Absurdities and go-figures, share them if you got ‘em!

[John Busby]

Hi all
Too much rolling stock for the layout
Hmm Guilty as charged[^] I thought this was a normal state of play.
I have nevver built a layout yet where I mannaged to keep the layout size vs rolling stock
balanced.
Its all most impossable not to end up with alayout where you donot have some rolling stock that has to spen some time on the shelf.
regards John

[jecorbett]

There is one out of reach corner of my layout that I left an access hole for. I found when laying the track and installing the backdrop in that area, it was easier to climb up on the benchwork than work out of the access hole which is pretty tight given it is designed for emergency access only. I sure am glad I built sturdy benchwork. I had no qualms at all about climbing on top of it.

[Anonymous]

Trying to convince the owner of a "hybrid" car that the technology implemented in his automobile has been around for over half a century.

[chutton01]

QUOTE: Originally posted by orsonroy

Matchbox cars on an HO layout.

- Some Matchbox trucks are very close to scale (like that GMC older style Top Kick) , but usually require work on/replacement of their paint, their wheels/tires, and especially those blue windshields[:(]

QUOTE: 4-4-0s pulling double stacks.

Well, yeah, OK. How about 2-6-6-2s instead?[:D]

QUOTE: Athearn boxcars with claws on the bottoms of the doors.

Ugly yes, but certainly no 'go-figure' - operating items are fun - consider the run of 60s/70s Tyco operating accessories such as the Pipe Loader, the Gravel Dump, and the Unloading Boxcar - unrealistic yes, but fun (of course I'm being HO centric here - I'm sure Lionel had 0 scale operating items in the 1940s). And who can't use a good scale missle launching flat-car anyway.

QUOTE: Anything Varney.

How many Varney docksiders were sold (10,000s?) as compared to the actual number of the prototype Baltimore switchers (5?)

QUOTE: Hobos on layouts.

Well, anything post 1970 you'd probably need homeless on layouts (scale piles of rugs and cardbox shelters in the urban areas) - admittedly the modeling of hobo camps did get out of hand for awhile, appearing on almost every layout featured in MR - were there even Hobo camps during the relatively prosperous 1950s/1960s?

QUOTE: Nekkid lady models.

Well, except for one product-line, I believe most of the nude women models (alas, much harder to find outdoors in the prototype world) are doing innocuous things, such as showering, posing for art, sunbathing. This means they are nude, because, as you know:
Nude = You have no clothes on
Naked = You have no clothes on, and are up to something...

[MAbruce]

1. When someone asks me when I'll be finished with my layout. [(-D]

2. People who have a small (or no) layout and own one hundred and twenty six locos with a thousand and two freight cars. [:O]

3. The visitor who points out part of a train left behind on our N-trak layout while there are twenty members "on duty". [:I]

4. How a train can flawlessly circle my layout for hours but always seems to derail when someone else is there to see it. [xx(]

[SpaceMouse]

AT the train club open house this weekend.

"Uh, excuse me. How long did it take you guys to set this up, couple weeks?"

[orsonroy]

Matchbox cars on an HO layout.
4-4-0s pulling double stacks.
Athearn boxcars with claws on the bottoms of the doors.
Anything Varney.
Hobos on layouts.
Nekkid lady models.

[icmr]

Thats a lot of rivets.



ICMR

Happy Railroading.[swg][swg]

[Hudsonmike]

I Don't know why I counted the rivets but this 2028 has 2500. exactly like the proto type, I had to make 20K to get them correct

[deevs]

I was in the CSX shop recently and looked but couldn't find those 3-9/16 in. screws that hold the trucks.on.
deevs

[John Busby]

QUOTE: Originally posted by KenLarsen

QUOTE: Originally posted by trainboyH16-44
At my MRR club, there ARE sections that are only reachable by standing on the layout, like the mountain section, a while ago we were installing a backdrop, so we had a couple guys (Who weren't so skinny) standing on a small yard, and it barely bent!

I agree, that's definitely a good reason. I was referring to situations where there would NEVER be any need for somebody to climb on the benchwork in the first place, but they just built it like a fortress because "that's the way everybody else does it and it's always been done that way."

hi guys
Thats what I like to see
building a model railway the railway way.
Thats the way its all ways been done[:D]
its allways been done that way to cope with the weight of the scenery matierials used
none of this new fangled styro foam when they designed it.
Clubs have to do things stronger as part of their duty of care and to cope with the club idiot that every club seems to have.
regards John

[csmith9474]

As far as the underbody details go, I do that for my own satisfaction. I really enjoy doing it. It is a lot of fun to research where and what battery boxes you need. Through that sort of research you learn a lot of new things about what you are modeling.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by trainboyH16-44
At my MRR club, there ARE sections that are only reachable by standing on the layout, like the mountain section, a while ago we were installing a backdrop, so we had a couple guys (Who weren't so skinny) standing on a small yard, and it barely bent!

