And who said I had to care about accuracy?

I wonder where "Amtrack" ranks in the list of most frequently misspelled train-related words?  It's gotta be pretty common.  If one wants to be picky, "F-3" should not have a dash between the F and the 3.  And if we really want to pile on, the use of capital letters in the list of features is suspect as well. 

Inaccuracy like that amuses me, but it bothers some folks.  I posted a topic regarding the MTH SW1 a couple of years ago.  I typed it "SW-1" because that's how it appeared on the MTH box and I wanted people to be able to associate the post with the actual product.  A well-known member of the forum took it upon himself to revise the subject line because of the "inaccuracy".   

I look at this the other way……….who cares, as long as the train is what you are looking for, as for MPC. How many modern engines today will be running trouble free in 30 to 40 years?

@ThatGuy posted:

I look at this the other way……….who cares, as long as the train is what you are looking for, as for MPC. How many modern engines today will be running trouble free in 30 to 40 years?

I care. Words and correctness (I'm talking about the Rules of Life, not a model's "correctness") matter. Sloppy is as sloppy does, and what it does is culturally metastasize. Then eventually you get what you have outside your window today.

BTW - MPC is not my thing, own only 2 - 3 pieces, but I don't hate it. It had its day and turned out to be a pretty good 3RO stayin' alive place marker.

@D500 posted:

I care. Words and correctness (I'm talking about the Rules of Life, not a model's "correctness") matter. Sloppy is as sloppy does, and what it does is culturally metastasize. Then eventually you get what you have outside your window today.

BTW - MPC is not my thing, own only 2 - 3 pieces, but I don't hate it. It had its day and turned out to be a pretty good 3RO stayin' alive place marker.

If in your world a miss spelled MPC box could destroy mankind………wow. BTW when Amtrak came  to be the spelling even on real trains/timetables/maps was spelled both ways. I ran a GG-1 that was miss spelled…..mistakes happen, it’s not sloppy or anything else. It’s a mistake

@D500 posted:

I care. Words and correctness (I'm talking about the Rules of Life, not a model's "correctness") matter. Sloppy is as sloppy does, and what it does is culturally metastasize. Then eventually you get what you have outside your window today.

BTW - MPC is not my thing, own only 2 - 3 pieces, but I don't hate it. It had its day and turned out to be a pretty good 3RO stayin' alive place marker.

I get you.  I'm OCD in a very big way and stuff like this drives me fruit batty.  Now, to quote my old NYS Senator (yecch!):

What difference at this point does it make?

It doesn't matter whether there's a hyphen between the F and 3 or not. I mean, you got the "scare quotes" around the A.  That's all I needed to seal the deal

---

There are only two things I like about MPC era stuff.  First, it's the era I was raised in.  Those were the trains I drooled over when I started in this hobby.  It might have been Late MPC, but many of my pre-teen dreams were found in that 1980 catalog.  Second, in those days, Lionel was much more adventurous with the paint schemes and railroads.  The Frisco U-Boats, my personal favorite, the GP-20 in TP&W Orange, even the D&H U36C engines.  I saw the change from the Post War "black or muddy colors" era and celebrated it.  I had had enough of the classic "PRR/NH/NYC/ATSF/UP" era and loved that I could learn about new, different lines.  Even more, when I got old enough to drive from NYC to Albany, seeing the real D&H engines in the yard at the I-787 exit was a true thrill.

Now, I buy what I coveted as a kid.  Some of it gets the TMCC upgrade path.  Some gets the LED lighting.  Some just stays as-is, just because. Either way, they're toys and I am happy that I can now have what I wanted over 40 years ago.  Talk about delayed gratification.

j

I get it. Among all my weathered Hi-rail equipment and the 2-8-8-6-4's with cruise/TMCC sits, on a shelf, my original 1955 Lionel 2055 small ATSF-type Hudson. I still want to put an AC Commander in it. I should. After all, I've only had it 68 years.

I'm a big NYC fan (I finally have enough Niagaras), but I grew up where I still live, on the Gulf Coast, and when the GM&O (and other Southern railroads) started showing up in the catalogs I snatched pretty much all they made of it. Kind of like you and the D&H, I guess. Heck, I think that the GM&O even showed up as an MPC set. But I wasn't into the hobby in those days.

This hobby is largely about attention to detail.  The very best work we see on this forum, in magazines, and on actual layouts,  comes from the studious application of this concept.  Think about @Norm Charbonneau's layout, and so many, many, many others that just blow us away because of the detail we see.

Do all of us need to sweat over details like this to the Nth degree in order to be happy?  No.  Do we really appreciate it when someone does?  Definitely.

