New Poll on Trainboard

There is a poll on Trainboard-- Do you model in Z--- Hit "WHAT SCALE" to vote. Even if you are not a regular on Trainboard it would be interesting to see how many of us vote--right now we are in third place at 18%. Not bad for Z as we are beating all the rest except HO and N. Time to make our voices heard.
Fred

Here is the link to the poll:

www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?t=118945

Rob

I'm still trying to comprehend the purpose of this poll. As far as I can tell, the only thing it will measure is which scales are modeled by those members who a) know about the poll and b) bother to respond, which will be a tiny fraction of the total TrainBoard membership, and not proportional in any way to the actual popularity of the various scales (the most reliable information we have, based on product sales, indicates HO beats N scale by a wide margin, and Z barely registers). Of what value is this information? It would seem the results will only be meaningful to the pollsters and the participants, and even then, what will they make of it? How will they use it--if at all?

Or am I missing something really obvious here? (Which would not be the first time, by any means.)

David, You are not missing a thing. At first it was simply how many are in which scale. I first stated there that this was an impossible task at best. Subsequently my prediction ran true and it is a waste of time. Maybe because of the US Census someone got the urge to try it there. Cheers, Jim CCRR:)

David and Jim-- Points accepted--But I think it is good to have Z representation wherever possible. Example- At the National Train Show in California, there was a small group of Zers, But because of thier talents and injunity.. they had a clean sweep of prizes. I went to Ft Lauderdale and Cincinatti where Z again was impressive. I'm sure many hobbiest were impressed by the possibilities of Z and may try it as a second and maybe later- Primary- scale.
I have always questioned how they judge between the popularity of each scale. Is it the number of people in the scale? You can get a starter HO or N set for under $40. Use it once a year and that counts. Or is it the revenue that is represented. One Z car can cost more that $100 (FR) I've seen N scale 2 cars for $5 - Imagine how many starter sets could be had for a Challenger.
At least by participating we are getting Z out there.
Fred

I've come up with my own method of determining the distribution of modelers by scale: eBay. Based on the number of items offered in each of the major scales—which ought to provide at least a rough measure of their relative popularity—some of the results may be surprising. In particular, O scale seems a bit high, but that's likely the toy collectors skewing the results, so the numbers are probably not all that reliable. But hey, my method is no less scientific than that of most others, and possibly a bit more. At least HO—declared the most popular by most sources—still comes out on top.

Admitted up front-- the poll is NOT scientific-- But it shows trainboard that Z has some enthusiastic members and maybe the other biggg scales will check us out. Once the Z
bugs bites - "never go back".