would you but a flyer set offered by LCCA

Lou,

I just want to say thanks!  I'm interested in many of the ideas that have been suggested and appreciate your interest in doing something in S.  I have no problem with joining the LCCA to participate.  I also feel that you are justified in wanting to do something to increase the membership of the LCCA and fail to see how your motivation in doing so compromises anything.

Hi Troy,

thanks for your comments.

This is the kind of thinking the LCCA is trying to bring to the TRAIN HOBBY.

There is something for everybody at the LCCA, and collectors are always looking for something new and exciting and different.

Whether its a Tin Plate set in O gauge or an S gauge set by LIONEL.

If nothing else it stirs the blood and gets people thinking.

If it is LIONEL then its a part of the LCCA.

SAL GAMBINO/GG1GUYY

DIRECTOR LCCA

I already have darn near everything Flyer produced and the stuff I do not have I do not desire.  Therefore I am not inclined to purchase reissues of previous train sets.  I like the new, never produced items and have purchased them enthusiastically

I went ahead and joined the LCCA yesterday. Looking forward to an announcement

Jonny,,

Welcome to the club!   Please call me at 248 709-4137.  I invite you to attend our 42nd Annual  Convention in Norfolk VA, july 23-28.   Youwill have a lot of fun.

Al Kolis

Immediate Past-President 

Lionel Collectors Club of America

I'm with you on that one...

Mark in Oregon

I am intrigued that the LCCA is promoting an 'S' gauge offer which can only be purchased if you are a member. As I have mentioned in another post on this subject, I wonder if the LCCA will partition some of the journal each time to promote 'S' gauge, I some how doubt it, which therefore means the membership only has an advantage to buy something as an 'S' gauger. I believe an earlier post somewhere says that the reason for these promotions is to swell the coffers of the club as it is in needs of funds, that same post I believe also says that it hasn't raised subs for a considerable number of years, What I find bizarre is that if the club has a potential finance issue, why doesn't it just raise the subs?

Is there something I have missed or not aware of?

Regards,

Neil

Maybe now is the time.  I find it quite interesting that when the Northern reissue was announced a few years ago, Flyonel received THREE times the orders estimated.  And the heavyweights have been begging to be done for decades.  If not NYC, perhaps a Wabash "Midnight" like the Lionel release of '95/'96.

Neil,

Thank you for expressing your concerns  Sometimes, some things you read or hear about in opinion forums are not necessarily true or accurate.  Everyone has their own biases and opinions, including myself.  

The LCCA is not broke and is doing quite well financially.  The  all volunteer Board of Directors has made a significant, conscious, commitment to promote and foster an interest in Lionel trains with local Specal events in cities all around the country.  We are trying to reach out to our members, provide them with greater value and more benefits for belonging to the club.   We are all volunteers who have a passion  for Lionel trains, our club and the hobby.  

The money of the LCCA belongs to it's members.   We are investing  the club's money and resources to deliver more benefits to our members.  We are trying to offer our members  desirable product in different market segments in an effort to continually  improve our club.   We have invested to update our  website with improved video capabilities and created new Facebook accounts for both  Regular and Junior Members .  We need to evolve with the times.  Our events and activities are moving so fast, our publication schedules can not keep up  with all of our activities.  Our website improvements are intended to improve communication with our members and guests who visit our site.  it is becoming more and more important to communicate more frequently with our members.  We are not taking away anything from the benefit of  our current publications, The Lion Roars or the Interchsnge Track.  We are adding incremental capabilities in an effort to  add more value for each of our members.  

People always talk about bringing younger people into our great hobby.  The LCCA is trying to walk the talk, not just talk.  Our all volunteer leadership team is working hard to do this.  Our website updates , Facebook accounts and our Junior membership program, local special events, great conventions, involvement at WGHOT shows  is all intended to introduce the magic of Lionel trains and the hobby in general to a new generation of people.  We even have a special publication dedicated for our young Junior  Members called The Lion Cub.

