Dear Mr. Pratt,
First off, many thanks for your fine publication — so glad I subscribed! The prototype info is especially well done.
As a long-time HO steam-era modeler (see Allen Keller tape Volume 21), I’ve been fascinated by the coming of this new breed of RTR plastic steam power. Having bought both an example of the Bachmann 2-8-0 and Athearn light USRA Mike. However, I’m really perplexed.
The big question: Do the manufacturer-importers of these models have any intention for the purchaser to DISASSEMBLE the model for the obvious need for an occasional gear box and drive-train lube? Access to the innards is an absolute must for all miniature locos. It took me a full three months to figure out the 2-8-0. It does come apart — barely. The Mike was, and still is, a devil. I went ahead and modeled GTW No. 3717 with it, modifying full detail and finish for that prototype. It did convert very nicely, but the entire job had to be done with the model fully assembled.
The point is, if disassembly is not desirable, the purveyors of these models should say so IN PRINT with each model offered. If the basic factory lubrication is enough for the model’s life-time, this should be made known. In any event, until this problem is resolved, I’m not buying another one — regardless of all that exterior detail.
Ron Kuvkendall
Tucson, Arizona
Model Railroad News,
Has a dictionary of railway terms ever been published? It would sure come in handy and would also help standardize train talk. Please advise.
Bernard Bossov
Wilmette, IL
Dear MRN,
I read with great excitement in your S-Curves section about the new S-scale “Wig-Wam” burner by BTS. I thought $74.95 was a ridiculously low price for a structure that is “more than eight actual feet high” as stated in the column, so I ordered one. In order to make room, I cut a hole in my basement ceiling. My front door is only seven feet high, so I replaced it and rearranged my living room furniture in order to be able to maneuver the structure to my layout. On the day the burner was to arrive, I watched out my front window and waited for the truck to bring the package. When the delivery van arrived I volunteered to help carry it inside, but to my surprise, the driver was able to carry it in himself. I was very disappointed and felt a little embarrassed when I realized that your S-Curves column should have said “inches”, not “feet”. Now I have to sleep on the couch and make my own meals and the house looks like swiss cheese, but I have a beautiful looking piece for my layout.
A. Kidder
via the world wide wait
Gents:
Marv Weber was seeking information and the Texas & Pacific Historical Society. That information is kept under: Missouri Pacific Historical Society, P.O. Box 456, Ballwin, MO 63022-0456. Dues are $20 per year. We list this and most other historical groups on our Society Page every month in Model Railroading magazine.
Chris Lane
National Sales Manager
Model Railroading Magazine
Gentlemen:
Last month I read David Otte’s excellent review of the new Proto 2000 Heritage 0-8-0 [MRN July, 2000]. The last sentence in his review was: “Can it get any better than this?” Yes it can!
I’m not referring to the quality of the product. I am referring to the “Limited Run” availability of these locos which is becoming ridiculous. I can understand their not wanting a repeat of their earlier diesels’ overproduction. However, the release of a great new product should be an occasion for eager anticipation, not anxiety!
One should be able to see these models in hobby shops, not only in the hands of speculators on eBay!
Thanks for a great magazine.
Ron Kercheval
Lexington, KY
Dear Michael and MRN Crew:
I’ve been reading MRN since the beginning and would hate to miss an issue. Please change my subscription address. I’ve enjoyed MRN a great deal - I particularly like the bit of prototype history at the beginning of many of your reviews. I also like the variety of products you review. Thanks, and keep up the great work.
Frank S. Graham
Helena, MT
Dear Mr. Pratt:
I received a great shock today (7/31) when I opened my copy of MRN and read of the untimely passing of John Craft.
I first met John about 20 years ago at the Baltimore Society of Model Engineers. John had just recently gotten out of the Army and was entertaining the idea of modeling in O scale.
Eventually, many of us in the club went our separate ways, and John and I were no exception. Over the years, I would occasionally see John at a local hobby shop or at the Howard Zane train show at the Maryland State Fairgrounds. I was just thinking recently that I hadn’t seen him for a while, and was thinking about giving him a call. Now, of course, it is too late.
John’s passing hits me particularly hard as he was less than one year older than myself. I know that John worked very hard to promote S Scale, and valued all input. I am a diehard HO modeler, but some years back, John asked me to evaluate the H39 kit. His passing leaves a very big pair of shoes to be filled.
My thoughts and prayers are with his family. He will be missed.
Rest in Peace, John.
Gary A. Smith
Baltimore, MD
I couldn’t believe the news that John Craft had passed. I have known John for close to 20 years. We were members of the Baltimore Society of Model Engineers together, shortly after he got out of the service, and we became fast friends in the mid 80s. After not seeing each other for a few years, he came into the department store where I worked and we struck up a conversation. For years he tried to convert me from N scale to S, then, having given up on scale swapping, he tried to switch me from Western Maryland to C&O. No dice.
John was the inspiration of the N scale display layout that he and I designed and built for the Western Maryland Railway Historical Society at Union Bridge, MD. While the space dictated the scale, John was the one that insisted on the code 55 track, and a fine scale approach to the layout. He was responsible for the quality of the layout.
John and I spent many hours together enjoying our hobby. Trips to Harrisburg, Reading, and Wilmington, and being asked to leave freight yards by polite but insistent Conrail bulls. Hanging out in each others’ basements, him complaining that he couldn’t see my trains, me complaining I couldn’t afford his. I went to his wedding, and he helped me salvage my marriage. He had a wonderful sense of humor, a love for opera, which I never quite understood, and too many cats. (He always said he preferred S scale because at least the trains had a fighting chance against the cats.)
We lost touch, but I finely called John. We got to talking about trains, and promised to get together this summer. We never did. A couple of e-mails went back and forth, but now he’s gone. I suspect he’s forever in Clifton Forge, either leaning out a dispatcher’s window watching the parade of Alleghenies and Berkshires, or he’s at the throttle of a blue and gold E-7 hauling the George Washington east to Richmond. I can’t believe he’s gone.
Lee Weldon
via the internet
