Guess I need to apologize- didn't mean to step on anyone's toes.
Though not really an excuse, I was a bit tipsy while doing this post yesterday.
Usually things like this does not bother me, but the other day it just came across in such a way it ruffled my feathers, and although I kind of forgot about it, with the influence of a couple of beers, the subject raised it's ugly head, and turned me into sort of a Mr. Hyde.
And my 4X8 is HO all the way. There is still the talk about cutting it up into four sections, tearind down a wall and two closets to make a 10X20 against the walls, and using the existing portions to build around the walls. It would seem like a lot of work though.
And it is true- it is fun just to cut the trains loose, drink a couple of beers, and think about the next scheme at hand.
Maybe I should have went with Z scale and a few popsicle sticks? The only problem is that detailing would be out of my eyesight- got enough problems seeing HO.
Sorry Greg about the migraine.
By the way, HI Stevearino - You on the East or West?
Anyway, for what it is worth; We will carry on with what we have to work with, and try to make the best of it.
Most part is to have some fun.
SqueakyWheels wrote: SNIPSorry Greg about the migraine.
SNIP
The migraines are one of the reasions that I'm trying model railroading as a hobby - I can take my medication, and turn my train loose, then just sit back and watch it run in loops, while I turn in to a vegtable for several hours - Last month I figured that since last Feb, I have ended up loosing on average between 30 and 40 hours a week due to pain and medication - makes life real interesting, to say the least.
loathar wrote:Go to a drag race and stand by the finish line as two 7000h.p. cars blow by you at 330mph. It's a RUSH!!!
vsmith wrote: I still think it would be alot of fun to do a 4x8 "racetrack", soup up your old engines with wings scoops and airdams and paint them up in NAStyCAR gaudy colors and race them roundy-round for cash!Come-on, doesnt it sound like a fun thing to do for like a trainshow event ??
Come-on, doesnt it sound like a fun thing to do for like a trainshow event ??
Since we've been comparing motor sports and model railroading, why not a side-by-side comparison, with an added starter:
1. Quick run action at the end, FINI!
2. Small area, circular (or not) run:
3. Enough area, prototypical or otherwise:
If the choice was available, most of us would take 3. Reality limits our choices.
My personal modeling world, for many years, was a module eight feet long and 16 inches wide - something like what Spacemouse is working on, but narrower and with off-module cassette staging. These days, I'm slowly expanding across a 2-car garage. I, too, had loops - and some REALLY small things carved from wood with an 0-5-0 for motive power. The one common factor - I was having fun!
If you aren't having fun, you're in the wrong hobby.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Tired of going around in circles/ovals ?
Try a switching micro layout, no huge space required 4 square feet is enough
http://carendt.com/
As a fan of point-to-point layouts (and the owner of one,) I don't oppose the idea of 4x8 layouts as a whole--but I do get frustrated by the idea that the 4x8 layout is the One True Layout Size. People get trapped into the 4x8 box and are afraid to leave it, and they get suckered into the whole panoply of 4x8 myths--my favorite of which is "I don't have room for anything but a 4x8." So while I don't actively oppose the continuous run as an operation scheme, to me the 4x8 is a sorry compromise that too many people take as the general rule.
I also get bored of watching the trains go round and round a lot more quickly than I get bored of switching. When prototype railfanning, I tend to prefer watching switching operations, in a yard or an industrial area, to watching the trains go by: to me, that's where the action is.
And yeah, I think NASCAR is pretty boring to watch too. I'm not actively interested in drag racing, but it suits my attention span more than watching a couple dozen guys make left turns all afternoon.
richg1998 wrote: I suppose you must feel better after that RANT. Grow up. You are going to hear worse than that in the real world. You have control over your emotions and do not have to "allow" others to upset you.I model with code 100 track. Plastic locos with DCC. Mostly "shake the box" models etc.If you know who you are, what you do with modeling is what you want or are limited too. I have heard from geezers about wasting money for plastic locos with added gearboxes and can motors. I have HO tender drive locos where you can see the drive shaft between the tender and loco. I should be buying brass locos they say. Us geezers have nothing better to do than point out everyone else's mistakes or what we perceive as mistakes.Remember, model railroading is an analogy of the real thing and all analogies break down some where. People with intricate layouts have curves with a radius that scaled up to full scale, trains could never maneuver around them. Many also pride themselves on their models but use Kadee #5 couplers that are over size. There are numerous areas where the analogy breaks down.CheersRich
I suppose you must feel better after that RANT. Grow up. You are going to hear worse than that in the real world. You have control over your emotions and do not have to "allow" others to upset you.
