Building a layout for history class

[Anonymous]

Hi all, my first post. I'm a history teacher designing a project-based class centered around railroads. My plan for the major project, a co-teaching project with an Engli***eacher, is to build a layout during the summer. I have the room, some know-how and some financial backing, but I'm wondering about the best way to do this with a group of 20 teenagers. My thought is to use the Mod-U-Rail system from Woodland Scenics. Any thoughts on these?

On another note, if anyone has any other ideas about a layout and what it could be let me know -- it's anything I want to make!

[leighant]

Hi. I am a wanna-be history teacher. Got my Texas certification in January, been subbing and trying for a teaching position in the fall.
I got into history from model trains. Back around bicentennial, a group had the idea of building a layout based on the Tex Mex in our city of Corpus Christi, Texas in the year the Port of Corpus Christi opened, 1926. I discovered Sanborn's Insurance maps, found out what businesses and residents were in specific addresses from 1926 City Directory, did oral history interviews with people who worked on railroad in period we were modeling.

I would greatly recommend not doing "a" railroad but doing a scene that ties in with local history, or with some product, commodity or industry with some special connection.
I have had great fun designing and building model railroads with a specific historic sense of place and time.

-the supply trackage aboard a Naval Air Station for blimps, used during early WWII to protect Gulf Coast oil tanker against German submarines.

-East Texas courthouse-square town with forest related industries such as lumber mill, logging reload, pulpwood loading, preserving wood telephone poles and ties with creosote, etc.

-Texas Hill Country granite quarry which supplied the granite used to build the Texas State Capitol building, and stone used on several seawalls, jetties, etc built to protect Texas cities from hurricanes (usually AFTER a previous disaster.)

-the Aransas Pass shrimpboat harbor.

Your post does not say anything about where you are teaching, living etc which would give any hint to local history and local railroading.

I consider research one of the most important parts of modeling. Adapting and condensing scenes from real life to "tell a story" on the model is like a novelist writing a story that is fiction and yet pieced together from bits and pieces of reality.

One great way to give a layout a sense of place and direction is build one divided by background down the middle into two scenes.

But please, don't build just any layout or a "canned" project. Make something with your own creation of a sense of time and place.
What is YOUR town's story? Your neighborhood's story?

[jeffers_mz]

I agree that a railroad ought to have a central theme or raison d'etre, but wonder about actually harnessing the output of 20 people to produce a finished layout in one summer.

A small railroad will take less time to fini***han a larger one, generally, but will require more hands in smaller areas at once to meet a three month deadline.

We don't use Mod-u-rail here per se, but use several components of the system and it does make things go faster under certain circumstances. If you start with a sheet of bare plywood over a rough frame, and know exactly where to cut the plywood for say a below rail grade creek or river, you can shave a lot of time off benchwork building. It's the detail that takes time, flat sheets go pretty quick.

If your track plan is simple, not a lot of electrical sections or blocks, not a lot of reversing loops, not too many turnouts that require wiring, the electrical work will proceed quicker.

Planning ahead will allow all 20 people to be harnessed for critical trackwork and clearance checks quickly, designated drivers, people just transporting different cars and locos back and forth from storage to layout, so that every piece runs through every section of track from both directions three or more times, derailments logged as to place and type of equipment for later attention, that sort of thing.

Scenerywise, again simplicity is key for speed. Stacked tunnels are slow. Tight clearances are slow. Complicated support structures are slow. Mild terrain over styrofoam, covered in plastercloth, painted and ground foamed, by comparison runs pretty quick. Again, it's the details that take time, while large open areas go much faster.

Trees, unless store bought, are going to take time, but you could have a tree team in production from the very start, before the benchwork is even finished, ditto for all structures.

Even so, one summer is still tight for finishing a whole layout.

Astrategic option for easing the time crunch. One approach would be a wood benchwork modular system. A simple oval could go with as few as 4 modules, two or four corners, two straights. Once emplaced, modules could be swapped in and out over years of even decades, and some of them could be salvaged, stripped down to bare wood and used by successive classes. Then the integrated whole, a working model railroad, always exists, each class can have a full scale finished input, and the time pressures aren't so tight.

I think the options are fewer with a strict adherence to the Modu-rail system, whereas if you define your corner and straight modular specifications, students have a lot more flexibility in what they can do. At that point, you're not limited to any one trackplan, though you still have to coordinate module layout from the start, and the layout can grow and evolve with time.

[simon1966]

Historyteach!

Boy, I wish I had had a history class like that!

First of all, I would agree that the task of completing a layout over the summer weeks is a bit of challenge. At least based on my speed of completion. However, I agree that a diorama or scene focused on a historical aspect of the railroads could be a great learning experience for your students.

I started my layout to have fun with my kids. But I quickly discovered a love of the social history of the US that is entwined in the development of the Railroads and customers that they served. I am in the midst of modelling a coal mine from the 30's. The mining industry was dominiated by wave after wave of immigrant labor. It is central to the development of the US labor movement. It is central to the development of the industrial revolution in the US. It is central to the development of safety standards and improvement in work conditions during the mid 20th century. It was right in the hot bed of prohibition and some of the more seemly parts of life. In otherwords it can provide a fantastic cameo into the fabric of this Great Nation.

