Subject:
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Re: 9V Train Motor Being Discontinued?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.trains
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Date:
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Tue, 28 Mar 2006 19:28:59 GMT
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Viewed:
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3627 times
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In lugnet.trains, Eric Kingsley wrote:
> This is very important feedback. Lets try an informal poll...
>
> If 9V trains do get discontinued...
>
> 1. Would your club disband or significantly cut back on public appearances?
> (List your club and number of appearances)
>
> 2. Are there any clubs that would continue to show using the new Battery
> powered IR Trains?
>
> 3. How tightly are 9V trains and your clubs survival tied together?
>
>
> It is important that folks take this seriously and post honestly. If you have
> any other feedback in terms of how your club would be affected if 9V trains were
> discontinued please share that as well.
>
> The more information the Ambassadors have in terms of how a decision such as
> this affects the community the more we can try to influance decisions within
> LEGO before a point of no return is reached, such as happened with the color
> problem.
>
> I will take your feedback and put together a document that I will submit through
> the channels I have open to me and we will see what happens.
>
> -Eric Kingsley
> LEGO Ambassador
Eric,
The poll is a great idea. I have posted below answers to your three items. I
have also added a few survey items that I humbly submit for you to include.
1. Would your club disband or significantly cut back on public appearances?
(List your club and number of appearances)
I was formerly part of the WAMALTC Club and the NGLTC Club. Knowing the
individuals and the track these clubs posses I answer this question as a former
member. I do not see that we would need to cut back or limit our appearances in
the near future. Both clubs or members of each club posses large volumes of
track and therefore could continue to exist without acquiring new track.
Unfortunately, there is not an unlimited supply of train motors. Most of the
active, committed club members have at least one or two motors no longer
running. If I am wrong, please correct me. Without a source for more 9V motors,
I fear that the long term future of displaying is in jeopardy. I cannot say
whether this is 5 years from now or 20 years from now, but it is a certainty
that when all the motors have run their lifetime then displaying working trains
will be in doubt.
Disbanding is another issue. That could happen regardless of the status of 9V
motors or track as members leave a club for various reasons. I have moved to an
area with few fans and would like to display. I lack the track resources for
putting on a large display, but could do a decent reasonably sized display. As I
recruit new members in my area, where do they go for track and motors compatible
with what I have? Sure for now, they have the ability to make purchases but for
how long. If 9V is all gone in a year, then there will be limited creation of
new LTC's.
2. Are there any clubs that would continue to show using the new Battery
powered IR Trains?
I cannot wait to get my hands on the new battery operated trains. I have kept my
old battery operated trains and these ought to work well with the new one. I can
also run the new trains on the old 9V track too! Yeah. So fo me, this is a way
to continue the hobby. I pray for new engines, new rolling stock, new buildings,
etc. I know I have the ability to make them all work with my 9V as well.
I also feel that the new battery and remotely operated trains will give me the
opportunity to allow visitors to control the train. I do not know how to do this
yet, but there ought to be a way to create a user station where a child or adult
can operate a train on a line. I should also be able to figure out how to use a
computer and radio control programs to automate control of the trains using a
computer program. I will probably need to earn an Electronic Engineering Degree,
but hey I am still young.
Back to recruiting new members, will I have to create a new LTC devoted only to
radio and battery operated control? Will my electrified 9V track be religated to
non-electric battery operated lines? Will LEGO show me how to build
closed-circuit lines using multiples of 8 straight and 8 curved segments?
Something that will fit on 40 inch by 40 inch tables?
3. How tightly are 9V trains and your clubs survival tied together?
This is an interesting open-ended question. Are you asking if LEGO's decision to
through out the 9V train segment of production in favor of a new product line
going to be the final straw that alienates the AFOL from participating in the
public display of their hobby? If yes, then I can only say time will show. Are a
majority of individuals willing to continue on doing what their doing? Will they
stop buying LEGO Products but continue to display their LEGO My Own Creations?
Will they support the LEGO Company no matter what decision they make? Is an AFOL
able to put aside new purchases and just play with what they have?
For me the creativity and resourcefulness of the AFOL has never been a limiting
factor with the hobby. Sure some will be fed up and leave the hobby. They can
send their straight 9V track to me and I will pay a reasonable price. Some will
take it as a challenge and continue to find ways of integrating the new product.
Me? I am in it for the time I spend with other AFOL's. The public is great too,
but their cattle. They don't know what their looking at half the time or why
there are even there. They make assumptions based on what others have told them,
information that is erroneous, and they force their rose colored view of the
world on me, which I routinely ignore. If I was interested in what others felt
about me and my hobby, I wouldn't be in the hobby. I am hoping that one or two
children at every show will realize they do not have to give up the brick when
they get older, as my parents failed to communicate to me. But I digress. The
point is there a some that care, others that don't and some that are concerned.
I am on the fringe between I don''t care what LEGO Company does, I'll buy, and I
am a little concerned.
Some suggestions for additional survey items:
4. If LEGO actively sought and licensed a 9V derivative of track and train
motors through a thrid party, compatible with current 9V track and motors, would
you club purchase and support it?
5. Do you find the success of your club and its future growth tied to the
availability of 9V track and train motors and how?
6. If 9V track and train motors were no longer available, would you adapt to
radio controlled battery operated train motors and the track they operated on?
7. Describe your LEGO hobby as it means to you.
My answers to my own proposed questions would be:
4. YES
5. Yes and No. Recruiting new members and establishing new clubs could be
compromised by incompatible track and train motors. Expanding an existing club
and expanding their track resources is certainly compromised and therefore
limiting their potential for growing their display.
6. YES, although I would hope LEGO Company would help me with battery costs by
making available batteries for public displays or providing low cost battery
solutions when I am in public supporting their product.
7. I am a loyal LEGO Fan collecting on multiple fronts. I will purchase nearly
anything and everything as a grow in this hobby and continue to expand my
involvement.
Respectfully,
Todd
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: 9V Train Motor Being Discontinued?
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| (...) Oh, and I was misled. I thought the trains were radio controlled. Apprently, they are Infra-RED controlled. I mistakenly put radio in my post. I revise my statement in the EE Degree. I will now need a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering (...) (18 years ago, 28-Mar-06, to lugnet.trains)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: 9V Train Motor Being Discontinued?
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| (...) Ted, This is very important feedback. Lets try an informal poll... If 9V trains do get discontinued... 1. Would your club disband or significantly cut back on public appearances? (List your club and number of appearances) 2. Are there any (...) (18 years ago, 28-Mar-06, to lugnet.trains) !
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