Car Exchange?????????

[Ibflattop]

What do you guys think about exchanging cars between layouts? Kind of like "Beyond the Basement Concept?" Do you think it would work here? Say I had a 40' boxcar and I would exchange it with another person for there car. You could take a picture of the persons car running on your layout and send it back to them. I have seen this on a website but can't remember where it was. Its not a new concept, acouple of guys around here do it also with their layouts. Do you think we could start something like this here? Kevin

[Anonymous]

There was a program going on like this some years ago, called "ICE" - Interntional Car Exchange. Those on the list would make up a car in their road name and send it along to someone on the list, who would then run it on his railroad and take a photo of it in a train. The photo would be sent to the car owner, and then the car would be sent along to the next person on the list. I did not participate, but heard of it from a friend who did.

"Everything that's old is new again!" [:D]

Bob Boudreau

[Anonymous]

Thats cool since my layout doesn't even formally exist yet. My cars are coming along good though and it would be fun to see them in action. How would one send the car. Box and popcorn stuffing to protect it?

[CNJ831]

As Bob B points out, the NMRA has had its "ICE" program running for a long time. I think their success is due to an intense, dedicated, and special interest shown by its members that would be difficult to reproduce. To successfully replicate this sort of program on a more casual basis is highly unlikely in my opinion and is also quite a different proposition than simply swapping cars around with close-by hobbyists. Just one weak link in the chain of handling or passing on the model(s) to the next guy is likely to result in the collapse of the entire project. While it might be possible for three or four guys to get such a round-robin going amongst themselves, expand it beyond that number and you're looking for serious problems.

Incidentally, this same subject has been brought up before and nothing came of the idea back then either once the problems were realized.

CNJ831