You are mixing "cheap" and "shoddy". A thing can be inexpensive because of economies of scale and still be high quality. If someone gave an SHS train to a kid to play with and the separate grab irons and steps all got broken off would that make it "cheap"? A toy train meant to be a toy should be rugged like the one piece molded bodies on AF and Lionel when we were kids. Flyer's idea of "cheap" was an Atlantic without smoke instead of a Hudson. The basic mechanism wasn't any cheaper. Gilbert lost business because of slot cars and other interests by the kids of the sixties. They were the minority scale when toy trains entered the doldrums and the cheap pikemmaster stuff was just the beginning of the inevitable end. The company best positioned to resurrect S gauge toy trains is still Lionel, if not MTH or K-Line.
This is unrelated to the continuing scale vs hirail discussions. Most (not all) people interested in truly toy trains will never be scaler hobbyists. Chris Zizzo wrote: > > Cheap trains didn't save Gilbert and they won't save you. The last thing we > need is more crap. Lousy trains make newbies crazy. They don't run well, > they look and sound like cheap toys and they do not evoke the romance of > railroading. They make lousy starter sets and the only reason you want them > is because you want someone else to foot the bill for your next experimental > platform. Nobody benefits from this hare-brained idea but you. Why should > anyone but you support it? > > Chris Zizzo > > 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/ -- Chuck Smith of the NASG, Rochester Area S Gaugers (RASG) and the S Gauge Chemung Valley Lines. http://home.eznet.net/~cesmith "It is often wiser to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak up and remove all doubt." Mark Twain 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/
