Doug Arnold said:
Joe, I have a Mac and the only place I’ve found Smileys is in Chat.
Jus type 'em in text and they work -
: + ) = 
; + ) = 
Etc…
David Russell said:
ɹəʇsooɹ
HEY! You stole that font from Tony. I’m tellin’
Jon Radder said:
David Russell said:
ɹəʇsooɹ
HEY! You stole that font from Tony. I’m tellin’
Looks like someone is gonna get a kangaroo head under his bed sheets tonight!!
David Russell said:
Rooster has slipped a Horse head under the sheets of Boomer and Jake’s beds for forging his signature!
Signed
ɹəʇsooɹ
Now now guys, play nicely…
[pic removed]
and substitute picture replaced:
and remember, play nicely…
Careful, Vic…
Its just bidness, right, Boomer?
Bob McCown said:
Careful, Vic…
any better?
The more that I stay away from this site, it makes me aware when I occasionally return that I am not missing anything. Even without the supposed ‘troublemakers’ posting these days, the dribble still pervades on this site from those who always thought it smart to take the alleged ‘troublemakers’ to task.
A site is only as good as it better, more experienced members and it is those members who no longer post here. I feel many here should put a ‘#’ symbol before their response as many here think the site is a Twitter account.
#PorkBellyHobbyist
Andrew
make sure you read this one!
"Not everyone goes around spreading rumors
Our hobby, regardless of the scale you use, owes a great deal of respect to Lewis for what he did for 1/29th"
"Now you got my attention, Please he’s easily the worst thing that ever happened to this Hobby that’s why he lost his company, Only so many times you can screw people over, KARMA. what goes around comes around. Respect for what??? NEVER SEE THE DAY…
This post should have never been started and should be locked. Not relevant to this forum. I had a pimple on my butt maybe I should start a thread about that."
Bob, please delete this topic. The boiler has rusted out!
What purpose did cross-posting that serve, Joe?
Whether I respect the man or not, I do have a lot of admiration for Lewis. Yes, he was quick to get his back up when he felt threatened and he did get a little blustery, but when he needed technical assistance, his personal opinion of some one did not matter. He knew those he could count on to provide assistance and was not backward in seeking help from those of whom he may have been personally critical. He was a businessman first and a person second.
He is both loved and maligned and did contribute as much as any other manufacturer to the largescale hobby. He did have some failures and some stillborn projects, but he did persevere against all odds. Given sufficient capital, I am sure that he would have delivered on all his promises. Alas, circumstances beyond his control intervened, condemning him in the eyes of many.
This forum survives in part because of those who chose to purchase his products and involve themselves in garden railroading. He ‘invented’ the WOW factor scale of 1/29 and from memory was the first to offer affordable standard gauge back in the late 1980’s along with his partner company REA. He had the foresight to invest his energies in this new enterprise and it survived for around twenty years before the downturn in the economy and the demise of disposable income.
I suggest we applaud the man for his achievements and let him enjoy his well deserved retirement.
Tim Brien said:
from those who always thought it smart to take the alleged ‘troublemakers’ to task.
Bob, I thought it needed to be made clear why this forum is getting so bad in my humble opinion, by just a few who can’t behave. Yes, I could leave, hurray!! When I’m trying to post options for fixing cracked gears and getting hastled, I don’t need to defend myself. I’m fixing mine and thought I’d share what options exists for others. Hiding the fact that there are problems with those gears, or this forum’s children’s actions, is well, getting in really bad form lately. I guess it’s just me. Other’s have not noticed apparently.
Bob McCown said:
What purpose did cross-posting that serve, Joe?
I’m thinking that this topic was created because the other one got locked now, which makes sense. I dislike a few people but having ill will against them is a bit too much.
If we follow the forum back a few days before that rampage, you’d see someone went through the current busy/hectic Modeling forum bringing back topics from a few years ago with comments like “This is a great build bumping so it doesn’t get lost” - granted all the picture links were broken and the thread was therfor useless. Someone was looking for attention…
We learned something from Polk, SHOCK VALUE
Mark Dash said:
.…
We learned something from Polk, SHOCK VALUE
I read Lewis Polk’s write-up how 1:29 came about many years back; it was the confirmation that “riding on others coat-tails” has an advantage. In my book it just confirmed that he is a toy merchant.
BTW Polk referred to it as the WOW factor and in my opinion the shock value was/is something different, but it is certainly there. 
