I am a huge Star Trek fan plus a bit of a Star Wars fan. While I am building a serious, operations-oriented, model railroad, I have a pair of Ewoks living in the mountains, I have a Montgomery Creek and a Mount Scott. Plus, the space for part of the town of Mystery was formed when a Borg sphere crashed into the top of Mount Laforge. Fun!
perrylamb I am a huge Star Trek fan plus a bit of a Star Wars fan. While I am building a serious, operations-oriented, model railroad, I have a pair of Ewoks living in the mountains, I have a Montgomery Creek and a Mount Scott. Plus, the space for part of the town of Mystery was formed when a Borg sphere crashed into the top of Mount Laforge. Fun!
That's sounds great. Do you have any pictures? Would love to see it.
York1 John
perrylambI have a pair of Ewoks living in the mountains
greg - Philadelphia & Reading / Reading
Actually, you don't have to go any further than Model Railroader Magazine for a Sci fi railroad. The Lunar Railroad you can model was one of my all time favorite articles in the April 1978 issue. I have always, (and still do) want to tackle this one. My current monster layout will likely not be finished before I die though........
Jim Semikoski
"Willoughby...Next stop, Willoughby"
More fantasy than science fiction, but....
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
wjstix "Willoughby...Next stop, Willoughby"
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
BigDaddy wjstix "Willoughby...Next stop, Willoughby" I know I saw it, but didn't remember the plot until I looked it up. I could have nightmares tonight.
I sure don't forget that one. Perfect hokey Ray Bradbury right up until those hearse doors swing shut!
I still jerk a little when coming off 271 onto 90 eastbound near Cleveland. That's the power of a good image tied to a name!
Reminds me of a girl I knew in high school who watched Jaws a bit too often. She said she was floating on a board in her backyard pool and got so nervous she had to get out of the water...
I wonder if anyone has a scene from the original Invaders from Mars, which is perhaps the greatest conscious effort to scare the crap out of mid-Fifties eight-year-olds that has ever been made. It has everything: Commie-era implacable soulless takeover style paranoia, parents in danger while authorities fribble, terrible things happening during lightning storms ... the whole nightmares-can-be-real ending. Like making a list of children's secret fears and sadistically hitting each one...
Interesting that the remake possessed none of this complexity and, with much 'better' production and urge to shock, almost failed to be frightening at all...
Even more appropriate original Twlight Zone episode - Stopover in a Quiet Town. Where the two main characters find themselves stuck in a model town, complete with train set, run by a giant alien.
And ever subtle in the TZ way - it was a little GIRL playing with the model town and train. And her new pet humans. There weren't many women model railroaders in those days, and silly marketing attemprs like the Lionel "Girl's Train" in pastel colors with a pink(!) locomotive was a recent memory.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
My aunt was 19 when War of the Worlds was broadcast in 1938. People thought it was true and came out of their homes to look at the skies and talk about the impending invasion.
BigDaddyPeople thought it was true and came out of their homes to look at the skies and talk about the impending invasion.
And that's an understatement, Henry. From what I read and heard it caused quite a bit of panic in some places. That's why that sort of broadcast was quickly banned from the airwaves and cannot be broadcast without some sort of regular interuption or caption indicating that the program is NOT real or is a reinactment. Since it was pre-TV, there was no way for the audience to validate whether the incident was true or not.
Even with the advent of television, people are still gullible. Just look at virtually the same spam emails that have perpetuated for the past 20 years.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
As I recall, the big problem with the War of the Worlds broadcast was that the Mercury Theater on the Air show was on at the same time as several other popular radio shows. Consequently, many people were flipping the dial between stations deciding what to listen to, meaning many people came in a few minutes late and missed the introduction to the show which included the usual theme music and that they were doing a radio play of H.G. Wells "War of the Worlds" novella that week. The late folks just heard the fake radio news updates etc. and thought they were real.
And then there is Snowpiercer.............
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkP97uJAr-4
wjstixAs I recall, the big problem with the War of the Worlds broadcast was that the Mercury Theater on the Air show was on at the same time as several other popular radio shows.
Oh, you don't know, then. Welles very carefully arranged the script and timing to have precisely this effect: the idea being that anyone 'tuning around' during the first commercial break would come upon what sounded like 'hot news' and stay for the entertainment. What he and the rest of the Mercury organization didn't realize was that so many people would be utterly taken in by it ... one of the early instances of 'the magic of radio'.
We had a veeeeeeery similar problem in the latter Seventies at WPRB. One exciting new 'cultural' program opportunity presented itself, recorded science-fiction broadcasts that would be provided on convenient tape reels or records and could be easily played back in a slot -- fit right into our eclectic programming mix. However (perhaps unsurprisingly given the station manager didn't always pre-read his copy when doing news, another horror story) nobody actually thought to listen to the programs before they were broadcast.
Now, remember this was back in the dark days of strict scrutiny at the FCC, especially of, shall we say, college-radio sorts of operation broadcasting at relatively high ERP. Remember Carlin's monologue on the seven deadly words? those applied to radio at the time. And so we come to ... presentation of a harmless-sounding story called "A Boy and his Dog".
