Warming of the heart?

As some here may recall, I prefer the conventional, Traditional tinplate reproductions. Some find an aesthetic disconnect between the notion of a tinplate train and the use of modern electronics with can motors. For many of us, the growl of open frame three pole motors, the smell of ozone, and the sound of an air whistle (when so equipped) are the sensations expected from operating tinplate. Exposure to and ownership of vintage originals can heighten this expectation. Call it "charm", if you will. Mr. Wolf says "I like the old motors", so fortunately, the trains are often offered either way to satisfy both camps.

In a pinch, the traditional trains are more easily repaired, too.

Bob

A warming of the heart?  Are you sure it isn't th DelTaccos?

I believe you are correct.  Simple is best.

Larry

I'm agnostic. Whatever I like and get a good deal on, I don't care if it's conventional or command. My first two Standard Gauge engines were a Lionel Hiawatha with TMCC and an original 390e, and I like them both just fine. 

I still like them all. Lately I have been buying restored originals. I bought a restored Shasta with Pocahontas cars what a great runner. My 42 runs great also. Next will be a 33. They run on much less voltage than posts I have read here. 12 volts and low amperage.

I do not run sound systems or smoke.

I'm just the opposite. I started with AC motors with the growl and ozone thing but I like the modern can motors much better even if they didn't have sound. I just finished a restore on a AF Shasta and sent it out to Frank Timco to put in a can motor. It's still conventional and the only sound it has is the ringing mechanical bell.

I prefer the conventional traditional tinplate reproductions or restored/unrestored originals.  I also don't like my tinplate in a real road name and I don't like it on anything but tubular track; it just doesn't look right to me on anything else. 

Jeff Davis

Aside from liking trains in general, what has drawn me to O-gauge is the old timey-ness of pre & post war trains. Mechanical e-units, growling open frame AC motors and every other bit of archaic technology that these trains possess. Personally I cringe at the thought of tinplate trains with micro chips and LED's in them. But that's just me and if nobody else agrees that's fine. 

i am taking this comment out of context for i know what you mean, but i would probably make an exception when they start selling O scale seated engineers with CCDs embedded into the eye sockets blue-tooth transmitting to a virtual eyeglass display i could wear.

i'm sure everyone at one time or another has wished they could shrink down to scale size for a cab ride.

I think the thing to remember is there is no right or wrong answer it's just personal preference. We are a little less formal over here on the tinplate forum;and that's the way I like it!

When I ever so briefly flirted with the notion of owning some new SG tin plate I wanted all old style motors & electronics because I wanted to have the same experiance as when the original models were new. A fellow modeler that already had a substantial collection gave me pause when he told me that the newer can motors run much smoother & run longer with less problems. He also mentioned that once you hear sound & have modern controls, you'de never go back. Well, I hesitated just long enough to realize that the whole thing wasn't for me anyway & I bowed out. To this day I'm 99.9 % sure I'd own original style stuff, but we'll never know......

I think our own backgrounds certainly have an influence on our tastes. In my case being a retired design engineer, I know from decades of experience that anyone can make anything more complicated. It is ten times more difficult to make something have what is sometimes technically called "elegance of design." In other words, a simple usable easily repairable design which has a long lifespan. The ingenuity of the designers of these toys, especially Marx, really impressed me, when I think of how they also managed to keep cost competitive and had a large variety of choices.Their electrical simplicity in motor construction, dc power control etc is not simple minded but rock solid. The other aspect is the artistry, the lost art of metal lithography and just how they made a flat object appear 3 dimensional with paint. With this in mind, we have the opposite with designed obsolescence, high complexity etc. You have to read a lengthy manual, be a self educated expert in hardware and software. It's simply a matter of preferences, but that is why I admire the original over the reproductions, but Mike Wolf had to jump many many hurdles to revive tinplate and that is equally worthy of admiration. If it were not for Mr Wolf standard gauge, traditional O tinplate would have long ago gone the way of the Dodo. I think is contributions to the hobby are severely under rated, and I think this will be seen more so looking back from some future date that gives a better perspective of what he managed to pull off. Outside of my own preferences, I think it's an even draw between old and new. BTW..The Flynn's are also under appreciated for taking Marx and resurrecting it. I wish Mike would get that tooling etc from the guy who bought it from the Flynn's and add it to his line. But wishing does not make it so.

Actually these days Im leaning to live steam.

Clem

Same here! I discovered 1 gauge live steam last year! I have three Accucraft locos and will be ordering more as I sell off my MTH and Atlas. I have had such fun running my live steam USRA 0-6-0.Gotta have one of those live steam Big Boy's and Daylights! I'm still keeping my scale TMCC and Legacy steam to display and my classic postwar Lionel.

As much as I love tinplate, I am leaning toward going back to G. I would keep select portions of the O collection like Boomer. Time will tell.One option is Sunset dual gauge track ( O+G) and relay the garden railroad with it.

I have and like both traditional and contemporary tinplate.  I think it's great that we have the option.  

John.