May be an industry themed module or 4x8 table set in the first half of the 20th century would give you and your students a lot to get your teeth into?

Good luck with this, no matter what you choose.

[Anonymous]

I would also recomend seeking help from your LHS and Model rr clubs etc

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the replies, all. Yes, 10 weeks is a bit of crunch, which is why I am aiming for simplicity. I'm in Central California, so one idea for a theme is logging. Another idea is a very truncated version of the Transcontinental Raliroad in a point-to-point.

[ARTHILL]

Welcome to the forum. I led a team who did a layout with a group of troubled teens at their residence school.

Two suggestions:
1. Be prepared to lower what ever standards you have.

2. If you can find nitches that fit each kid, things go better , but be prepared for those whose nitch is disruption and distruction.

This is a doable project, and can probably last more than one semester, but you will feel you earned your pay.

[Jetrock]

You might consider a series of small modules--if you're going to do a Transcontinental Railroad layout, have different teams work on different modules and combine them together. Each scene would be geographically different, but would combine to tell a story.

Where in Central California? Quite a few of us are in your neck of the woods--and combining such a project wtih a trip to, say, CSRM might help spur inspiration in both you and your students.

[ericboone]

Having 20 people will be a great help to finish a layout. I would definitely go modular so that the layout can be seperated so all 20 students are not tripping over each other. NMRA standard modules would be a great place to start. I would start with four corner modules and two straight modules. Then you could have 3 or 4 students per module. This also allows you to store, move, and expand the layout or even combine it with other layouts.
I like the idea of having realistic scenes. Maybe one module can represent your town. Another could represent the local major industry such as logging, mining, or farming. Incorporate the historical research to generate accurate representations of the industry or town.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Seems like the driving of the spike at Promontory, Utah would fit into a history class, be doable, and painting all the figures will tie up lots of idle hands. Easy scenery to model. Fred

[Anonymous]

A few suggestions:

1: Partner with a local model railroad club. That way you can form partnerships with experienced modelers who will save you a whole lot of time and help you avoid common mistakes. They might even be willing to do some things for you like build the benchwork. This way you won't have high school kids handling power tools. Model railroaders, especially the ones who join clubs, tend to be a friendly bunch who love to have the opportunity to share their know-how and help promote the hobby.

2: If a railroad runs through your town a good idea might be to model a portion of that railroad or branch line as it was 50 years ago. The late 1940's and early 1950's is a great era to model. There was still a lot of trackage and most of the available HO and N Scale equipment produced is from that era. For California one idea might be a branchline that transported produce. There may be other ideas. The basic idea, however, is that a model railroad moves passengers, raw materiels and products from one point to another.

3: You will be surprised that with a little bit of kit bashing you can make a finished building look remarkably close to some of the buildings and industries that were located along an existing mainline or branchline.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the suggestions! I'm near Fresno, Calif. so of course we have two major ideas for field trips planned -- the railroad musuem in Sacramento and Railtown in Sonora. I think I'll go with the modules from Woodland Scenics -- they seem to be a decent price for what you get, and it will save some power tool requirements. Now, we just need to decide on a theme. I have some ideas but want the students to have "input" so that they feel a sense of ownerships. I'll keep you all updated and I'll be contacting my old operation buddies in Fresno for some guidance.

[SpaceMouse]

Jetrock, maybe you could work out a guided tour.

[Jetrock]

I can do that as soon as I get my tour guide certification...

[Texas Zepher]

QUOTE: Originally posted by historyteach
I'm a history teacher designing a project-based class centered around railroads. My plan for the major project, a co-teaching project with an Engli***eacher, is to build a layout during the summer.

What aspect or aspects of history are you trying to teach? Something about history in general and just using the railroad as a hook, or something about railroad history?
The best book I've read on how the railroads have affected (have the Engli***eacher check my usage of that word!) the American culture is called Passage to Union by Sarah Gordon.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1566632188/qid=1149629021/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-1071854-2491358?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

As others have said using modular units could allow each student or pair of students to take one "piece" of history and put them together to tell a story. Each modular unit could represent a typical American scene for a given time period(wild west, industrial 1900, roaring 20s, depression 30s, war 40s, etc.), geographic area, cultural setting, historical mile stone, or something of economic significance.

For railroad history, I've done exhibits for the history and evolution of Railroad Stations, passenger trains, cabooses, locomotives, and various specific railroads. I guess I'm saying the possibilities are endless depending on what the learning "goal" is.

Last time I taught a railroad related class, we took field trips to the local railyard, major railroad industry (Coors), the hobby store, and of course the local Railroad Museum.

[leighant]

I suggested to a class that students could do a research project on anything of their interest,
--popular music, movies, boy-girl relationships, dress, cars, etc. as long as it tied to some major aspect of US history. As an example of making history from any subject of interest, I took BOXCARS.

