Michael and all:
This list is not the; Do all, end all of S Scale. Most of the members don't
even make postings! It has lost members recently and I think it mostly was
from all the negative postings. Most of us that are here, about 900 now, where
it use to be over1000, don't even visit the site that often. I check this about
once a week.
At one time I checked who was doing the posting for a 3 month period and
discovered that it was about 40 guys doing all the postings and they all tended
to be opinion posts. The posters not only posted to this list but to many other
lists. it is though they had opinions and they just had to have their say,
which is what I am guilty of right now.
When it comes to old guys and the hobby I guess I am one of the younger ones
only being in my mid 60's. I am also infected with steam in my blood and coal
cinders in my ass. The sulfur from all of the years of me burning that coal has
also given me a smelly attitude but ..........I do realize the importance of
getting kids interested in the hobby....... I personally stopped collecting
magazines, instead I drop them off at my HMO pediatric office when I visit the
doctor at Kaiser, and, no I don't see a pediatrician! Maybe I should I also
leave them in the children's reading room at my local library.
There is a local TTOS group near me. They have an S gauge layout set up at
a local mall It t is very low to the floor so the kids can easily see what is
happening. It also has all of the operator buttons out front on a board for
them to play with. When I first saw this operation I was amazed at what the AF
guys were doing for the hobby overall. The place was packed with kids having a
good time and asking questions about what this was all about. They mostly had
only been exposed to Thomas The Train on TV or video games and computers.
(This mall down the street from Apple Computers in Cupertino Ca.)
There is modern modeling happening as we speak. I just sold a really nicely
painted modernized caboose on eBay and had far more interest in than I thought
I would get. The model was detailed and painted as used during the end of the
caboose era. I was going to start modeling the modern era myself following the
Santa Fe after the steam was all gone.
I'll now take cover in the back of my cave, Rusty
--- In [email protected], "Michael" <wsmwrr@...> wrote:
>
> I never thought that asking a simple question would spark such an array of
> answers. The majority of which had nothing to do with what I asked. Now
> just because I'm new to S Scale, doesn't mean I'm new to the way this hobby
> works. Maybe I should have introduced myself first, before asking such an
> outlandishly foolish question.
>
> My name is Michael Ostertag and I am a locomotive engineer for the Canadian
> National in Green Bay, WI. I have been working for the railroad since 1992,
> first as a brakeman for the Green Bay and Western. Then in 1993, with the
> Wisconsin Central as a Conductor. In 1996 I took an engineers promotion. In
> 2001 the CN purchased the WC and the rest is history as they say. I have run
> almost every conceivable type of locomotive that has had a pulse at the time.
> SDL39's? All nine remaining ones until they were retired (587 being my
> favorite) everything from FP7's to SD70ACE's! SD9043's, been there they
> suck!
>
> My point is that I know my way around a locomotive. Not only in real life,
> but in the modeling world as well. I have been in the hobby for over 30
> years. I am far from an expert, but I am well into the advanced category.
> So it really is disheartening to hear some of the answers that I have read.
> Between reading the answers to my question and reading the entire thread from
> BTS's "modern go away" thing, it's no wonder this scale has been stagnant.
> You guys can't get out of your own way! S Scale is the PERFECT SIZE! It
> could be so much more than what it is now. However, apparently, SHS has a
> noose round the neck of every manufacturer. Really! I am really beginning
> to think that you guys don't want the scale to advance. This is ridiculous!
>
> Ok so let me get this straight also. If you don't model narrow gauge, or
> steam or something prior to the transition era, S Scale is not for you!
> Right! Is that what I'm hearing! That is absolute and udder BS! You want
> to know the truth! Take a closer look at a train the next time you see one.
> Look at it really close! Those engine's aren't all the same. The are
> different, in a lot of way's. Just because they don't have external drivers
> and a boiler doesn't mean they aren't alive!
>
> The same holds true in this scale! Des Plaines is trying to get the scale to
> advance. You have to remember something folks, the future of any scale in
> this hobby is the kids that aren't yet into the hobby. Anyone here tell me
> right now why a kid would want to get into S Scale? Anyone? Anyone? That's
> what I thought. Unless the more modern things that kids today are seeing,
> are available to them, they aren't going to be interested in the scale at
> all. That's why HO is kicking everyone's ass! Where is the scale going to
> go once all the guys and gals that are 60+ pass away? It will die! Does
> anyone here want that to happen?
>
> All I wanted to know is if there was an interest in a product like that.
> Apparently it is starting to look like I've made a bad decision with wanting
> to switch to S Scale. The way I see it, right now this was a bad, bad
> decision! Bad attitudes from manufacturers and from others in the scale?
> Wow! No wonder it's going nowhere. It's a shame too, I thought it was a lot
> tighter nit community than this. Instead all I'm hearing is a bunch of
> whining and finger pointing. Modern models are the future of this hobby
> guys! If it is going to advance, that is the way it has to go!
>
> Michael Ostertag
>
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