US $5.95 • Can $7.95 - O scale trains

their hospitality to a stranger made a lastingimpression. I’ve tried to follow theirexample on various occasions when I’vebeen able to provide information andtransportation to modelers visiting in myarea.Woody Mathews (Seattle WA)A Note From A ConvertI recently received a copy of A GuideTo Modern O Scale. I have enjoyed itvery much and have found it very informative.I think it provides a fine overviewof the hobby. I like how you organizedvarious aspects of O Scale in differentchapters. One can find specific informationquickly. At the end of each chapter,A Guide To Modern O Scale lists manysources one can explore to get moredetailed information. From my own experience,your recommendations are “righton.” Some of these I haven’t explored butwill soon.I am one of those in your “target audience”since I recently become interestedin O Scale. I have been an active/inactivemodel railroader since 1952 whenmy folks bought me a Lionel train set(best Christmas ever!). My interest in Lionelgradually declined as I grew olderand became more interested in scaleappearance. This led me into HO whereI’ve spent most of my modeling life. Iadmired O Scale because of its greaterrealism and detail but in my area therewere no O Scale modelers, layouts orhobby shops offering O equipment.Times are much different now andwith the Internet, a large number of finehobby shops and manufacturers are onlya few key strokes away. Other modelerswith similar interests are easily contactedthrough various message boards. Otrainson Yahoo is one I find quite interestingwith many helpful and knowledgeablemodelers that will gratuitously shareexperiences and offer advice to a newconvert like me.Paul R. Searls, Rockford, Ill.What We Need Is...Hi Joe, I just wanted to say I notewith very much interest your editorial[in OST#15]. Do we think alike or what?We have had many O Scale meetingshere and discussed the future of O Scale.Lately it’s dealing with the plastic manufacturersas Atlas, Lionel and K-line. Yes,indeed, the third rail will have to go. Icame from the 3-Rail arena, as many ofus did, and, quite frankly, if they wouldhave been making the fine 3-Rail stuffthen as they are now, it would have beenmuch harder to switch to 2-Rail.The topic you really hit a hot buttonwith is track and switches. I have thoughtfor a long time what we really need to getthis 2-Rail hobby going into expansion isa nice affordable (Henry Ford version) setof track and switches, Track and switches.I can’t say it too much. Even the bestmodel trains will not run without trackand switches. If I ever come to power, Iwould make #6 R and L, curved Rand Land Y’s. Fixed curved snap track. Just likeHO. I would make it attractive with finescale detail, imitation spikes etc. Affordable,accurate scale track is the answer.Sam ShumakerJoe replies: Uh, Sam, what about thenew Atlas track? Doesn’t that count?Switch Built In PlaceA big thanks for the recent article onbuilding turnouts in place (OST#14,pg 34). Following the photos and text, Imanaged to build my first turnout ever,in place, on the layout and a curvedone at that. I’ve been wanting to do thatfor years but never had the confidence.Now I’m going to do another. Neat thingis I don’t know or care what the turnoutnumber is. I just follow the process andthe turnout designs itself.I did make one change: I simply solderedthe two point rails to a tie bar cutfrom PC board. Some of my purchasedswitch kits came with soldered pointsand they work just fine. Its a lot easier tosolder the point rails to the tie bar thanit is to drill and tap the tie bar for thosemicroscopic 00-90 machine screws. Iused code 100 rail, insulated the frog,added a Caboose Hobbies switch throw,and soldered jumpers from the stock railsto the adjoining point rails. All rail deadfrog turnouts work fine with my locos.None stall on the dead frog. But I do tryto keep those insulated frogs short, 2 1 ⁄2”to 3” in length.Tom HouleThe Harvey GirlsJust read your latest Column in #15.Thought you might be interested to knowthat “The Harvey Girls” was also a 1946Judy Garland movie. How much Hollywooddeviated from the original thing,I can’t say, but that’s where the themecame from. I also think this film mayhave introduced the song “The Atchison,Topeka, and The Santa Fe”.One other thing of interest (I think),is that I read recently on the ChallengerImports web site, that Samhongsa hasceased to be in the model train business.Also, Challenger is importing theirfirst “O” engine (4 versions of SP 0-6-0).I posted this info on the OTrains List, andit didn’t appear to generate any interest.I don’t know if it was read and noted orjust ignored!Considering the pile of brass done bySamhongsa over the years and the whiningabout no small brass engines beingdone, I sort of thought there would besome feedback!Dave K.Joe sez: Well, Dave, the news aboutSamhongsa getting out of the brass businessis kinda old. It was circulating atthe Chicago March Meet back in 2003.However, that’s great news about Challengergetting into O.Absolutely The Final Word On TheInternet vs. The U.S. MailThe debate about Internet vs. US mailseems a bit silly in this day and age. Toindividuals without Internet access andstores without websites, just consider myexperience (and I’m just one person, soimagine the thousands like me). I’ve purchasedhundreds of items over the Internetfrom hobby stores that I would neverknow existed and which otherwise wouldnever have me as a customer. Retail storesonly have a limited retail trading area.The internet opens a retailer’s potentialcustomer base to the entire world. As acustomer, without the internet, I couldonly go to local shops (if there was one)or request some catalog (if it existed and Iknew about the source). Now I do one oftwo things. If the retailer or manufacturerhas a website, I go there directly. Sometimesyou can purchase the items onlineor, at the minimum, view the items andprint an order form, send them a checkor call with credit card information. If I’mlooking for an item my normal sourcesmay not have, I just type in that item on“Google” and dozens of sources pop upin two seconds. Many times, I’ve lookedfor out of stock or out of production structurekits and found some obscure (to me)retailer who had the item and came up onthe Google search. The Internet doesn’thurt hobby stores, it enables them to createsales among people they could neverreach. It’s a business expansion tool.Those retailers who have yet to establisha website presence must have a businessdeath wish. Why would anyone restricttheir customer base in this way (and thencomplain the Internet is ruining theirbusiness)? As for consumers, the Internethas opened thousands of resources to usthat were inaccessible or unknown to usbefore. Could this be any easier?Jerry ZaretSept/Oct ’04 - O Scale Trains • 45