20th Century US History reflected in Boxcars

Historic era: Turn of century industrialization and urbanization
Historic factor affecting boxcars: Increased industry, national economy, larger shipments
Effect on boxcars: Cars too big for wood to support, availability of steel but lack of experience in steel design
Typical boxcar: wood body cars with steel truss rods


Historic era: World War I
Historic factor affecting boxcars: Government takes over the railroads for the war effort
Effect on boxcars: Forced standardization of design.
Typical boxcar: URSA steel fishbelly underframe, wood body boxcar

Historic era: Roaring 20s
Historic factor affecting boxcars: business expansion, speculation, “paper profits”
Effect on boxcars: investment in new design all-steel cars
Typical boxcar: Pennsylvania Railroad X-29 boxcar by the thousands

Historic era: Great depression
Historic factor affecting boxcars: Business bust, less transportation, less money to invest, massive unemployment.
Effect on boxcars: Railroads repair and rebuild to make work for their own employees, restricted investment in new equipment.
Typical boxcar: Rebuilt boxcars with steel sides replacing old wooden sides on cars with steel underbodies, especially USRA rebuilds.

Historic era: World War II.
Historic factor affecting boxcars: More transportation needed for war effort and need to save steel for military.
Effect on boxcars: Severe restrictions on building new railroad equipment, controlled by War Board based on need for the war effort.
Typical boxcar: “War emergency” design cars with wooden sides designed to be replaced by metal sides after the war.

Historic era: Postwar/ Cold war
Historic factor affecting boxcars: Public & business demand for goods, higher labor costs, increased standardization.
Effect on boxcars: Standard cars offered by car manufacturers instead of custom-built to railroad’s specifications. Availability and cost-effectiveness of shot welding and large stampings as opposed to riveted construction.
Typical boxcar: Pullman-Standard PS-1 40’ boxcar.


Historic era: Protest era/ Great Society/ protectionism
Historic factor affecting boxcars: Increased concern for health & safety of workers, OSHA.
Effect on boxcars: Elimination of trainmen working on tops of moving train.
Typical boxcar: Boxcars with roofwalks removed, ladders extend only halfway up height of car.


Historic era: Conservative backlash/ Deregulation
Historic factor affecting boxcars: multinational corporate conglomerates, larger scale merchandising
Effect on boxcars: Virtual elimination of “loose car” boxcar shipments and development of intermodal ship- rail- highway transportation,
Typical boxcar: Boxcar no longer typical- replaced by double-stacks, container on flat car, etc.

[Texas Zepher]

As interesting coincidences occur, I happen to run across another title that seems to be applicable to your situation.

All Aboard! The Railroad in American Life, George Douglas, 1992.

I obviously have not read it. The description indicates that it points out expressions and things in American life that were railroad inspired.

I am certain it talks about our clocks and “standard time”. How many people know that the time zones and time system we use today came from the railroad industry? Until, ummm, 1965 it wasn’t just “Standard Time” but “Railroad Standard Time”. Hence the reason all the railroad stations had clock towers. That clock tower was the standard by which everyone set their own clocks.

[Anonymous]

If you choose build the Transcontinental Railroad and you want it to be authentic and realistic for them, break them up into two groups.
The Union Pacific and Central Pacific. Each building two separate sections.

The Union Pacific group will have it easy task to build on mostly flat terrain, but will be hung over from drinking and fighting, sick from bad food and unsanitary conditions, get little or nothing done each day until the last day and then do a sloppy job of it. Add to that the Hell on Wheels that followed them.

The Central Pacific group gets a late start because the lack of money to buy materials but work very hard and well together, eat healthy foods, don't drink or gamble. Their task is much more difficult for them because they have to bore through tunnels made of solid hydrocal and dental stone. Also they often have to wait for rail to arrive.

[jeffers_mz]

Power tool problems are easily solved. Every high school in my state has a woodshop and metal shop that parks mine in the shade, and these beautiful piles of tools sit idle three hours out of four. Talk to the shopmasters. Many of them understand that the more people their usually idle tools help out, the fewer hours they have to spend fighting inevitable budget wars every year. I've walked into a high school right off the street and walked out with precision holes bored with a nice drill press that wasn't in my personal inventory at the time. Most times, they are glad to help.

If this is a one shot project, you might be happy with the WS modules. If this is a project to last multiple semesters, to built on in the furutre, I believe you will eventually come to wish you had selected a more durable and less limiting option up front.

If you choose any option including "ready-track", "wonder-track", "miracle-track" or any other variant of track that includes a pre-formed plastic roadbed integral with the ties and rails, your regrets won't wait around till next semester to materialize, they will become apparant almost immediately.

[Anonymous]

Here is a thread from The-Gauge:
http://www.the-gauge.com/showthread.php?t=12558

This guy started a MRR club with underpriviledged kids in a middle school. Their goal was building the layout, rather than learning history, but maybe some of his experience will be helpful....