thankfully we don't do live steam

[FJ and G]

like some of you, been tuning into the History Channel's D-day stuff.

In this one segment, they showed color footage of US attack aircraft diving on a speeding (60 or 70+ mph?) large steam locomotive with munitions rushing towards the front.

In a blaze of bullets and glory, the locoomotive was struck and erupted in a volcano of fire and steam. It was pretty spectacular.

But I couldn't help but think of the hapless engineer.

And I also thought about our own slab-diving locomotives and the ensuing explosion if our toys were live steam.

[TexasEd]

QUOTE: slab-diving locomotives

I've had a few of those.

If I had live steam, I'd have to run those on the ground.

[csxt30]

Speaking of Live Steam, thought BB the Beagle would like to ride this around her yard!! [:D]http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4145&item=5979271256&rd=1 Thanks, John

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: [i]
Speaking of Live Steam, thought BB the Beagle would like to ride this around her yard!!

If it is an Ottoway, it has an interesting background.
Rather than me going into detail, just go to http://winfield.50megs.com/tripod/HerbOttaway.htm, or better yet google "Herb Ottoway". He was a good friend of my dad's, competitors and compatriots, building 125cc racing bikes in the 50's, farting around with traction steam engines, and such. Herb helped me get a good grade on a high school term paper about Stanley Steamers (He had one), made a gas powered pogostick,
and had great fun parking his 6cyl Indian,constructed by morphing two 4 cyl engines into one 6, at a ralley, and listening to the stories people concocted.

I wish I could meet the reserve bid.

Bob

[Jumijo]

Speaking of slab-diving, why don't more people put some kind of raised protective edge around their train layouts? Accidents happen. I'm definitely putting one on mine!

Jim

[lionelsoni]

I have a bad habit of leaving things on the layout. Over the weekend, I put some tools on the edge over my workbench, intending to collect them up and put them away, got distracted, then later ran a train into them. A P40 on the point of the train derailed and tumbled a foot and a half to the bench. I was amazed to find not a scratch on it.

A little later, I did the same thing, this time with books from the bookcase on the opposite side of the room, but the same P40. This time it fell about 4 feet to the concrete slab. Again, not a scratch.

I am not going to tempt fate and try for three: I swear I will never leave stuff on the track again.

[csxt30]

Seems the one car we have always gets knocked off. It's a godola that my boy puts all kinds of scrap in & when it falls on the floor, a million little pieces go everywhere!! We need gaurd rails too. Thanks, John