US $5.95 • Can $7.95 - O scale trains

and Along Came Scale...As you know I am a Hi-Railer in transition.I have ventured out into the deepwaters of O Scale on a few occasions, butalways within sight of the safety of Hi-Rail.After all, I have a lot of time and moneyinvested in my Hi-Rail empire and, while itis fun to go exploring and think about operatingin a total scale environment including2-rail track, to actually sail into thoseuncharted waters is a bit frightening. Hi-Rail is fun and it is comfortable. It worksand it lets me enjoy the best of both worlds,the ease of operating trains and havingeverything as scale as possible. Besides, Ilike all of the available features like smoke,synchronized chuff, bells, and whistles.Just when I thought it was safe to ventureout into the waters of scale, just when Ithought I was comfortable with my Hi-Railchoices, along comes major manufacturingchange that will affect those choicesand quite literally force me back out intothose scary, deep uncharted waters. Thistime I may go further than I have ever gonebefore... way out beyond the great 3rd-railbarrier. I need a safe harbor.I guess you could call me a hybrid Hi-Railer. I have many model railroad friendson both sides of the tracks. My 2-railfriends have always had major manufacturersworking for them to produce very scaleand highly detailed locomotives and rollingstock. Names like Max Gray, Overland,Precision Scale, and Kohs come to mind.My Hi-Rail friends have always had to begand plead for help from the likes of Lionel,K-Line, Williams, and M.T.H. to get them tonot only build a locomotive, but build it ascorrectly as possible. No matter how gooda model it might be there always seemedto be compromises in production for the3-Rail operators. On the other hand, Atlasand Weaver have a proven track record ofoffering detail and quality in both 2-rail and56 • O Scale Trains - Sept/Oct ’043-rail products for several years.Then along came scale. Atlas really setthe standard. Competition rose to producethe most scale looking locomotives androlling stock that we have ever seen. Attentionto detail was the accepted goal. Eachcatalog from the traditional 3-rail manufacturersoffered never-before-produced itemswith lots and lots of details. Racing competitionto announce products and get theirmodels to market rivaled that of the BroadwayLimited and 20th Century Limited.Realistic model railroading was born and itflourished and it has become a revolution.Now, to those deeper waters, recentlyannounced locomotives and rolling stockthat are scale 2-rail and coming from some3-rail manufacturers. Imagine Kadee-stylecouplers included in every box of rollingstock. In their search for their niche in themarketplace, their quest led them to therealization that O Scale is not dead. Thereis a whole new market of 3-rail hobbyistswho are sitting on the fence ready tojump in. These are what I call hide-boundHi-Railers who have no wiggle room...nowhere else to go in their search for realism.Their next logical move is to scale.Who would have thought that we wouldhave scale locos with a 2-rail/3-rail switchcapable of running on 2 or 3 rails? Whowould have thought that we would havesuch choices? These announcements ofnew products will rock my boat and theripple effect will be seen throughout thishobby I can now have all the benefits andfeatures of 3-rail with M T.H.’s DCS systemand run on scale 2-rail track! These aretotally new concepts and even my 2-railfriends are excited!In giving M.T.H.’s announcement a lotof thought, I have come to the realizationthat I tend to model in degrees. I transitiona lot as I learn new methods and newways of doing things. Change is inevitablein model railroading just as it is in the realworld. Technology brings change. I havedecided that I will maintain some track onmy layout as Hi-Rail to accommodate myroundhouse full of 3-rail trains. I will alsoconvert some of my tracks to scale 2-railwhich will allow me to operate the newscale locomotives. This way I can experimentand determine if I like them withouthaving to have a “fire sale” with my investment.After all, this hobby is supposed tobe fun, not frustrating. It is great that I canuse my DCS system for both track systems.This will allow me to test and play with thenew offerings and TRANSITION. This willallow me to grow my interests in the hobbyand mature.It has been said that you can never goback and I think this is right. These newproducts and announcements force me todeal with these issues now instead of later.And since I am a Hi-Railer in transition, Imay just make my move into scale 2-rail alittle sooner than later. New technology isseeing to that. You know, I never really had alove affair with that center rail anyway! ◆Stevenson Preservation LinesO Gauge Kits and Parts from pastMaster ModelersCatalog 2002-1 Price: $1.00Baldwin Model Locomotive WorksLobaughAdams & SonsLenoirKansas City KitHines LinesAlexanderPearce Tool Co.Bob Stevenson, 2326 230th St. Boone, IA 50036