Hello Phil.
On Wed, 6 Dec 2000 15:35:50 +1030, you wrote:
>Tony, you said:
>My guess is the sparky scalies will align themselves with the Live
>Steam fraternity and work towards the common goal of providing a
>decent range of 1:32 for all of us.
>
>However, there are those of us who are very committed to 1:20.3 AND
>live-steam, my Argyle Bantam is now a close representation of a turn of the
>(last) century Porter tender switcher and is in scale with my whole 45mm 3ft
>gauge railway.
My comments were certainly not meant to be to the exclusion of 1:20.3
which has a strong and growing following thanks to the stirling
efforts of a number of individuals over the last 15 years. In many
respects the narrow gauge war to adopt accuracy has been won and it
was not to the detriment of the original oddball scales like 1:22.5
and 1:24. LGB seems to be thriving although the adherents now seem to
be largely on their own.
The subject has been about 1:32. What is needed is an equally
vigorous pursuit of our goals to achieve what we want just like 1:20.3
did.
I feel the mainstream sparky side will eventually split into two
distinct groups and this will end up being to the benefit of all live
steam enthusiasts. A push for more accurately scaled models will
result in a bonus for 1:32 live steamers.
I doubt that 1:29 will fail although some 1:29 fans are becoming
increasingly worried that it will. Anything that eventuates in 1:32
can only add to the hobby by providing product for a different market.
>Seems to me that the scale, gauge issue has been done to death in so many
>forums that the individual should just do what pleases him/her and leave it
>at that.
I know it seems like it has been done to death but the battle has only
just started.
Of course the individual is free to do what they want.
My goal is to further the cause of LS (both steam and sparky) by
tempting modelers from other scales with correctly scaled offerings.
It is no more difficult for a manufacturer to produce models to an
accurate scale than not, even if they are not highly detailed.
>Regarding the lack of correct rolling stock for the 1:32 fraternity, I can
>sympathise with their situation, however, it's a lot of fun to roll your own
>and gives incredible satisfaction. If you don't have the skills initially
>you'll be staggered how quickly they develop.
Without wishing to gloss over the immensely satisfying results of
scratch building I feel the first readily available 1:32 rolling stock
items will probably be kits just like 1:20.3 is getting. When that
happens the snowball will gather in size until the major manufacturers
latch on to the bandwagon.
>Phil,
Thank you for a thoughtful contribution.
Best wishes,
Tony Walsham.
Remote Control Systems.
P.O. Box 1118 Bayswater,
Vic 3153 Australia.
www.rcs-rc.com
Tel - North America: 1 800 490 6945
Tel - Elsewhere: ++ 613 9762 7785
