Hats off to Steve Nelson aka Mr Muffin!

Don't forget the tourist Railroad which he's been promoting, when it starts in Sept

bmoran4 posted As expected, but still unfortunate, there were none of the grand old trains of pre&postwar eras to be seen.

 

Most dealers don't carry them because very few now a days care or buy them. Been to York lately? Only the new or like new may sell. I don't even look at them anymore, some like them but most don't. 

Dave

Not often that I get to Mr. Muffins store, but I LIKE that the inventory is all new, not the same sad sack faded boxes of MPC that nobody will buy.

The "This ain't no museum" attitude (my saying, not his, but he is free to take it).

Most dealers don't carry them because very few now a days care or buy them. Been to York lately? Only the new or like new may sell. I don't even look at them anymore, some like them but most don't

More for me.

(Best wishes to Mr. Muffins)

david1 posted:

bmoran4 posted As expected, but still unfortunate, there were none of the grand old trains of pre&postwar eras to be seen.

 

Most dealers don't carry them because very few now a days care or buy them. Been to York lately? Only the new or like new may sell. I don't even look at them anymore, some like them but most don't. 

Dave

Each has their own focus; new, old or in between. There is no one universal answer for everyone, but for me, pre&post is for me and I find certain stores as well as York has been amazing in that regard.

I always say it and I’ll say it again 

THE MUFFINS ARE THE BEST !!!!

Alex 

I really enjoyed talking to them (he and his wife) at York and ended up purchasing two engines from them.  I actually sat down and watched their video in their orange hall booth.  It was quite nice.

I stopped by their place last month. They seem like very nice people. 

The town (Atlanta) has no place to go but up, so I hope they find success.

Jeff C

You can tell, when a owner loves his business and wants it to be the best. 

Thank you all very much..... unfortunately, my post regarding the Choo Choo Cafe has ruffled a lot of feathers and we talked with the powers-that-be about locking it and letting it run off into the sunset....

Liz and I are very committed to promoting the hobby as a family activity, and the reality is we need to keep our day jobs - she sells real estate and I am still teaching as a college professor.

To date, we are over half way there in our campaign to complete the diner and get it opened. Families need a place to eat when they come and see the trains! To all of you that have supported us - and there's been quite a number - you would be surprised as to some of the names - thank you all very much. 

MrMuffin'sTrains posted:

Thank you all very much..... unfortunately, my post regarding the Choo Choo Cafe has ruffled a lot of feathers and we talked with the powers-that-be about locking it and letting it run off into the sunset....

Liz and I are very committed to promoting the hobby as a family activity, and the reality is we need to keep our day jobs - she sells real estate and I am still teaching as a college professor.

To date, we are over half way there in our campaign to complete the diner and get it opened. Families need a place to eat when they come and see the trains! To all of you that have supported us - and there's been quite a number - you would be surprised as to some of the names - thank you all very much. 

Persons with ruffled feathers should get plucked.

It seems so difficult these days when one finds something they don't like to just move on.  

Steve is a great guy. I met him at a train show a few years ago. I hope to get up to Atlanta in the near future. Wish I could sell out and move up there. It would be nice to live in a town that has a hobby shop. 

Steve:  To darn bad about those who have "ruffled feathers" - that can be cured by removing their heads!  You Muffins are doing a "bunch of good" for your community and the hobby.  GOD bless you and your efforts.  Let the detractors fall off a cliff!

This is just my observation on it and I'm not bashing anyone but I can see why some would be irritated with a discussion like that.  The post was pushing a Kickstarter for a restaurant (even though it would be train themed) on a model train forum.  People come here to read model train discussions, not things like that.  If anyone else had posted such a thread, it would have been shut down or deleted ASAP because it was not model train related. It happens all the time on here with non-train related discussions.  Just because feathers were ruffled, doesn't mean it was for the reasons you think it was.  Perhaps the original discussion should have been started on the Announcements forum instead of the main forum.  It probably would have been fine there since he was announcing the Kickstarter.  My $0.02 on it.

