Gents.... Last night I had an interesting conversation with an O scale modeling buddy who has just returned from an extended trip to Australia where he visited various layouts and friends down under. He told me of many fascinating things he saw and two of them struck me as particularly unique. For your amusement, I am passing them along thinking perhaps an S scale idea or two might germinate.
1. An N scale layout in western Australia depicts an ore extraction mine, loading facility, trains running down to the coast, unloading ore into ships, and then returning empty to the mine. OK, you say, what's so unusual about that? Well, the loading process is automated. The train goes slowly, but steadily, beneath the loading "device" and the flow of miniature ore is automatically turned on/off at just the appropriate times. Not one grain of spillage. Each car in the train is filled to heaping as it steadily advances. I thought of Ken Zieska when hearing of this accomplishment. This is just what is needed for those 12 zillion SHS ore cars Ken has on his layout. Up to the challenge Ken?? Then, the train progresses down towards the ship. As it moves along, automatically stopping/starting, each car is grabbed by a rotary hopper and tipped upside down, emptied into the ship, and replaced on the track. Then the next car, then another, etc., etc. -- all automatically. The secret is in the couplers. Well, they are not really couplers. The guy uses fishing line swivels. And it all worked flawlessly. In N scale!! In S scale, Ken Zieska ought to have a slam dunk easy project. Right, Ken? 2. Then there was the guy who scratchbuilds full scale length passenger cars, but has tight radius curves on his layout. How could that be? Well, these particular cars had two axles -- one at each end. Sort of like some European passenger cars. But, in Australia, the long passenger cars were heavy and needed more support. So, on the prototype, another axle was added in the center of the car. Thus, three axles in total. But the center axle on the model was rather special. The entire axle/journal boxes/bolster/etc. moved from side to side to accommodate the sharp curves. Neat, eh? And it was not just loosely slipping back and forth, it was "connected" to the end axles via some sort of linkage so that when the end axles turned, the center axle would shift to the side. Double neat, eh, eh?? Then I was handed a copy of Australia's leading model railroad magazine. It was all color, slick, full of advertisements, etc. Just like MR. But the similarity ended there. This mag was full of hard core construction and modeling articles. Like building brass fully equalized steam loco mechanisms. It was sort of like MR back in the 1950s when the labor required to build something was of no concern -- it was the challenge and satisfaction that mattered. Interesting to see at the least. Any new modeling projects come to mind lately? Can't wait to see Ken Z's unloading rotary dump facility next year on my way to the convention in Pontiac, MI. :>) Cheers...Ed L. To REPLY to the list, use REPLY ALL; to reply to the sender, use REPLY. For those of you on DIGEST mode, all REPLY messages go to the list (remember to edit the SUBJECT of your message). Change message settings, use our CALENDAR or LINKS, view shared files or photos, view the list archives, GO TO http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
