Congrats

I also just saw news on Tonys Train Exchange that Digitrax is releasing a drop in decoder for it.

Chris

Drop in Digitrax Decoder for the Kato N-Scale GG-1

Mine is already decoder equiped. It has the Digitrax DN163K1C. The people I bought my GG-1 from installed it and they told me they had a heck of a time bending it and connecting it. It works nicely but I still have to change some of the programing including having it use the number 4935 that appears on its side instead of 03. I guess that's be a job for DecoderPro once I get it installed and connected to my programing track.

Irv

 Are you getting the Broadway

Are you getting the Broadway Limited set as well?

Broadway Limited Set

I've got the 15 cars designed to go with the GG-1 on order. I intend to run the entire consist as rail fan trip every once in a while on my layout once it's ready for running trains. I'll run it on the club layout at shows.

Speaking of shows, we're doing one over Columbus weekend at Floyd Bennett Field at the Ryan Visitors Center (it's what used to be the tower) where our club room is located. I'll be there Sunday, 10/12 and on Monday morning (10/13), so if you happen to be anywhere near Flatbush Ave in Brooklyn, NY feel free to drop in a say hello.

Irv

The Future of Model Railroad Reviews

Fame in the internet age seems to be very hit and miss.  At the same time, your review would have been nothing but thoughts in the past.  This is one part I look forward to the MRH: for the first time we can add our thoughts to reviews, perchance, and thus build true reviews of models rather then the canned PC stiff we get from MR.

MRH Product reviews

MRH, as a totally ad supported rag, won't do product reviews, as such.

Instead, what we're going to do is what we're calling a "First look" piece. Lots of nice detailed, crisp digital images, a 3D virtual reality image you can spin, and perhaps a video clip or audio clip if it makes sense. Our staff will simply add some neutral descriptive text, but refrain from posting a product "review" as such.

However, every First Look piece will have a link to a thread here on the MRH web site - and readers who have the item can post their thoughts. Think of the book reviews on Amazon.com, for example. Since we don't censor reader comments, if a reader pans a product or praises a product, so be it. Our sponsors need to know we don't censor reader comments, so if they put out a product people don't like - the sponsor needs to pay attention to what modelers think.

I believe this approach will be far better than our staff trying to do product reviews and always worrying about biting the hand the feeds us.

Biting the hand that feeds you

It could cut both ways, Joe. If readers pan a product, the advertiser could get jus as angry as if your staff did it. But if you look and read the reviwes of products in the hobby press long enough, you'll notice that they very rarely review anything in a negative way. They just ignore the product altogether.

So could reader reviews cost you advertisers? I would hope not, but the reality is that manufacturers need to pay attention to what the public says about their products because that is how to get more people to buy your product, especially if you make it better by changing what needs to be changed.

I am very happy with the GG-1 I reviewed on the MR website. I just read Kalbach's new Painting Backdrops and I am not thrilled with the books layout and what seems to me to be very disjointed text yet I hesitate to put my thoughts about that one on that site.

Irv

I'm sure I'm wrong again, but

Speaking as someone who has both worked on the editorial staff on a large hobby magazine and worked in the Product Development and marketing ends of a manufacturer I'll add there is little plotting or scheming that goes on between the two.

I never used a review of a product as a reason to either advertise or not in the magazine. As an editor I was only once questioned on the content of a review I wrote -and that was by the publisher - and he was concerned that an old friend in the industry may be offended by the review - so I proved my case to him, he agreed, and the review ran as I wrote it.

I guess it's a lot more fun to assume there's all kinds of shady behind the scenes deals . . . but there isn't. The simple fact is the manufacturers have little or no choice when it comes to outlets for advertising.

Marty

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I agree with Marty ..

I agree with Marty ... and I'm not especially worried about some reader posting negative comments and then an advertiser saying they would never advertise with us again.

Advertisers need to realize we won't censor posts - if a reader wants to post some critical remark about a vendor product (or even something criticizing MRH), I think we need to let them. In the larger scope of things, we're first and foremost about getting readership - and if people know they can come to the MRH web site and get the straight poop - then all the better. That will translate into more traffic and more readers - and that's ultimately to the benefit of our advertisers.

While we won't censor posts, we will delete obvious spam, and we will delete extremely offensive or inflammatory posts and counsel the poster to watch it or get banned. It will be our judgement as to what constitutes offensive or inflammatory - but I will require two or more staff members to agree that a post has crossed the line before it will be deleted. In other words, being critical is fine, but being very mean-spirited about it is not okay. I think most people can tell the difference.

And actually, a little controversy is healthy and the most likely long term effect is to simply make the advertiser better known and to increase the traffic levels to their site!

One look at Amazon will show

One look at Amazon will show that no matter what the product, there is someone who will crab about it. A discerning reader will read multiple posts, discard the chaffe, and look for the common threads.

Chris

Just saw your name in the MR Newsletter this week

I guess you are famous now, Irv!