It’s been a while since I’ve written about this matter. In the mean time 1/29th Scale has become the defacto size for standard gauge outdoor Garden Railway trains. From time to time the question arises as to why and how we came up with using 1/29th as our standard scale. After all, 1/29th is not the “proper” scale for standard gauge when using G-gauge (45mm) track, 1/32nd is the “proper” scale.
We chose 1/29th scale in 1987 before beginning production at the request of Nat Polk, who understood the model train business from it’s earliest days. In truth, Nat was a pioneer of this hobby and had a great historical overview as an expert in marketing model trains. It was his take that the original Lionel trains that dominated the first half of the 20th century in the U.S. were all 1/29th scale. The trains did not run on track with a gauge that was theoretically correct. Lionel used a different gauge track because their trains were top heavy and need a wider foot stance for stability when running. Despite the track gauge issue Lionel was the leader in the model train industry for many years. Even today the Lionel Standard Gauge trains evoke a WoW! each time they are seen and their collectability value is enormous.
Furthermore, Nat was active in importing trains from all over the world and was very familiar with the English market. The English commonly use OO scale. OO scale is slightly larger then H.O. but still runs on HO gauge track. Hornby and Bachmann Branchline trains produce OO scale and have 98% of the English market. Not a word is said about the difference between scale vs. gauge and these two companies make amongst the most scale models in the world. The discussion of the gauge in relation to the scale is a non-event as it is here with 1/29th.
There is a small but vociferous minority that does not understand the public wants scale in their models and relationship to the gauge is not a concern to them. It’s not that the public is uninformed. Rather they know scale is an issue the gauge of the track is not when it comes to Large Scale Trains. The “WoW!” Factor created by the impressive size of the model is what the modelers are interested in. Most do not care about gauge correctness. After all, how many hobbyists have no comment about running their beautiful 1/29th scale models on gold colored unrealistic code 332-height brass track through 8’ diameter or tighter curves?
While the Large Scale Trains standard is code 332-height track, the “correct” scale height is code 225. However, I’ve never seen an outdoor code 225 layout working. Code 250 needs far more care before running unless laid on a concrete roadbed. The fact is 1/29th scale is more appropriate out of doors in the large environment of a garden layout that can put your trains several dozen feet or more away from you. The big size of 1/29th is highly visible and the track gauge quickly becomes invisible. The reality of Large Scale Trains reduces the discussion of track gauge to minimal importance.
People have voted with their wallets and minds. 1/29th has become the overwhelmingly most popular scale greatly overshadowing 1/32nd scale. This doesn’t mean that a great locomotive in any of the G-Gauge sizes will not sell. It’s not going to sell in the large numbers due to not having the same WoW! Factor as 1/29th models.
A true pioneer in the hobby, Nat Polk settled the Scale vs. Gauge discussion in 1987. He truly was one that understood the market before people understood that the market was far more than just toy trains.
The free market has demonstrated that 1/29th is a winning scale in standard gauge Large Scale trains. Competition reigns!
All the best,
Lewis Polk
The Bolding and Italicization are mine!
OK…to answer the original question…“Is there any hope for this forum”…
Yes there is…as the FORUM is a large thing covering all sorts of information. This particular thread means nothing as it is just a bunch of speculation and other crap thrown together by people with nothing better to do than crap on each other…
Hopefully getting this in before its locked!
Hans-Joerg Mueller said:
In my book it just confirmed that he is a toy merchant.
Nothing wrong with being a “toy merchant”. Besides, even the most accurate scale model is still a toy if it’s meant to be “played with”, aka operated.
Bob McCown said:
What purpose did cross-posting that serve, Joe?
Because Bob there are guys that start threads that just need attention and cant deal with the facts and cry about it on every forum out there. He then goes to forums were there are about 3 people that post regularly which is pritty pathetic any ways and post a comment like this there,
Quote
" I’m guessing he may have actually talked to someone else or just himself again. Nothing of factual importance other then he hopes he can get something that he preordered to be the first kid on the block. (maybe not even his??)
He was actually asking people to contact dealers and beg for product that he wants.
Shadows of his close personal sidekick that once spoke to Aristo I guess??
Today he seems all better???and his sidekick is back after promising to leave???
He just keeps bashing other manufacturers that want to make products for the rest of us. Too bad there’s no active moderation on children there anymore. He needs help. I don’t do that.
Not worth discussing further.
refreshing that you can just ignore them"
And then he comes here looking for sympathy and most of his posts are incorrect to date and just looking for attention.
If he wants to play with the big boys he need to get better friends and learn the facts before he makes comments. This thread is just about getting attention nothing more for him in life i would guess…
.
It’s like the Great Mcmoron melt down of 2011, Really just have to laugh at him and move on