Working with Lionel,the LCCA has invested and is commited to launching a new Fastrack Modular layout at our upcoming convention.  This is intended to be used at future events to promote Lionel trains and the hobby.  This is just the initial phase to this massive project.  Stay tuned for future announcements.  

The LCCA has decided that we need to improve our support and emphasis in the S-gauge market.  As you know, Lionel has  owned and produced American Flyer S-gage trains for several years.  We think it is a natural fit and acknowledge the need to improve our club in this area. We need to be more inclusive of the various and diverse interests of our members.  There is no wrong way to enjoy this hobby, it is a matter of taste and preferences.  

This year at our 42nd Annual Convention in Norfolk VA, we are offering two layout tours to Paul  Sharp's facility which features two s-gauge layouts and a massive collection of AC Gilbert American Flyer /modern S-gauge trains, autos, toys, arcade games and neon signs.  OGR's Ed Boyle will also be making a presentation pertaining to S-Gauge trains on Saturday morning, July 28.  

President Dennis Devito and The Lion Roars (TLR) editor, Mike Mottler have committed a couple of pages of each future issue to be dedicated to S- Gage topics.  Every article in TLR is an original article (not reprints from other publications) written by a volunteer member.  We are actively seeking members who have an interest and expertise with S-gage trains to contribute articles.  If we have more interest and increased participation, we can dedicate more pages in TLR, resources on our website and more Facebook pages to S-Gauge topics.    If you or someone you know has an interest in writing original S- Gauge related articles,  please contact me at 248 709-4137 or via e-mail at agkolis@comcast.net

I want to peronally invite you to join the club, get involved and participate in our family oriented,club.   You will have Fun,   Try it for one year.  If you don't like it, then let us know how to improve it.  Get involved.  This club belongs to our members.  The more you contribute, the more you receive.  Then, if you are not satisfied, then you just don't renew your membership the following year.   Please call me if you want to discuss ths matter further.  I welcome your feedback.

Thank you

Al K.

Al, 

Thank you for the excellent reply to my earlier post. I agree with you that when people post information that is not factual, it can be confusing for others like myself to have to take it at face value unless someone else at the time makes a correction.

I am glad that the LCCA is on a good financial footing and not in the doldrums as indicated and actually looking to utilise funds to a much wider audience which aligns with the product line that Lionel now offers.

It is also encouraging that you are proposing to have a dedicated section to support the 'S' fraternity which can only be good news.

Regarding membership, the offer is most welcome but being from over the 'pond' I have had to end my subscription to publications from the US due to the prohibitive postal charges as everything has to come by air now.

Regards,

Neil

Neil,

Thank you for you understanding.  We have several members in the  UK and all over the world.  Anytime you change your mind, we welcome you to join the club.  In the meantime make www.lionelcollectors.org one of your favorite sites.  I encourage you to check out the hundreds of exclusive LCCA videos posted in the video gallery section of our website. Keep scrolling down one page at a time by clicking the see more  icon.  let e know what you think of them.

Al K. 

And from th 3-rail side:

"Folks,

The S Gauge Presentation designed for the Convention has been finished and it looks great, to my unbiased eyes anyway.

Will make arrangements to put it on the LCCA website after the convention. Maybe we can get someone to video the Q & A session after we screen the video.  Any volunteers?

Anyway, the news is good on the S front for LCCA.

Ede Boyle"

This is good news for the LCCA members who are unable to attend the convention and those of us ne're-do-wells (Who? Me???) that aren't members of LCCA.

(Seriously, I've received a very friendly invite to join and the shiny things that Lou keeps coming up with are making it harder to resist.)

Rusty

Rusty,

Try it for a year, you may like it.    What have you got to lose?    A one year membership is less expensive than a evening  out on the town,  and you receive an entire year of train information and fun.

Go to wwwlionelcollectors.org to join on line.  

Call me at 248 709-4137 if you have any questions.  

