While we're on the subject of TT, back in the 1950s Railroad Model Craftsman ran a regular column by Glyn Lewis called Off'n the Table Top: News and Views of TT. The column delivered what it said in the title in several densely packed paragraphs sandwiched between ads from TT manufacturers.
The Feb '56 column had an interesting block of text on the adoption of plastic as a modelling material, and viewing model railroading in TT as a 'constructive' hobby as opposed to a passive one - which really applies to any scale. Here's what Mr. Lewis had to say (The … in the text are Mr. Lewis' , but the division of the single block of page-saving print into more readable paragraphs is mine):
Of late we have been getting quite a few inquires (mostly from HOers) asking how we feel about plastics. This is supposed to be the "needle"…
S'funny really, back when we said that the Starline cars in TT were good, many sneered and said "Ugh, plastics…toys!" Here is how this writer feels…
We don't care what material is used…
the result is what counts. Back when we were very young, there was, and perhaps is, a man in Canal Dover, Ohio, who made model Locomotives. These locos were considered so fine, so accurate, that railroads all over vied to buy them. His materials? Wood, bone, coal, tin, in fact anything! But the important thing was the result…
a fine model that he ENJOYED BUILDING. The culprit is NOT plastics or brass or lead zamac or chewing gum! We deplore the "ready to run" aspect of model railroading. It's great for kids or for those who want it, but it is NOT a constructive hobby.
We are NOT knocking it, anymore than we would knock anyone whose hobby is going to baseball games, but most baseball fans don't call themselves baseball players.
We like television, but not to replace living, it's strange that years ago people enjoyed "parlor games" found them mentally stimulating, but now pay fabulous salaries to "experts" to play the same games on panel shows on TV.
The age of "do it yourself"…
non-sense! Kid yourself into thinking you are doing it yourself.
We know of a fellow who had all the signs of a "successful" man, an ulcer, a divorce, and an analyst. This headshrinker told him to get a hobby. That's right, "get a hobby"…
man, you develop 'em, don't get 'em, and the desire must come first. He suggested stamp collecting as soothing, so our hero bought a complete collection for $1500.00 and sat back waiting for the cure.
See? No, we don't wish to deprive the "put it on the track - see it run - boys" of their fun, but if you don't mind we will continue to enjoy kit building, with a little "scratch" and maybe a bit of free-lancing. To the manufacturers we would say, better and more products in TT, but let us build 'em. IT takes longer, but the hobby will last longer, and so will we!
Maybe replace We like television with We like the Internet, successful man with successful person, put a little extra emphasis on will last longer, and so will we, and this almost could have been given last week in a TED talk about the life enhancing virtues of the old-school hobby of model building in comparison to more screen time :-)
This is a very interesting take on "the more things change, the more they stay the same."
ReplyDeleteI had to look up "zamak" - I think this is commonly known as "white metal" in the hobby.
Yes even over 60 years ago debates over the appropriateness of new materials were as much a thing as they are today. I liked his emphasis on it's the end result that matters.
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