Large Scale Central

Rumors?

General Discussion
#1

In the new Garden Railways (April issue), Marc Horowitz’s “From the Editor” column is about “Rumors”. He chats about all the LGB stuff that was put out ad nauseum but then he mentions “I recently had a call from a friend who told me that the current internet buzz was that one of the Garden Railways columnists was positioning himself to stab me in the back and take over my job.” (sounds like something Kevin would do! :stuck_out_tongue: ). I frequent 10+ large scale/model train forums regularly and never heard a drip about this. You guys have been letting me down. Dozens of pages about LGB BS but nothing of this GR bloody coup!

-Brian

#2

Thanks Brian now you just runed the ending form. Guess I don’t need to read my GR mag now. :frowning:

#3

and I just re-uped my subscription for that?..

#4

We’ve become a third world country. Rumors of Coup attempts abound :smiley:
Ralph

#5

A nice day for a coup. It’s dark and rainy!

#6

Why don’t you all go back to building and/or running trains, that is what it is all about! And by the way I read the same column and took it for what is was worth. It would not be the first mag that went away, but I highly dought it will happen.

Paul

#7

I dropped my subscription to said magazine several months ago! I was in the printing industry for several years I ran the presses, and almost did everything from paste up to out the door with the paper. With the new electronic age, I don’t feel the printed version of G. Magazine will survive forever, and I forsee them going the electronic media way with a charge involved somewhere down the road. As I said on my show last nite, I took a trip to Cheyenne, Wyo, and got a taste of the economy on Thurs. a shopping center I frequent when in Cheyenne across from a Safeway was completely vacant with space for rent signs on every window, there was a bank there too!! Gone! I think out of about 15 store fronts there was 1 left a Blockbuster Video store is all! Economy is bad and getting worse whether or not we want to believe it or not!! Everyone is looking for a "less expensive’ way to survive or they fall in with the majority now and go out of business!! Regal

#8

To add to what Jerry has written, my partner and I both work out of our houses now to save office rent, utilities, etc. It is going to be the wave of the future, at least until there is a major up turn. And I will not go back to having an office unless it it with several other engineers, costs too much. If we can keep our cost down others will use our services and be able to make a go id it! That is how we will get out of this mess, that a replace a bunch of politicains and cut the government down to size, that is small.

Paul

#9
Brian Donovan said:
In the new [i]Garden Railways[/i] (April issue), Marc Horowitz's "From the Editor" column is about "Rumors". He chats about all the LGB stuff that was put out ad nauseum ............... Dozens of pages about LGB BS but nothing of this [i]GR[/i] bloody coup!

-Brian


Hey Brian,

Both Horowitz and you need to get a grip, if you read the right fora you’ll get the correct information. If you don’t … well … such is life, eh!?! :stuck_out_tongue: :stuck_out_tongue: :smiley:

#10

No one is going to stab Marc in the back, Kevin is just going to take over.

I threw out a bunch of old GR mags today… several reviews by Marc a long while ago, where in the Pros and Cons section, he put a “Con” on several 1:29 trains because they were the wrong gauge for the scale… maybe he thought he could stop 1:29?

It was some interesting reading… pulled a few articles for scanning and archiving.

Regards, Greg

#11

I think there is a date in there that should tell some sort of story…or are you all “Fools”

#12
Hans-Joerg Mueller said:
if you read the [b]right[/b] fora you'll get the correct information
Would that be the fora on the Fox News Channel??? :P

-Brian

#13

It will definitley be right!! and certain to be biased. :wink:

#14
TonyWalsham said:
It will definitley be [b]right!![/b] and certain to be biased. ;)
What media is NOT biased. I would say even your posts ARE biased. So whose biases do we censor, wjo's do we allow and who decides?
#15

Let me "SIGH! for Bob, so he doesn’t have to waste the time and bandwidth. GEEEEEZ!

#16
Fred Mills said:
I think there is a date in there that should tell some sort of story.........or are you all "Fools"
Greetings Padre, ;) :) :D

Minor “facts” like that are often lost, firstly because we’re a long way from April Fool’s Day and secondly what would the industry do without rumours, even thinnly camouflaged ones that are declared as advertising? If it sells it will be used as a “selling point”.

#17

Hans is on-target. Rumors can be promotions.
Now, this hobby industry has so few “real” news items any information is considered by us, the devoted. When data is out, the critique, the responses, and additional assessments will make most proclamations fact or rumor.

Some companies wait to do damage control. Some jump on a concept before it is attached to them. Is Rapido’s recent full-page
explanation an example of being “ahead of the curve,” damage control, or what? So when is a “rumor” trusted as fact? Do not “RUMORS” smoke out facts?
Sure depends on the product, consumer interest, and the availability of media to report rumor becoming fact. Say T-O-Y-O-T-A.

RAPIDO AD:
The pre-order justification in the latest Model Railroader by Rapido describes the costs of the development side of the hobby and why they are using “pre-orders” from vendors (and consumers?). Is this an effort to negate “rumors” as to why manufacturers use the “pre-order” gambit prior to starting product development? Or is this simply affirmation of “FACT” that we all know has credence. Was it not originally a “rumor?” Does Rapido think they get positive marks from the model RR hobby for “fessing up” or for "explanin’ what is going on (that we may already know about??

CONCLUSION: My take is our hobby mfgs. allow rumors to go unfronted in hopes they will secure an advantage, however small, from not explaining, denying, or confessing, in hopes all will disappear. Ah, here comes the investigative nature of the contributors to this site. Are we enough of a readership to dissuade mfg. practice of putting the dogs to sleep instead of giving them the data? In short, is Garden Railways powerful enough to dissuade manufacturers from hiding out when products go sour in the speculation mill - - and before our own contributors can try to sort out the “rumor’” from the facts?

P.S. Remember how TOC got spanked.
Wendell

#18

After reading the actual editorial I’m surprised it was cause for a thread.

I also had a good chuckle remembering how clued-out some of the Kalmbach publications were during the first two insolvencies (Sept 2006 and April 2007). Regurgitating “facts” which as it turned out weren’t quite as factual as one would/could/should have wished. As the saying goes in the news business “It’s a bitch if your one source is not so accurate and/or can’t be independently verified through other sources.” :wink: :slight_smile:

#19

HJ- again, insightful commentary.

If all information is a “rumor” until manufacture verification, then we are the rumor champions – of course, along with those GRR readers not cautioned by Marc’s editorial. Any remedy seekers on this site for poor product performance and construction encourage contributors to identify suspected problems. Enthusiasts on our site offer their interpretations. Manufacturers remain silent. Those mindful of keeping the peace then speak out. Conjecture leads to pronouncing authority and experience. Those with trusted experience resolve the problem. Silence continues from the manufacturer. After remedy, the event is forgotten. Some are then memorialized as originators of discord, leave the site, and are forgotten.

Since we do the work, rumor appears to be the engine for finding fact.
If manufacturers have a “bitch” with rumor proliferation, the remedy is simple: SPEAK UP!

Wendell

#20

Hmmm…coup d’etat or changing of the guard?

Seams to me Marc started GR way way back in the mid 1980’s after writting about LS in the Gazette for a few years. Combined thats what almost 30 years of writing and running the rag? So maybe Marc is just having a April Fools joke on all of us. Seams he could also be preparring to either move up in the Klambake ladder or to simply retire and just enjoy running trains and working on his layout? Seams he’s certainly earned it.

He may also just be pulling our collective legs. :slight_smile: