What's that phrase? "The good ol' days ain't what they used to be"?

Pretty good analogy, particularly since the Small Town type model railroad clubs are slowly succumbing to entropy, simply because America's youth isn't quite as entranced with the iron horse as they used to be. Train shows do well, but with the advent of the Internet, most modelers can interact online and don't really need to drive to the community center once a month to hang out with their buddies, and club layouts have given way to guys just building at home...

Hell, the train layout I run the most consists of a few dozen pieces of Lionel Fast Track in a couple of gym bags, some folding tables, a grass mat and a couple aluminum tool cases full of tinplate trolleys. The whole thing fits into the back of my car, and I can be up and running at a show in an hour or less...

But, watching the kids faces light up when they get to run a train around the track, well...a little of the magic is still there.

And, every once in awhile, because of what I do, a parent goes and buys their kid a train set.

So, is it worth it? I think so.

I like model trains, but never got into it. When I was younger than 8, I think, I had a Lionel set. The diesel was about ten inches long and to a kid seemed enormous. But the track couldn't have been much more than ten feet around the entire oval! It only took about 60 seconds to get tired of it. What happened to it, I have no idea. My grandmother on my father's side had a far older Lionel outfit -- 1930s maybe. I have no idea where that went, either.

I had to settle for cheap diecast models. I had some odd ones made in Britain in the 1960s. They did come with plastic snap together track, but they wouldn't stay on it when you pulled the train. Most of the rolling stock was British stuff that looked weird. Odd little boxcars they called "wagons" with only four wheels and about the shape of a take-out chow main container. Many years later, I started buying some Chinese made diecasts that were in some odd scale. Not quite N. They aren't bad looking and the track is okay. I don't get them out often. Hook up a half dozen cars to the engine and they take up most of the length of the coffee-table. You can pull them about a foot along the straight track (there are no curves) and then you have to stop or the train goes over the edge. They're really only good for looking at now and then.

I also have a pair of CN diesels in HO scale. I bought them from the Sally Ann for $2 each. One is a car body and the other a modern type. GMD ED 40, I think. I suppose its possible they'd run, but I don't know. I haven't anyway to test them.

(nod-nods) Well, long as you enjoy 'em, that's the main thing. :D

They look cool. Mostly black and deep red accents. I have a CN caboose also. Be nice to have boxcars or something, but I haven't seen any more at the Sally Ann. I have about six pieces of track for them as well... from a friend. He has a lot of HO stuff, but it's just bought and stored. None of its ever been run so far as I know. He has no space.

I have a huge 1/32 slot car set up that I used to use as a kid. It still runs, but it's packed away in boxes too -- no space, no space.

Regarding trains, my wifes N gauge and my HO have been packed away almost thirty years now. Goddess know if they work. As soon as our daughter moves out (she's 22) we will set them up again.

About fandom, I walked away from that in the 80's when it went all wonky. I write for myself, I don't care if anyone else reads the trash I write. I do it for myself. It is the things I want to read that i write be they ultra Disney G rated or dark R slavery. I don't care what 'the fans' desire, no one is holding a blaster to their head making them read it. As such I do not allow my work to be entered in any contests. I have an FAI certificate in model rocketry, for a Space Nut like myself that is the pinnacle of achievement. I don't need others input as to wither I'm worthwhile or not because I know that I am in my own tiny universe, that my family likes me and I don't care what anyone else thinks about me.

Fandom has, I guess, widened too much, it probably started with Star Trek in the 60's. You have Fantasy and Science Fiction in what used to be only Science Fiction. Thus you have everything from My Little Pony and Destination Moon fighting each other for limited space. Now you have computer games entering the mix. I've never understood the fanatics obsession with weapons either, though I do understand their obsessions with adult art (hey, I'm still male.)

What to do? I honestly don't care as I have taken myself out of the loop. I guess though that you could at least split 'fandom' to Science Fiction on the left, Fantasy on the right and computer games in center field. That might be a start, but by allowing the Space Cadets in the door in the first place was a fatal mistake.

Regarding the tent and camel, the story goes that if you let the camel stick its nose into the tent during a sandstorm, eventually you would have the entire camel in the tent and no place for yourself. Therefore you must actively beat the camels nose to keep it out of the tent, or find yourself stuck out in the sandstorm.

In regards to your railroad group, the correct thing for them to do would be pack up and leave, restarting their own group and already having experienced the camel, actively keep out anyone not interested in THEIR core reason for being. They now have the camel in the tent and thus no place for themselves but the sandstorm.

For fandom? Well fan does mean FANATIC. Just because you have Riddicks primary weapon does not make you a Science Fiction Fan, it makes you a WEAPON'S Fan. If you really want 'the good old days' back (and yes, the good old days had their faults, but they were better than today. I experienced them so I well know) then you need to start your own fandom. Making hard and fast rules about it. "No anime only fans. No television only fans. No Movie only fans. No fantasy only fans.

