Who is doing the best work on the internet?

Derek,

I'm not able to do much anymore. I'm looking forward to your super-duper ideas. Just promise me this one thing. Please, end each program with, Roy Rogers & Dale Evans singing, "Happy Trails". I guess I'm living in the past. There will probably be objections. Anyway you're doing great work now.

2 YouTube pages that I visit are JDStucks and Woodland Scenics.  I also use the website railpictures.net quite frequently.  The photo database there is great for new ideas.  

Oh...please don't use that song! They play that at the end of each York TCA meet. It makes me want to barf...it is SO corny and old-fashioned. It's like fingernails on a chalk board...

I visit the OGR Forum far more than any other resource.  The only other places I go are:

Lionel.com (for product information, browsing catalogs, parts diagrams, exploded views, etc.)

mthtrains.com (to browse catalogs and look up info about trains in their product locator)

ebay.com (to shop and check values)

steamlocomotive.com (to research info about prototype steam locos)

railpictures.net (for photos of contemporary and excursion trains)

There are a few "other" forums and I've encountered my OGR buddies there.  But all things considered, I like OGR Forum the best.  

Rich, you'll love this complete rendition of the tune by Roy and Dale, enjoy.

Hi Derek:

     My suggestion would be to interview the Presidents of 3 major model train clubs in one show.

New Jersey Hi-Railers - http://www.njhirailers.com/

Colorado Model Railroad Museum - http://www.gfsm.org/pcindex.html

Detroit Model Railroad Club - http://www.dmrrc.org/

or any other large clubs.

Good Luck

Laid Off Sick's you tube channel.  Lots of good how to videos.

Some of our forum members would make excellent subjects for a podcast; we have drama queens and grumpy old guys here!  

Actually, I'd like to hear a few of our members on your podcast-guys who do specializied work, like scratch building, electrical projects and etc.  Could be interesting.

Derek-I give you permission to do a podcast on me: the buy high and sell low guy!

Speaking of which, I'm just going to hand you my wallet the next time I see you-I'll still be money ahead...

Sorry to disappoint but I usually get most of my info here, a forum that shall not be named to a lesser degree, and individual members.

I converse via email with a few folks but that's about it and listen to the Podcast.  Eric is a great source of info for new items and reviews but if it's not an item I'm interested in then I pass.

A lot I pick up on my own just by fooling around.

I visit many. professionally designed web pages do the best job. Those that are semi-professional or dated make me move on. Sometimes, it's just the organizational logic.

I stay here. Visit elsewhere for sourcing and manufacturer information. Not really a social user, channel subscriber or fan boy type user.

I like "corny and old fashioned". How about the Jimmy Durante closing..."Goodnight Mrs Calabash, wherever you are"?

Now you guys have me thinking about roast beef sandwiches

Art

Well I can assure you we won't be playing Happy Trails as I don't feel like paying into ASCAP (Music royalties).

It's going to be really interesting to see what other responses get added here. Does OGR really have the corner on the market as the ONLY place people are going for content? It seems to me that either there are not many people generating new content that is worth discussing or that it all just gets put here. 

By the way 86TA, you can hand me your wallet along with the condition that I get to buy a few things for myself as well. 

I often refer to the Lionel post-war info on Tandem's site here and especially the specific information here. 

Best info about the O gauge hobby IMO is right here on the OGR FORUM.  Not "brown nosing" but everything that is a go or no go comes up right here on the Forum and people will tell you what is good or bad about a product.  There are those with loyalty points of view, but that's only for you to decide.

It has to be here. By far the most active 3r forum. Like Laz say's not everything is Kosher, but most can sort through the brand loyalties and come up with a good deal of information.

You asked specifically about Internet sources.  I will generalize that to all sources.  I get about three fourths of my info on toy trains from the internet.

25% -non -internet sources. Trainshows, friends, stops by any of the three LHS I go to.

25% - OGR Forum - I come here mainly because it is interesting and fun, but it is the source of perhaps another 25% of the information I hear about toy trains, etc.

20% - manufacturer's catalogs catalogs and websites - especially their catalogs on their websites: Lionel, MTH, Bachmann, Atlas, RMT, woodland Scenics and Menards.  I routinely check all and study them. You learn alot that way. 

20% - the websites of internet retailers: I go to and study them. . .  I routinely check about six to eight each week, includingMicromart, Modelexpo, Patricks, Nassauhobby, modeltrainstuff, Walters, Amazon, Diecast direct, and some others. M. B. Klein (modeltrainstuff.com) and Diecastdirect have the best search engines and product filters and I depend on them more than the others. 

10% - e-mail.  A lot of good information comes in via e-mail from manufacturers (e.g., Menard's and RMT newsletters, etc.).  I carry on e-mail correspondence and discussion with a number of other model train enthusiasts, as many people here on the forum, as

well as two shop owners and one or two people who work at manufacturers, and two other model train book authors, . 

