to PaPa Ed’s house soon!"
For myself, it rekindled the memories of my Great Uncle's love for trains that he shared many years ago, 1948, with me and my family when we came to Oregon. What a thrill it was to sit on the high stools and watch as he and his son worked the trains throughout their display.
Your generous donation will long be enjoyed by family and friends as they visit the Binghams. It is a perfect prize for a retired grandpa with a few health challenges.
Gratefully yours,
Ed & Rita Bingham
Medford, OR
Excellent editorial John. Even if you wanted to buy a train set, would you buy it from Sears or WalMart? Who in any of these fast paced retail outlets could advise or answer any questions you may have? As a former model railroader, I’m amazed at how things have advanced in the past twenty years. My model railroad hobby was literally put on the siding with the advent of children. Not that I didn’t want to extend or share the delights and educational values of this hobby, but as many others I’m sure, child rearing and all that comes along with it took precedent.
Now that all three of my girls are done with college, I have the opportunity to rekindle the interest and love of this hobby that started with my first train set the year I was born...1953. How correct you are in your regards to advertising. Every child from my era always looked forward to the Christmas Wish Book from Sears. As I travel extensively with my job, I happened by chance to pickup an issue of Model Railroader one evening when I was in PA. I could not believe the advancements and changes that have come about.
Young people of this day and age have very little interest in anything that is not computer-related. I think if some marketing managers would “think outside the box,” and promoted DCC with a bit more enthusiasm, we would see a marked improvement in model train sales. Watch Sears and WalMart jump back on that train then.
Just as in your situation as a child, I too waited for Christmas each year with earnest. That of course was when Santa brought my trains back and had them setup under the tree each year. As I also became wary of the “Crimson Chimney Sweep’s” credibility, I realized my beloved trains were safely tucked away in the attic. I wonder to this day how my father could restrain himself, as he loved trains also. Once a year is definitely not enough. It’s a hobby that can be shared and enjoyed by the entire family. Sadly enough, marketing professionals don’t see this. Maybe it’s time they started thinking inside the box. The train set box!
Mike Rozanski
Newburgh, IN
Regarding your editorial about "Wish Books" in the Jan 03 edition of MRN, I certainly agree that big department store Christmas catalogs are not what they used to be. However, you are wrong about JC Penney, because you just quit your research too soon. There is a JC Penney Christmas 2002 Catalog; it cost me $4.00 on October 6th just to have one handed to me across the counter. This catalog has 13 pages of dolls and collectibles, and 93 pages of toys, out of 532 total pages. And, yes, it does catalog Lionel Trains for sale right there on page 493! Two Lionel O-Gauge items: (1) #6-18352, Southern Pacific Electric Commuter Car; it came with full TMCC, a piece of track mounted on a board and a plexiglas display case, and only 800 were made. It is a neat piece, and it is running on my layout – Catalog price $449.99. And, (2) #6-31935 JC Penney Special Limited Edition Pennsylvania Flyer 0-27 ready to run low-end freight set (limited to 1000 sets) consisting of 4-4-2 engine, PRR Boxcar and Caboose, and a JCPenney exclusive Army Flatcar with helicopter, thus making this set an instant hit with train collectors – Catalog price $209.99. This does make me somewhat suspicious that these trains were marketed almost exclusively towards the “train collector” rather than the general toy market, as there was an article in the August issue of the Lionel Collectors Club of America magazine “The Lion Roars” announcing these two items, well in advance of the holidays.
Ah yes, Joshua Lionel Cowen was a genius at marketing his “Standard of the World” products, and perhaps some of that has rubbed off on the current Lionel management. But I still miss laying in front of the fire, looking at my toy-store-provided copy of this year's Lionel Catalog, and trying to decide about what trains to ask my parents for Christmas.
Tom Steeves
President, Portland OR Chapter Train Collectors Association
Dear Dave Otte:
I was delighted to find the review of the American Models S scale SD60 in the November 2002 issue. To the best of my knowledge, it’s your first review of an S scale product. Since two members of our club own this model, I thought I might make a few supplementary comments to your review. Like your reviewer, we have no real precise way to measure the model’s pulling power. But, based on experience with the SD60 on our display layout, we would estimate that it could easily pull 40 cars on level track, assuming the cars were equipped with low friction trucks (S-Helper Service or AM).
Also, we were a bit surprised at the poor low speed performance observed in your tests. I suspect that was due to the test model being an AC version in conjunction with a vintage power supply (threshold voltage of 7 volts). I suspect you would see better low speed performance with a DC version and a standard DC power supply. One of our members has converted his SD60 to DCC control (Digitrax). Under these conditions, the model exhibits excellent low speed control (for switching).
As is true for model railroaders in general, the majority of S modelers are interested in the steam-diesel transition period. It remains to be seen if the S market will support modern models such as the SD60 at a level that will allow the release of additional modern S products.
‘S’incerely,
Jay Mellon
New Orleans, LA
I read the Royal Blue Line book review and think it must be a fine volume. There is a small wrinkle that crept in, probably in the synopsizing of the much longer text. The review mentions that the trains ran to Jersey City — a point across from Manhattan — “and that from there they used the B&O’s Staten Island Rapid Transit (SIRT) to ferry them across the river.”