Now, consider this: Modern Quality Control (QC) in manufacturing, marketing and sales is based firmly on this same concept.  Consequently, is it too much to ask for our suppliers to aggressively manage their attention to detail?  Definitely not.

Maybe not in the 70's, but in today's world spelling mistakes are among the easiest to catch.   For that reason spelling errors of any kind are not allowed, largely because they imply a general lack of attention to detail.

If they can't get the spelling correct what makes us think that they'll nail all the other details, which are much more difficult to monitor, specifically those that are important to the fidelity of the model they're selling to us?

Mike

I'm sorry.  Just how seriously am I suppose to care about, 'attention to detail' when I am always staring at the center rail?

Notice to all nit-pickers.  Get off my MPC lawn .

Let’s not forget MPC was Lionel Trains and if not for MPC Lionel would be history. I remember spending many great years with Lou and Carl at Madison Hardware drooling over the offerings from MPC

Homey, MPC Lionel has been referred to as the 'grain grinders giving it their best shot'

cbo, Very nice FL shovel

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation used to put out a map of Oklahoma railroads every few years (and maybe they still do). My favorite (and the one I can't find) was the one from '99 or 2000 that spelled it AMTRACK on the cover. You know, the cover that featured an image of the Heartland Flyer pulling out of OKC wth AMTRAK prominently displayed!

And to their credit, they also ran the same Heartland Flyer feature on the back cover for 2-3 maps. Of course, in each one they spelled it Hearland Flyer.

Then again, I work as a writer, editor, and proofreader, so my gift is my ability to catch everyone else's mistakes (but not my own)!

Signed,

Mr. Perfekt

redrockbill

@Homey B posted:

...stuff like this drives me fruit batty.

@ADCX Rob posted:

SHOCKING!

If this misspelling on a 30 year old cardboard box seriously upsets anybody, then they must really and truly have a trouble-free life.

Visit a childrens hospital today, and then come back home and think about it.

Mannyrock

@Bill DeBrooke posted:

I'm sorry.  Just how seriously am I suppose to care about, 'attention to detail' when I am always staring at the center rail?

My attention to detail has gradually grown over the years and I thoroughly enjoy layouts like Norm's, PRRMiddleDivision, and other who strive for the illusion of realism. As I was growing however, and back in the early days my acceptance the middle rail astounded me one time when I realized that I had begun to think that real train track was 'missing something'!  Lol

If the box with the misspelling were a stamp or coin it would be sell for way more than a box with correct spelling.

Charlie

@Homey B posted:

I get you.  I'm OCD in a very big way and stuff like this drives me fruit batty.
. . . my personal favorite, the GP-20 . . .

GP20

MPC kept Lionel going thru those darker years till things in the O gauge hobby started to heat up as we got into the late 80s and 90s. Many undervalued and great running models in that era, same for inexpensive rolling stock for those on a tight budget.  Fancy scale NYC Hudsons, the LTI made 783, 785 grey and 1-700e reissue are down right dirt cheap compared to postwar/prewar versions and they are still made in the USA.   AD

OK guys....this thread got de-railed into talking about motorcycles.  The posts in question were deleted.  Those of you that did this know better.  This forum is for talking about our train hobby per our TOS.  Some of you will be finding your membership disabled for a while just as a reminder.  Do it again and it will be a permanent disablement.  Just so you know, new forum software looks for key words and pictures.  Yeah ... we know, there we go again with that "heavy handed" moderation.

An extra "C" before the "K" in the spelling of Amtrak on a Lionel MPC box?

Big deal; it could be worse...

...an immigration officer at Ellis Island added an extra "C" before the "K" in our Lebanese family name in the late 1890s!

I still hear comments from Arabic speakers who say, "Do you know your name is spelled wrong?"  This thread reminds me of those people! 

Lack of attention to detail is lack of attention to detail.  It may start with very small seemingly insignificant things like spelling but progresses to things like lack of quality control.  That's what I was reminded of many times when I was in the USAF.

Don't forget the 1976 TCA Convention Car with Philadelphia misspelled as Philadephia.

To answer the OPs topic question: Nobody, proceed as you wish

Fortunately, there is no wrong way for us to enjoy our trains.

It simply comes done to preferences.

When it comes to 3-rail model trains, I prefer smaller* "traditional" sized trains. If I should ever adapt 3-rail as my primary train modeling medium, then I would want to shoot for "sincere" scenery... but the trains would be traditional sized.

* Smaller: i.e. less than true 1/4" scale dimensions. Think: I would avoiding Lionel's "GP7/9", or their Train Master, a 773, etc, etc. Same for rolling stock: The 6464 type boxcar would be as big as I would want.

Reason for such preferences?