Al

Neil,

Call me at 248 709-4137 if you are interested in joining the club.    We are looking for people such as yourself to establish our s-gauge program.  You have a stake in our success.  I personally ask  that you to use your wonderfully artful wordsmithing to provide a 700 word article on or about S-gauge for our magazine.  Pictures are always a welcome addition.  And while you may have heard otherwise, we train enthusiasts in the US are interested in what other countries do in modeling.  And if you do model in Flyer, our members will be interested in what it takes to collect Flyer in Europe.

I am already excited about your article and look forward to seeing it in print.

Thanks again

Al K.

Al,

There are two possible articles I can pen together you. One is a conversion I did on a Lionel SF GP20 which I converted so that both original chassis had motors which enabled it to have all eight wheels driven.

I actually sent it to Lionel at some point in the 90's to see if they were interested using the idea for future production but they didn't take up the idea and sent it back to me .

If this is the sort of thing that may be of interest then I can do something for you.

The other article would be on a small range of parts I make and sell through a couple of parts dealers in the US which at the time were badly needed and in fact still needed now by operators.

Regards,

Neil

I don't want to sound stupid but what is LCCA? Never heard of it and it sounds as though its been here for a few years. Maybe I spend too much time playing with trains.

Ray

Neil,

Sounds good to me.  You can also share your experiences and about American flyer trains in the UK.  How did you get started?  Do you have an operating layout?  Who influenced you and introduced you to trains etc.   Photos  help too.   You can submit your articles to Mike Mottler at mottlerm@conwaycorp.net or myself at agkolis@comcast.net.  Welcome to our club!

Al K.

Good Day Lou, 

With regards to modern diesel locomotives, the AC6000CW and/or SD90MAC would be fantastic!

Regards,

Swafford 

Yes, i'm hoping for any type of postwar 'S'.

Since the LCCA is working on layout modules for their fastrack system,

I recall Gilbert had a layout system called All Aboard.

These were 17" square layout modules complete with track, builidings Etc.

Hopefully either Lionel or LCCA might consider these for future production?

Thanks,

Phil 

The All Aboard panels had curves much sharper than the regular Gilbert curves and used the cheap Pikemaster track.  Gilbert had to remove the end steps from the Geep to get it to go around them.

You could forget running anything bigger than the 21085 Pacific's around them.

http://www.trainweb.org/allaboardsets/

Rusty

Here's another problem with growing the S market.  While it's true that you can fit more layout into a reasonably large space, it actually takes more room as a starter outfit than 0/027 and even Lionel Fastrack.  Yet the trains are smaller.

That's something very few people seem to notice.

However, S on 20" radius still looks much better than "traditional O" on O27 or O31.  And, there's nothing between the two rails other than ties!

Rusty

I've found switching much easier with S - smaller trains, wider curves and smoother locomotives.   

I'm convinced.  But I do wonder what the starter set(s) will be like.  They could do a Northern freight set for $800, but what about a $200 set?  Is there only the Docksider?

Although I love my All Aboard "Westerner 1200" set, I doubt anyone would want to limit themselves in that way.

Quite the innovative product, though.

All Aboard was a unique concept, sort of a forebearer of today's modular railroads.  However, I've seen larger All Aboard displays at an S-Fest or two and it gets quite repetetive.  

The integrated track/roadbed systems like S-Trax and FasTrak are much more flexible for temporary (even pemanent) layouts.

Rusty

The Target Audience for All Aboard wasn't model railroaders, it was the 10-year-old and his parents looking for a easy to set up Christmas layout.  S-Trax is very nice, but quite pricey.  Lionel asked them to do a version for Flyer, but SHS couldn't do it for Lionel's price.  Fastrack must be a lot cheaper to make.

S-Trax calculated out to just over a buck a section more vs. FasTrack. (10" straight)

FasTrack lacks the embedded removable tie strip, weathered rail and painting of the "ballast" that S-Trax has.

A comparison of the two is located here:

https://ogrforum.com/d...ent/4245430050739874

Modifying FasTrack to join with S-Trax is located here:

https://ogrforum.com/d...ent/4527055137442588

Rusty

Thanks for the link.  Quite useful.