I can't help but think that perhaps "S" is still very much associated with Hi-rail/tinplate/toy-train type of layouts. At least in the general public's mind (even the model railroading general public). It goes back to an e-mail I wrote a few weeks ago about what my experience was like switching to S a few months ago. My perception, from doing a bunch of Google searches, was that a large amount of web pages featuring S-scale model railroads, be they private or club, are hi-rail/tinplate/etc. There is nothing wrong with that, of course, but that does continue to perpetuate the "fact" that S is still associated with "toy trains".
When Ed changed the wording, he removed that perceived bias from the potential visitor's mind, and the people reading the description became more open-minded. Again, I am just talking about a general perception from a viewpoint outside of the scale. For example, when I first mentioned to my wife that I was going to switch from N-scale to S-scale, she immediately responded, "You mean the toy trains that my brothers had when we were growing up?". I had to explain to her the difference between toy and scale trains. And, my wife is quite knowledgeable about model railroading, because she models in HO and, now, G. Ultimately, I think we need to get more S "scale" layouts out there, in the magazines, in the contest rooms, in the open houses/tours, and on the Web. Show people that there is more to S then just toy trains. I am working hard at doing my part... I am almost finished with building the benchwork for my new, small, SCALE, switching layout. :-) Just my $0.02... - Peter. At 02:19 pm 10/03/2008, you wrote: > So I inquired as to why >visitors did not drive another couple of blocks to see the NYC. The >answer was: "Your layout is S scale and they have no interest in S >scale." So I changed the description to emphasize NYC, CMRI, JMRI, >transition era, beautiful scenery, etc. and deleted all mention of S >scale. No scale at all was included in the description. Attendance >immediately increased and is now more or less the same as the other >neighboring HO layouts. >------------------------------------------------------------ Peter Vanvliet ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) http://www.fourthray.com/ http://www.fourthray.com/Peter/ Houston, Texas ------------------------------------------------------------ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> 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/
