Silliest thing about this hobby? Us old men playing with toys and acting like it really matters....

Oh boy here goes the list... mind you these are just silly annoyances and not a deal breaker...

1) Really I cannot run my MTH PS 3.0 engines with a Legacy remote?!

2) What? 10 amps to power up a 12-16 volt motor?

3) Why are we stuck with these lobster claws?

4) Who glued the glass on the wrong side of these passenger cars?

5) hmm fix the pilots you say and let the couplers swing.... insane I tell you.

6) How come you can fit your hand in between the engine and tender?

7) What do you mean I cannot buy a Legacy chip to upgrade my TMCC engine?

8) What is a Lash up?

9) you mean I can only buy 99 engines?

10) How come vision line sounds come from an 027 car?

11) What do you mean switches cost 50 to 100 dollars each?

12) Dont worry honey this is my last engine purchase...

13) You mean 0 72 is THE minimum radii?

14) Why did they make beautiful passenger cars and not make the end observation car? Its coming when?

15) Aluminum cost how much?

16) Didn't they just make that engine a few years back?

17) What do you mean it needs a battery? It sucking up 3 amps right now!

18) You want what engine in what road name and you did not pre-order? Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha....

19) If you shut one eye and squint the other it sort of looks scale...

20) I think I see my shipment coming over the water.... ah ... wait for it.... wait for it....zzzzz....

And last but not least 20 drops of smoke fluid, 2 laps around the layout of smoke, then no smoke, then new smoke unit, then 20 drops of smoke fluid, 2 laps of smoke, then no smoke.... well you get the pattern....

Actually...and IMHO, of course...I'm finding some of THE silliest things about this hobby are embedded in the posts on this forum.

Always good for a laugh or two...

Oh, yes, and that third rail?  It's what sets us apart from those two 'common' (pun intended) outer rails!! 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch....

KD

J Daddy, you have me in stitches!!!!!!

Amusing topic, made me LOL. The mundane has it's place especially while waiting for that last, good drill battery to recharge...

Silliest?

People take it seriously.  They count rivets and complain, when there are three rails, and they are just toys.  

I still run a refurbished Sansui QRX 9001 quadraphonic for my garage music. Analog still rules in some environments.  Simpson 260 for example.  

I always thought the tinplate track was the silliest, with its sharp curves, few ties,  and round top rails, until....I had to make a decision among the other track systems available.  But, probably, number one is number one at the top of J Daddy's list, that is, in HO and two rail (whatever scale), one can run anybody's equipment.

Throw that on as an incentive to listen to posters who chant, "Change to two rail."

My dad used to say model railroading is a term used by grown men that play with toys.  

Silliest thing is that more isn't being done by the manufacturers to bring children into the hobby.  Lionel does an excellent job of making things at different price points, from "toys" to operational models.  So take steps to sell the toys by putting a commercial out there.  Kid accessible media sells toys.  Toy interest is cyclic.  Trains would make a come back if Lionel would advertise Starter Sets on Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network.  An adult-directed commercial could appear on history channel or A+E.  ****, just one national spot would crank our hobby back into kids' lives.

****, I didn't know we couldn't write that into a **** post.  I'll clean it up from now on.  But you understand the frustration of being a relatively young father with young children who see commercials daily, want what they see, and report back to me.  When will my son run in here excited about a train commercial?

The notion that one could put TMCC into one of these:

Relax. this particular kit is reserved for a Lionel GP38.

(Though given enough time, I might actually attempt the stunt as pictured  )

---PCJ

Originally Posted by Jim Battaglia:

       

Silliest thing about this hobby? Us old men playing with toys and acting like it really matters....

I am 39 and still play with trains!

At 39 you're just a little boy still............

I'm finding some of THE silliest things about this hobby are embedded in the posts on this forum.

Only some?

My favorite silly statement is "1:43 model cars make my trains look small".

Well, I'll be castigated for this, but here goes, Show us your whatever, and the hundreds of answers that fly in, or what would like to see built, and then the inane begins to roll in.

So, go ahead, and have at me, but I think it's silly.

some of the useless posts that show up on this forum

To me, the silliest thing is that for 95 years Lionel meant TOY trains: 3 rail tinplate track, trains that were designed to run on tight curves, action accessories that were designed to get attention - not be scale, AND to be played with by children with their fathers.

Now, since the advent of computer technology in the trains, it's has partially turned into to oversized HO running on 3 rails with track and trains that should be as prototypically accurate as HO, but still run on 3-rail track. And instead of a father building a train layout for his son, the father has now built a train layout for himself.

Of course, the manufacture's are partially to blame: They promised consumers the moon. And now the consumers want the entire galaxy.

Older adult males being jerks on forums who whine about anyone who complains

I could never figure out quadraphonic.  I've only got two ears, not four.  Why not octophonic if we're going to be silly?

Now that I think about it, another absolutely silly thing is smoke scents.  Trains that ran on steam, burnt wood or coal, not blueberry muffins, or vanilla pudding or Amphora pipe tobacco.  I'm not complaining, because I actually use some of this stuff, but, let's be realistic, it is comparatively silly.

Actually thinking that you can get any reliable information from the Lionel Shipping Schedule. And then complaining about it. Again. And again. And again.

Silly comes into play in just about everything we come in contact with. So our hobby is not immune to silly things and events. I just take it in stride and don't let it bother me. If I did, that would be "silly".

All the excuses people post as to why York can't be opened to the public.

All the $$ I spent on my toys.

They are for guys who have wives that don't bake or smoke pipes.

You mean: State sales tax, and TCA membership being reduced 75%, to name two? 

Silliest thing:

Grown men getting their feelings hurt over toy trains.