How about this fad?
CLEANING TRACK WITH STEEL WOOL! Enough people did this in the 40's and 50's that Lindsay put screens on their motors to keep bits of steel from getting sucked in and shorting out the motors. I've seen old mechanisms at train shows that were absolutely clogged with the stuff. Good thing we have plenty of alternatives now!
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After reading this, I'd say about 90% of the "terrible" items listed were actually best available technology for the time and without them we might not have any model railroading hobby. If model railroading is still around in 50 years there will be someone doing a thread like this saying model building was such a bad idea since they will have holographic layouts.
jim
I don't think that's so ridiculous. Not that long ago I saw a feature on the Wazzup Dock Railroad. And I'm still seeing punny names for industries on published track plans.
As for me, my model railroad will have Princess Dairies, North American Veeblefetzer (from Mad magazine, and I'm hoping to display Arthur the potted plant in a window), a Shotz brewery (from Laverne & Shirley) and Our Lady of Perpetual Guilt (Roman Catholic, of course, like me). One town is called Clarksville (as in "last train to..."). The herald for my Omaha Southern Railroad will be based on the chakram (a circular weapon) from the later seasons of Xena: Warrior Princess.
John Armstrong kept this sort of thing up throughout his life. Even manufacturers still get into the act. I saw a commercial model of a used-car lot, and the phone number was BR-549, a reference to a continuing sketch on "Hee Haw". And there are plenty of real-life names that are deliberately or accidentally funny: Diehl Ford (pronounced "deal") in Bellingham, Washington; the Rust Tractor Company in Albuquerque. Both are family names. And then there was (also in Albuquerque) A Real Muffler Shop, so named to get it placed first in the phone book, which concluded its ads with: "...because we're not a pretend muffler shop, we're A Real Muffler Shop!"
It's a matter of personal preference. Not all of us want to be prototype-specific!
riogrande5761 cold steal d.c.c. Having a laugh aren't you. How do you figure DCC fits the "terrible/hilarious/just plain bad ideas" when it has been gaining steam for well over 20 years now and most loco's are either DCC ready or have DCC installed. Uh huh, thought so. Enjoy yourself.
cold steal d.c.c.
Having a laugh aren't you. How do you figure DCC fits the "terrible/hilarious/just plain bad ideas" when it has been gaining steam for well over 20 years now and most loco's are either DCC ready or have DCC installed. Uh huh, thought so. Enjoy yourself.
I'm with you on that, though I don't use DCC myself. On that subject, not a bad idea but one that came too early was Astrac, by General Electric. This was the first ancestor of DCC, and thoroughly tested by Linn Westcott, who gave it a thumbs-up. The problems were several: there were only five channels, and Channel 3 was not available as a stand-alone; it was bulky for HO, as components were not solid-state (and computer chips were not even a gleam in anyone's eye in 1963), though part of the casing could be pared away; a receiver was set to a single fixed channel, so two locomotives set to the same channel would either have to be doubleheaded or not used at the same time. As a throttle it was great, however. GE soon withdrew support for the product and Astrac was already history before 1970.
BRAKIE CSX_road_slug For "just plain bad" I nominate: Horn-hook (X2F) couplers! Ken,Those X2F couplers was needed in their day and when properly body mounted they worked quite well. You see back then we had couplers,couplers every where that wouldn't mate with other brands and most worked quite poorly. The X2F was a good idea at the time but,the X2F turned bad when companies like Tyco,Mantua,Life Like and other like manufacturers cheapen them and placed them on the trucks instead of the body. We have crappy couplers on the market that's worst then the X2F.
CSX_road_slug For "just plain bad" I nominate: Horn-hook (X2F) couplers!
For "just plain bad" I nominate: Horn-hook (X2F) couplers!
Ken,Those X2F couplers was needed in their day and when properly body mounted they worked quite well.
You see back then we had couplers,couplers every where that wouldn't mate with other brands and most worked quite poorly.
The X2F was a good idea at the time but,the X2F turned bad when companies like Tyco,Mantua,Life Like and other like manufacturers cheapen them and placed them on the trucks instead of the body.
We have crappy couplers on the market that's worst then the X2F.
