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Extinct beasts?

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Posted by MisterBeasley on Monday, May 5, 2008 4:16 PM

I've replaced all my horn-hooks with Kadees, so they are now dinosaurs:

As for Zombies, I've got some BLI "Engineers" with very pale paint jobs.  Gruesome, if you ask me.

It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse. 

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Posted by HEdward on Monday, May 5, 2008 9:48 AM
 Red Horse wrote:

I always thought it was from the movie Godzilla, you know when he attacks the commuter train in Hong Kong?

I have a 3" tall robot from the Lost in Space shows (the early ones NOT the newer movie) and I have it popping up at different locations from time to time, but right now I'm waiting on my Bag-O-Zombies to infest my lay out...LOL!

Zombies?  With my enormous talent at painting tiny plastic people, all my unpainted figure purchases are at risk of becoming zombies.  In appearance if not fact.

Hong Kong?  Godzilla is a Japanese creation.  Last I checked, Hong Kong was in China.  Would be nice to see a Bullet Train zip right past the big lumbering 'Zilla only to have him smash the rails in front of the oncoming train coming the other way.(fictionally only of course, I mean no harm to anyone in the real world)

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Posted by Walleye on Monday, May 5, 2008 7:30 AM
 HEdward wrote:

So Walleye, what dino is on your layout?

I confess that I don't have a single dino on my layout. But only because I haven't gone there yet, not from any philosophical opposition.

Honestly, my own approach to model railroading is best illustrated by saying that one of the roads I model is the Brasada Spur Line. Prototypically, of course.Big Smile [:D]

-Walleye

"Ilegitimi non carborundum."

-Wayne Ryback "Illegitimi non carborundum!"
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Posted by Red Horse on Monday, May 5, 2008 5:27 AM

I always thought it was from the movie Godzilla, you know when he attacks the commuter train in Hong Kong?

I have a 3" tall robot from the Lost in Space shows (the early ones NOT the newer movie) and I have it popping up at different locations from time to time, but right now I'm waiting on my Bag-O-Zombies to infest my lay out...LOL!

Please visit my Photobucket pics page. http://photobucket.com/Jesse_Red_Horse_Layout I am the King of my Layout, I can build or destroy the entire city on a whim or I can create a whole new city from scratch , it is good too be the King.
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Posted by Dave-the-Train on Monday, May 5, 2008 3:01 AM

What?  No dragons?  Confused [%-)]

 There used to be an exhibition layout that had a tiny 4wheel motor truck under a pet cat's toy mouse.  When things got quiet they would zoom it end to end.  The effects could be interesting. Laugh [(-D]

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Posted by tomikawaTT on Monday, May 5, 2008 12:26 AM

A few notes for previous posters:

Thomas has his pistons and main rods between the frames - not an unusual arrangement in England, but totally foreign to U.S. practice.

Dinosaur colors - until somebody invents a working time machine and sends a color camera back to check, we just don't know.  Somehow, I just don't think that anything the size of a bus or covered with armor and spines would need camoflage.

Rapid City's Dinosaur Park.  The students at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology used to paint a big 'M' on the brontosaur.  With that in mind, I worked up the following three panel cartoon:

  1. Professor Fuzzbutz is opening the door to his newly-constructed time machine so his assistant, Dingbat, can get aboard.
  2. As the time dials spin madly, the professor tells Dingbat, "Just think.  We'll finally be able to find out what dinosaurs actually looked like."
  3. The door is open, and Dingbat is peeking around its edge.  Professor Fuzzbutz is out of the machine, shouting, "I don't believe this!!!"  A herd of brontosaurs is going about its dinosaurian business - each with a big letter 'M' on its side.

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

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Posted by luvadj on Sunday, May 4, 2008 10:04 PM

 steamage wrote:
Their not exactly extinct, but I have a bad case of THEM! in the Los Angeles River on the layout.

My, my....THEM is in my all time sci-fi movie collection. When I reach for one off the shelf, the better half runs for another room Sign - Off Topic!! [#offtopic]......

Back on topic; I believe that it's a guy thing that's carried over from childhood. There wasn't a person I knew as a kid who didn't do silly things like Hot Wheel cars and plastic dinos on the train or Aurora slot car layout.

Bob Berger, C.O.O. N-ovation & Northwestern R.R.        My patio layout....SEE IT HERE

There's no place like ~/ ;)

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Posted by HEdward on Sunday, May 4, 2008 9:35 PM
 Walleye wrote:

 HEdwardz wrote:
Wait until my sons want Thomas and Percy on my HO tracks!

I suppose accurate, prototypical Thomas and Percy would be OK. Properly weathered, of course.

-Walleye

"Illegitimi non carborundum."

Weathered?  Neither of those engines was ever allowed to go a day without a washdown!  Proper weathering means being SPOTLESS!  Did you know that Thomas has no pistons?

