Chris Zizzo's post about the starter set he bought for his nephew was the definitive word on the topic of starter sets. We have flogged this topic to death half a dozen times in the last few years; hopefully the horse is now buried, because it's started to smell.
I think that details in a toy train are supposed to be more than accurate replicas of a prototype. They are supposed to invite the child's mind INTO the train, and we all have a child's mind buried somewhere in our adult consciousness. Steps and a door should invite us to take an imaginary ride on the train, not just look correct. Accuracy is less important than having some quality that fires the imagination into greater involvement with the train. Also, the fabulous catalog art of the '50's made those classic toy trains into larger than life legendary creations. The Santa Fe! The Union Pacific! The Northern Pacific! Wow! There are two commonly held ideas about toy trains that I have never bought into. They both originated in the advertising of toy companies. The first is that toy trains bring fathers and sons closer together. During my childhood, my trains were practically the only area of my life that my parents DIDN'T interfere with. They were a sanctuary from parental attention. They have formed almost no part of my close relationship with my son. I hesitated to push him into something so esoteric, and he didn't show much interest after the age of 6 or so. So what? Many of my friends in childhood were not enamored of toy trains either. The second is that accurate scale models are somehow superior to, or more adult than, toys. This was the basis on which the industry convinced many of us to trade in our Lionels and Flyers for much less exciting HO trains, which I like to refer to as "Ant Farm Railroading". HO trains were cheaper and easier to manufacture, distribute, and sell. Unfortunately, there's not much magic to them. That is why the current hirail offerings in S leave me cold. There's not much difference between them and HO except size. Bigness must be combined with some other quality to create excitement, and I find it lacking. That is why, as someone mentioned here, no currently available S product would make a great starter set for a kid. Whenever I am asked to recommend a starter train for a kid, I always suggest 0-27. That's where the toys are. Chris discovered the same thing. 0-27 starter sets are cheap and won't last long, but they WILL get played with until they expire. Another part of the magic for me has always been that the old trains were designed to be disassembled and repaired, even by a child. Remember, Flyer trains were a science toy as well. I certainly repaired my own trains when i was a youngster, and learned a tremendous amount from doing so. Can motors and solid state reverse units come from a different school of industrial thought -- it's called planned obsolescence. When something wears out, replace it, don't repair it. Repairmen are too expensive. As a repairman, I resent this! An old toy train environment is hostile -- lots of dirt and dust and grease and vibration and collisions and heat and corrosion and bimetallic reactions, to say nothing of the higher voltages required by earlier technology and less efficient motors, including surges that commonly exceed 80 volts. I question whether circuit boards, whose components are largely microscopically thin films of various metals, are compatible with older toy trains. The electronics guys always claim that they will last because they have no moving parts, but I doubt it. And, I love moving parts. That's what toy trains are all about! Can motors cannot be repaired and must be replaced. Part of the magic in toy trains is the motors; at some point any kid is going to want to get inside one and see what is going on. A can motor is just a sealed, impenetrable blob, compared to an open frame motor. No visible moving parts, no sparks, not much noise, and not much excitement either. Then there are those tiny hirail flanges and sprung/equalized trucks. I prefer fat wheel flanges and couplers and heavy cast side trucks. They lower the centers of gravity and keep trains on the track when old motors balk and jump. The first time I saw a real knuckle coupler, I probably had to look up at it because it was over my head. The massiveness was the attraction. Still is. Oh well. Grump, grump, grump. In case you didn't notice, I don't adapt well to change. But my trains still are magical, at least to me. Tom Jarcho S-Trains list sponsor: http://www.americanflyertrains.com All the Flyer you desire...books and accessories too! To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list send a note to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
