Sunday, May 26, 2013

Coming soon... my WBB BL-2 (and vendor) review...

It looks like I'll be getting my BL-2 after all:) Was having serious doubts, but I have a tracking number now and according to UPS it will be here "Monday, 06/03/2013, By End of Day." Based on previous experience with UPS it will probably arrive sooner:)

Was having my doubts about the vendor, I have a special animosity for those who advertise what they don't actually have in stock. I believe in this case though it was an honest mistake on the vendor's part and it looks like they've made it right. Can't ask for more than that:) More to follow, for now I'll just say they were willing to lose money on the transaction to fulfill the order.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Still waiting on the BL-2

I really hoped I'd have the BL-2 by now. Called the vendor yesterday, no phone answer so I left a message. Never had any luck with that style of customer "service" before so wasn't expecting much. Well, they responded via email and said it will be shipped today and they'll email me a tracking number this afternoon. We'll see:) I'm really looking forward to getting this. I think it'll be the last of my O Gauge locomotive purchases for awhile. I need to start building my freight car roster, and I'd really like to find O Gauge versions of the MDC 34' Overton passenger cars. And of course there's the SP Castro roundhouse kit from banta Modelworks that I "need"...

Friday, May 3, 2013

All Wound Up

It's really interesting to watch the different preferences and trends that come out in the different scales. For example, N Scalers seem to like to model big, modern equipment. This makes sense because N scale lets you fit more railroading into a given space than any other main stream scale. HO scalers seem to trend towards "prototypical operation." This also makes sense - HO equipment is big enough to operate well, small enough to fir quite a bit of railroading into a given space, and so much is available that you can easily model just about any era or type of railroad you want. O gaugers - as far as I can see so far - are collectors, operators (but 'operation' has a different meaning in O gauge than it does in HO scale), and the "gotta-have-its." When you look at the history of O Gauge along with what's available now, that makes sense too.

Something that cracks me up is the way certain factions get wound up about certain things. In HO scale, there is a vocal faction that claims you don't have a real model railroad unless you're practicing "prototypical operations" (as defined by them). They especially hate 4x8 layouts, because "real trains don't chase their caboose around an oval." S Scale has a very vocal faction that can't stand American Flyer and seems to think the world would be a better place if AF had never existed - or at least if AF fans would shut up and stay hidden.

What really cracks me up though is seeing O Gaugers getting all bent out of shape about something not being prototypical. I'm not talking about the Proto:48 guys, the "2 Rail Scale" guys, or even the "3 Rail Scale" crowd. I'm talking about those who like to run O27, Hi-Rail, and Classic O Gauge trains. In other words, trains that are TOYS by definition. So... they're running on track that is too wide for scale, with a 3rd rail (VERY prototypical...), and curves that are the equivalent of 13-1/2" to 18" radius in HO scale(!). The cars and locomotives have wheel flanges you could use to cut pizza and couplers that resemble lobster claws (over-size claws at that). The cars overhang on curves like you wouldn't believe, in many cases they're not correctly proportioned for scale (or may not even be 1/48 scale like they're supposed to be), and these guys get their shorts in a wad over things like incorrect reporting marks or windows that don't fit flush.

If all they did was complain it would just be funny. If they asked the manufacturers to correct the "problem" it would be ammusing. But those aren't could enough for this group. No, everyone else MUST AGREE WITH THEM that whatever they're having an issue with IS INDEED A PROBLEM and if you don't agree, you're either a "blind loyalist," you spent too much money on whatever is in question and you're "trying to justify it," or worst of all you're somehow trying to "take financial advantage" of "someone." In other words, if you don't agree with them, you're stupid, evil, or both. There was a recent thread on Lionel 18" aluminum passenger cars on O Gauge Forums and it got so bad the moderators had to delete it. I didn't have a dog in this fight so it was fun to watch... but it still bothers me that people engaged in a fricken HOBBY think that everyone else has to like the hobby the same way they do...

Related links:
S Scale Rant
O Gauge Forums