I agree, that's definitely a good reason. I was referring to situations where there would NEVER be any need for somebody to climb on the benchwork in the first place, but they just built it like a fortress because "that's the way everybody else does it and it's always been done that way."

[grandeman]

Absurdities? How about the retail cost of some of this stuff? [:0]

[John Busby]

Hi all
I see the comments on bench work my theory on this is if you cannot do gymnastics on the frame then it isn't strong enough.
and as for Kadees if they where a reasonable price and appropriate for what is being done i would consider them.
but they are not reasonably priced in my neck of the woods and not always the correct coupler for strictly prototypical for a lot of trains in my neck of the wood either
regards John

[areibel]

QUOTE: Originally posted by joeyegarner

Using anything other than a Kadee coupler!!
yea and that rivet thing get's me too, what's up with that??
Being completley prototypical, why it's a model and can't be done anyway.

Whaddarya talking about?? You can build them EXACTLY to scale- I have a friend that built them like that, he had one, er, two, uh dozens of them! Yeah, dozens, that's the ticket!
Had some problems with them though- since they were exact scale for HO, the 40' boxcars weighed a little over 550 pounds. That took it's toll on the benchwork. Plus a regular HO locomotive wouldn't pull them, so he currently trying to build an exact copy of an EMD 645 v-20 to mount in his Kato SD45's- keeps having problems with the fuel injection system. Not to mention wiring 1/87 scale traction motors! [:o)]

[howmus]

I'm working on a Roundhouse scene that will be completely detailed on the inside. It will be pretty much hidden once the doors and roof go on. I keep asking myself why?????? I keep answering myself, "I dunno!"

Actually it will be able to be seen by leaning over the turntable pit and squinting a lot with the building lights on. LOL

[Anonymous]

The benchwork isn't so daft - the stronger you build it the less risk there is of warping or sagging, and some people like to over-engineer. For me it would have to be the article I saw where they took a train of Bachmann BR MK1 coaches (factory-fitted with close coupling) and spent ages pulling off the close coupling mounts and replacing them with bits of brass wire as couplings!

[trainboyH16-44]

When I was younger, I loved to scramble about on the benchwork. That, and that alone should be enough reason to make it strong! Plus, if you fall..there needs to be something to take your weight...
At my MRR club, there ARE sections that are only reachable by standing on the layout, like the mountain section, a while ago we were installing a backdrop, so we had a couple guys (Who weren't so skinny) standing on a small yard, and it barely bent! So there is a reason! As for the others....I once cause an engine that was longer than a DDA40X! I ran out of film, trhough.
Matthew

[Texas Zepher]

QUOTE: Originally posted by KenLarsen
1) Benchwork built strong enough to support the weight of a 300lb adult – on layouts where trains can easily be reached within arm’s length (Go figure….?)

Yes, but then there are those repairs on the infrastructure in the ceiling. For one whole summer our layout top was the scaffolding while we re-did the electrical, plumbing, AC, and installed a drop ceiling. There were times there were 3-4 of us standing on it at once.

[chutton01]

QUOTE: Layout animation that is so perfectly mechanized, that all of the Prieser figures stop and stare in frozen wonderment?

Well, I think current thinking is to have figures (at least foreground ones) in 'resting' poses (standing or sitting mostly) with few or none 'action' poses (like reaching for a crate at an awkward angle) - because most people can sit/stand and chat or look or whatever for minutes at a time, whereas reaching out and running to hop a caboose for minutes at a time seems hokey.

And then someone always has to have a mini-scene or three with just this type of frozen-in-action poses (painters slapping on paint, or fixing tires, or pushing crates onto the backs of trucks, etc.)

[joeyegarner]

Using anything other than a Kadee coupler!!
yea and that rivet thing get's me too, what's up with that??
Being completley prototypical, why it's a model and can't be done anyway.

[Anonymous]

Every now and then I observe things about this hobby that I’ve always taken for granted, but when I really start thinking about it, I can’t help but wonder. Here are some examples:

1) Benchwork built strong enough to support the weight of a 300lb adult – on layouts where trains can easily be reached within arm’s length (Go figure….?)
2) Layout animation that is so perfectly mechanized, that all of the Prieser figures stop and stare in frozen wonderment?
3) Rivets, weathering and other details on the never-seen undersides of rolling stock (excluding those specially-built for model contests, etc.)
4) Railroad “fish stories” that are so outlandish, yet the person telling it really expects people to believe him?
5) Modelers who build gorgeous layouts, but never allow visitors [even responsible adults] because they’re afraid their trains might get broken or stolen?

I’m sure many of you have also made similar observations. Tell us about it!