SifuPhil
R.I.P. With Us In Spirit Only
- Location
- Pennsylvania, USA
When I was 5 years old or so my middle brother David developed a love of model railroading ("toy trains" to most people).
(Yes, it's a model - hard to tell sometimes)
Now, David was a unique person - he disliked most people and was always unhappy dealing with the real world, but when it came to his railroad he lavished hours of attention on the smallest details. I remember watching as he would "weather" a box-car using different colors of charcoals and diluted flat paints, or as he would painstakingly create graffiti on the side of an HO-scale warehouse.
Of course, my Dad had been into Lionel trains at one point - we had pictures of him dressed in an engineer's cap, a big ol' cigar in his mouth, as he operated the simple loop-layout he had put up in the basement.
David, however, was of the NEW generation - new and improved! Smaller, faster, better! He built eye-level shelves around our entire basement and would run his "consists" around the room, the train often being followed by his pet gerbil, who loved nothing so much as being allowed to play Godzilla in this miniature landscape.
Me, I gave trains a try for a while - just before adolescence hit
- and it was OK. I was more turned-on by my HO-scale slot cars; to me, trains were slow and boring.
40-some-odd years have passed (and believe me - they WERE odd) and I think that if I had the time - and the money! - I would like to "get into" the hobby again. One thing that would give me pause is the cost of everything now - what used to be at most a $50 locomotive now usually runs around $300 for a basic model. What used to be quickie plastic building models - glue 'em and paint 'em - are now craftsman wood dioramas with hundreds of accessories, going for several hundred dollars a pop.
Remote computer control, high-tech engines ... it just ain't the same!
So ... anyone here ever have them or still have them?
(Yes, it's a model - hard to tell sometimes)
Now, David was a unique person - he disliked most people and was always unhappy dealing with the real world, but when it came to his railroad he lavished hours of attention on the smallest details. I remember watching as he would "weather" a box-car using different colors of charcoals and diluted flat paints, or as he would painstakingly create graffiti on the side of an HO-scale warehouse.
Of course, my Dad had been into Lionel trains at one point - we had pictures of him dressed in an engineer's cap, a big ol' cigar in his mouth, as he operated the simple loop-layout he had put up in the basement.
David, however, was of the NEW generation - new and improved! Smaller, faster, better! He built eye-level shelves around our entire basement and would run his "consists" around the room, the train often being followed by his pet gerbil, who loved nothing so much as being allowed to play Godzilla in this miniature landscape.
Me, I gave trains a try for a while - just before adolescence hit
- and it was OK. I was more turned-on by my HO-scale slot cars; to me, trains were slow and boring.40-some-odd years have passed (and believe me - they WERE odd) and I think that if I had the time - and the money! - I would like to "get into" the hobby again. One thing that would give me pause is the cost of everything now - what used to be at most a $50 locomotive now usually runs around $300 for a basic model. What used to be quickie plastic building models - glue 'em and paint 'em - are now craftsman wood dioramas with hundreds of accessories, going for several hundred dollars a pop.
Remote computer control, high-tech engines ... it just ain't the same!
So ... anyone here ever have them or still have them?
