# Who is Alastair Lee



## Bkubiak

I keep getting ads from him staying that if I buy his book I can make the greatest layout ever and learn from the all experts in the business of model trains. Is this real, is this book real, why does is keep popping up in my in box?


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## CTValleyRR

Last answer first: it keeps showing up in your inbox because you have tracking cookies which report that you have visited model railroad sites or searched for model railroad related items.

He is just another self-appointed guru of the internet age who can collect items and can write excellent self-promoting copy.

If you send him money, you most likely WILL get something in return; whether it's worth what you pay is a matter of opinion. MY opinion? Anyone touting something this heavily is over-promoting a mediocre product. It is preposterous for one person to think he could collect all possible wisdom on a subject as broad as model railroading, especially when there are so many different approaches to the hobby.

My advice? Consign Mr. Lee and his e-mail to the SPAM folder (then you won't see it any more).


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## Bkubiak

I have unsubscribed from his forum several times only to suddenly a week or two later start getting several things a day from him touting someones layout, or offering last chance freebies or promoting his book or selling cut out and glue together buildings etc.

I am wondering if anyone here has actually purchased his book?


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## Lee Willis

He has a .pdf available on Amazon for download to the Kindle for $5 called "Model-railroad-track-plan-tips." It is just text - no pictures I from what I can see, and rather un-organized, but supposedly full of tips he collected from friends. These tips appear to fairly generic stuff from the "look inside" Amazon lets you take, which I looked at. One tip is to follow your wife, Mom, etc., into a fabric store because you'll find lots of interesting stuff you can use on your layout in there. Hmmmm. Personally, I think the money is better spent on a copy of classic Toy Trains, but it's your money.

I don't think much of him as a layout guru judging from that one book. However, self-appointed gurus can be pretty good, (I hope). No one appointed me a guru of Superstreets and EZ-Street - I just played and learned and wrote two books on it when I thought I had learned a lot I could share with other model railroaders. The books get generally good reviews. 

(And yes, you can buy them on Amazon).


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## CTValleyRR

Bkubiak said:


> I have unsubscribed from his forum several times only to suddenly a week or two later start getting several things a day from him touting someones layout, or offering last chance freebies or promoting his book or selling cut out and glue together buildings etc.
> 
> I am wondering if anyone here has actually purchased his book?


"Unsubscribe" is a rookie mistake. It might as well say "Advise the sender that this is a valid e-mail address." Every time he refreshes the mailing list, you end up back on it. Mark it as Spam instead; then you won't get any more.

This topic came up last winter some time. I believe there are a few members who have it.


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## CTValleyRR

Lee Willis said:


> He has a .pdf available on Amazon for download to the Kindle for $5 called "Model-railroad-track-plan-tips." It is just text - no pictures I from what I can see, and rather un-organized, but supposedly full of tips he collected from friends. These tips appear to fairly generic stuff from the "look inside" Amazon lets you take, which I looked at. One tip is to follow your wife, Mom, etc., into a fabric store because you'll find lots of interesting stuff you can use on your layout in there. Hmmmm. Personally, I think the money is better spent on a copy of classic Toy Trains, but it's your money.
> 
> I don't think much of him as a layout guru judging from that one book. However, self-appointed gurus can be pretty good, (I hope). No one appointed me a guru of Superstreets and EZ-Street - I just played and learned and wrote two books on it when I thought I had learned a lot I could share with other model railroaders. The books get generally good reviews.
> 
> (And yes, you can buy them on Amazon).


Yes. but you actually published them. A publisher is someone who will look at a manuscript and pay you for it, or tell you it's crap and want nothing more to do with it. Honest publishers don't hawk their products via unsolicited e-mail. That means someone has evaluated your "guruness" and not found it completely wanting.

When other people tell you how great your product is, you know you're on to something. When you have to tell other people who great it is, you might be delusional.