And yes, I'm pretty sure Harlan Ellison did record this story for Alternate Worlds, and I'm pretty sure this was the source used for this broadcast...
The fun being precisely that the description of the story as new SF, and any warnings about potential language or subject matter, were at the beginning. If you tuned in while driving, or the kids decided to 'turn it some more, sugar' ... well, the calls started to come in a few minutes into the broadcast. The engineer on duty wasn't listening carefully ... he cued up whatever it was, started it playing, and went into Studio B with only half an ear on the program. It was bad for a while; station management walking around with white faces and pressed lips waiting for the official letter from the FCC lifting our broadcast license for profanity -- not one instance of it, either, if you know your Harlan Ellison.
I was given to understand the folks at the FCC were so unofficially amused at the circumstances that they let us off with a warning. But it was certainly unexpectedly exciting to susceptible parts of the public!
One of the highlights I remember the most is quite a few holes were shot through water towers.
People thought that an invasion was taking place and thought the water towers were landed spacecraft. I would have to believe that it was out-of-towners tuned in that did that.
Who in their right mind would shoot a hole through the water tower that they've been driving by for years.
TF
??? ???
Unless you're talking about something completely different, TF, I don't think too many listeners "saw" much of anything of the broadcast over their radios in 1938...
Okay then, maybe they were house guests but people shot holes through water towers thinking they were landed spacecraft during the Orson Welles War of the Worlds broadcast. I didn't say they saw anything, they just heard. Respectfully I don't see what the complication of understanding is.
Okay, TF, it took a few more re-reads of your earlier post to finally understand what you were saying. (When you said "shooting" I was thinkng camera; not gun.) Yea, I can see that happening knowing how H.G. Well's described the landing craft in his original story...
MisterBeasley More fantasy than science fiction, but....
I've always loved this picture. One of our favorite movies! Great modeling.
Oh do I got something for you....just not right now. Im in school but once I get back, I got an Atomic locomotive I’m working on that I could get pictures of. Model railroading for me is a hobby with 20 or more hobbies inside it and one of these includes designing sci fi locomotives and rolling stock. I once had an “SCP Containment” car with span bolsters. I might remake that some day!
Heres what ive been working on
TractionAction1700 Heres what ive been working on
That is really cool. Looking forward to seeing how it develops.
Visit the Chicago Valley Railroad for Chicago Trainspotting and Budget Model Railroading.
Reminiscent of a Russian project for 'portable nuclear electric power' I saw in the far distant past.
You won't need the firebox on the locomotive, as there is not going to be any need for radiant uptake in the steam generator. You might treat it as a high-pressure (1500psi) fireless locomotive, for which there is considerable industrial prototype material. Consider that modern nanoinsulation or multiple-shield insulation will let you lag a fireless locomotive very effectively with no more than 2" of jacket thickness ... but everything including the feed pipes from the NSSS to the 'locomotive' will need to be carefully lagged. Look at converted Kriegslok 8055 for some more detail ideas.
What is at the ends of the condenser sections that requires the span bolstered trucks?
If you're not familiar with the concept of phantom shielding, look it up and see where it might be applicable to this design. It's not as relevant as it would be in an aircraft, but depending on your particular operating 'reality' it might be useful.
TractionAction1700Heres what ive been working on
.
Nice looking effort. I hope to see it finished.
Thank you for sharing.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
What he said!
My middle kid isnt too into trains but keeps saying that once I get the layout up and running he is going to provide the needed "aliens and monsters." Anyone know if Daleks come in HO scale?
Andy
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Milwaukee native modeling the Milwaukee Road in 1950's Milwaukee.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/196857529@N03/
The Milwaukee Road WarriorAnyone know if Daleks come in HO scale?
How many do you need?
https://www.shapeways.com/product/997WAVNJ4/daleck02-4-ho-87-1-scale
Hmm, I may need to give a few of those a home.
Hey, who says the Doctor couldn't have, in his rush to escape the Daleks, set course for Reading, PA instead of Reading, England?
BigDaddy The Milwaukee Road Warrior Anyone know if Daleks come in HO scale? How many do you need? https://www.shapeways.com/product/997WAVNJ4/daleck02-4-ho-87-1-scale
The Milwaukee Road Warrior Anyone know if Daleks come in HO scale?
Oh my. I should have known lol. Awesome.
I just remembered that the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago had a few unprototypical figures in their rendition of Chicago! I seem to recall seeing a Hulk on a street and a Superman on a Skyscaper, but I honestly can’t remember specific’s, it’s been a while since I was there!
I do notice fantasy figures seem to be most present on Club and Display layouts, I guess they appeal to non-modeler visitors!
Regards, Isaac
I model my railroad and you model yours! I model my way and you model yours!
SciFi Fantasy Railroads - something I can do without! I don´t think thta SciFi and railroading mix well - one would think that in the ceturies to come the laws of physics are a thing of the past and you won´t need rails at all.
Happy times!
Ulrich (aka The Tin Man)
"You´re never too old for a happy childhood!"