For details on the "coupler wars", get an All-Access Pass and read about the subject in the back issues from the 1950s. If Kadee couplers had turned up just a couple of years sooner it might have been moot. Linn Westcott was very picky about horn-hooks; he refused to call them X2F couplers because the actual products had an integral spring instead of the separate springs of the design, or NMRA couplers because although the committee that created them (headed by famous model railroader Paul Mallery) operated under NMRA auspices, they were never endorsed by the NMRA. Oddly enough, even the NMRA website sometimes calls them "NMRA" couplers!
The idea was to produce something that worked and was simple to manufacture, and the X2F met those requirements. But truck mountings on the sharp curves of most model railroads of the 1960s compromised its efficiency, as with the bulky Rapido couplers of N scale later. (This too was a compromise, adopted by European manufacturers and already in place when N scale came to the U.S. 50 years ago. Lone Star's models were actually 1:152 and called OOO "gauge", later regauged to N but not re-scaled.)
The trend today is for broader curves on all but the smallest of layouts, and knuckle couplers as pioneered by Kadee in the smaller scales. (Lionel, of course, had truck-mounted knuckle couplers since the late 1930s, and American Flyer used them in S scale from around 1947). But the humble X2F served its purpose in providing inexpensive train sets and equipment for beginning modelers.
Milepost 266.2 chutton01 Of course, in today's modeling marketplace, no serious manufacturer would ever consider producing freight cars in fantasy corporate liveries... Those are very Lionel-ish, but hardly as bad as tootsie roll tank cars and Chef Boyardee four bay open hoppers.
chutton01 Of course, in today's modeling marketplace, no serious manufacturer would ever consider producing freight cars in fantasy corporate liveries...
Of course, in today's modeling marketplace, no serious manufacturer would ever consider producing freight cars in fantasy corporate liveries...
Those are very Lionel-ish, but hardly as bad as tootsie roll tank cars and Chef Boyardee four bay open hoppers.
How about those collectible beer cars (reefers with assorted craft brewery liveries)? Anyway, the prototype does enough of that, from the NS heritage fleet to the blue "Take an Alberta Break" and green "Saskatchewan!" covered hoppers. Or Guilford renaming itself the Pan American Railroad and using the old airline logo as its herald. As even freight lines are not as ubiquitous as they once were, the idea of rolling billboards has faded away, though we still see some colorful company-owned cars, mainly from chemical companies.
BRAKIE One thing I think is worth mentioning as a very bad modeling idea but,was still popular during the 50s... How many can recall making lead figures in wooden molds? The lead could be bought in square strips at hardware stores or removed from old car batteries then melted and poured into a figure mold. A lot of those figures you see in photos of the G&D and other layouts of that time was made that way and IIRC there was articles in MR on making these lead figures. There was no safety involved in making these figures.
One thing I think is worth mentioning as a very bad modeling idea but,was still popular during the 50s...
How many can recall making lead figures in wooden molds? The lead could be bought in square strips at hardware stores or removed from old car batteries then melted and poured into a figure mold.
A lot of those figures you see in photos of the G&D and other layouts of that time was made that way and IIRC there was articles in MR on making these lead figures.
There was no safety involved in making these figures.
This used to be fairly common for military modelers, especially those who wargame with miniature figures. Commercial kits were available as late as the 1980s, using rubber molds secured with wood strips (because of the heat) and thick rubber bands. Prince August was one manufacturer; they also sold lead and other appropriate accessories. They did caution about vapor from the melted lead as well as the heat. I still have several molds, accessories and lead bars.
Similar warnings came with products like Cerro Bend and Cerro Safe, which model railroaders used. I haven't seen the articles in question, but I'm sure the authors warned about hot metal. Similarly, lead has been used to give locomotives extra weight for traction. Lead is not a metal to be regarded lightly, but even without protective gear it can be handled safely when cold - just wash your hands, carefully clean up any filings, and you shouldn't have food or drinks around a modeling project anyway.
Back when there was a controversy over lead and it was abolished for wargaming and fantasy miniature figures, an exemption was granted for model railroaders precisely because of the uses we made of lead and the attention to safety. I remember this because I worked for a wargaming wholesaler/mail order store and manufacturers were scrambling to change over to pewter. (And it gave Games Workshop an opportunity to raise prices again!)
