Every modeler has had some experience with Murphy's Laws.
I have taken note of a few of these laws over the years and I'd like to share them with you.
Feel free to add to this list as you see fit.
Murphy's Laws
1) Xacto Knives have a thurst for human blood.
2) The chances of that freshly painted project landing painted side up on the carpet is directly proportionate to the cost of the carpet and the difficulty of the paint job to reproduce.
3) There is nothing more painful on this earth then a rail joiner shoved knuckle deep up under your fingernail, and the chances of you laying any significant amount of rail without this occuring are virtually nil.
Your turn!
Hot glue will always seek the shortest path from the point of application to your nearest finger.
No matter how carefully you measure your trackplan, when it comes time to build your layout you will find that one crucial measurement is off by at least 3 inches.
If you need a LH switch, your LHS will only have RH switches (and vice versa).
-George
"And the sons of Pullman porters and the sons of engineers ride their father's magic carpet made of steel..."
-Dan
Builder of Bowser steam! Railimages Site
- The smaller the part, the greater the distance it will sproing from betwixt your tweezer - so go to the furthest point from your workbench and crawl your way back.
- Within minutes of saying "No one will notice that", someone notices it.
Murphy's Law
5.) Glue no matter how sparelying applicated with always glue fingers together.
6.) If you think you have wired the track correctly reverse the wires. It will run correctly now.
7.) No matter how well painted your thumbprint will always end up on teh model somewhere
8.) No matter how well laid the track is. A steam engine, or six axle engine will always find the flaws
9.) Any turnout not fully thrown will find the most expensinve car/engine to derail. Thus ALWAYS throwing said piece to the nearest piece of concrete.
10.) No matter how well padded/carpeted the show floor is, any decending piece of equipment will find the barest portions of said floor.
Want the manufacturers to produce a specific engine or freight car ??? .... spend countless hours and dollars and scratch build one. Just as the finishing touches are drying up, someone will announce an exact match to what you want coming out next month .... twice the quality and half the price as the one you've just spent the last six months on !!!!
Mark.
¡ uʍop ǝpısdn sı ǝɹnʇɐuƃıs ʎɯ 'dlǝɥ
mikesmowers wrote: Super Glue and fingers must have a love affair. Mike
Funny you should mention that.
I got to thinking about this when I read of a man who accidentally superglued his lips together with his tongue sticking out. He didn't realize that the "water" on his hand was really superglue when he wiped his mouth. The rest, as they say, is history.
Only ten percent of time previously set aside exclusively for layout work will be spent exclusively on the layout.
As soon as the budget expands to accommodate the next vital piece of the project, the price will go up.
The wood screws are always in the wrong place. They gravitate to future stream beds and gullies.
The one piece of rolling stock not tested is the one that hits the edge of the tunnel portal.
The highest degree of meticulous planning and preparation stands no chance against one moment of bad luck.
When called to task, one will always forget Murphy's Laws until the opportunity to avert disaster has passed.
"I am lapidary but not eristic when I use big words." - William F. Buckley
I haven't been sleeping. I'm afraid I'll dream I'm in a coma and then wake up unconscious. -Stephen Wright
Only 3 out of 4 legs of the train table reach the floor. Corollary, turning the table only changes which 3.
Enjoy
Paul
Murphy's Law and modelling? What about Murphy's Law and real life?
I've lost count of th enumber of times I've walked past a door handle and the height is right, the speed is right and the timing is right for it to catch your sleeve as you pass and hurl you back again! And if you've something in your hand!!! Forget it. Even worse if it's a small HO part. From that point on you will be on your hands and knees for days. Then there's the disappearing everything. You know. The screwdriver you put down just at your side so all you have to do is reach out for it when you want it. Until you want it. Then it not only disappears off the face of the planet in an instant it re-appears on the opposite side of the room. Of course, you have to put down what you're doing just to go get it! Which defeats the whole object of putting it close ot hand in the first place.
Is this Murphy's Law or is it I'm getting really old?????????
Ray Breyer
Modeling the NKP's Peoria Division, circa 1943
The number of rail joiners you have on hand is always less than you need to finish.
Mike Tennent
The "slightly too long" switch machine mounting screw, driven upward from below, will surface directly under a point hinge.
If you model the late steam era, some well-meaning relative will gift you with an articulated container carrier. If, OTOH, your locos all have ditch lights, that same relative will present you with a bright yellow 1920-era Old Dutch Cleanser double-sheathed wood box car.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Fellers,
1.) Regardless of the size of your work bench, you will never have more than 18X12 inches of space to work within.