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## Old_Hobo

CTValleyRR said:


> It is preposterous for one person to think he could collect all possible wisdom on a subject


I don't know.....you seem to do a good job at it.....:laugh:


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## flyboy2610

People who think they know everything are really annoying to those of us that actually do.


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## Bkubiak

Old_Hobo said:


> I don't know.....you seem to do a good job at it.....:laugh:


ouch====burn


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## Bkubiak

CTValleyRR said:


> "Unsubscribe" is a rookie mistake. It might as well say "Advise the sender that this is a valid e-mail address." Every time he refreshes the mailing list, you end up back on it. Mark it as Spam instead; then you won't get any more.
> 
> This topic came up last winter some time. I believe there are a few members who have it.


Spam and Junk Mail = the same thing, is that correct?


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## CTValleyRR

Old_Hobo said:


> I don't know.....you seem to do a good job at it.....:laugh:


Because I'm AWESOME!!!! :laugh::laugh:

Seriously, I make no pretense about my level of knowledge: Painting, structure building and kitbashing, benchwork construction, scenery construction, layout design, track work, operations and product availability (in HO), I have very detailed knowledge.

Wiring, DCC, and car maintenance: basic knowledge. The ability to do simple repairs on locomotives, likewise.

Complicated wiring, complex DCC operations, detailed locomotive repair, and scales other than HO: hopeless.


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## CTValleyRR

Bkubiak said:


> Spam and Junk Mail = the same thing, is that correct?


Yessir.


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## Old_Hobo

Bkubiak said:


> Spam and Junk Mail = the same thing, is that correct?


Apparently not....I Googled (you should try it ) and found this....

(You're slipping CTValley!) :laugh:

http://science.opposingviews.com/difference-between-spam-junk-mail-2138.html


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## CTValleyRR

Bkubiak said:


> ouch====burn


Meh. That was an easy cheap shot. My 12 year old can do better.


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## CTValleyRR

Old_Hobo said:


> Apparently not....I Googled (you should try it ) and found this....
> 
> http://science.opposingviews.com/difference-between-spam-junk-mail-2138.html


Well, whoda thunk it? Personally, I think there are a lot of very finely split hairs lying around there.


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## Old_Hobo

But professor, you make it so easy.....:laugh:


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## Old_Hobo

CTValleyRR said:


> Well, whoda thunk it? Personally, I think there are a lot of very finely split hairs lying around there.


Then try this one....

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/difference-between-spam-junk-mail-71313.html


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## CTValleyRR

How about this: My personal e-mail has a Junk Mail folder but no spam; my work e-mail has spam but no junk (although by one definition, just about everything I receive at work is spam  !).

Even the ISP's and the IT dept are against me!


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## Bkubiak

Are you guys having a spat???? or as the Warden on Cool Hand Luke said
"What we have here, is a failure to communicate"


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## Old_Hobo

Oh there's no failure here.....I think our communications are quite obvious....


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## Bkubiak

Yea, I have noticed some friction is apparent.


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## Old_Hobo

The entire world runs on friction....every time you move, drive, walk, etc, there is friction......

Can't get away from it, so might as well enjoy it!


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## Norgale300$$

flyboy2610 said:


> People who think they know everything are really annoying to those of us that actually do.


Tell us about it.


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## Old_Hobo

Why are you digging up something that was finished 7 years ago…..?


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## Norgale300$$

I get emails from Al all the time and do enjoy looking at pics of other layouts to get ideas for mine. I have purchased the "beginners guide" and it does have a lot of info in it but mostly for guys that are new to the hobby. Also I have several of his printed out buildings and some containers to build but they are a bit pricy so I wait till he has a sale. I also got rock wall and brick wall sheets from him and can print them out, as many as I want or have ink for, to use on my layout. They work well I think. Meantime I was looking for Al's website as i didn't have his url and ended up here at this thread. I am a recent cutomer for Al but i see that he goes back several years from this thread. Didn't mean to dig up anything. Just didn't notice the date on here. Sorry. Pete


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## Old_Hobo

No need to be sorry….you make sense now….


