LCCA QUESTION ABOUT 2013

I suggest two cars, one premium and one modestly priced.

I'd rather see Premiere \ Std. O size cars .. at worse make RK size ..  6464 class is too small

joe that is my feeling too!

I agree with C.W. about making two cars but if it has to be only one then I would prefer paying the extra cash for something unique.

Scale size cars, $20 to $30 bucks extra is no big deal to support the club.

 

 

I would much rather have a 6464 boxcar than a scale sized car, especially if you could get it made in the US. I think having two cars, one scale and one traditional would be the best answer.

 

As an aside, I am excited that next year's convention is in St Louis. It's close enough to me that I should be able to attend, but far enough away that I haven't likely seen all the surrounding attractions.

 

J White

 

30991

6464 size. I do not run scale cars because they look weird with my traditional/postwar rolling stock. Therefore, I have not purchased any LCCA cars in many years although I would have if they were traditional size.

Scale cars Lou,

 

Dave

I agree with rustyrail.  I have been so impressed with the unique cars LCCA has designed recently, that I would not like to see this stop.  Paying a higher price for great "one of a kind" cars is no problem with most LCCA members. 

 

Not a LCCA car, but Long Island museum's submarine car with the transparent sea blue flat car has drawn a lot of attention with my many layout guests.  So has the cars from the Texas convention such as the special "Alamo" car.  Thanks Lou.

 

TEX

Steve

Scale cars.

I prefer the scale cars.

Two cars, one scale and one traditional would be best if they could be manufactured at a resaonalbe cost. I pesonally would buy both.

That being said, you are at a premium event, the event itself deserves a premium car (grapics wise).

sorry but that will never happen until LIONEL leaves CHINA. the price gets more expensive when cars are built under 500 pc's. our minimum with LIONEL is based on 1000 when it comes to convention cars. without going into a long drawn out explanation this the short story.

thanks

louie

Well if I can only get one car then I would say that it should be semi-scale to match all the various other semi-scale collector series stuff that is made by Lionel.

Or better yet bring the production back to America and build what you want

Scale cars or a sd70 dummy unit.  LOCOMOTION

If you check your statistics, they are many, many more regular train enthusiasts than there are scale train enthusiasts. Economically speaking the scale choice probably will elicit less orders. For me personally, it would be the design that counts scale or not is irrelevant.

Larry S

I would purchase based on roadname and/or design, since I own and operate both Scale and Traditional.  I'd prefer Scale though.

Scale cars for me too..That why I purchased this years' car, the lights just added to it.

 

Paul

If it's standard O it should be another milk car as it could be worked into a typical O gauge train. Whatever it is, no silly lights, smoke, flames, or theme graphics please.

Most likely going to be in the minority here but I would rather have the traditional size.

I vote for a traditional size convention car.

 

I only have traditional size equipment, so if you produce a scale (or standard per Lionel terminology) size car, no matter what the price or features, I’m not interested.

 

I liked the idea a few folks mentioned of producing both a standard and a traditional convention car, so members can pick one or the other, or even both. If that isn’t feasible, than I suggest alternating between standard and traditional cars every other year, so that hobbyists of both standard and traditional cars have an opportunity to purchase a car at least every 2 years.

 

My outlook towards the LCCA or other O gauge train clubs could be termed to be as a “century man”. I’m interested in spending up to about $100 a year for my association with a train club. That would be around $20-30 for annual membership and the rest for a car or some type of equipment. The $100 is a ballpark figure. An example of this concept is my LRRC membership. Between the membership and the annual Christmas car, I spend under $100 a year, and I’m not really interested in spending more. I don’t belong to any other train clubs, but from the offerings, it looks like you could be a happy “century man” as a member of most train clubs.

