Since this thread is about the 2018 Fooler, I'm going to lock it... if you want to talk about the 2019 one, start a new thread please.
--Steven Otte, Model Railroader senior associate editorsotte@kalmbach.com
Steven Otte As the one who wrote it... thanks!
As the one who wrote it... thanks!
I just got back from vacation and had not looked at my new issue yet, and have been avoiding this forum topic in case someone spoiled it (alas a couple of people have...their "clues" are too obvious. The art of Subtlety is lost on many folks...)
Good job, Steven. The best ones are the ones like these which lead me on--totally unsuspecting--until I discover I've been "had!" Laughter is the best medicine!
Bubbytrains
Thanks Steven aka Mr. G?
The only cost effective way to gold plate track would be have your own gold mine! unless of course your Auric Goldfinger and live in Fort Knox!
Steve
If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough!
Try ask MR and the news & reviews section in the APRIL issue good luck hope I didn't make it too easy.
The APRIL Fool's joke is in the APRIL issue.
What page of the March Issue is the joke on?
I'll look for it.
Thank you for the concern.
.
None of the brass locomotives are stored in their original boxes/foam.
I had BATTLEFOAM of Arizona customs cut foam for each of the locomotives to store them standing up in plastic shoe boxes. They are also always wrapped in protective plastic sheeting from BRASSTRAINS dot com.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
SeeYou190I am sure I would hear about the brass locomotioves that rarely leave their boxes.
How often do you check up on the condition of the foam? I have seen results of foam decay, and they are horrifying..looks like a chia pet.
Steven OtteThe 1978 fooler was the "Lunar railroad you can model" on page 87.
I was ten when that one came out. I remember it well because I thought it was a great idea and became something I wanted to do. I was so disappointed when I found out it was a gag.
I just had time to read my April issue yesterday, and I must say that was a great one.
Frankly, I would love to put some of my wife's unused jewelry to good use, but I will never mention it. I am sure I would hear about the brass locomotioves that rarely leave their boxes.
Brunton When it showed up in the mail a couple days ago, I thought the length of the issue was the April Fools joke. Pretty thin! If it loses a few more pages it will be thinner than the Walthers flyer.
When it showed up in the mail a couple days ago, I thought the length of the issue was the April Fools joke. Pretty thin! If it loses a few more pages it will be thinner than the Walthers flyer.
I'll give you Synder's, but much prefer one of the many local ones - they don't call Reading "Pretzel City" for nothing. Uncle Henry's, or Tom Sturgis - THOSE are pretzels!
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Isn't that 'Rold Gold'?
I'm an unregenerate Mr. Salty (and Snyder's of Hanover Bavarian) fan myself.
Note when I say 'roll out very thin' it's in the range of plating used on electronic contacts designed to be made and broken multiple times. And just on the contact patch of the railheads and perhaps on those zinc treads. I would not put it past a Bachmann that puts 3-pole nonskew motors in premium engines while doing a Snidely Whiplash impression to raise their price to match the spot market while quietly pocketing the difference. But an effective anticorrosion layer for even a large layout might involve micrograms, and some of the YouTube videos on refining gold from electronic scrap might produce that from 'sources on hand'...
Overmodgold would roll out very thin
I thought that Rolled Gold was a pretzel.
And in other news, Bachmann announced today that there would be a flex track price increase. Bachmann said that the current MSRP for a 25 piece case of track would increase from $199 to $950.72. A spokesperson said that this was due to a new manufacturing process whereby a thin coating of gold was applied to the track to help keep the track clean.
I agree..I'll give it a thumb through before I buy it.
The January and March issues was great. I was hoping for more issues like those two.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
LensCapOn Maybe Nickle Plating would work better....
Maybe Nickle Plating would work better....
Good point! and there's a prototype for that too!!
Jim
Hello all,
"Brilliant!!!"
Hope this helps.
"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"
I didn't think of "Muddle of the Munth" (note sp.) as a gag; I thought it was poking a little fun, like awarding the enormous Dremel tool to the guys who kitbashed "D&H 302". I kinda looked forward to seeing more examples ... a bit like I delight in the Ig Nobel Prizes every year.
I'd think gold would roll out very thin (on properly-prepared base stock rail) and resist wearing a relatively long time; I have to confess that I actually thought about doing gold-plating on polished railheads using the sort of wet-electrolyte-and-metal-brush technique used for jewelry fabrication, followed by pressure burnishing. This puts a very small mass of whatever karat composition gives the best mix of wear v. Electrical conductivity 'where it matters' and while it doesn't have quite the grandeur of Mr. Otte's proposal I thought then, and still do, that it might be a useful approach where contaminants pose an ongoing operations issue.