OGR Forum ,best place for information.

Yeah, I had a feeling you might say that!

Just leave me some gas money so I can get home.  I'll bring the wife's Honda - it doesn't use much gas - so, we'll have a lot more cash to spend

Or the closing line from the Beverly Hillbillies show, "Y'all come back now, ya hear!"

I've learned a lot about O-gauge on the interwebs from the Marx Trains Yahoo group.

Also...

http://www.toyandtrainguides.com/marxtin.htm

http://www.tandem-associates.c...onel/lionelident.htm

I like to search ebay auctions, sorting with the most number of bids, to see what is hot. Talking to people at shows, hobby shows and visiting auction sites, are very helpful too. 

For some strange reason Charlie from Nassau Trains always knows the latest gnews.

That's gnews ... good news.

Oddly enough my LHS is the last to know, until I make it over there and tell him whats new...

Hmmm maybe it's time to introduce a new way for folks to see what's going on in O gauge....

Here's my short list, and the internet's most inspiring modelers that I'm honored to call friends.

• 3-rail scale: LaidOffSick's inspiring and easy-to-follow how-to video series, great modeling skills and fantastic layout are not to be missed.  Check out his weathering!
• 3-Rail: Passenger Train Collector is the nicest, most respected and probably has one of the coolest collection on this forum.  Big city at its best, and now the North Pole!
• Museum: C. Sam's collection is one of the best, and he has a PA fetish!
• 2-Rail: John Sethian's PRR work is both utterly realistic and superbly detailed; only two things missing are more pictures and the Central.  His how-to articles are the most detailed instructions I've seen yet.
• Wowak's Reading modeling is not to be missed.
• Lee Willis' kit bashing and scratch building of steam motive power get my imagination moving!
• Don Smith of Industrial Models is the source for weathering and detailing projects; bar none; and I mean none.

I hope this helps...

Thanks,

Mario

Couple of others that have not been mentioned to this point...

Scenery: Joey Ricard/Trackside Scenery

O scale narrow gauge: Al Judy and his 1,000-plus-member On30 Facebook group

It's nerdy as all get-out, but I sometimes re-read the Plastruct catalog or go through the Scenic Express website to reacquaint myself with the materials that are available and/or looking for ideas.

Other than that, I Google the specific thing I want to know about at the moment (e.g., "O Scale Subway Girders") and/or I come to the OGRR forum.

Steven J. Serenska

Allan, You beat me to it.

And if You're Feeling Lucky....

K.C.

Mostly right here. but a few others that I check out….

My local TCA site and facebook page, though there's not much activity on either one, I keep up on the meets in my area and such. (oh, look, photos from the March meet are on facebook!)

And the TCA national site.

Then there are a few Yahoo groups I follow. Toy Trains, prewar Lionel, etc. Though I mostly read the daily emails and only go to the site when a topic is of great interest or has a lot of talk back and forth.

Too much internet steals from train time.

Tim

Thanks guys for the input so far. Wanted to bring this up to the top for the weekend crowd to get some more input. 

Thanks!

Derek

I know you are looking for ideas, but my favorite shows are still the Catalog Shows. I like to follow along in my copy or on line copy as you go though the catalogs, page by page.

• Cheers from The Detroit & Mackinac Railway 

For a person who doesn't own a piece of track, I spend a lot of time on this forum.

A  little off track but I just received an e-mail from Ro, showing what I have on back order.  It is hard to believe that all the big ones do not have this by now, that way they and me can keep track. Maybe some others do too and I just do not know it.   For those year or so waits, I tend to forget where my own list is stored.  I know I could make my own list on the computer but I never do thinking that I will remember.  Also Ro's price lists make looking easy compared to some. 

I second that David, I remember seeing old Trigger on Rout 15 on the road to Vegas, There was old horse standing on its rear legs bucking at the roadway, in front of the Roy Rodgers museum in the desert in the middle of nowhere. I often wonder how they were able to keep it standing up out there, a very sad site. No happy trail ending there.

Lets give up the "The Old happy Trails"song folks to the days of old and give the new generations something they like to hear so they can relate to, who knows we may attract some of them deeper into the hobby.

This forum. Also I like to read through the new Scenic Express catalog while in bed. Nothing like a real paper catalog. I get new ideas and find new stuff in every issue. Don

Hi, Derek.

As we see frequent questions along the lines of "Did XYZ Railroad own this type of locomotive?" or "Was this box car ever painted in this scheme?" a suggestion I would offer for inclusion is George Elwood's fabulous Fallen Flags website. Drawing material from many sources (I'm a contributor myself), his coverage is quite expansive in terms of railroads, equipment types and eras. It's a superb resource for researching prototype information.

www.rr-fallenflags.org

Bob