abcraghead
Mmmm, turbos
In the latest installment of "as the railroad turns...."
The move which prevented the construction of the Tualatin Electric, (version 5.7,) looks as if it will prevent me from a layout of any kind. My new place is an apartment with very limited space and equally limited ability to attach things to walls and etc.... Additionally I do not anticipate that I will have time or money to invest in a serious layout, even a portable, module based variety. I foresaw myself putting away my nice, weighted, weathered cars into storage, boxing it all up, and calling it good with a heavy heart.
As the years had passed, my tastes and desires had changed a great deal. Originally, like most modelers, I just wanted to mess around with trains, and this developed into a lust for big layouts with long runs of through freights and otehr glamorous things which one with limited space finds only frustration with. Switching? ZzZzZzZz! Then I began to play with the ultimate scale -- 1:1 scale -- and the world changed.
As I put away my layout plans in a sad reverie, I remembered what I truly enjoyed about model operations -- switching. No, not switching puzzles and timesavers and track that takes six hours and two aspirin to figure out how to navigate. Switching that requires sorting cars into blocks, delivering cuts, spotting cars, pulling spurs, dealing with paperwork like switch lists and car numbers. Especially switching with a two man crew -- anyone else could be the hogger, I'd rather play conductor and give the orders. Note that I'm so insane about this, I've considered using pen-lights as stand-in's for lanterns, so as to signal the "engineer" manning the throtle. (I've done this with full size lanterns in a darkened club layout room, but... umm... you have to be careful where you swing those things!)
And this brought me to a relization: I could have my cake and eat it too. Can't afford a layout? I could afford at least some track. Don't have space for something permanent? I could go temporary, with something that could easily be stored when not in use. Don't have a clue as to a "permanent" prototype? How about something that would be the ultimate in modular?
Yes....
Make fun of me if you will.
I've just turned in my layout plans for a bunch of Bachmann EZ track.
And I don't care if anyone thinks that's childish.
The move which prevented the construction of the Tualatin Electric, (version 5.7,) looks as if it will prevent me from a layout of any kind. My new place is an apartment with very limited space and equally limited ability to attach things to walls and etc.... Additionally I do not anticipate that I will have time or money to invest in a serious layout, even a portable, module based variety. I foresaw myself putting away my nice, weighted, weathered cars into storage, boxing it all up, and calling it good with a heavy heart.
As the years had passed, my tastes and desires had changed a great deal. Originally, like most modelers, I just wanted to mess around with trains, and this developed into a lust for big layouts with long runs of through freights and otehr glamorous things which one with limited space finds only frustration with. Switching? ZzZzZzZz! Then I began to play with the ultimate scale -- 1:1 scale -- and the world changed.
As I put away my layout plans in a sad reverie, I remembered what I truly enjoyed about model operations -- switching. No, not switching puzzles and timesavers and track that takes six hours and two aspirin to figure out how to navigate. Switching that requires sorting cars into blocks, delivering cuts, spotting cars, pulling spurs, dealing with paperwork like switch lists and car numbers. Especially switching with a two man crew -- anyone else could be the hogger, I'd rather play conductor and give the orders. Note that I'm so insane about this, I've considered using pen-lights as stand-in's for lanterns, so as to signal the "engineer" manning the throtle. (I've done this with full size lanterns in a darkened club layout room, but... umm... you have to be careful where you swing those things!)
And this brought me to a relization: I could have my cake and eat it too. Can't afford a layout? I could afford at least some track. Don't have space for something permanent? I could go temporary, with something that could easily be stored when not in use. Don't have a clue as to a "permanent" prototype? How about something that would be the ultimate in modular?
Yes....
Make fun of me if you will.
I've just turned in my layout plans for a bunch of Bachmann EZ track.
And I don't care if anyone thinks that's childish.
) There were many test tracks though, the best one was 16ft X 3" hinged in the middle for storage, just clip a power pack on the rails and that was it, after all trains were meant to be run
