and he replies - The question is: do you want a Mikado? If so it's the only one selling. If not, it's not for you, or for me either. Not that I wouldn't want one, but 600 bucks is a bit much for my budget.
Lionel did not produce their Mikado for "Scale" S Gaugers. It's a toy, albeit for adults, but none the less a toy for collectors and Flyer or Hi-Rail operators who outnumber scale modelers 15 to 1. It has a realistic body and good proportion on the running gear, but it does have the concessions to the market it was aimed toward. Maybe a kid or two will get a set for his birthday but you can be sure Pop will be playing with it! The Flyer market is a fact of life for Lionel and both major S suppliers, AM and SHS, cater to that part of the hobby too. Ron's 70' passenger cars are a good example, and SHS equipment comes ready to plunk down on a Flyer or Hi-Rail layout with scale wheels and couplers nestled in pockets for the scale modeler to install. Reverse the situation and sales would nose dive. Flyer guys do not grasp "some assembly required." But then why would they. With a ready supply of cars and locomotives that are "Flyer Compatible" they don't need to. Hook this loco on a string of AM or SHS out of the box, Flyer compatible freight cars and you've got a train not currently available in scale modeling. I'm sure some secondary producer will come up with a conversion frame or at least the drivers to make it run on scale trackage. But as far as the Mike out of the box goes, a little filing on the driver tires and scale wheels on the rest of the running gear and it should run on code .125 rail. Unless you use Lionel's TMCC cab controller however, the guys in the cab might complain and smoke may squirt out of the bell. but it should run. Y' know, I'm surprised that Don or Ron haven't come up with a realistic version of "All Aboard" panels to go along with the "Mike". The possibilities are mind boggling - Call it "Modules In A Box" or "Instant Railroad". Get the Chinese to punch out the panels, a few structures and trees, the ever popular tunnel with a house perched on the side and you've got a layout your friends would envy. Add sound like wind rustling through the leaves and lawn mowers, a dog barking and you've got the ultra instant layout, just right for the Mikado with its own realistic train sounds. Get the whole layout going with train sounds, talking crews, whistling wind. barking dogs, lawn mowers, car horns etc., - yes it's mind boggling! It's 2 degrees here and wind blown snow is howling past the door, the cats are conked out and I'm locked in for the evening - I guess it shows... Raleigh At 01:58 PM 1/24/2005, Bill Fraley wrote: >Rollian, > >But why would an S scaler buy it? >To convert it over like in the old days? > >The locomotive won't run on 125 or 100 rail, doesn't make much sense to me. > >Bill > The poll results are in....... To REPLY to the list, use REPLY ALL, to reply to the sender, use REPLY. I do NOT know if this works on all e-mail software, but it works on some of the most common ones. Change your membership, change your message settings, use our CALENDAR, view shared files or photos, view the list archives, GO TO http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