Im planning a trip in june with a friend to go see and shop at muffins...  i cant wait...  i hear alot of good things...

mountain482 posted:

This is just my observation on it and I'm not bashing anyone but I can see why some would be irritated with a discussion like that.  The post was pushing a Kickstarter for a restaurant (even though it would be train themed) on a model train forum.   $0.02 on it.

Well, I completely support the Muffin enterprise, and hope their restaurant gets off the ground (although maintaining it long-term in a little town is another issue altogether), but strictly speaking (and as a devil's advocate), this view is probably correct. Personally, this isn't a big deal to me at all, but at its core this is advertising seeking money to open a restaurant. The fact that it has a train name, or is located near a train dealer, is beside the point. It is a restaurant. The idea that the Muffins are nice people (as a number of folks have opined), and are good to work with (as I can attest), is also beside the point. I wholehardedly support everything they're doing (I just wish they were doing it closer to me!). But again, that has no bearing on the issue.

If someone wanted to seek money to open a gas station in town, so people driving to a train dealer that is in the middle of nowhere can buy gas, would it be OK to promote a funding drive for that on the Forum? Would calling it "ChooChoo Gas" change anything? How about seeking funding for opening a convenience store with an ATM so visiters can get money to buy the toy trains?

This may seem silly, but it points out the difference between supporting a train dealer and its products, and promoting another business that sells something completely different. How far do you stretch the meaning of "it has something to do with the hobby?" In this case, in its essence, this is a money-making venture to sell food to customers, and it's using the Forum to get funding for a private for-profit enterprise. It's not a "feeding the hungry" charity.

Possibly part of the problem here stems from confusion about whether you characterize the Muffin's business as a museum, or as a train dealer. If it were strictly a museum, perhaps there would be less objection. If it's seen as a train dealer that happens to have a nice store layout (which most dealers have to promote the sale of trains), that's something different. If this were strictly a museum with a restaurant, located away from the train store, that might be seen in a different light. 

Or what if another Forum sponsor (or ten of them, for that matter) decided to do Kickstarters on the Forum to raise money to build new toilets in their train stores to better provide for their customers' needs? That's not even selling something, and it's located inside the store. Would it be OK for the Forum to serve as a platform for funding drives for something like that? Where do you draw the line?  Just something to think about, for the contrarians who like to argue.  

From what I’ve listened to and have also read it seems like Muffins Trains are doing one hell of a job bringing back life to a dying town. Steve and his family should be praised for what they are are doing, and if that ruffles some feathers OH well. When I hear this is a dying hobby these are the same ones that are upset about this. This is a family that is doing something to support it and trying to make it more pleasurable to come to town and enjoy themselves. I wish the Nelsons the best and will be sending my donation. Thank you Nelson’s for your work in our great Hobby 

Thank you all very much.... this is all about feeding families that come in to experience the trains..... We do this today, for free, in our shop every now and then but it's hard to pull off for the size crowds we have..... We have had a number of people on the forum support us - and our thanks for that..... 

The Muffins are model trains and model trains are the Muffins; even better they have a vision - they will turn little Atlanta into a model train experience and that is a plus for keeping the hobby alive.  If using this model train centric forum to accomplish that, then the forum has yet done another productive thing.  There will always be ruffled feathers - good thing Columbus and Churchill were not deterred by them.

Steve has been extremely helpful to me and he is pretty much the only place I but trains from.  He has figured out the SERVICE mentality in the internet age.  At some point this summer I will visit the shop.

John

@MrMuffin'sTrains, is this where we could order mugs and such to support you? I lost track of the thread topics and wanted to order for support of all you do but lost things in my inbox. My apologies Steve. Tell me where to go and I will do some ordering tonight.

Dave NYC Hudson PRR K4 posted:

@MrMuffin'sTrains, is this where we could order mugs and such to support you? I lost track of the thread topics and wanted to order for support of all you do but lost things in my inbox. My apologies Steve. Tell me where to go and I will do some ordering tonight.

Thank you so much, Dave. we are getting in done and are still planning to get the diner open by 9/01..... I hope anyway.... 

Out Kickstarter Campaign ended - but it was a terrific success. A lot of guys participated. Thank you thank you thank you!