Well, the reasons for my preferences get complex.

The short version: During my experimentation with 3-rail quite some time ago, I learned that as long as the trains were "traditional" sized, I was okay with the tight curves and that center rail. Once I tried to take 3-rail toward "scale"... then the tight curves and center rail really began to bother me, along with other "toy train" features.

SO, I learned that for my 3-rail preferences, I enjoy the smaller "traditional" sized trains the best.

Model trains can be whatever we chose to make them. Find your "happy place" and enjoy!

Andre

What ever floats your boat.  There are so many ways to enjoy trains both real and model and none of them are wrong as far as I am concerned. 

Art

@laming well put.  

I’ll add my own 2 cents, I’ve never understood the weird, unofficial “feud” between “prototypical vibe” & “toy vibe” in the o gauge hobby. The two can coexist, indeed they do coexist, and many people find joys in both areas- they’re not mutually exclusive.

when I refer to the “feud” I’m talking about somewhat baiting comments. On a thread with 20 posts, clearly a “toy” oriented thread, and post 21 mentions lack of adherence to the prototype. Baiting- read the room… On the 3 rail hi-rail forum there’s threads mainly talking about 3 rail lobster couplers and someone comes in talking Kadee’s- baiting….On this forum, there’s a thread with an intense debate on a model’s adherence to the prototype, then comes a comment “this is why I love the simplicity of my toy trains”- again, baiting.

That said, sometimes even in a somewhat “toy train”-centric thread(which is technically every thread but we’re using the above established nomenclature), the conversation can veer towards comparing to other models or prototypes- OR maybe a box for a semi scale train has the Road name spelled differently. I’d say, on the whole, it’s generally a good thing to know how to spell Amtrak- further, if necessary, it’d be good to  dispel any notions that “Amtrack” is a correct spelling.

I’d say the spelling on the box speaks a lot to the state of each company during this time. MPC bEgan production of Lionel trains in 1970, The National railroad Passenger corporation( Amtrak) took over the majority of inter-city passenger service in 1971 and was designed as a “for profit” quasi-public entity to provide a public service, which by definition aren’t meant to be profitable. The model itself was made from 1974 to 1976, rather early in each company’s history. The 70s in general can be viewed as a transitional period,and this misspelling is a microcosmic display of that.

just enjoy your trains. I’m going to do so right now,  gonna run an Amtrak consist & 2 military trains to start using Legacy on my layout, which is designed/under continuous improvement, to the best of my abilities, to be adherent to 1/48 scale. That said, after I run the aforementioned consist I’ll probably switch out the military train On my inner loop and run a tinplate consist. Because I use fastrack switches, I can’t run locos by Bub, Ives and some prewar Flyer- but Lionel has always worked so I’ll Likely choose my Lionel 252 to lead the consist. Or maybe it’ll be a steam consist lead by my plain Jane 1941 258. It will be followed by postwar & modern Marx military trains-Or maybe some Bing or Marklin American coaches.

Using Ttoy in the broader sense(including adult hobbies)We’re all here because we love toy trains. Just go with that

@Chugman posted:

What ever floats your boat.  There are so many ways to enjoy trains both real and model and none of them are wrong as far as I am concerned.

Art

Exactly.

My layout and all of my track and switches are O-27. Backstory: While we grew up with my dad's American Flyer S-gauge trains, the train sets that my parents got my twin brother and me were K-Line and Lionel O-27. (We didn't know that Flyonel existed until later.) Now that I have a family of my own, the compactness of O-27 works best in our home, so I stuck with it when I built my layout. As I reconnected with model/toy trains, I found that traditional O-gauge rolling stock's lack of fidelity to scale dimensions bothered me. So I began to build a roster of O-scale rolling stock. Even though I am limited to rolling stock that can navigate O-27 curves, there is an abundance of possibilities. Sometimes I have to make minor modifications, but I enjoy the problem solving and bashing.

When it comes to track/rails, the lack of scale-dimension fidelity doesn't bother me, but when it comes to rolling stock, it does. Just the opposite of @laming. So what? I can completely understand someone wanting to stick only to Postwar, or MPC, or O-scale. As @Chugman says, "What ever floats your boat . . . none of them are wrong . . ."

Hi Homey,

I saw this at York and immediately thought of your post (note the box label)

To the best of my knowledge, the Amtrack F3s and Alcos were introduced around the same time

MPC Lionel caught their mistake

@EMD posted:

Hi Homey,

I saw this at York and immediately thought of your post (note the box label)

To the best of my knowledge, the Amtrack F3s and Alcos were introduced around the same time

MPC Lionel caught their mistake

And it seems that Homey isn't as paranoid as he once thought.  Thanks!