N Scaler's

[lee]

What happened to all the n scale people from the old atlas forum? I hope the word gets out about this site.

[KIM]

I hope so too. Keep putting the word out wherever you can.

[alco539]

I think most are over on the Railwire Forum. I see many "old handles" from the Atlas Forum there. I'm looking at both, but I don't have much to offer. Actually I look at Railroad Line too, but it's N scale is even slower. If my layout was farther along I would have something to say. After being out of the hobby for 30+ years I'm a little intimidated by the skills of you guys! My old railroad The Richmond and Southern was published in the Sept. 1979 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman, and it looks awful when compared to the modeling of today. My only defense is that I was young, and technology was not as good as today, poor excuse. Does anyone here remember what N scale looked like in the 1970's, and how grainy photos were in MR and RMC. You know what I'm talking about now, things are better than they ever have been. Regards Charley.

[keystonecrossings]

The Railwire's N scale forum has always been very good and always had a cross-population with the Atlas N scale forum. I would anticipate that many of those that posted in both places will seize the opportunity to reduce to just one.

[catt]

Charley,
Don't feel imtimadated by the pretty pictures,jjust remember nobody's first efforts are perfect unless they hire a pro to build the layout.

If you have a problem or need advice go ahead and ask .There is no such thing as a dumb question just a dummy that that might tell you it was (whitch translates to admiting that they don't either) ;D.

[uboat]

Some of us Atlas old timers are and have been at the invision N scale talk forum. z11.invisionfree.com/N_Scale_Talk/index.php?

The earlier version of what became the invision forum was created as a place for Atlas forumers to go when Atlas would close for vacations or upgrades to their system.

We are a fairly loose bunch as far as rules go, off topic conversation is tolerated, however profanity and personal attacks are not.

If you are a a member already feel free to revisit us and participate, if not all are welcome to join.

[KIM]

Charley, I have the same issues, but I still post my work. Part of the problem with society, is that it's become so perfection orientated. For us in this hobby, we've become accustomed to the "perfect" pictures in the magazines. Most of us would stand no chance to have a picture of our layouts in one of them. There is also a movement towards that on layouts too. It doesn't have to be that way. I enjoy those "perfect" pictures, but I also enjoy the old grainy ones, maybe even more.

Forums, such as this one, give all of us an equal chance to share our work. How many of us are in a position where we have nobody local t share our layouts with. I'm one of the lucky people that has a family that enjoys the hobby with me, but even then, I have nobody outside of this house to share with. Many of you don't even have family support, so we on the forums are your modeling community. I looked foreword to the magazines coming in the mail, and still do, but that still isn't being with other modelers.

Modelers, it isn't up to us to pass judgement on your modeling and/or photographic skills. We are here as your model railroading family. We are your chance to invite us in to see your layout, and to share your accomplishments. Don't worry about placing your skills next to those of others on the forum. This isn't a contest. It's a display; a chance to show your work. I still run code 80 track, and my mainline has 11" radius curves, so how intimidating can I possibly be?

We need to be here to encourage others who's skills are not fully developed, to feel free to share their work. When they see that they don't have to be perfect, and that we'll be proud to consider them part of our community, they'll be more inclined to join and let us watch their skills improve.

[alco539]

Douglas thank you, for those words of wisdom. I built my new layout with Atlas C80, and still use DC control. When I went to the LHS, I saw the Atlas C55. Wow! this looks great, but then noticed many pieces of flex with kinks already, still new in the bin. I thought to myself that I wasn't ready for C55 yet. My current layout was built "just to run trains", a roundy/round as they say. I'm using all of my old structures from the R&S, mostly Heljan, AHM, and Bachmann. I know they aren't up todays standards, but they were intended to be a "back drop" for the A1G loco's. As I mentioned somewhere, the loco's and rolling stock made in the last ten years, all look and run great. Yes, I now have many, yikes! Maybe I need to up-grade the "back drop" too, LOL. This hobby (others too) does that to people, but that's part of it. MR use to say, "Enjoyment with an ever lasting challenge". I don't know if they still use that on their masthead or not. I haven't bought one in 30 years and don't look at them in the LHS either. Regards Charley.

[bsklarski]

I think Jerry B is correct. I have been on RW for over 3 years now. I heard about this before Atlas shut down, so I checked it out. Seems good enough to keep checking here. But I will say that Im over on RW alot more than here. It is easier to keep track of 1 forum vs. 2.

[KIM]

I attempted to join them but they didn't accept hotmail for an email provider, so I let that one slide by.

[Donnell Wells]

May 11, 2012 22:06:09 GMT -8 bsklarski said:

I think Jerry B is correct. I have been on RW for over 3 years now. I heard about this before Atlas shut down, so I checked it out. Seems good enough to keep checking here. But I will say that Im over on RW alot more than here. It is easier to keep track of 1 forum vs. 2.

That's why I put all of the forums I visit in a "Forums" folder under my favorites. It helps keep things organized, and I can just go right down the list when checking the latest postings.

Donnell

[umtrrauthor]

There are a number of N Scale venues that are active. I expect that some who joined others or who were were already on several won't come back. That's the way it goes sometimes.

[carl160]

Donnell.
Me too, I have RW, Nscale talk, and this forum in a list of favorites, on my Firefox. In the end, I feel this forum will be as "large" as the Atlas site was. The Nscale Talk is easier to read,size wise. And RW has pretty images.

[inkaneer]

Railwire is dominated by a small core group who tend to be very parochial and has been described as a mutual admiration society. They will tolerate others to an extent but don't express an opinion if it is counter to the core group. Bannishment is apparently not a rare event there.

Trainboard is another forum and is more tolerant. Lots of modeler's there with talent too. Of course there are those that crossover from one board to another so you are likely to see the same posting on two or more boards.