01-28-2009, 03:04 PM
Note: Have not read the article... However, my $0.02 follows.
Perhaps the purchaser's interest is in running trains, not building them. Perhaps he has no talent for the more "artistic" side of the hobby, but a real passion and knowledge of railroad history and operations. If this is the case, why should he not be able to put his (presumably hard earned) cash to acquiring a model railroad that he can operate?
To various levels, there is a lot of this going on already. Buy R-T-R? Use flex track? Acquire a completed model at a swap meet? What about rock molds? If the true measure of how much one is a model railroader is in how basic the inputs to a given model are, then only those who mine their own ore, and grow their own trees fully qualify...
It may be a subtle difference, but the magazine is Model Railroader not Railroad Modeller, implying (at least to me) that it is not necessarily the models, but the railroading that's the focus. Rod Stewart was featured in Dec 2007 - he builds the models himself, but none of us have his financial resources to afford the space, materials, or time he can. Does that mean his efforts fall into the same category as the guy who commissioned the layout?
Despite the perceived lowering of standards at MR and much repetition/recycling of material, I think it is interesting that they continue to present different ways to be involved.
Andrew
Perhaps the purchaser's interest is in running trains, not building them. Perhaps he has no talent for the more "artistic" side of the hobby, but a real passion and knowledge of railroad history and operations. If this is the case, why should he not be able to put his (presumably hard earned) cash to acquiring a model railroad that he can operate?
To various levels, there is a lot of this going on already. Buy R-T-R? Use flex track? Acquire a completed model at a swap meet? What about rock molds? If the true measure of how much one is a model railroader is in how basic the inputs to a given model are, then only those who mine their own ore, and grow their own trees fully qualify...
It may be a subtle difference, but the magazine is Model Railroader not Railroad Modeller, implying (at least to me) that it is not necessarily the models, but the railroading that's the focus. Rod Stewart was featured in Dec 2007 - he builds the models himself, but none of us have his financial resources to afford the space, materials, or time he can. Does that mean his efforts fall into the same category as the guy who commissioned the layout?
Despite the perceived lowering of standards at MR and much repetition/recycling of material, I think it is interesting that they continue to present different ways to be involved.
Andrew