2.) Clutter expands to fill all available space.
3.) The extension cord you bought will be 6" too short for the job you had in mind, even though you measured it hand. Twice.
5.) At some point during your painting session, you will discover that you've been rinsing the paintbrush in your coffee, rather than the water.
6.) No matter the depth of your research, some geek will quickly point out that such-and-such herald wasn't in use until 6 months after the period you are modelling. And thenproceed to remind everyone about that fact for rest of your (or his) lifetime.
7.) After planning dilligently all of the new benchwork, and purchasing all the materials, as soon as you begin construction you will remember that the dimensions in "dimensional lumber" are, in fact, approximate. Apparently so is the concept of "quality control" to the mill.
Respects,
Gwedd wrote: 1.) Regardless of the size of your work bench, you will never have more than 18X12 inches of space to work within.
Yup, that's me....check!
Check....that's me again!
I always buy in two's for just such an emergency!
I've found that the red paint actually enhances the flavor of the coffee!
Hey, I know that guy!
I'm doing benchwork now and this is a tender subject for me!
Loco wrote:After months of searching, you finally find and purchase that special something on eBay, only to see another pop up and sell for much less the following week. (So naturally you buy that one so you feel better about the average cost of both LOL)
Isn't that how it got it's nickname: EvilBAY?
Masking an air brushing project takes 10 times as long as the painting
The more complex the masking, the higher the probability of a color leak - even in you repeat the last color to seal the tape.
When you open the paint bottle of the most important color, you find it has gone solid or to jell even though it looks perfect. Collary -
reklein wrote:The tool you thought you lost will reappear when you return from the hardware store with a new one.
Trynnallen wrote: 6.) If you think you have wired the track correctly reverse the wires. It will run correctly now.
That missing tool is shorting the track, behind a building, in a tunnel, or some other obscure place.
You buy a new clamp that says it's designed not to get glued to the workpiece, and quickly discover the way to glue it to everything.
To repeat an old saying - Murphy was an optimist.
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
If I walk into the layout room without my shoes on
I will find every track spike I lost for the last year
TerryinTexas
See my Web Site Here
http://conewriversubdivision.yolasite.com/
I got another one, no matter how carefuly you measure the height needed for the bridge abutement, you will always cut it too short.
Same goes to the wiring, it's either too long or too short, never just the right length.
Or you spent countless hours design and build a layout and about 70% finish, you always change your mind abut something.
And how about this? When you have multiple hobbies, ou always went crazy on one and then decide you like the other one better after spent hndreds on new equipment or new piece and they just lying there for months.
<>1) when picking up the soldering iron, your hand will instinctively reach for the warm end.
Corrollary:
it's very hard to solder with blister on two fingers and a thumb.
Modeling the Rio Grande Southern First District circa 1938-1946 in HOn3.
LOL I feel for you bro!
How about this one, you fell in love with Union Pacific and bought everything UP, then you see other people's PRR and now you want PRR! LOL And just as of last weekend, saw Souther Pacific and now I want Southern Pacific, gees, it never ends!
Dave Vollmer wrote:OR, you could model Pennsy in HO, switch to N after selling off all your stuff, and then suddenly BLI, MTH, and PCM flood the HO market with quality RTR Pennsy steam (and GG1s). Ugh.
No matter how fine a soldering tip you find, you will always have a place where it is too thick to reach.
No matter how well you fix and nail your track on curves, gentle or tight, and then use a cut-off or plastic joiner, you will end up with a distinct kink.
When you finally think you have a good handle on electrical connectivity and keeping the wiring all sorted out, you will get a vexing short soon thereafter. (I just experienced this with a homemade turnout on which I had forgotten to gap the frog rails since they are all soldered to PCB ties. What puzzles me is that this turnout was on an unpowered/unwired spur and was beyond no fewer than three (3!!!) insulfrog Peco #6's! Someone explain that to me.)
Regardless of the care with which you measure the sliding rail, it will be too _________ when you attempt to mate the new ends to the previously placed section.
Your locomotives, especially if they are steamers, will turn their noses up at your tracks...period. You will have to abase yourself, pray to graven images, promise your next child to a demon, and pomise to never let garlic pass your lips if you ever want them to negotiate your entire trackplan.
selector wrote:... You will have to abase yourself, pray to graven images, promise your next child to a demon, and pomise to never let garlic pass your lips if you ever want them to negotiate your entire trackplan.
And they STILL don't!
Regards,
John
"You are what you eat," said a wise old man. Oh Lord, if it's true, I'm a garbage can.