NWP SWP I don't think gold would be a viable option but what about other non corrosion susceptible conductive metals?
I don't think gold would be a viable option but what about other non corrosion susceptible conductive metals?
And I'm guessing they still haven't had a story about G&W buying the G&D.
steemtrayn Heartland Division CB&Q My April issue arrived yesterday. Clever joke this time. I'm glad MR has a sense of humor. Does anyone recall when was the first time MR did and April Fool joke, and what was the joke? .... What are some of the more memorable April Fool jokes ? Earliest one I recall was April '70, page 65.
Heartland Division CB&Q My April issue arrived yesterday. Clever joke this time. I'm glad MR has a sense of humor. Does anyone recall when was the first time MR did and April Fool joke, and what was the joke? .... What are some of the more memorable April Fool jokes ?
My April issue arrived yesterday. Clever joke this time. I'm glad MR has a sense of humor.
Does anyone recall when was the first time MR did and April Fool joke, and what was the joke? .... What are some of the more memorable April Fool jokes ?
Earliest one I recall was April '70, page 65.
Russ Larson wrote an editorial on the topic in the April 1978 issue. In it, he said the first was the classic "pressurized basement" article in April 1952. Others he cites include the "Muddle of the Month" in April 1970 and the Undecorated RR in April 1977. The 1978 fooler was the "Lunar railroad you can model" on page 87.
Dave
Just be glad you don't have to press "2" for English.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ_ALEdDUB8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hqFS1GZL4s
http://s73.photobucket.com/user/steemtrayn/media/MovingcoalontheDCM.mp4.html?sort=3&o=27
I definitely did not mean gold but would a metal any metal that doesn't corrode and is conductive could you plate track with that and would it help track cleanliness? I definitely don't think using gold would be worth the benefits...
NWP SWPThe big elephant in the room question is would it actually work??? I mean plating your track with a conductive noncorroding metal might have its benefits, might be worth looking into!!!
I mean plating your track with a conductive noncorroding metal might have its benefits, might be worth looking into!!!
Just to put this into prospctive, the price of 18 karet gold today, Tuesday 3-6, was $1331.40 per oz. Anyone want to give it a go at that price??
Also , gold is very soft, so what to do when / if it wears away after some use?
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
These ones stick out the most to me:
the review of the Kalmbach publishing 1:1 boxcar
The Hamster cleaning subway tracks
The Shoveling setup for steam locomotives, where there was a crew of two, and the second had to shovel "virtual coal" for the loco to move.
There were several more good ones, but I need to go through the april issues.
(My Model Railroad, My Rules)
These are the opinions of an under 35 , from the east end of, and modeling, the same section of the Wheeling and Lake Erie railway. As well as a freelanced road (Austinville and Dynamite City railroad).
Steven Otte Heartland Division CB&Q Does anyone recall when was the first time MR did and April Fool joke, and what was the joke? .... What are some of the more memorable April Fool jokes ? I've been doing some looking, and it was at least 20 years ago. In the April 1998 issue, the Club News column included an obituary for a cockroach that was struck by a train and killed. The item came complete with photo.
Heartland Division CB&Q Does anyone recall when was the first time MR did and April Fool joke, and what was the joke? .... What are some of the more memorable April Fool jokes ?
I've been doing some looking, and it was at least 20 years ago. In the April 1998 issue, the Club News column included an obituary for a cockroach that was struck by a train and killed. The item came complete with photo.
Wasn't there one about a prototype railroad going to magnetic knuckle couplers?
Kevin
http://chatanuga.org/RailPage.html
http://chatanuga.org/WLMR.html
wjstix ROBERT PETRICK Actors like to keep busy with odd jobs between roles in major films. Robert Well, The Longest Day was a major film, nominated for five Oscars including best picture that year.
ROBERT PETRICK
Actors like to keep busy with odd jobs between roles in major films. Robert
Actors like to keep busy with odd jobs between roles in major films.
Robert
Well, The Longest Day was a major film, nominated for five Oscars including best picture that year.
Hey Stix-
Yeah, that was a great movie and it had a lot of big-name stars in it. I just wanted to make a relevant comment including the words odd job. Shocking that nobody caught the reference.
LINK to SNSR Blog
JumijoAs an aside, on page 69, the caption under the photo incorrectly uses the work "mike" instead of mic to abbreviate microphone. Who proofread that?
Probably a proofreader. "Mike" has been an accepted term for microphone since well before the Second World War, and remains a common term. Consider how you would express 'close-miking' (as in organ recording) using the other abbreviation.
I just found and read what I think is the April fool's joke. Cant comment further without giving it away. But, on several fronts, wow!
(Edit) Excellent job Mr. Otte!
Jim (with a nod to Mies Van Der Rohe)