While my experience with S scale has been very limited and short-term compared to "lifers" on this list, the grumbling about this or that is not peculiar to S scale. If you want to see some REAL grouching, go to the Steam Era Frt. Car list or RPM list. Even the seemingly most petty tidbit is enough to stir the pot of disgruntled listers FOR DAYS. Things so insignificant, like what size eyebolt is used on a cut lever, will hit a nerve with someone and set off a firestorm of growling until the moderator steps in to end it.
NO SCALE and NO HOBBY is perfect but, from what I've seen, heard, read and personally experienced with S modelers, I think S has a LOT more going for it than is given credit. Maybe NOT having so many RTR goodies to pick from ain't so bad after all. Kinda like what Ed L. said re: how the group stuck together more "back then" than today. I know in HO, where I model, that is very true. Sure, there are many Round Robin operating groups and clubs and so on, but the core HO modeler seems to be more of a loner now than ever before. A long time friend and well-respected modeler, Nate Stone in Savannah, pointed that out to me earlier this year during a visit to his Clinchfield Northern layout. I never thought about modeling that way but his observation is dead-on (unfortunately). Jim King President, Smoky Mountain Model Works, Inc. Ph. (828) 777-5619 <www.smokymountainmodelworks.com> Trainmaster, Craggy Mountain Line RR <www.craggymountainline.com>
