Brick & Mortar

[bbmiroku]

If by MRC you mean Railroad Model Craftsman, then no, they don't have anything much like a mail-order thing.

And Trainman, I'm 25, so I don't know if you consider that a young'un, but I do know what a Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope is... Even though I've never used one.

[Radioguy]

And Trainman, I'm 25, so I don't know if you consider that a young'un, but I do know what a Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope is... Even though I've never used one.

Ah, but do you know what an IRC is? That's the line in the sand.

[Trainman203]

I didn't comment on MRC, someone else did.  IRC, don't think I ever heard of that other than a building code I worked with once.

No challenge intended at all.  It's been so long since I saw any reference to an SASE, or an SAE, I thought it incredible that someone still asks for it.  That goes back to the days of postal zones and pre area-code alphabetic telephone exchanges. And .... the RPO!  Now THERES one EVERYONE ought to know!

[bbmiroku]

Railroad Post Office (Car)
The B&O Museum has an old RPO car with a little movie playing in it about the guys who did it.
No idea what an IRC is... Wait... Internet Relay Chat!  Daggum it's been forever since I've heard that one.

The MRC/RMC was for RAM.

[Trainman203]

I'm still wondering if anyone ever has been to Hawkins Rail.  Sounds like my kind of place.

[Radioguy]

No idea what an IRC is... Wait... Internet Relay Chat!  Daggum it's been forever since I've heard that one.

Admit it. You Googled that.

No, although I have used that chat software in the past, in the context of self-addressed envelopes, I had meant this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_reply_coupon

They used to look like this when I last used them, but looked like these when last available.

The point of them being, that, sometimes, to get catalogs from sellers overseas (for Hornby, Marklin, etc) you had to include these with an SAE to get them, as an SASE wouldn't work without using their stamps. This accomplished that.

[bbmiroku]

I plead the Fifth.
I've used them before, things like Mibbit or Discord, but just called them 'chat rooms'.

But I've never seen or heard of IRCoupons.

[Trainman203]

Is IRC the same thing as IM? (remember that?). Back when there was MS DOS?

One time it took a long time to get my lunch at a place where I knew the waiter, who could laugh.  I told him "if I don't get my BLT ASAP it's gonna be a BFD!" 😮😱😜😂😂😂😂😂

[Radioguy]

I've used them before, things like Mibbit or Discord, but just called them 'chat rooms'.

IRC still exists. It inspired/evolved/forked into something called Direct Connect (DC) as well. Both types of networks allow files to be shared if you use a client app instead of embedded pages in web browsers (like mibbit).

[bbmiroku]

Well, this topic has gone on an informative little siding.

[Trainman203]

Thats why we love this forum. 

Back to it..... anyone else ever see the pre-digital age ads for that Indiana LHS and wonder how they keep going?  Specializing in trains only.  With no internet presence.  Both totally counter intuitive to today's world.

[jward]

Though I have 3 shops within about 5 miles. two seem to cater mostly to older train set type stuff. The third puts emphasis on N scale.

The best shop in Pittsburgh, A B Charles, went downhill fast when Bud Charles died about ten years ago,. The son had no interest in trains, concentrating on other things. After a couple of moves under his ownership it is now gone completely.

The nearest shop that has a wide selection of HO is over 25 miles away, in Cranberry.

For me, a shop that just sells locomotives, cars, track and building kits is useless. I need a supply of parts for my various projects. Rail and spikes for handlaid track. Wheelsets and gears for rebuilding locomotives. What I've found is that this stuff is available, but most hobby shops won't special order it. Or if they do, somehow they never actually get it. When I find a shop that actually will stock or special order what I need, most if not all of my business goes there.

[Trainman203]

Read between the lines Jeffery.  Craft style model railroading is on life support and nearly gone.  The days of going across town and having a wide supply of scratchbuiling supplies are gone.  The railroad has long stopped being an important presence in daily lives and interest in models has accordingly diminished.  Toy trains persist to a degree in the public's mind, to wit the dozens of tinplate like loop running "Model railroad museums"  that are crammed with little scenes and cute vignettes rather than being a serious realistic depiction of railroading.  We have one nearby. I never go. 

[Trainman203]

There's an LHS in Baton Rouge I sometimes go to while there on business.  They are typical, dominated by RC with a minuscule yet evermore shrinking train area. Occasionally they get a few things from estates, often artifacts from another time.  I got 4 wood craftsman kits that are basically a boxful of unfinished sticks that you still need to stain, drill, and trim before assembly .  Two cranes are by Alexander Scsle models who may still be in business.  A country store is by long gone Dyna Models and a transformer platform between two poles is by another ghost from the past, K&L House of Wood.  It may take the rest of my life to finish these but they will look great.

[bbmiroku]

And if it does take the rest of your life, your eyesight may be gone enough that it will look great anyway.