Yes, I miss sitting in my living room chatting with other fans about this or that book and exploring possible new civilizations as brought out by Author X. I do not miss the big conventions where twenty 'Slave Leia's' sashay by me showing as much flesh as they can while pirates sell ripped-off wares in the convention room guarded by the Klingon Diplomatic Corps or the 501st Stormtroopers alliance and some teenager who hasn't bathed in a month warbles on about how the Enterprise can beat the ships in Honor Harrington's universe as if he has any idea of tactics or real weapons effects.

I am a life long member of North American Fur mainly because it is the last true Fanzine (or APA for you highbrows) that will have me. I like the idea of holding a printed magazine that has material from beginners to near professionals in it.

Best to you all, especially the ones who truly hate me (your fun)



Reese
who turns sixty on the 29th.

Hey, I understand the resistance to change, but I no longer see the fandom as a big tent as much as a village of smaller tents. I have friend in groups quite specific. If the fandom seems too big, narrow your focus. But it is about your focus not mine. Don't decide you are no longer a fan until you no longer enjoy the subject of your fandom.

I did not find the fandom, it found me. I see small groups come and go. Why so many groups? There are so many people. Sci-fi is no longer just an outcast pile of dream works. People of all stations of life, and as evidenced here, by many age groups. I rather think the younger fans rely on us, at least until they put their own ink on the paper...

Reese you old bugger... I am just a young guy...don't turn sixty until next June:) Like you I write for myself first. That said, I want to find readers, not for my sake but for my characters sake. They are alive to me and deserve more attention than I can give them. Do I fear rejection? Yes, but hell, not everyone likes me, so not everyone will like my characters. I do not write for the flash and the action. Plenty of that I hope but it is not my purpose. Perhaps if I wrote for others it would be my focus, but then I would fear loosing the depth of my tribe. I write about reality in my own sci fi world. To me nothing tops being able to know, understand, find excitement for and grieve for my characters. Just me of course. I expect may fandom would remain small, but there are those who understand that they exist somewhere. If no one reads my words...well then they vanish don't they.

The fandom is. We just have to know where we fit under the field of tents.

I asked Kat to write here, because he writes so much more eloquently than I. The fact is, there are a lot of folks out there who celebrate the fandom in the same way you do. I'm sure if you looked on google, you probably wouldn't have too hard a time finding them. Scenes and people don't change as much as you think, it's just that it's become a lot easier to pick and choose where and how to celebrate the things you love, and who with.

Don't be so quick to turn aside new blood and new facets of the fandom. There are a lot of good people out there who, while they might have a diverse selection of interests, may share a lot in common with you.You never know what new thing out there will cast a new light on the old and make it shine again.

I'm only 37, but I grew up a huge sci-fi fan. The classics are what got me into the genre. 'Have space suit, Will travel' was the first science fiction book I ever read, and i've been hooked ever since. I can honestly say that there are a lot of people my age and younger who either share my love for the same sorts of things that brought you to the fandom, or who would fall in love with it once shown.

What the fandom is to you only dies if you let it die inside you. Why not give folks a chance and share that love with others? I know i'd love to learn more about things, old AND new. Just make sure you don't miss out on some amazing things by walking away just when our ability to share our love for sci-fi is reaching levels we once only dreamed of.

I'm always open to new ideas. You won't find me turning up my nose at some great Tintin action figures or old bubblegum card sets I had as a kid or a new Star Trek series. (Though I thought poorly lf that last movie, I gotta tell ya.) But, there's a difference between going to a shopping mall and getting high on all the stuff you can buy to take home and play with, and a small party with your friends. Fandom as it has become is the shoppong mall. The small party is what it used to be. I can take the mall or leave it. But in building that mall on top of where we used to hold our parties, it's been taken away from us.

I fully expect to find what I want in fandom and use it. My objection was only that it was *my* tent... or rather, the tent was erected by the small group I belonged to, years before I belonged. And the camel has pushed us out. We don't set the rules for the Worldcon anymore, we don't chose the guests at other cons, we've begun to be pushed out of the Hugo awards by websites, and pro writers with their blogs. We just plain don't have that much influence on fandom anymore, and like I said... the guests who came along later, with different interests than ours, are who are turfing us out of our home.

I hate you. No... just kidding. But you always seem to expect that reaction. Big cons with divergent interests have their place. I was just writing somewhere else that I enjoy those too... if I have money to spend. I look at that sort of con as a shopping mall, that's all -- nothing to do with fandom. But I don't usually have the money just to shop for fun.