B&O did own the SIRT (at least at one time) and perhaps in the 1890s may have had some sort of arrangement to get their passengers into Manhattan through Staten Island, but I doubt that.
Jersey City is directly across the Hudson River from lower Manhattan and the B&O did run into Jersey City via the Central RR of NJ. CNJ had its own fleet of ferries crossing the river (to a site near the World Trade Center). Staten Island is a borough of New York located southwest of Manhattan and served by the still-operating, and world-renowned “Staten Island Ferry.” Staten Island is about 10 miles from Manhattan. I don’t ever recall hearing of a railroad bridge from the New Jersey side of the island; certainly not within the 20th Century. (It’s hard to describe all this geography — a quick glance at a map will be more helpful.)
As a kid, I do remember the B&O buses at the CNJ terminal; I recall wondering why a railroad had buses (but perhaps never bothered to ask). The CNJ tracks ran across the street from our home, and I could catch the B&O’s afternoon (westbound) train as it passed the house (it was dieselized by then, 1954 or so.) My father-in-law used to be a truck driver up in that area and I asked him yesterday about the B&O buses. He crossed the river on the ferries along with the buses and recalls them vividly.
Today, the CNJ’s magnificent copper-clad Jersey City terminal is preserved as part of Liberty Park. The New York side’s “Liberty Street Landing” was razed in preparation for the construction of the World Trade Center. I rode the CNJ’s last ferry from New York!
Thanks for a great publication. I always read it thoroughly and pass it along to other hobbyists I know!
Herb Kern
South West Alabama Railroad Modelers
Mobile, AL
The level of detail on the new Märklin/Trix UP boxcar is outstanding. Congratulations to Märklin for this first effort. There will be a total of 33 different road numbers; the reviewed set of 10 from Märklin, a set of 20 from Trix and three individual cars from Märklin. They obviously did their homework but... I feel your reviewer, David Otte, gave Märklin a “free ride” in a couple of respects in his review in the January 2003 Model Railroad News. We do neither modelers or manufacturers any favor by overlooking errors. Accuracy either counts or it doesn’t. (It would be too much to ask that all manufacturers be like Red Caboose. They made errors on a car. The errors were pointed out by the experts and, to the great credit of Red Caboose, they redid the car.)
First, he should have pointed out the “bow tie” appearance of the raised panels on the roof. That is just plain wrong. With the roofs of freight cars so visible on most model railroads this is something that just shouldn’t be overlooked.
Second, the underframe is wrong! See pages 392 and 393 in the 1940 Car Builders’ Cyclopedia for photos and drawings of the correct underframe. The Märklin underframe is a 1944 AAR underframe, not one similar to the 1937 AAR underframe as it should be. And the air brake cylinder is located incorrectly.
And some minor points: I’ll cut Märklin some slack on the use of Apex running boards since, so far, no one has come forward to state specifically which cars had Apex and which had wood. I sure wish someone would straighten out the running board question. Here again, it is so visible. And why no paint jobs of the cars when new?
Finally, for 35 bucks I shouldn’t have to replace either the couplers or the wheel sets.
Gene Green
El Paso, Texas
You caught me! I was aware that the raised panels on the roof were not to the correct rectangular shape. However, I was so enthralled by the many other details of this model that this fact was forgotten when I wrote the article. This error in the model has been brought to light by other reviewers, though, and from what I understand Märklin will be correcting this problem in future runs.
Regarding the underframe, I did not put as much emphasis on this area of the car as others might. Except for the appliances hanging down from the frame, most of the car’s chassis is not visible when it is on the rails. Also, I am not sure if Mt. Vernon Car Shops followed specific 1937 AAR plans on the underframe or if the Union Pacific specified some modifications to this design. Furthermore, the model does not have true body mounted couplers and has rather large openings in the floor casting anyway making it inaccurate for any prototypical freight car.
As far as the paint schemes go, it is possible that Märklin might decorate the cars in an “as new” scheme in future production runs. Contact Märklin and let them know for which era you would like to see the cars decorated.
Your point about the cost versus the need to replace the couplers and wheelsets is valid, but keep in mind that this particular set is designed for Märklin AC modelers. The Trix version cars are set up for DC and Kadee couplers and I believe retail for the same price. If you are specifically interested in the Märklin ten car set, the manufacturer is offering free replacement DC wheelsets in exchange for the AC wheelsets. Coupler replacement is still at the modeler’s expense, however.
Finally, I would like to touch on one of your more general remarks. I agree that overlooking details on a product does no one justice. I do not intentionally do that in any of my reviews. What I write is not only based on the facts available to me at the time of the review, but also based on my personal opinions — what I like and don’t like. Readers such as yourself may disagree with my opinions or find fault with my conclusions and that is OK. That is why MRN has a “Letters to the Editor” section. After all, our main goal is to supply as much information as possible, both pros and cons, to the model railroad consumer so that he or she can make a sound judgment on his or her product purchases.
Regards, — David Otte, Contributing Editor
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