Happy 3/16 day

S iS Some SeriouS Scale modeling, Sorry for the Subliminal  meSSageS(says the die hard S gauger with a serious O gauge habbit) Actually there is not a train scale or gauge that I do not like.

Keep them on the tracks be they 3 rail or 2 rail hirail or scale

So Roy, are you saying S scalers are not normal - like you need to have your own day, for instance? That's just a bit odd ... (wink)

I did not know that S-scalers were special...is that special as in challenged? or special as in unique? or special as in discount? [wink]

My scale doesn't have a day, just a yearly chant...HO HO HO...every December guys all over the world dress up in red suits to promote HO scale model Railroading.  Like them, I want HO for Christmas too! [grin and a wink]

HO day is actually on March 28, which is the equivalent of 1/87 (87th day counting from Jan. first.).  So, two weeks from Sunday I'm celebrating HO scale.  Today, though, it is definitely 3/16 day.

How about this:  combine Roy's comment with Blue's and you get:  

Cool!  In that case HO day falls on the weekend of our local Model Railroad Show.

Honestly, I am not all that scale specific...I'd be happy just celebrating Model Railroading Day!

I want to apologize for something that I did. As a joke, I marked Joe's comment as spam, not knowing that the message would be deleted. However, something he said in jest made me think a bit. He said that since S scalers need their own special day, they must be a bit odd. I guess I agree. To model in such a minority scale, you must be crazy.

I appreciate the humor of the responses to my post and after all, I intended it to be taken that way.The photo Don displayed points out one of the problems with S scale. There were a huge number of present day HO modelers who began with a set of American Flyers under a Christmas tree. People like Allen McClellan started out with AF. But then, when it was time to mature and get serious about model railroading, the modeler turned to HO. Most of them didn't even realize that there was such a thing as S scale. Today the perception that S is just like that set of AF under the tree still persists. HO was probably the best choice, though. If the V&O was done in S, it probably would have never been heard of by a majority of the model railroad community.

Let's face it. S can't compete with HO for available stuff. I wrote an S specific column in Model Railroad News for eight years. It was depressing to see the march of new products in the other scales month after month while I had to scrounge around for new products like milk cans or stairways. I got tired of shilling a scale that was and was to remain small. If you doubt me, look for S scale product announcements in any of the major publications including MRH. S scalers are too few in number to warrant any major products. They must rely on whatever the manufacturers aim at the highrail community or limited runs. I'm afraid that from my own experience, that it is doomed to remain that way.

A huge part of the blame is S scalers themselves. When I was president of the National Association of S Gaugers (NASG), promoting S was a big priority. However, it was like like charging windmills. Today the NASG hardly bothers with promotion seeking instead to just satisfy the needs of the present members. I tried to get the membership interested in promotional efforts, but failed to rally the troops. They are parochially minded and pretty much stick to themselves. There is a lot of comradeship among S people and that is understandable. There are lot of S clubs and they do a lot of promotion by setting up portable layouts at conventions and train shows. However, the trains are usually AF or highrail and do little to promote pure S scale, once again drawing us to that picture of the train under the tree..

If an S scaler chooses to participate in a national organization such as the NMRA, he has to endure a lot of the “odd-ball” jokes. It comes with the territory. My skin is thick enough to take it, because I'm a model railroader who happens to do it in S scale. When you think about it, all model railroaders are odd in that they are grownups playing with toys albeit expensive toys. Actually, you do gain respect for S because the other members get to see a layout that actually has scale sized rail, wheels and couplers. It's always good to see S layouts published in the main stream press. But pretty soon the readers will realize that they're the same layouts by the same people. I would love to see other S scalers on this website. Some day, you'll get tired of me if you haven't already. Then I'll just fade away and join my fellow S scalers in their self-proclaimed obscurity.

So if you want to be a bonafide oddball, be an S scaler.

I want to apologize for something that I did. As a joke, I marked Joe's comment as spam, not knowing that the message would be deleted.

Unless I missed something it did not get deleted.  I just marked it as not spam.  I think it is all good.  Heh, that's funny though...marking Joe's joking post as spam.  [grin]

When you think about it, all model railroaders are odd in that they are grownups playing with toys albeit expensive toys. Actually, you do gain respect for S because the other members get to see a layout that actually has scale sized rail, wheels and couplers. It's always good to see S layouts published in the main stream press. But pretty soon the readers will realize that they're the same layouts by the same people. I would love to see other S scalers on this website. Some day, you'll get tired of me if you haven't already. Then I'll just fade away and join my fellow S scalers in their self-proclaimed obscurity.

 

So if you want to be a bonafide oddball, be an S scaler.

Now that you have made me think more about it I think I have more respect for S scalers and those that model other less than mainstream scales, than I ever did before.  It's a real commitment to model in an obscure scale and do it well.  Kudo's to all of you guys, you know who you are.

As for getting tired of you Roy, not a chance!  Keep the good stuff coming! [smile]

I quite enjoy seeing your work, regardless of the scale its in, but S scale is still very intriguing to me.  As I've said before, at some point, I will explore modelling in S scale more seriously.  I think its the ideal scale and that there are a lot more products out there for it, based on the scale.  Lots of 1/64 die-cast models out there that have no intention of being "model railroad" models but are S scale just the same.  Much more realistic than most stuff you'd get in HO as well.  And, of course, the more great modelling you show us, Roy, the more you will inspire others to take a look at S. 

I enjoy your comments as well as your fine modeling skills that you regularly display on this forum.  If ho goes entirely to r-t-r, I may be forced to switch over to S scale just to actually do modeling. 

If the V&O was done in S, it probably would have never been heard of by a majority of the model railroad community.

Perhaps. But I think that given the quality of Allen's modeling and the inovation he presented when it came to layout design, track planning, and operations that he would still have gotten national press.

The place he would have had trouble would've have getting so much built because as you pointed out there is much less available ready-made in S scale so the modeler needs to scratch build (or seriously adapt) more than in other scales (especially HO). And he'd have needed a bigger basement for the same trackplan.

When I interviewed Ed Loizeaux (NYC in S scale in MRH #4) I came away with a real appreciation for what he'd accomplished. It would have been impressive in HO, but in S scale it was eye-popping.

As far as the availability of components in S goes, one thing that Ed told me was that if you like doing small runs of stuff, doing it in S scale just about guarantees selling out your run. The S scale modelers are hungry enough for product that they'll buy just about anything (as long as it's not junk). I do know that the size of S makes detailing much easier, visibility better, and it's still small enough to fit a decent amount of railroad in a given space...

Charlie