I wonder if we can get DCC controlled facial expressions and computer interfaced speech functionality? 

So Walleye, what dino is on your layout?

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Posted by Walleye on Sunday, May 4, 2008 9:22 PM

 HEdwardz wrote:
Wait until my sons want Thomas and Percy on my HO tracks!

I suppose accurate, prototypical Thomas and Percy would be OK. Properly weathered, of course.

-Walleye

"Illegitimi non carborundum."

-Wayne Ryback "Illegitimi non carborundum!"
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Posted by HEdward on Sunday, May 4, 2008 8:53 PM
 Occams Razor wrote:

Haven't put a dinosaur on any layouts in the past, but I did stick a Sasquatch in the woods of a past layout.  Depending on who you talk to that's either realistic or not.

-Matt

Great Northern hired Sasquatch to keep fallen branches clear of the tracks.

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Posted by HEdward on Sunday, May 4, 2008 8:51 PM
 Walleye wrote:

 HEdward wrote:
[So you're an advocate for the prototype/rivet counting/must be exact to the day's headline folded on Mrs. Jones' doorstep modelers?  My dino is green.  Just green.  He stands around doing nothing in particular.  No interaction with the railroad, populace or livestock.  Does this make me some kind of trouble making rabble rouser?  Should I quit the hobby now since I don't have the correct giant reptile?  I'm right back to being cornfussed.Confused [%-)]

Getting the headline right is certainly a nice touch! As for the color of the dino: Since no one has ever SEEN an actual dinosaur skin, I suppose a certain amount of freelancing in this area has to be tolerated. But you shouldn't try to stretch it to features which are well-attested in the fossil record, like the number of toes on each foot. Setting a three-toed dino next to your prototypical-to-the-knot-on-the-bellrope locomotive will cause serious modelers to suspect that you're in this hobby just because you enjoy it, for Heaven's sake.

We wouldn't want people to think we're just a bunch of adults playing with kids' toys, now would we?Smile,Wink, & Grin [swg](BTW, that's a wink and a grin!)

-Walleye

Great,

I just checked and my only steamer, a 2-6-0, has no rope to it's bell!  Now Walleye is going to really let me have it.  How will I ever survive in this hobby if I can't get my bells to ring and my M&StL switcher never really existed in the prototype!  I'm totally ashamed.  Will you all please forgive me?  Can I ever be reformed?  Wait until my sons want Thomas and Percy on my HO tracks!Dunce [D)]<--me

Proud to be DD-2itized! 1:1 scale is too unrealistic. Twins are twice as nice!
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Posted by Occams Razor on Sunday, May 4, 2008 8:41 PM

Haven't put a dinosaur on any layouts in the past, but I did stick a Sasquatch in the woods of a past layout.  Depending on who you talk to that's either realistic or not.

-Matt

-Matt S. Modeling in HO & N
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Posted by lvanhen on Sunday, May 4, 2008 8:39 PM
If anyone remembers the triceratops scene from Jurassic Park, they shure wouldn't want them "mowing" your lawn - GIANT DOO DOO!!!Big Smile [:D]
Lou V H Photo by John
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Posted by Walleye on Sunday, May 4, 2008 8:28 PM

 HEdward wrote:
[So you're an advocate for the prototype/rivet counting/must be exact to the day's headline folded on Mrs. Jones' doorstep modelers?  My dino is green.  Just green.  He stands around doing nothing in particular.  No interaction with the railroad, populace or livestock.  Does this make me some kind of trouble making rabble rouser?  Should I quit the hobby now since I don't have the correct giant reptile?  I'm right back to being cornfussed.Confused [%-)]

Getting the headline right is certainly a nice touch! As for the color of the dino: Since no one has ever SEEN an actual dinosaur skin, I suppose a certain amount of freelancing in this area has to be tolerated. But you shouldn't try to stretch it to features which are well-attested in the fossil record, like the number of toes on each foot. Setting a three-toed dino next to your prototypical-to-the-knot-on-the-bellrope locomotive will cause serious modelers to suspect that you're in this hobby just because you enjoy it, for Heaven's sake.

We wouldn't want people to think we're just a bunch of adults playing with kids' toys, now would we?Smile,Wink, & Grin [swg](BTW, that's a wink and a grin!)

-Walleye

-Wayne Ryback "Illegitimi non carborundum!"
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Posted by HEdward on Sunday, May 4, 2008 8:21 PM
Actually, I completely respect and admire prototype copiers(oops)modelers.  I would personally draw the line at functional accuracy over protoype recreation.  If my layout has lets say, a loco out of service long before another engine on the layout came to be, I'm not sweating that detail.  I'm just amused that my dinosaur needs to be perfectly accurate whilst there are moose at Four Corners on another member's layout.
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Posted by twhite on Sunday, May 4, 2008 8:08 PM

Now, now, HEdward, LOL!  Besides, current thought about those loveable beasties seems to think that they weren't 'giant reptiles' at all, but some sort of semi-warm blooded crossover species related to present-day birds, whose evolution would have continued if it hadn't been for that nasty ol' Mazatlan Meteor! 

