It's human nature to gather together in groups that you share interests with and feel comfortable within - this works for hobbies just as much as it does for bigger issues such as politics or religion. No suprise, then, that when leisure time permits, I'll be chewing the fat with people who have similar model railway aims and aspirations as myself. People who are aware of what the prototype looks like and want to either buy or make models that are closer to this, the hallowed real thing.
This works very well as you can have grown-up discussions about how to tackle issues with model X without having to stop every 2 minutes when a collector starts to squeal like a stuck pig or some numpty tries to tell you that it's only your opinion that the prototype looks like it does. I get a lot of constructive ideas and advice this way, from people who're actually tackling the same modelling tasks as myself, but are better at it than I'll ever be. As far as I'm concerned, with the internet as part of the process this is information sharing at it's best, however much some of the magazines might resent it. The downside is that it can be something of a culture shock when you stray back into the more diverse range of interests that constitute the real world.
Now I don't have any particular beef about Bachmann's recent Class 20. It doesn't make me fear for the future of the hobby as their 37 or Deltic did, I just don't have the urge to buy any. It's not a completely awful model, but neither is it a particularly good one. It's just cheap'n'cheerful - something that I'm sure the collector and train set markets can benefit hugely from, but not something I've any great use for myself. It's not that I won't buy any at some point in the future, just that there are a lot better things to spend my cash on right now. The likes of Bratchell, DC Kits, Parkside, etc, are putting far more effort into their products and are thus more worthy of my support. It's my money and I spend it how I want - seems entirely reasonable to me. I've always done things this way. Gather information, make choices, spend the cash - job done, as they say.
Pretty scary, then, to come across the ritual disembowling of someone yesterday, just for having the temerity to enquire about the different relative heights of the Bachmann and Lima offerings. All the normal craziness ensued, I won't bore you with the details, but suffice to say comparisons with the Lima model rather than the real thing were the order of the day. The collectors want their new toy fix and woe betide anyone who doesn't share this craving. There's nothing wrong with the first half of that sentence, of course, but there's something deeply disturbing about the latter part. I never have been a great fan of religious fervour and intolerance, so I'd hoped the tribalism of the Lima collector would die out with the demise of that company. Unfortunately the Bachmann Apologists are the new cult in town and are already rehearsing those long sentences that claim models are 'excellent' whilst including at least a dozen excuses.
Not people I want to have sects with...
Currently On My Stereo: Rush - Hemispheres.