Dear Scott:
Clockwork trains might be environmentally friendly but much of model
railroad's appeal is the fact that YOU control it.
A train must receive its control from a 'control box' and pickup
power from the rails to be able to run forever or stop whenever.
The 'control box' can be anything from an old AF transformer (great stuff
here) through DC to radio control (with or without DCC).
I want a CHEAP train to start them. I want it everywhere. I want them to
build on this set, year after year. After purchasing my cheapo Genesis
set, next year they will purchase an SHS set. I want my cheap TRACK to be
comparable and compatible. (The track might be the most valuable item in
the box!)
Thorin
-----Original Message-----
From: Scott Davidson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Monday, February 03, 2003 11:28 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED];
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: [S-Trains] Cheap trains
Why not go clock work wind up to really reduce cost ?
Advertise it as harkening back to a simplier time... befor electricty
complicated our lives...
>From: "Marty.Thorin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: "S-Scale (E-mail)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "S-Trains (E-mail)"
><[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: [S-Trains] Cheap trains
>Date: Mon, 3 Feb 2003 14:23:11 -0600
>
>Dick Karnes wrote; > The cost of living has increased by a
>factor of 7.38 since 1949. (Reference:
>ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/cpi/cpiai.txt) That means this
>set would
>cost around $295 today. Now look as SHS's four-car set. It has a
>price tag of
>$300, essentially the same. And today's level of technology and detail
>is miles
>ahead of 1949 AF. <
>
>
>And someone else pointed out that Marx's sets were $10.00.
>
>I haven't said this here before but I think there could be a VERY cheap
>set.
>Very easily. Amtrak to boot.
>
>For the locomotive, use the Genesis as the basis. It would consist of a
>thick, plastic shell with painted or molded on detail. No 'glass' in the
>windows. Headlight is not lit.
> The frame is a chunk of plastic to hold the two trucks.
> The front truck is an 'all in one' truck like the old HO F-Unit
>trucks or AHM's O Scale C-Liner truck. This truck will scoot just fine by
>itself down AF track.
> The rear truck is an unpowered dummy. Did I mention AF flanges?
> Couplers are dummies like on an AF 24110 PRR gondola. (In this case
>take the Pikemaster and make it solid.)
>
>The 'train' consists of three passenger cars. They are identical. Again,
>the shell is one thick, plastic block with painted or molded on detail. No
>'glass' in the windows. The cars are not illuminated but they are nicely
>painted. Talgo mounted dummy couplers (not body mounted). These would be
>shorties like the AM Budds.
>
>Track consists of an oval of track. SHS makes the right stuff. One
>circle,
>one straight, and one rerailing / crossing like an AF 728. Anything else
>must be purchased separately.
>
>Minimal power pack. One amp.
>
>Make sure there are some hopelessly out-of-scale people for play value.
>
>Last, include a bevy of catalogs and other literature from SHS, AM,
>Portline, NASG, etc.
>
>That's the set. Nothing else. Cheap. Simple.
>
>-------------------------
>
>Some quick revisions with the older modeler in mind. (i.e. Us!) Make the
>shells so all detail is painted on ah-la-Marx so they are easy to strip
>off.
>Include dimples where the handrails and other details need to go. (I see
>after market potential here.) Also aftermarket glass for the windows,
>headlights, illumination kits, etc.
> Make the Genesis shell scale length. Make the loco and passenger
>trucks the correct wheelbase. Make the loco and passenger shells as scale
>as possible (yet still rugged) to increase potential sales.
> And most of all, make them so they run on DC AF track. (If you have
>to have AC, make it go forward only.)
>
>Thorin
>
>P.S. I'll take six sets right now. As the power truck and the dummy are
>interchangeable, I'll put two power trucks into each, discarding the
>double-dummies to some kids. I'll pass most of the passenger cars onto the
>kids.
> I'll also dissect the power trucks and pull out the wires so I can
>DCC them. Other power trucks will go under home-brew electrics.
>
>
>
>
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>
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