To All, I am new to the Small Scale Live steamers and have been following these threads for several weeks now. I was fortunate this year to attend DH and observe the Mississippi Madness. At DH I ordered my Aster Mike and have since completed the construction and test run the loco. I have been a "Sparkie (N-Scale)" for over 30 years, I can tell you I have had more fun with my Mike over the past two months then I have had in many years. The discussion regarding what locomotive to build, how to fire it from the manufacturers perspective is quite a risk. From my point of view as a manufacturer of some Digital Command Control products it is a roll of the dice. If a survey is prepared I would suggest the person taking the survey should have a 1st, 2nd and at least a 3rd choice for the type of fuel they prefer. In addition as to the locomotive of choice I would also suggest generic locomotives like Aster did with the Mike. This was a USRA locomotive owned by many US railroads giving Aster a broader market and not a specific road and locomotive allowing the builder to detail it to his/her preference. For the locomotive type have multiple choices for a wheel arrangement that the manufacturer/builder could build a specific locomotive on top of. This running gear could possibly be detailed for both US and European locomotives with the same wheel arrangement and boiler types. The boiler shell, cab and detail parts could be specific but the running gear remain generic. I think the Ruby is a perfect example of this concept. To me as a newcomer to Live Steam the most important issue is the locomotives performance, off the work bench this locomotive ran like a Swiss watch. By giving the manufacturer generic locomotives or wheel arrangements to build will open up their market to a wider audience for sales and grow the hobby.
Paul Lator -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of XXYZ Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2003 10:35 AM To: Multiple recipients of sslivesteam Subject: RE: Surveys/Polls You're opening a can of worms now. I would be interested in hearing what people have to say about this. I would guess that there are a few "favorites" that are on the majority of lists. But the majority of people's favorite locos are unique to their own list. One of the vendors had an online poll with just this question (I don't remember who it was). I would really like to see the results. I also think that a list like this would reflect just how diverse this group is. NG, European, UK, Logging, Mainline, etc. As far as the manufacturers as concerned, would a list like this actually be of use? How many people are going to shell out for a highly detailed Big-Boy. I'd be willing to bet that at least a few of the Aster Alleganys have never been fired because it would lower their investment value. I'd love to have one but I'd build or bash something before I'd buy a loco that I only have a passing interest in, at least not for that much dough. My list: DM&IR M4 Yellowstone Rock Island R5000 series Northern Milwaukee Road F7 Hudson My guess is I'll never purchase a commercial model of one of these locos (The F7 should be next on someone's list, it's easily the one of the most beautiful locos). Of course, I'll need appropriate rolling stock to go with the locos. A manufacturer could make good money selling the 100 or so ore jennies to go with the Yellowstone. But I'm rambling. Ken > Surely a poll/vote for "the model I'd most like to own" would be > more use? If we, (a very interested party,) had a permanent list > with votes attached to each engine, then a manufacturer could get > some idea what we (a small specialist email group,) are > interested in. Wouldn't it be nice to chop the top item off the > list because a manufacturer released it?