To some extent, SF, or fanzine fandom, *has* gone off to re-make itself. But since we're not organized, and rather opposed to the idea -- that's the camel's nose, so to speak -- our progress has been sort of intermittent. But, we have efanzines.com to post our fanzines now. We have a similar site can Fandom.org for fan history. There's one or two other things like that out there. And there are two annual conventions -- one called Corflu and one called Ditto -- that cater exclusively to the old crowd. They've been around since the 1980s. In fact, I was one of the founders of Ditto, the copy-cat. I'm not sure if it's been held ever year over the last decade, though.

One big problem with the old fandom is that it really is getting old. If you go to one of our newsites, like File770.com, you see somebody is sick, in the hospital, or dead almost every day. We are between 50 and 65 on average, with some members pushing 90! One reason Ditto has stopped being annual is that there aren't enough able and motivated bodies to run two fanzine fan cons any more. We also don't go to regular cons as much -- too many of us are on pensions, and have diminished incomes. But we can't pack 12 to a car and sleep on floors anymore, much less eat nothing but chips and pretzels scavenged from the con suite all weekend! We debated the "greying of fandom" for maybe 20 years, but never found much we could do about it. Now and then, someone is discovered who fits into the print-oriented world of fanzine fandom, and is encouaged for all he's worth. But most young fans have no interest in print. They want things to blink and jump around. They want to shoot stuff up and put in their own 2 cents worth (even though they know nobody will read it). They want their reading matter to scroll and windows to pop up to ask them if they want to buy enhancements for their sexual experience -- just click here! So, the old fandom just goes on getting greyer. And deader.

You're getting good comments on your article.

More than I expected, considering the piece was written to be read by and understood by SF/fanzine fans. After all... aren't furries some of those unwanted outsiders trying to get in *our* tent?

I happen to have been a Science Fiction fan since the late 50's. As a member of the Solar Guard, I just write in the Anthro universe. Just as I write in alien & human universes.

Maybe in YOUR mind you think we are. I was a sci fi fan LONG before I became a furry. I went to trek cons in the late 80's. I went to small parties and all that stuff, hanging out at peoples houses talking about this and that sci fi story.

We've offered you the alternatives. I'm gonna be totally honest now. Sour. Grapes. You sound whiny, and pissy about people not thinking you're the most awesome thing ever. You complain that you don't get to pick this or that..you know what? Bollocks to you. You can either spend the rest of your life living up to the stereotype of the grumpy old man shaking his fist at the clouds, or you can come hang out in the big tent with the rest of us, most of whom are too busy having too much fun sharing our love of sci fi and movies and books and stuff like that. So what if some of us cosplay. Don't knock it till you try it.

We welcomed you into our house and this is the thanks we get, and you wonder why we complain? Bollocks to you too, matey!

By the way, I'd been in fandom for almost 20 year by the time you were old enough to go to Trek cons without your mommy holding your hand.

I apologize, I shouldn't have been so rude.While there's no excuse for it, I have a problem with letting my emotions run away with me. Please don't be like that. I understand where you're coming from. All i'm saying is, open your heart to new people, new ways of looking at the fandom. I know it may seem like you're being pushed aside, but there are a lot of people (like me) who admire and would love to get to know the people who helped start the fandom.

Without the fandom, I wouldnt be with Kat. My mate Kurz and I never would have stayed together. We three woudlnt be as happy as we are without it, and we owe it to folks like you. There's a lot of awesome in the fandom, and you don't have to hang out in the big tent to enjoy it. You can venture into it, say hi to a few folks, and then go back to the small tent..and invite some company by.

Sure, there are negatives to how things have changed...but there are positives, as well. Just because you might not have an impact on a group of people doesn't mean that, by befriending people in the fandom-wether they're old fan or new fan-you can't have an impact on individuals. Sure, it might not be as fun as having a large impact, but the spiritual rewards can be incredible.

I guess all i'm saying is, please just give some of us a chance.

Apologies accepted -- I may be opinionated but I'm not trying to piss anyone off.

I wouldn't worry about my needing a more open mind about fandom. The article I wrote is on the verge of tripping over hidden assumptions and papering over generalizations with almost every word. Also, I'm also glossing over the fact that there's a place in the world for a carnaval, and that I even *like* carnavals. I can't afford them, but that's another matter.

Bukt, I'd rather not have a carnaval in my living room, or during a testimonial dinner I was giving. There's a time and a place for everything. The main thing is that the old fandom and the one that has taken over are two different institutions. The can co-exist, just as Trek fandom eventually created its own cons and fanzines, and no longer competes for our "space."

What I think is happening is the fulfillment of a predicton I made decades ago. The prediction was that the world would discover conventions were a good thing. At first, they'd want to crash ours. Eventually, they'd recongize that cons didn't have to have anything to do with science fiction -- which is about where we are now. In time, people may discover that cons don't have to be about *anything.* You can just have a con... about nothing. Call it "ConCon."

Sooo...a cancan at the concon? http://d.facdn.net/art/fjellreven/1306522959.half.fjellreven_fjellreven_final_subres.jpg