Model railroaders continue to use dangerous chemicals, with appropriate warnings. Photoetching involves acid, for instance. At one time carbon tetrachloride was used to clean track (and available over-the-counter as a spot remover for clothing). And once upon a time, when battery power was the norm (not all homes were wired for electricity), there was more than one case of model railroaders being electrocuted by their homemade power supplies. This sort of thing is why MR has a stock warning about 110V connections in wiring diagrams.
On the subject of brass track, it was popular because it looked like real rail (except the shiny surface where the wheels ran), but fell out of popularity because it had to be cleaned much more frequently. This was due to oxidation, which made the sides of the rails look even better; but the oxidized layer was non-conductive. Nickel silver was already commonly available in the 1960s, and N scale used it exclusively, as far as I can remember.
I remember an article in MR, about the early history of electric trains. One set had the rails powered...straight to the electrical outlet!
Hmmm. That would keep the cats off the layout, huh?
I think I still have that mag and article. Anyone else remember it?
I don't either. My wife gets her hair done at a place called Curl Up And Dye. There are lots of funny business names in the world as well as funny place names (off the top of my head, I can think of 3 actual place names that would get me permanently banned if I posted them).
Some funny business names that actually exist. http://www.pleated-jeans.com/2013/10/07/20-of-the-funniest-business-names-of-all-time/
Here's a few place names: http://mentalfloss.com/article/27987/15-places-strange-names-and-how-they-got-them
Think of it this way. You could always live in Dull, Scotland or Boring, Oregon. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-28691197
Andre
The X2F sure has had a history of both good and bad. All my freight cars have kadee but some older IHC, AHM, Rivorossi passenger cars I keep the X2F's but only having a transition car in front with a knuckle coupler. nobody can notice the X2F's when running or sitting on a siding. I don't back them up or make up a passenger train in a yard so for now the X2F's work just fine.
andrechapelonHere's a few place names: http://mentalfloss.com/article/27987/15-places-strange-names-and-how-they-got-them Think of it this way. You could always live in Dull, Scotland or Boring, Oregon. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-28691197 Andre
Interestingly, the second of your links I quoted (regarding Dull, Scotland) is authored by one "Glenn Campbell" and the prior link mentions a town in the U.S. named Glen Campbell. The same name, sans one "n". Coincidence?
I think not.
There was a small restaurant in Reedsport, Oregon called
Half Fast Cafe. I shoulda took a picture.
Javelina a town in the U.S. named Glen Campbell.
The Scottish naming tradition used "Glen" to mean valley. So Glen Campbell would be first settled by a Campbell.
Dave
Atlas had brass rail too in N.
BroadwayPhilFor details on the "coupler wars", get an All-Access Pass and read about the subject in the back issues from the 1950s. If Kadee couplers had turned up just a couple of years sooner it might have been moot. Linn Westcott was very picky about horn-hooks; he refused to call them X2F couplers because the actual products had an integral spring instead of the separate springs of the design, or NMRA couplers because although the committee that created them (headed by famous model railroader Paul Mallery) operated under NMRA auspices, they were never endorsed by the NMRA. Oddly enough, even the NMRA website sometimes calls them "NMRA" couplers!
Actually my Dad was a modeler and I have first hand knowledge on how most of the couplers worked and the best of the lot was Bakers but,X2F took hold and flourished.
Lynn pushed the idea of a standard coupler instead of the hodge podge collection of couplers we had.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
ACY I don't think anybody has mentioned brass track
Brass track carried the HO element of the hobby for about 50 years. Nickel silver track came out in the early 1960s and almost everyone ignored it until the 1980s when suddenly everyone who had been ignoring it all those years suddenly started yelling brass was bad. ??? Never understood that lack of awareness.
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I don't think brass rail was a fad or a bad idea as many of us still utilize it today. It never warranted as bad a rap as it still gets from many out there. It may not work as well for DCC but works fine for DC users.