Frankly, I wouldn't mind at all having a pair of Triceratops mowing my front lawn once a week as long as they only charged Union Scale.   Just as long as I could keep the Velociraptors strictly in the back yard to scare little kids from coming over the fence into my pool.  I mean, "Hey, kids, you've got a choice, drown or get eaten.  Go back to the field and play Soccer, okay?" 

Actually, I'm thinking of resurrecting a Malcolm II as a 'pusher.'  I've got a brass Mountain that just doesn't seem to be cutting it between Deer Creek and Wagon Wheel Gap.  Sure miss Malcolm, by golly, but I'll be darned if I'll ask my grandson to return him. 

Tom Tongue [:P] 

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Posted by G Paine on Sunday, May 4, 2008 8:00 PM
 WP 3020 wrote:

Walthers had a seen from some mfg. I can't remember at one time you could get of a dinosaur dig. They also had a crashed saucer craft. Some times, at public displays, a club member or two will put an out of place item on the layout to see if anyone notices it. Sometimes it is a dinosaur or it might be a M113 APC parked by a mountain cabin.

The mfr was Busch; I know it's there somewhere, but I can not find it

The flying saucer is on sale

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/189-1010

They also have "Dinosaur Escape"

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/189-7636

Alien Arrival

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/189-7692

Fiat 500 w/ dino

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/189-48707

George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch 

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Posted by HEdward on Sunday, May 4, 2008 7:38 PM
 Walleye wrote:

Since John Allen had one on the G&D, it is OK to put dinosaurs on a serious model railroad, but only if:

 1) they are prototypically correct. (Accurate scale size, prototype color scheme and markings, correct number of teeth, etc.),

2) their fossils have actually been found in or near your prototype road's operating area,

and

3) they have a role in your layout's operations (clearing right-of-way, eating passengers, etc.)

Otherwise, they clearly don't belong. You can't put something on your layout just because it's fun and you like the way it looks.Smile,Wink, & Grin [swg]

-Walleye

So you're an advocate for the prototype/rivet counting/must be exact to the day's headline folded on Mrs. Jones' doorstep modelers?  My dino is green.  Just green.  He stands around doing nothing in particular.  No interaction with the railroad, populace or livestock.  Does this make me some kind of trouble making rabble rouser?  Should I quit the hobby now since I don't have the correct giant reptile?  I'm right back to being cornfussed.Confused [%-)]
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Posted by tomikawaTT on Saturday, May 3, 2008 7:02 PM
 jackn2mpu wrote:
 BRAKIE wrote:

I suppose the majority of us still see the funnier side of the hobby and and I dare say the kid in us comes through and we place funny things on our layout...My claim to fame at one club is 4" Godzilla railfanning complete with  camera made from ABS plastic!

Was wondering when someone was going to mention the ultimate dino/train combo. I understand there is a new Godzilla movie in the works. Wonder if they'll have trains in this one like the first one had?

If it's filmed in Japan or modeled on Japan, It'll be all but impossible to keep trains OUT of it!

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

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Posted by tsgtbob on Saturday, May 3, 2008 6:49 PM
I have a velociraptor on my layout, being shot at by the Arrista hunter figure. The dino is in the trees, the hunter is in plain sight. It's amazing how many folks don't see the dino right away, but they do see the hunter. After they sight down his rifle, they chuckle!
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Posted by twhite on Saturday, May 3, 2008 6:28 PM

alco49

That's what I tried to tell him--I know of at least one found in the Coast Range in Marin County, I believe.  He said it was an Icthyosaur and didn't count, LOL!   I asked him if anyone had informed the Icthyosaur about that little detail, and besides the Sierra was a flat coast at that time and it was quite possible that all the Cretacous fossils got swept into the Central Valley and buried when the Sierra started to lift.  We went on for hours.  A musician and an English professor arguing about Historical Geology.  You would have banged your head!

Tom Tongue [:P]  

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Posted by alco49 on Saturday, May 3, 2008 5:26 PM
 twhite wrote:

I was having fun with Malcolm my Triceratops one day, when a friend of mine remarked that there were no dinosaurs in the Sierra Nevada, because during the Cretacous Era, the Sierra Nevada did not exist, and California was under water.  "Have you ever heard of a dinosaur fossil being discovered in California?" he asked, obviously enjoying his superior geological knowledge. 

