Walthers HO Prairie Co-op kit


PrairieKnight

Active Member
First of all, many thanks to the members of this forum for all of your help and advice. From an old guy getting back into the hobby and learning about DCC.... this place is the greatest. And I am sure I speak for many newer members when I say how much the experience and expertise found here is invaluableand greatly appreciated. Now, if you guys could just come up with a way for me to tell me wife..."Hey honey, look what we bought" before the mailman leaves an order on the front porch, I would be eternally grateful. Forgive me..I digress..

I just ordered the Walthers HO Prairie Co-op kit for my 4 X 8 layout which is based on the Virginian track plan from MRR magazine a couple years ago. This would be the smaller Walthers kit with four silos and a separate smaller shed. I have stock yards planned and purchased for the layout as well. I am wondering if there is anyone that has used this particular structure on their layout and what track/structure placement you used for the siding that serves the co-op.

One thing I am ceertain of....I want to keep the stock yards down wind from the co-op:D
 
Now, if you guys could just come up with a way for me to tell me wife..."Hey honey, look what we bought" before the mailman leaves an order on the front porch, I would be eternally grateful. Forgive me..I digress..

She married you for richer for poorer, better or worse, in sickness or in health (MRR'ing is a known, verifiable sickness, just ask anyone on here), didn't she??
 
Buying stuff (trouble free) is simple - when you order it, use your wife's name for the delivery - when it arrives make sure your there and ask her what she bought now, then run like hell! :)

Welcome back to the hobby and to the forums, good to see new members with a sense of humor.
 
She married you for richer for poorer, better or worse, in sickness or in health (MRR'ing is a known, verifiable sickness, just ask anyone on here), didn't she??

Toot.. you are correct.. it seems I do remember the reverend saying those words. Truth be told, the reverend was my second choice to perform the ceremony. My first idea was to stop the NS freight as it came through our small SW Michigan town and ask the engineer if we could board the engine and he could marry us. I figured that if a captain on a ship could marry us on his boat, why couldn't the engineer on a train. The look on her face when I voiced the idea told me not to even bother to check if the idea would be legal.
 
Toot.. you are correct.. it seems I do remember the reverend saying those words. Truth be told, the reverend was my second choice to perform the ceremony. My first idea was to stop the NS freight as it came through our small SW Michigan town and ask the engineer if we could board the engine and he could marry us. I figured that if a captain on a ship could marry us on his boat, why couldn't the engineer on a train. The look on her face when I voiced the idea told me not to even bother to check if the idea would be legal.

She hasn't got a leg to stand on then, you can plead prior knowledge of your affliction :rolleyes:
 
tape up empty boxes and take them out to your car in the morning. if she asks tell you that you have to drop them of at the post office because you are "trading" stuff with other people. even though i do not like to lie about it i kind of have two thoughts. one is that it is my money, we keep our finances separate. two is that its my hobby, and as long as things that need to be taken care of around the house are, i should not have to hide purchases.
 
There,ya! lots of helpful advice on how to avoid domestic discord, none of which will do you a darn bit of good of course. How's the co-op kit coming along?
 
Oh these guys are going to get you in hot water! LOL
Now here's what you need to do... when she goes shoe shopping ask her for the boxes to store your goodies.
She can't say you're buying too much if they're in those boxes now can she?
Trust me it works!
Using a friend's address works well too!
 
I just ordered the Walthers HO Prairie Co-op kit .... This would be the smaller Walthers kit with four silos and a separate smaller shed. I have stock yards planned and purchased for the layout as well. I am wondering if there is anyone that has used this particular structure on their layout and what track/structure placement you used for the siding that serves the co-op.
Most COOPs like this (95% of what I've seen in Kansas/Oklahoma/Nebraska/Texas) are on a double ended siding right off the main track. The railroad drops off the empty cars on the siding and the COOP uses a farm tractor or small caterpillar to pull the cars through the loading shed.

Mills on the other hand often had stub end sidings as they usually had more than 1 track. The big mill in Great Bend Kansas had three stub ended sidings located between the storage silos and the milling building proper. I really want to model that some day.
https://goo.gl/maps/MxUu0

A trackside stock loading pen (not a stock yard) is also located similarly, often on the same siding. In fact that is how a single double ended siding can be a challenging switching operation. Multiple "industries" along the same double ended siding where a local has to fish cars out from between existing spotted cars making certain to return the spotted cars back to their original positions.
 
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Toot.. you would not believe what happened. I received the wrong order from Micro Mark. I am going to post a new thread in general discussion on what happened here...stay tuned.
 
Iron,

I appreciate the information in your reply. The link to the Kansas facility looks like it would be a neat prototype to model.
 
Ironhorse: How did you shortcut that link? I have not had a played with Google maps enough to be able to attach links like that.
I actually just figured it out when I posted that. In the street view, there is a little gear icon on the bottom right. Choosing it opens a menu with a few items in it one of which is "share link". That opens to a pop up with the URL and a reference for a "short link". I used the short link in the message above. Here is the long link for your location.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/7...2!3m1!1s0x87bae3b5540ed3fb:0xfd3405eb1fb4e686

I used to love driving (well riding) along those back streets along the railroad tracks in Wichita before they put in I-135. I believe this is former AT&SF. Two blocks to the east is the Rock Island, and two to the west was the Mopac. The Frisco didn't get this far south. I think they terminated about 25th street.

Wish I would have had a camera, known how to use it, and money for film back then!
 
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