A Data Point For How The Hobby Has Changed

For over 20 years I was a regular customer at Troxel Brothers Models, one of the old established train stores in Los Angeles, until it finally closed in the 1990s. It was a very old school place. One of its features was a box of 8x10 glossies on the counteer. I can't remember what they sold for; I have the impresion that Ed picked them up from people who were closing out their collections, so they were reasonably priced. Going through my own collection, it looks like I picked up hundreds there over that 20-plus year period. They were from the usual well-known names like Otto Perry, RH Kindig, HK Vollrath, and many others.

I kept them in looseleaf binders cast off from varioius employers, in cellophane separators, which have been deteriorating for decades. I finally decided to bite the bullet and scan them. This had three results:

• Since I use Carbonite to back up my desktop, the scans are now backed up. Nobody could do this with a collection of 8x10s in binders.
• With the photos scanned, I can do things like post them on Facebook or on my blog, something nobody can do with ordinary 8x10s.
• The scans are easier to see than the original 8x10s and much easier to file and locate (assuming my naming and filing system is effective).

And considering how many photos are now available from photo sites on the web, via Facebook, or other social media, I don't know if many people even collect 8x10s any more. I certainly haven't, for at least 20 years. There are now simply better ways to get prototype info.

But a new featrure has also emerged. If I post a photo on a Facebook group, knowledgeable people can comment and add information I'd never have if I'd never published the photo. An example is this photo I found at Troxel sometime in the 1970s from an unknown photographer:

Remarks writrten in pencil on the back say it depicts D&RGW 498 on the ground on the Farmington branch in 1966. I posted it in the Rio Grande Modeling and Historical Society Facebook group. A commenter added this photo of the same train, taken by AM Payne on the same date:

The commenter, Guy Fontaine, added:

D&RGW #498 derailed on January 8, 1966 enroute to Farmington. Jim Mayer of Durango, CO. was on train crew. Accident occurred on Farmington Branch 2.3 miles north of Posta, CO. The train had left Alamosa on 12/29/1965. D&RGW Posta MP455, CO Taken by Payne, Andy M. - 1/8/1966

If I hadn't scanned this and posted it on social media, I wouldn't have had a much more complete vignette of the narrow gauge's final decline.

An interesting point is that the standards of decorum and emotional maturity in Facebook railfan and modeling groups is surprisingly much higher than it was on old forums and Yahoo groups. Thus we can have situations like this where people can benefit each other by exchanging worthwhile information without petty jealousies and one-upmanship.