Subject:
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Re: LEGO Train Hobby growing... comments?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.trains
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Date:
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Fri, 25 Feb 2005 04:28:40 GMT
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Viewed:
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1795 times
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In lugnet.trains, Steven Barile wrote:
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It “feels” like the hobby is growing, there are more shows and more clubs.
I often think about growth in serveal ways, two of which are: big, more brick
intensive layouts and frequency of shows per club.
The bigger more brick intensive layouts are certainly a challange to the
established members but it raises the barrier-of-entry to new and potecial
members.
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I don’t think so. One will always have to begin somewhere (usually at the
beginning:-) Having experienced, established members can only make it easier
for newbies to get involved IMO. It would be IMPOSSIBLE to do anything that I
am doing today in terms of building without such resources as Bricklink, so in
that sense the barrier-of-entry is lower. Never again will anyone have to
endure the wasteland that was this hobby only 5 years ago!
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It seems to me, just judging from looking though old Lego brochures,
that Lego trains and towns would look really set against mountains,
roads, fields and streams made in the same manner as traditional model
railroading - styrofoam plaster, paper mache, etc.
Has anyone tried this on a large scale? It seems that it would be a
less expensive method than brickscaping to still get impressive
results. Maybe garden railroading techniques (dirt, gravel, live
plants) would also be a good approach...
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As I plan out for the future as to where I want to go with LEGO as my hobby,
this is where I see going (the garden, that is:-)
The TCLTC has a built up “clubhouse”
layout that we use to
play with at home. We may decide in the future to have open houses to the GP,
but that is about all of the exposure that that layout will get (except for the
web, of course).
We are also now in the process of creating a “show” layout that we will use to
take on the road, and once that is finished, it will remain boxed up and set up
only for special events.
But after all of that, I plan to spend my time working on a garden layout, using
gauge 1 track, G scale motors, trucks, and couplers and building 12 wide trains
out of LEGO. I will have a few buildings, but mostly it will be “real”
landscape, very similar in kind to the minilands at the Legoland parks. That is
where I see me ending up in this hobby.
Yeah, it seems like the hobby is growing, but are the roots growing down or just
out along the surface?
I don’t believe that TLG will ever commit to the 9 volt system in a way that
will grow the hobby beyond where it has already been taken by AFOLs, so in a
sense, I feel that the 9 volt system has peaked (or is peaking). And although I
love my BBB wheels, I don’t think I would like much more non-LEGO intrusions.
LEGO trains are exactly that, and any more “impurity” takes away from that idea,
and any growth of the 9 volt system is going to have to be fueled by people like
Ben and BBB. As a realist, I am coming to the conclusion (regretfully) that
what we have, generally speaking, is what we are going to get (read: NO new
radius curves, wheels, drivers, 3 axle motors, DCC, etc). I believe that TLG
has decided that LEGO trains are TOYS, and if adults want to play with them,
then they will have to accept them as they are (toyish), or leave them, but
upgrading the line to a hobby level status simply isn’t in the cards.
I hope I’m wrong, but I fear I am not.
JOHN
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: LEGO Train Hobby growing... comments?
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| (...) Do you have any pic/more info on this? I remember a boxcar I was very inspired by, I thought it was yours but a search revealed that it was (URL) Kevin Maynes'> However in the (URL) same thread> (URL) mention was made> of some links of your (...) (20 years ago, 14-Mar-05, to lugnet.trains, FTX)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | LEGO Train Hobby growing... comments?
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| It "feels" like the hobby is growing, there are more shows and more clubs. I often think about growth in serveal ways, two of which are: big, more brick intensive layouts and frequency of shows per club. The bigger more brick intensive layouts are (...) (20 years ago, 24-Feb-05, to lugnet.trains)
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