Subject:
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Re: Are LEGO "Train" Clubs endanger of becoming LEGO "Town" Clubs?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.trains.org
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Date:
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Fri, 10 Aug 2001 02:12:09 GMT
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Reply-To:
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johnneal@uswest.!AntiSpam!net
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Viewed:
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342 times
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A very interesting question, JT. As for my own club, the GMLTC, I know that we
won't be including a train yarn in our initial building phase because some
perceive cars just sitting on tracks as "boring". Nothing could be further
from the truth for me, but if you are looking at it from a "townie" POV, then
maybe.
Personally, I changed horses in mid-stream with my home layout, going from a
predominantly train yard layout to an almost exclusive cityscape layout. That
was more of a space management issue, and if I had more space, I'd most
certainly add a yard, roundhouse, etc. Working O scale really eats up real
estate:-/
But I think that when you get right down to it, the bottom line for the
established clubs is trainstrainstrains. At least it is for us. Sure, the
backgrounds are getting cooler, with more and more detail, but I think the
emphasis will always be on the trains. For me, making the backgrounds cooler
is just another way to make the *trains* look cooler. Reminds me of Brian
Williams' work-- he is an absolute master at this (although he uses "real"
backgrounds, not LEGO ones). Here is a pic of one of his trains, and were it
not for his amazing decal work, would be a pretty straight forward train in
terms of construction. But when he places it in that background, WOW! It
*really* makes that train come to life!
http://www.royal-train.com/gallery_winterthur3.jpg
When I'm making cool buildings, they are merely backdrops for the main event--
the train. I get flack from the club because I don't "detail" the insides of
my buildings, but to me that's a waste of time, because I could be building
more trains!
I will say this, though. The GP *loves* the detail work in towns, and since we
kind of perceive ourselves as ambassadors for the *brick* and not merely LEGO
trains, this is a compelling reason to give it more than a passing thought. As
a club, it is our goal to turn kids on to LEGO, not necessarily onto LEGO
*trains*. Trains are just the, ..er, vehicle. But it is our *chosen* vehicle,
and we wouldn't be showing off our love of LEGO if it weren't for our love of
trains.
-John
"James J. Trobaugh" wrote:
> Are LEGO "Train" Clubs endanger of becoming LEGO "Town" Clubs? I have notice
> that over the past 6 months or so that much of the talk and pictures from
> LTCs has been more of non-train related town structures than of engines,
> rolling stock and train related facilities. I don't know if this is just a
> trend as people are inspired by other's creations or if it's becoming the
> new focus of the LTCs and the trains are just the props on the layouts. As
> the layouts grow larger and more organized it's easy to see that there is
> more real-estate to cover and train structures alone don't always fill the
> gaps. I worry that a lot of the focus of the LTCs gets lost when the town
> becomes the emphasis over the trains.
>
> Don't get me wrong here, I'm not accusing one group over the other, and I'm
> not excluding our local LTC from this either. I'm just wondering what others
> think about it. Has anyone else noticed this trend or is it just me?
>
> jt
> --
> James J. Trobaugh
> North Georgia LEGO Train Club
> http://www.ngltc.org
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