Yes, i've seen such fossils. Actually, California was only half under water at the time, just FYI.Smile,Wink, & Grin [swg]
Do it again, you still haven't got it right! I treat you as a model railroader not because you are a model railroader, but because I am a model railroader
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Posted by Walleye on Saturday, May 3, 2008 5:07 PM

Since John Allen had one on the G&D, it is OK to put dinosaurs on a serious model railroad, but only if:

 1) they are prototypically correct. (Accurate scale size, prototype color scheme and markings, correct number of teeth, etc.),

2) their fossils have actually been found in or near your prototype road's operating area,

and

3) they have a role in your layout's operations (clearing right-of-way, eating passengers, etc.)

Otherwise, they clearly don't belong. You can't put something on your layout just because it's fun and you like the way it looks.Smile,Wink, & Grin [swg]

-Walleye

-Wayne Ryback "Illegitimi non carborundum!"
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Posted by concretelackey on Saturday, May 3, 2008 3:56 PM

From a commercial standpoint I would say that having oddities on display are an attention grabber causing the veiwer to look at the display closer. So if Mothra was seen coming out of a tunnel it may give reason for more investigation and thereby increase the sales potential.

From a personal standpoint....it is just a conversation peice.

Ken aka "CL" "TIS QUITE EASY TO SCREW CONCRETE UP BUT TIS DARN NEAR IMPOSSIBLE TO UNSCREW IT"
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Posted by twhite on Saturday, May 3, 2008 1:33 PM

Steamage--

Every time you post that terrific photo, I get these neat chills--that movie scared the PANTS off of me when I was a kid and saw it in the theater.  I think my buddies and myself made 'ant' noises at each other for about a year after, LOL! 

Best "Big Bug" movie ever made, IMO. 

Tom

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Posted by steamage on Saturday, May 3, 2008 1:14 PM
Their not exactly extinct, but I have a bad case of THEM! in the Los Angeles River on the layout.

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Posted by fiatfan on Saturday, May 3, 2008 12:43 PM
 tomikawaTT wrote:

There's a prototype for everything!  Rapid City, SD, has Dinosaur Park, on the ridge that separates the two sides of the city, with 1:1 scale models of a variety of dino-critters scattered around.  The piece de resistance is the brontosaur on the top of the ridge, visible for miles.

There's a smaller dino-critter next to I-90 at Wall, SD, home of the world-famous Wall Drug Store.

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

One of my favorite spots!  I have hundreds of shots of sunsets and even some trains from up there.  My daughter (who lives in Rapid City) saved her son's first trip to Dinosaur Park for me, knowing how much I love to be up there.

 

Tom

Now back to your regularly scheduled topic. 

Life is simple - eat, drink, play with trains!

Go Big Red!

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Posted by Flashwave on Saturday, May 3, 2008 11:37 AM
 wm3798 wrote:

Dinosaurs are so pre-historic...

We get visited on occasion by alien robots!

Lee 

Still cool. But we have a Drop-off Agreement with a community of them. Ever try to watch an 0-4-0 try to push an autorack up the mountains as part of a passenger "Mix" train? Neither have I. But I will when I get things built. (And to get back on topic) Did you know Hasbro put out Dinosaur Minicons?

-Morgan

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Posted by jackn2mpu on Saturday, May 3, 2008 11:29 AM
 BRAKIE wrote:

 HEdward wrote:
In several public layouts that I've seen(even the motion display at the camera shop that I was manager of)they've had dinosaurs on the layout.  I've had a plastic dino since I was a kid and put it on all my layouts as well.  Does anyone know why so many hobby shops, public displays and us not so finicky modelers have them?  It's kinda weird that these long gone creatures have found homes on essentially technology displays.

 

I suppose the majority of us still see the funnier side of the hobby and and I dare say the kid in us comes through and we place funny things on our layout...My claim to fame at one club is 4" Godzilla railfanning complete with  camera made from ABS plastic!

Was wondering when someone was going to mention the ultimate dino/train combo. I understand there is a new Godzilla movie in the works. Wonder if they'll have trains in this one like the first one had?

de N2MPU Jack

Proud NRA Life Member and supporter of the 2nd. Amendment

God, guns, and rock and roll!

Modeling the NYC/NYNH&H in HO and CPRail/D&H in N

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Posted by twhite on Saturday, May 3, 2008 11:25 AM

I was having fun with Malcolm my Triceratops one day, when a friend of mine remarked that there were no dinosaurs in the Sierra Nevada, because during the Cretacous Era, the Sierra Nevada did not exist, and California was under water.  "Have you ever heard of a dinosaur fossil being discovered in California?" he asked, obviously enjoying his superior geological knowledge. 

I looked at Malcolm, busily spearing the end platform of my observation car as a rear-end helper and said, "He wandered in from Utah." 

"Um,"  my friend muttered. 

Malcolm didn't much care WHERE he came from, he was too busy pushing my observation car. 

Tom Tongue [:P]

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