Anyone here model live steam, 1:8 scale, or other outdoor railroading?

[gmpullman]

SeeYou190

I have ridden along on a couple of speeder events in the Scale Rails of Southwest Florida speeder back in the day. It was a lot of fun. 

Had my share of speeder fun, too. Brought it home and the cat took over.

IMG_3144 by Edmund, on Flickr

Once the cat claimed it I couldn't get it back 

Edison by Edmund, on Flickr

Regards, Ed

[richhotrain]

Good looking cat, Ed.

Rich

[gmpullman]

Thanks, Rich 

That was Mr. Edison. He was a cat of few words and he was friendly and a loyal companion. Another rescue from the GE plant where I worked.

Regards, Ed

[richhotrain]

Ed, since you are speaking in the past tense, I assume that he is no longer with us. If so, sorry for your loss.

Rich

[SeeYou190]

My biggest hurdle to the speeder purchase is that my little Colorado really cannot pull it. The one in Bonita Springs also does not include a trailer.

I would need to rent a truck every time I went somewhere, and it I travel out-of-state, which I want to do, that would get expensive.

I really do not want to buy another vehicle.

I am sure this speeder ambition will pass soon. Just having a nice one so close by at a reasonable price is sparking desire.

-Kevin

[Mountaineer405]

Kevin,

I am sorry but I feel your innability to readily descern those rather obvious differences between the Kato F Unit nose and the Highliners F Unit nose is unfortunate. 

From the Highliners website kindly view the now uploaded nose images in my first blog post in this thread. Note too, it is the only "Thin Wall" F Unit cab (in plastic) and the singular F Unit with true, flush-fitting glass.

For too long this hobby has had to live with the unfortunate stigma that goes along with the term;  "Toy Trains".

I believe this stigma too be the actual impetus for a great many towards fine-scale modelling.  Otherwise, "make-believe" is the rule, and all the many negative connotaions that go with that term.

Sncerely, the 1987-introduced Kato nose was never hailed as "accurate".  I suppose it is O.K., but it is proportionately too narrow, the windows are positioned considerably (by several scale inches) too high and inset too deeply. The pilot is much too wide below the quarter round, there is no requisite centerline vertical crease, the parting line is just awful... I can go on.

From my experience, sculptors see these variations both immediately and as glaring differences.  Thank you.

--M405

 

[Mountaineer405]

A lot more than "10 Grand", or "100 hours" are required to acquire such "things". Trust me, on that.

 

The above 1/8 scale, N.Y.C. J3a Hudson miniature live steam Locomotive (at 12 feet long, it really is too big to be a "model") first appeared in print and for sale, within the pages of the July 1968 issue of Model Railroader, where I saw it --just as school ended for the summer.

 

That summer was terrible.  All I did was obssess over the thing. 

 

But the Universe moves in strange and curious ways, and some 37 years later a friend asked me if:

 

"You'd (I'd) like to take a look at a live steam 'Central J3a' in inchandahalf". 

 

Yup, the very one. So...... well, -- you know!

 

And, I STILL have that very same original issue of MR!  The Lord works in mysterious ways indeed!

[Mountaineer405]

Issac, firstly you do mean "none (F Unit noses) are perfect" don't you?  And you are wrong in that regard as the Highliner's F Unit nose is demonstrably, objectively perfect.

--M405