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## Norgale300$$

Why was Al a subject of this curiosity seven years ago? Now I'm interested in what may have happened to bring up an apparent distrust of the man? I too have questioned his modus operandi but there seems to be a good following on his web site and I don't see any complaints on it either. I find his products pricey but interesting and his willingness to show other peoples work is nice too. So far I have found no problems with him and I have always gotten what I ordered promptly. I have several sheets of brick wall, stone wall and buildings that I haven't built yet and all look great as long as my printer didn't run out of ink. These prints do use a lot of expensive ink on full page prints and that boosts the cost up fast but when you look at the prices of new kits these days it's really not so bad.
So now I have a question for you. If this subject was "put to bed" seven years ago why is it still here to be seen? The gist of this thread seems to be rather hostile so I'm curious. Pete


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## Old_Hobo

All threads are still here to be seen, no matter how long ago they started….no one sees those unless some member goes back and digs them up, as we have seen in this thread….

And when I said this thread was “finished” 7 years ago, I was referring to the conversation that had originally taken place…..theoretically, all threads are never really finished, but when there is no activity for years, well, you get the idea….


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## prrfan

Lee Willis said:


> These tips appear to fairly generic stuff from the "look inside" Amazon lets you take, which I looked at. One tip is to follow your wife, Mom, etc., into a fabric store because you'll find lots of interesting stuff you can use on your layout in there. Hmmmm.


Now see… that right there is worth 5 bucks!
How come none of us on here thought of that? We gotta shape up! 😆
Thanks, Lee. That was funny.
Edit: Old thread that I missed originally. Still funny.


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## Patrick1544

If you use Gmail, you can create a specific filter for his emails and if they come in, they will be flagged and deleted , if you choose that action.


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## OilValleyRy

I never heard of that person. But it has me thinking maybe I should change the name on my account to John Galt and start emailing random people that I don’t know.


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## Lee Willis

First, I agree with Old Hobo here: threads never die. Many are "resurrected" after a few years when a topic or question comes up again. 

Second, as to Alistair Lee, I bear him no ill will, but Lee Willis is not a big fan because of the aforementioned business model or practice he has, but I don't criticise him for that (there being a wide gulf between not being a fan and being critical of someone). As I said a few years ago, most of his tips seem to me to be rather self-evident, with many in that old "intuitively obvious to the most casual observer" category. Mainly though, he has the opposite pricing policy to me which is just what I don't like. Clearly he is trying to make money off the hobby. By contrast, whether model railroaders find my books on model railroading (that I sell via Amazon) helpful or not, I price them as low as Amazon will let me, in order to help out fellow model train enthusiasts. For example, the book in the link below is priced at 14 cents over the cost Amazon' charges me to kept the book for sale, print and bind and ship it when ordered, etc). That is the minuimum I can get Amazons' author software, which lets me price my books as I want, to accept. 
My other model railroading books are written and priced similarly. I also posed downloadable _free_ .pdfs of all of them on this forum (i threads that gets resurrected from time to time), so that anyone can get a free copy - not with photos reproduced as well as Amazon prints themunless you own a really high-end printer, but good enough to get the gist of the material . . . for free . . . It's just a different philosophy than Alistair Lee but one I think is a valid topic to discuss. 



Amazon.com


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## Norgale300$$

There's no doubt that Al is wanting to make a pofit off of the things he sells but what's wrong with that? If you can't make a profit what's the point in being in business? However $9 for a printout of a small building is a bit much when all you need to do is send an email to the buyer. The big thing is maintaining a collection site to get the money. That does cost money right off the top so Al has some overhead to consider. One thing though is when you buy something you usually will get several other items along with it for "free." At least that takes some of the sting away. The real cost to the buyer is the printer, paper and ink and these printouts can use a lot of ink. You also have that item to reuse at any time you wish. I haven't tried to make any of these cardboard buildings yet but I do intend to. Looks interesting to me. Pete


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