QUOTE: Please don't get the Old Dog going again on this subject. As for these portrait photographer. One of their methods was to stop at the gate and offer th GI a ride downtown. Instead they ended up at his "studio". And somehow, by the end of the evening, the GI ended signing a legal contract for maybe $300 of photos. The Old Dog can't believe the JA was in this crowd. But the Old Dog wishes that he had stayed out of this business.Some busineses are so dirty that they make anyone involved look dirty.
QUOTE: Originally posted by jfugate On the portrait photographer thing ... it all depends on your perspective. If people feel it's worth the money and are willing to pay the price for the photos, is anyone holding a gun to their head to make them buy the photos?
QUOTE: Originally posted by jfugate A good business man charges whatever the market will bear. We can feel sorry for the "poor guy" who would pay those prices, but business is business. If it's a rip off, then people would eventually wise up and that would be that.
QUOTE: Originally posted by BRAKIE Guys,The best layout design is NOT found in a book..You see a layout should be based on YOUR givens and druthers..You can look at deferent layout designs to see how some author shows his givens and druthers but his design may not fit your needs.I have seen layout designs in books and magazines that made no sense at all and was nothing more the a glorified train set loop.So,I urge you to design your own layout that fits YOUR given and druthers.
Chip
Building the Rock Ridge Railroad with the slowest construction crew west of the Pecos.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Joe Fugate Modeling the 1980s SP Siskiyou Line in southern Oregon
QUOTE: [i] geez!...that's as bad as that Jane Fonda visit to Hanoi thingy....but being a U.S. service man at one time, I was very frugel with the mere pentance uncle sam paid us sailors...what's that old saying?..."a fool and his money are soon parted"...we couldn't get a foot down the pier without the money handler's bugging us to buy fake furs, fake leather jackets, fake rolex watches, and every other kind of "junk" known to man ..some of us were smart enough to keep walking, ignoring those trying to make these kinds of business transactions....now on to the question...there was a book called "build a model railroad with personality". (i believe by john olson) that was a really good book..it's out of print now, but if you ever come across a copy, pick it up...it had a neat layout in it with a switching puzzle and a wide variety of little "tricks of the trade "loaded throughout the book.....chuck
QUOTE: Originally posted by alco_fan QUOTE: Originally posted by exPalaceDog Hey SpaceMouse, those initials JA brings up a matter that has tthe Old Dog as a veteran so mad that I can not see after killing a twelve pack. Let's ask now it was financed. From what the Dog has heard, it seems that during WWII John Allen was in the portrait business taking photos of young GI's during training. Apparently, he did quite well, after the war, he basically retired. But since he was able to retire, it would appear that the cost of his work was well above the cost of production. Mr. Dog, That's not only unfair, but factually inaccurate. John Allen and his two brothers were orphaned and separated to live with three different families of relatives at a young age. The brothers received an inheritance when their Grandparents died. The third brother died in 1940. John's brother Andrew was apparently a shrewd investor and the two surviving brothers made a large amount of money in stock investing. By all accounts, this brought John Allen the majority of his wealth. John's heart condition would not allow him to enter the service himself, but he attempted to obtain a military job in aerial phtography during WWII to help with the war effort as he could. He was turned down, but apparently moved to Monterey for the weather, having discovered it on visits to his brother who was stationed in Northern California. John opened a photography studio in Monterey with a partner and they had a branch office at the Presidio in Monterey where they did offer portraits for servicemen. I have met a number of people who knew John Allen personally and from their anecdotes and everything I've read, he was a generally a gracious man with friends and guests and lived fairly frugally. Much of the _factual_ information posted above comes from the book Model Railroading with John Allen. Jon
QUOTE: Originally posted by exPalaceDog Hey SpaceMouse, those initials JA brings up a matter that has tthe Old Dog as a veteran so mad that I can not see after killing a twelve pack. Let's ask now it was financed. From what the Dog has heard, it seems that during WWII John Allen was in the portrait business taking photos of young GI's during training. Apparently, he did quite well, after the war, he basically retired. But since he was able to retire, it would appear that the cost of his work was well above the cost of production.
QUOTE: Originally posted by CARRfan 101 track plans - DA-TED. Man, as someone said above, I don't know why MR still publishes that thing. I want to unload mine on someone, but would almost feel irresponsible giving it to someone else! (No offense to anyone, trying to be funny here too - but it is a book of 101 "spaghetti-bowl" layouts). They're actually quite amusing, and they satisfy what I liked in Model railroads as a kid - trying to figure out where the train would pop out next. This is in opposition to the current trends - the train is clearly going from here to there in a very logical manner. Again, I'm sure they were very fine layouts at the time. It's just interesting how contradictory many of the track plans are to the trends that seem engrained by the guys writing in MR.
Go here for my rail shots! http://www.railpictures.net/showphotos.php?userid=9296
Building the CPR Kootenay division in N scale, blog here: http://kootenaymodelrailway.wordpress.com/
QUOTE: Originally posted by jfugate HighIron: It's true that you can have a layout without staging, but if your design represents anything but a disconnected shortline, then a connection to the outside world is needed if realistic operations is a desire.
QUOTE: Originally posted by Stuckarmchairing Avoid 101 track plans at all cost, those plans are obsolete by todays standards, and dont offer much in the way of realistic operation, theres sidings and yards but no staging. I dont even know why MR publishes it.
QUOTE: Originally posted by Jetrock Out of print but useful for many of the basics, and some of the advanceds: "The Railroad: What it Is, What it Does" by John Armstrong (not Anderson, chip!)
Layout Design GalleryLayout Design Special Interest Group
QUOTE: Originally posted by exPalaceDog QUOTE: [i]So what other greats shoud I be reading--preferably ones without the intials JA? Hey SpaceMouse, those initials JA brings up a matter that has tthe Old Dog as a veteran so mad that I can not see after killing a twelve pack. We will ignore for the minute whether a layout should look like the American Society of Civil Engineers had a contest to design the highest collection of useless bridges. Let's ask now it was financed. From what the Dog has heard, it seems that during WWII John Allen was in the portrait business taking photos of young GI's during training. Apparently, he did quite well, after the war, he basically retired. But since he was able to retire, it would appear that the cost of his work was well above the cost of production. The Old Dog remembers sitting in the barracks dayroom at Lackland AFB during 1970 while our TI warned us about this fraud. It may have been the Veit Nam era instead of WWII, but the vulture were outside the gate willing to seal us portraits for ten times their worth. If the Old Dog had ever visited the G&D, thing might have gotten unpleasant. Nice engine John. Is that the one you financed by selling a dollar photo to that sailor who died on the USS Yorktown for fiftty dollars? Or was brought by the Marine pilot who was shot down at Midway? And what rate did you quote that poor Marine mother who wanted one additional photo of her dead son? This may not be fun, but it is the way I feel.
QUOTE: [i]So what other greats shoud I be reading--preferably ones without the intials JA?
QUOTE: Originally posted by tstage Chip, I've begun reading both of Tony Koester's books, Realistic Model Railroad OPERATION and Realistic Model Railroad DESIGN from MR Books.