Dave, you don't enjoy ramming your Athearn Genesis engines with slot cars? Jim
Jim
You've got more money than me if you can afford to buy detailed exensive models just to ram them with slot cars. I mean, who wouldn't want to do that?
jmbjmb After reading this, I'd say about 90% of the "terrible" items listed were actually best available technology for the time and without them we might not have any model railroading hobby. jim
After reading this, I'd say about 90% of the "terrible" items listed were actually best available technology for the time and without them we might not have any model railroading hobby. jim
I'm going to have to agree with this one. But as is the MO for this forum, people to turn topics into what suites them, not what the topic is supposed to be about. Sort of a coffee clutch for remembering the olden days for train guys.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
riogrande5761coffee clutch
not to shift gears, but it is coffee klatch
maxman riogrande5761 coffee clutch not to shift gears, but it is coffee klatch
riogrande5761 coffee clutch
Thats a new one on me, maybe it depends on what part of the country you live in? For me it's northern California, Texas, Indiana, New York and Virginia. I've always heard "Clutch". You know the old saying, YMMV.
eaglescout don't think brass rail was a fad or a bad idea as many of us still utilize it today. It never warranted as bad a rap as it still gets from many out there. It may not work as well for DCC but works fine for DC users.
Where the bad rap came from was from the pages of MR and RMC in the form of infomercial articles.
Brass track worked back then and it still works today.
riogrande5761 riogrande5761 coffee clutch not to shift gears, but it is coffee klatch Thats a new one on me, maybe it depends on what part of the country you live in? For me it's northern California, Texas, Indiana, New York and Virginia. I've always heard "Clutch". You know the old saying, YMMV.
riogrande5761 coffee clutch not to shift gears, but it is coffee klatch
Just plain wrong: http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/coffee.html
Sorry, just trying to provide some feedback.
Wouldn't want Big Dog to copy your post and have the incorrect word inside his copy cup.
Coffee clutch is just a terrible phrase that should have died off with brass track.
Anyway, it's just a relatively minor cosmetic change.
maxman Just plain wrong: http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/coffee.html Sorry, just trying to provide some feedback. Wouldn't want Big Dog to copy your post and have the incorrect word inside his copy cup. Coffee clutch is just a terrible phrase that should have died off with brass track. Anyway, it's just a relatively minor cosmetic change.
I don't know how I'm going to break it to all those people who have been saying it "wrong" for all these years. Well, I guess they unwittingly "coined" a new term - best let Wiki and Urban Dictionary know, heh heh.
Anyway, don't shoot the messenger, like thousands of others, I'm just passing on what I've heard as a popular saying for many years.
duplicate due to lag glitch
maxmanCoffee clutch
That term been use for years in some areas of the country just like coffee fix,coffee crutche,cup of mud,cup of joe,java and my favorite 'eye opener' plus a host of other names.
Another my Grandfather use was 'tender water' if the coffee was too weak for his taste and that was any coffee that wasn't strong enough to hold a spoon up.
BRAKIE'tender water'
aka: bilge water and panther pee
Southgate - yes - power straight from the wall socket to the rails was very common in pre WWI Europe. Marklin and Bing both offered numerous sets that ran off of 220v. I knew a collector many years ago whose entire train collection was made up of these trains. The insulation on the center rail was something to see and he was very careful not to run them too fast - in case of a derailment.
BRAKIE eaglescout don't think brass rail was a fad or a bad idea as many of us still utilize it today. It never warranted as bad a rap as it still gets from many out there. It may not work as well for DCC but works fine for DC users. Where the bad rap came from was from the pages of MR and RMC in the form of infomercial articles. Brass track worked back then and it still works today.
I agree that brass track works fine. My first layouts used brass track both sectional and fiber tie flex track from Atlas.
I don't personally like the color as well as NS, but operationally it's fine.
Enjoy
Paul
Jetrock - It's my understanding that the biggest deposits of unobtainium can be found on Pandora
I see all the comments about the X2F coupler. True, it was ugly. And also true, many manufacturer's versions were lousy at best. But . . . as many have pointed out, it was better than a lot that were available before, and it became sort of a standard until modellers made the Kadee the defacto standard.
I bought my first HO models (in 1957) from a fellow who decided to get out of model railroading (he later got back in, and became a very accomplished modeller). All the equipment had dummy couplers . . . they sure looked good, but they still were dummies. I soon changed everything to X2F, and that's what I used until the mid-70s or so. They, unlike some other things people have cited, served a purpose.