I model with code 100 track. Plastic locos with DCC. Mostly "shake the box" models etc.
If you know who you are, what you do with modeling is what you want or are limited too. I have heard from geezers about wasting money for plastic locos with added gearboxes and can motors. I have HO tender drive locos where you can see the drive shaft between the tender and loco. I should be buying brass locos they say. Us geezers have nothing better to do than point out everyone else's mistakes or what we perceive as mistakes.
Remember, model railroading is an analogy of the real thing and all analogies break down some where. People with intricate layouts have curves with a radius that scaled up to full scale, trains could never maneuver around them. Many also pride themselves on their models but use Kadee #5 couplers that are over size. There are numerous areas where the analogy breaks down.
Cheers
Rich
Rich...Please don't take this personally...But isn't it a little hypocritical to be telling SqueakyWheels to grow up when there are so many others that accuse others of being wrong for having a 4 x 8? Sometimes things just get to us for no reason; but Squeak is right, too many people critize the plain 4 x 8 and those "basic" layouts that come about for one reason or another.
And I agree with you 100% when you say that "what you do with modeling is what you want or are limited too." Everyone should come to see this hobby as that. If more people saw it this way, then this hobby would be much more friendly to everyone.
Scott - Dispatcher, Norfolk Southern
vsmith wrote:I still think it would be alot of fun to do a 4x8 "racetrack", soup up your old engines with wings scoops and airdams and paint them up in NAStyCAR gaudy colors and race them roundy-round for cash!
I still think it would be alot of fun to do a 4x8 "racetrack", soup up your old engines with wings scoops and airdams and paint them up in NAStyCAR gaudy colors and race them roundy-round for cash!
I hate to break it to you, but it was done years ago by a company named Tyco.
Nelson
Ex-Southern 385 Being Hoisted
We're forgetting even one of the most famous layouts of all time, John Allen's Gorre & Daphetid, was a small pike in its first incarnation.
Some years back, some friends and I built an 8 X 12 (three 4 X 8s) layout for a real estate company to display in one of its buildings. We had not only a multiple loop for trains, but an oval slot car highway, as well. It was a lot of fun to build, operate and watch. Of course, it ran only for a few weeks each year.
To me, a 4 X 8 is a fun size. It's small enough to be manageable and finished relatively quickly and, even in HO, it's possible to add some switching and a little A-to-B shipping. My 4 X 8 modeled a branch line and the trains were small road switchers with 3-4 cars. I could carry lots of different loads between the small town in one corner and the commercial orchard in the opposite corner. Spurs in both allowed for some operating. Most of all, it allowed me to learn and enoy several aspects of model railroading.
As far as NASCAR, I enjoyed it back when it really was stock car racing and still watch now and then.
To sum up, I guess it's not the oval that counts, it's what you do with it.
Well Nascar bores the heck out of me, I don't like going in circles. I had the standard 4 by 8 when I first started in model railroading in 1958, but have graduated over the years to the current layout, which was started in 1987, and covers three decks in an area 28ft by 35 ft. There isn't a loop anywhere on it, because I enjoy proto operations over watching a train chase its tail around the loop. But that is me, and I certainly endorse anyone enjoying the hobby in their way, whether I would do it or not.
So Nascar can run circles, cats and dogs can run circles, I prefer a straight line.
Bob
My wife is a rabid NASCAR fan. In fact, we're driving eight hours to Michigan to see a race. My only demand is that she does not complain about $6 beers, or anything else I need to occupy my time. I never understood the racing in circles thing until I got into the stories behind the scenes. I don't think it's any more boring than watching baseball on TV. Blasphemy I know!
As for 4x8's, I enjoy watching trains go through the scenery. I've come to realize that my layout is really more of a diorama that has a train going through it. It's certainly not a model railroad at this point. I'm ok with that. I have been taking my time building it though, I don't want to finish it. That would ruin the fun.
secondhandmodeler wrote: As for 4x8's, I enjoy watching trains go through the scenery. I've come to realize that my layout is really more of a diorama that has a train going through it. It's certainly not a model railroad at this point. I'm ok with that. I have been taking my time building it though, I don't want to finish it. That would ruin the fun.
Only, I want to finish mine...
SteamFreak wrote: vsmith wrote:I still think it would be alot of fun to do a 4x8 "racetrack",I hate to break it to you, but it was done years ago by a company named Tyco.
vsmith wrote:I still think it would be alot of fun to do a 4x8 "racetrack",
Modeling the N&W freelanced at the height of their steam era in HO.
