Favorite RR Desk Toys

[LocoEngineer7]

 NS Coal Stress Reliever

[M636C]

A soft rubber EMD SD70ACe No 1201 in Cat Yellow.

M636C

[seppburgh2]

l me just frame this: Several years as a certified Project Manager in the IT field (the BIG iron mainframes.) My desk has the large format Pennsylvania RailRoad 12 month calendar hanging on the wall. Can't miss it when you walk onto the floor. Since all my business and meetings are over the phone with many remote Developers/Analysts; I often stare at the picture of the month putting myself into that photo. It dulls some of the meeting pain. The other item on my file cabinet is a copy of a UP Promotional photo of Big Boy 4003 (?) with the Engineer and Fireman syncing watches while on the ground. The reason I have that particular photo (from eBay) is the connection of the role of the Project Manager and those Trainmen. Like the Engineer, it is my job to drive the project forward, using every ounce of steam in the boiler and trick in the book to get over the road on time. It is also my job to coordinate and complement my team (Fireman) to get this train there.

[LocoEngineer7]

Glad I'm not a desk jock...looking down the track is so much better...#8 N' SAND

[ATSFGuy]

Anything diecast and looks like a train.

[tomikawaTT]

At the moment, a 1:80 scale model of JNR 1500vdc catenary motor ED141.

It's not really a desk ornament.  It's a working model that's in for a scheduled inspection and lube job, which it will get as soon as I find my missing Round Tuit.

Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - in 1:80 scale, aka HOj)

[Overmod]

tomikawaTT

At the moment, a 1:80 scale model of JNR 1500vdc catenary motor ED141.

OK, I'll bite: I assume this is the 'right' scale for using N-gauge (13mm) track as 3'6" gauge?  Do countries other than Japan observe this as a standard?

(I'd check this on the MR site, but their forum has its own wretched problem with malformed ads that keep crashing my browser with script freezing, and I've given up on getting anyone over there to fix it.)

For a long time, I used a pair of the original MTH Premier Centipedes as a desk ornament.  (That was about all they were ever good for as built; Mike's apparently decided to replicate Baldwin build quality as well as prototype appearance.)

If wall art 'counts', I have an interesting test piece made to demonstrate a PC-board cutter.  The 'template' used for the demo to show the machine's fidelity in replicating lots of lines accurately over a large area was apparently the K4 picture that used to be sold at the Curve gift shop -- wish I had more of the originals -- which I thought was an interesting (and telling!) choice.  There were two of them made, one black (phenolic) with copper background, and the other reversed.  Mine is the copper-backed one, and it's fun to see how many people who see it recognize how it was made.

At one time I had a couple of interestingly-failed 567 and 7FDL pistons as "ashtrays"/paperweights when I smoked a pipe, but don't know where they are now.

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

[quote user="Overmod]

At one time I had a couple of interestingly-failed 567 and 7FDL pistons as "ashtrays"/paperweights when I smoked a pipe, but don't know where they are now.

 [/quote]

 

I would suspect that your wife might know where they went

[tomikawaTT]

Howdy, Overmod.

HOj (as it was interpreted in Tokyo 50-60 years ago, not as Wikipedia has hashed it) is 1:80 scale on 16.5mm gauge track.  It was the standard commercial scale back then, when I was collecting the rolling stock now in use on my double garage filling layout.

Much more recently, I've seen a nice TTj scale layout in Tetsudo Mokei Shumi.  1:120 scale on 9mm track gauge is only 1/2 scale inch out of gauge.  Most 'pure HO' Japanese work is actually HOe or HOn762, 1:87.1 scale 9mm track gauge modeling 30 inch gauge prototypes.

The ED14 class was a very traditional box motor design with end platforms, Bo+Bo wheel arrangement.  The last were withdrawn from service just after the month I model in 1964.

Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)