Agricultural vs Industrial: A new controversy?

[Anonymous]

i wouyd have to say i started desert because of the RR i was modeling is union pacific sante fe have added a few farm houses and freight stations.

[Anonymous]

Just digging this old shoe out for the new guys and gals!

[Capt Bob Johnson]

I think you'll find most are ag with some light industry mainly because of the cost and AVAILABILITY of town/industrial models. The heavier industrial models appear to be made by those whom have been into modelling for a longer period of time and have aquired the skills and confidence to scratchbuild or kitbash. How many houses from the 1940's to early '60s do you see available??? Are there any stations from that era? Then too, the primary suppliers of building kits are German, and no matter what they do, thier products still come out looking somewhat european in the end! Bachman could make a killing by blowing up the old Plasticville stuff for use in G.

If I'm a kit maker or structure supplier I'd wait it out for the scales to get further sorted out. It must be indeed difficult and expensive to try to cater to all the different scales that are encompassed under the G umbrella!

Maybe we need a poll to find out what is the most popular scale.

[Capt Bob Johnson]

Oh, one shouldn't forget the vast amounts of yard space that would be taken up by just one industrial structure! Imagine how much of your yard would be taken up by a food distribution wharehouse or an auto factory. Even a meat packing plant would use tons of space. Those who are into container trains, try to do a pier and ship to unload them from. The ship alone would be over 3 feet wide and 30 feet long, and boy you wouldn't have much grass left in the yard to have to cut after you made that model. Heavy industrial just isn't practical!

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Capt Bob Johnson

Oh, one shouldn't forget the vast amounts of yard space that would be taken up by just one industrial structure! Imagine how much of your yard would be taken up by a food distribution wharehouse or an auto factory. Even a meat packing plant would use tons of space. Those who are into container trains, try to do a pier and ship to unload them from. The ship alone would be over 3 feet wide and 30 feet long, and boy you wouldn't have much grass left in the yard to have to cut after you made that model. Heavy industrial just isn't practical!

Capt Johnson,

What would you say to an abbreviated scene, that is some small sample of heavy industry. A small yard, maybe two sidetracks and large industry on a smaller scale. We have an old mobile oil plant called the “Magnolia Plant” just north of our town.



It is a lot smaller than a full refinery, albiet it had a small appearance and even a small yard for the loading of product.

Just a suggestion,

Wha'cha think?

[Capt Bob Johnson]

Yes Capt., that would seem to be the only way to go both from a financial and space standpoint; the trick, however, is how to condense it and still make it look real. That is the art of modelling, and I'll need years of practice to get there! My layout is still weeds, dirt, track, and pond. I have taken the bait & tackle kit, redid the floating dock into something much more believeable, and put it on the beach by my fishpond. Hoping to get a lot further along in the coming construction season.

the other Capt.

[Anonymous]

Joe what you said about meidiaeval Castles and eastern Pagodas brings me to an interesting subject The Crusaders. If you believe what you read around the Mediterranean, they were a curse and a blight on the region in fact the Greeks had to pay them to leave. I understand they only went to the Med to get away from the cold winters in more northern climes and their wives.

Does any one else have an opinion on the Crusaders or two other controversial figures Saint George and Pope Leo the tenth.

I have read a fair bit about these blokes on my European travels and little of it was very good, but this could have all been just local bias.

Regrds Ian