Daniel G.
Drat! I thought this was going to feature layouts using my two favorite Christmas presents... a train set and some slot cars!
Lee
Route of the Alpha Jets www.wmrywesternlines.net
loathar wrote: I don't like watching NASCAR tail chasers. That's why I watch NHRA DRAG RACING!!!It's more prototypical.
I don't like watching NASCAR tail chasers. That's why I watch NHRA DRAG RACING!!!
It's more prototypical.
I'm more of a SCORE kind of guy. Nothing like all out dirt racing through miles of terrain from one point to another, and even some races that are loops. Trophy Trucks with all out raw power just like your favorite locomotive moving with the conturs of the land. It's a rush.
So I guess I like point to point and loops...........I'm good!
--Zak Gardner
My Layout Blog: http://mrl369dude.blogspot.com
http://zgardner18.rrpicturearchives.net
VIEW SLIDE SHOW: CLICK ON PHOTO BELOW
Jeff But it's a dry heat!
Scott:
I love your "Steasel". Did EMD build them, or was it a local upgrade?
Did Ill Central run many of them?
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
SteamFreak wrote: Don't sweat it, Squeak. Model railroading can take many different forms and involve all sorts of different creativity, so don't let "The Man" get you down. In fact, here's an example of a different take on things. I guess this is how they do it in Norway.Model railroad in livingroom
Don't sweat it, Squeak. Model railroading can take many different forms and involve all sorts of different creativity, so don't let "The Man" get you down.
In fact, here's an example of a different take on things. I guess this is how they do it in Norway.
Wonderful!!! That's exactly what I want to do with my dad's old American Flyer train once I get my family room completed.(which at this rate might be a while) And I want to do a double, one running one way and one running the other so they pass. One is a passenger car set and I'll make the other freight instead. Can't wait!!!!!!
SteamFreak wrote: vsmith wrote: I still think it would be alot of fun to do a 4x8 "racetrack", soup up your old engines with wings scoops and airdams and paint them up in NAStyCAR gaudy colors and race them roundy-round for cash!I hate to break it to you, but it was done years ago by a company named Tyco.
vsmith wrote: I still think it would be alot of fun to do a 4x8 "racetrack", soup up your old engines with wings scoops and airdams and paint them up in NAStyCAR gaudy colors and race them roundy-round for cash!
NOOooooooooooooooo!!!!
Have fun with your trains
AltoonaRailroader wrote: SteamFreak wrote: Don't sweat it, Squeak. Model railroading can take many different forms and involve all sorts of different creativity, so don't let "The Man" get you down. In fact, here's an example of a different take on things. I guess this is how they do it in Norway.Model railroad in livingroomWonderful!!! That's exactly what I want to do with my dad's old American Flyer train once I get my family room completed.(which at this rate might be a while) And I want to do a double, one running one way and one running the other so they pass. One is a passenger car set and I'll make the other freight instead. Can't wait!!!!!!
I love AF. Please post pictures or a video when you get it done.
alco_fan wrote: SqueakyWheels wrote: For what reason do you wrath then?Huh? Dude, mix in some decaf.FWIW, I find oval auto racing extremely tedious.
SqueakyWheels wrote: For what reason do you wrath then?
For what reason do you wrath then?
Huh? Dude, mix in some decaf.
FWIW, I find oval auto racing extremely tedious.
I agree. Whoopdeedoo. Some guy jsut went around a track for the 300th time at 200mph. yaaaaaay...
I prefer European Formula 1. Now THOSE ain't no sirkul tracks!
And dirt rally! Can't forget dirt rally!
Racing locomotives, huh? All of a sudden, those annoying "Sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY!!!" radio commericals came to mind. Does that Tyco set come with crossovers, or do you have to have staggered starts and finish lines like track and field events to keep things even? I can imagine the Hot Wheels-like havoc if the locos make it to the crossovers at the same time...
I don't have much more than a 4'x8' space in my house to run my trains and even then it's not a permanent space. I guess one of the good things about snap-track is that I can keep mixing things up for each operating session. Once I get a permanent train spot, I want to make a switching yard layout with long spurs so I can connect it to a bigger layout later.
As for auto racing, I don't watch NASCAR unless its at Watkins Glen or Sears Poi... oops, Infineon Raceway. 200mph traffic jams don't really interest me. I much prefer rally, road racing, drifting, and autocrossing. Even better than watching racing, I've actually autocrossed, drifted (or at least tried to), and driven the NH International Speedway's road course on a track day. Once winter's over and I get a more competitive car, I plan to keep autoX'ing and road racing.