Regarding the letter from George Huckaby of GATS in the May issue of MRN. I feel that I must agree to some extent with his comments; however, I also feel that the way some clubs treat potential new members to the hobby [such as] limit[ing the] age to over 18 yrs, also contributes to the decline in numbers. Another thing that is keeping young people from taking up the hobby is the proliferation of craftsman type kits in the hobby shops. How many 9 and 10 year olds can put these together? Also, the cost of the R-T-R cars, while in my price range, is more than the younger generation can afford, unless their allowance is exceptional. And, most children who see people riding trains, see the light-rail trains, not Amtrak. The NMRA is on the right track in some of this, but they still have a lot of work to do to clean up their own show.
Al Erdmann
Having read this month’s [May] Letters on how to get kids interested in trains, I thought I’d add my two cents worth, or if adjusted for inflation, 3 billion dollars worth. First off, my dad hit upon an idea some 25 years ago that I’ve carried on with to this day, even though dad isn’t with us anymore. Dad’s idea was to put a hopper car behind whatever locomotive was pulling the train on our portable 4' x 8', O gauge 3-rail layout and dispense candy to the kids from it. The idea is a big hit with the kids, as it makes our train the only one, as a rule, that the kids can actually touch/interact with at whatever Train Show the layout is at. All we’ve ever asked of the kids is that they let us stop the train in front of them, and then we let them pick whatever they want from the waiting hopper car.
Year after year I’ve had people come back to the layout because their children wanted to see the “Candy Train”. We always draw crowds by the layout, simple as it is, and the kids go away happy, parents too. Another side benefit of the Candy Train is that the parents of the children are usually so happy that their kids aren’t bored anymore, that they take a moment to check out our selling table, which often translates into a product sale, or they take a business card and come to our shop later for train repair work. Oh, and I always send out a press release prior to any local train show I plan on having the layout at, announcing the Candyland Express as it’s come to be known.
Part two of my get the kids interested plan is quite simple, as is part one. I simply brought my little 54" x 27", 0-27 layout over to my apartment so that my son and I could run some trains. Well, the idea worked, and now my 7, soon to be 8 year old son is buying his own trains to run on the 0-27 layout, plus I’ve resurrected a few junks I had over at mom’s house so he can run them on the portable O layout kept there. Occasionally, my son even involves a friend or two in his train running, thereby insuring that other young children are exposed to the world of model trains.
Ben Deutschman
Metuchen, NJ
I just read your review of the Bachmann Mogul in the latest issue of MRN (May, 2001).
Three observations:
1. The waddle of the engine which you mention is partly due to the gauge of the lead pair of drive wheels being narrower than the middle and the rear ones. I suspect this is part of Bachmann’s engineering to help the engine around our tighter than prototype curves.
2. I have one of these engines and I have an outdoor layout which is subject to considerable rail expansion and contraction. Minimum diameter curves are 8 feet — more properly, minimum radius is 4 feet. In one place, the minimum radius is 3-1/2 feet. The ruling grade is 3-1/2%. I use all LGB code 332 track.
The engine, pulling three of Bachmann’s special passenger cars, which also are 1:20.3 scale, had no problems pulling the grades and handling the curves, except that those pins behind the middle set of drivers (the blind ones) caught on an expansion joint and stopped the engine dead — instantaneously! Fortunately, I was test running the engine at slow speeds with no cars. I immediately removed the pins by removing the pin assembly. I’ve had no problems since, including the blind drivers, even on the section of 3-1/2% track.
3. A warning on Bachmann’s smoke generators if you use petroleum based smoke fluid: I found out the hard way with my Bachmann Shay that such a fluid will destroy any parts of the engine on which it is spilled. The Shay trucks are styrene plastic; the Bachmann smoke generator can easily be overfilled and thus overflow onto engine parts beneath it. The lead truck on my Shay, being styrene, crack and crazed and literally fell apart. Bachmann sent me a new one at no charge and I replaced the smoke generator with an LGB unit inside the stack. I also used Form-a-Gasket compound, available at auto supply stores, to caulk around the in-stack smoke generator so no fluid could possibly leak through to the sensitive styrene trucks below. The Form-a-Gasket remains somewhat flexible and can be removed if it becomes necessary to replace the smoke generator. The Shay now runs fine!
Hart Corbett
I started reading your publication about a year ago after a friend brought me a copy from a train show in Eugene, Oregon. I like what you are doing and find Model Railroad News very informative. Your May, 2001 review of Stewart’s model of a Baldwin VO-1000 has probably sold me on one. Please find enclosed a renewal for two more years on my subscription.
I noticed in reading your February, 2001 Letters column that you may have overlooked a source of information in your answer to a reader about railroad reporting marks information. While your writer was looking for an on-line source, the NMRA has long had the information in its Data Sheets, but very dated. I called NMRA headquarters and found that they recently updated the Data Sheet information. Although they are not available on-line, Data Sheets are available on a CD-ROM. NMRA Standards and Recommended Practices are available on-line. Their website is at www.nmra.org
Once again, thank you for your efforts.
George S. Fuchs
Hermiston OR