 

Right now, you can only be a “century man” with the LCCA if you collect or operate standard size equipment. For at least the last few years, the LCCA has primarily catered to collectors of standard size equipment. I’ve been a member for 3-4 years, and the LCCA has not offered a convention car or stand-alone car in traditional size during this time. You either have to buy a traditional set ($500 and up) or attend a convention ($1000-2000 depending on location) to get traditional size equipment. That goes way beyond the self-imposed century limit.

 

Besides the monetary aspect, I have so much stuff between my different hobbies that I am trying to have a “less is more” approach. I don’t want to keep collecting or accumulating stuff just to have it. So, I’m far less likely to buy a set or a large accessory (the ones the LCCA is working on are neat, but far too large for my interest) than to buy a traditional size car. I’m also not interested in expanding my hobby into tin plate or S scale equipment.

 

Changing the subject, it appears that you don’t think you can do much with traditional size equipment:

 

“IF the club were to make a 6464 type box car with nice graphics would you folks still purchase them being they are run of the mill plane janes?”

 

My question is: Why does a traditional size car have to be a plain jane?

 

Granted, the smaller size of a traditional car makes it more challenging to create something special if you are going to pack electronics or lights inside, but in some ways the target audience for traditional equipment is much more open to “unique” cars. It doesn’t have to be prototypical, it just needs to be fun. The sky is the limit. As you can see from some of the posts, some scale fans aren’t interested in fancy lights or paint schemes. They want something more realistic.

 

I think there are opportunities to do something unique with traditional size cars. I thought of it when I read your post, and TexSpecial mentioned the Long Island Museum submarine car with the transparent blue flat car. It probably didn’t cost much if any extra to make this car, but from the photos I’ve seen, it looks great. There is also a club, I think it is in Milwaukee, that has done some really neat aquarium cars. Lou, you seem to be pretty creative, and you’ve come up with some neat ideas for standard size cars and large accessories. I think you need to approach traditional size cars with the same creativity, interest, and passion.

 

I almost didn’t renew my LCCA membership this year, and I’m leaning towards not renewing next year. If the LCCA doesn’t produce something that I can afford and that interests me, there isn’t much of a point in being a member.

 

Finally, I think you are going to receive more replies on the OGR forum in favor of standard size equipment as the forum members, or at least the more frequent posters, tend to favor scale equipment. Nothing wrong with that, just keep in mind that it appears you prefer scale equipment, and you are kind of “speaking to the choir” in regards to scale vs. traditional. The LCCA membership may not have the same interests.

Scale size. 6464 are too small for most of the engines made today.

I know that I for one always see these cars and consider joining so that I can enjoy some of these special cars. Then I check and find out they are "scale" sized and so I move on, my money still in my bank account. My guess is that unless a person has a large layout or is a member of a club they ane not very inclined to buy scale items. Of course that is just my personal view.

I think Lou gets the picture.  Some scale, most traditional size.  Can't make everyone happy as we all know.

 

TEX

Steve

I'd prefer a sacle car but with regular railroad graphics for the area the convention is in.  I'm not into all the lights and graphics like this years car.  I think all the extra add to the price of the cars.

 

I not collect the conventions cars, I run them.

 

J. R .Pizza

In regards to "Lionel's" comment about today's engines being too big for traditional sized cars, that pre-supposes people who will buy the LCCA offerings are running them with only today's mostly scale motive power. Obviously, there is so much undersized motive power out there from the Postwar and MPC eras that there are plenty of smaller sized engines to run  traditonal LCCA rolling stock with if they choose to make it.

A nice selection of thoughtful posts.  I am not 100% sure they will help Lou, but I think they are indicative of sentiment among both prospective and current LCCA.  I agree with Trestrainfan that those who want scale cars may be over represented on the Forum, but I think Lou is savvy enough to understand that.

 

Having known Lou for years and being both a friend and a fan of his work, it is my belief that if there is ANY way Lou can accommodate both  scale runners and traditional size operators when it comes to Convention Cars, Lou WILL find the way

 

Ed Boyle