From: roy inman Unless we can find sufficient documentation <snip> why would an Evans auto loader, open variety that was seen on maybe only the NYC, the UP and the ATSF, not be a viable project? <snip> And be careful who you are calling a "fringe element." <snip> --------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi Roy... Have you contacted the New York Central System Historical Society? They have huge files of drawings and photos. Likewise, maybe the UP and ATSF historical organizations. Not all things known to mankind can be found on the internet -- although the internet is getting closer to that point. If you can find an accurate model in another scale, contact the company that made the accurate model and ask them where they got their documentation. Offer to buy it from them since they will not need it anymore. Offer to pay for copies if they do not want to sell it. Is there a museum somewhere that might have one? With all the S guys on this List, one of us probably lives within driving distance of an RR museum you specify. Then, of course, there is the Steam Era Freight Car List on Yahoo Groups. Possibly some of them will have some information. Also, has anyone contacted the Evans Corporation (or successor company) to see if they can help with blueprints, etc. As an example of this technique, Budd car documentation is available from Budd Corp's new owner -- Bombardier (sp?) in Canada. Pay an hourly fee (not cheap) and they will search their archives for what you want. No guarantee of results, but an honest effort. Then, of course, there is the NMRA's Kalmbach Library which will also conduct searches for you at no (or little) cost if you are an NMRA member which many of us are. Jim Kindraka has said that prototype research is an enjoyable and challenging activity all by itself. Glad he enjoys it and I can just buy his brass models and avoid all the headaches of finding obscure stuff hidden away in people's drawers. Maybe Jim can offer you some other avenues to follow. There are libraries in Denver, Sacramento and other places that have extensive collections of photos and drawings. Public libraries are a resource to examine. Not to mention commercial sellers of RR photographs. Lots of those guys out there. I am sure other folks on this List will have some ideas worth pursuing. Twiddling with the keyboard on your home computer while sitting in a comfy chair sipping a brewsky is just scratching the surface. For the really good stuff, ya gotta scratch deeper. You need to draw blood..... Get off the internet and try the real world. (Friendly jibe in case it did not come across that way.) In my opinion, there is no reason why the Evans Auto Loader cannot be a successful project in S scale. Ya just gotta match up the production quantities with the customer demand and then match that to a particular production process. Not easy to get super precise about either of those quantities, but if you view under 100 units as what could be sold, there is no point in looking for hard tooling made in China and an RTR product. For under 100 units, you might consider a garage shop operator making a cast resin kit of some kind. Don't forget the decals. Ya gotta get some artwork made up. If Lionel and Athearn made auto racks, it shows there is some sort of a following for that type of car. What the numbers are for S scale is anybody's guess right now. I'd go for the documentation first and worry about the numbers later -- and only if you can find the documentation. There are other firms out there besides SHS and Jim King if they choose to "pass" on this particular project. Find some guy who will be willing to make only 25 of them and they will sell out in a flash. Maybe BTS would be willing to make this older style auto rack car in addition to the newer style auto rack they have talked about already. You will have yours and the rest don't matter anyway. Unless you consider this project as a magnet for drawing in more S scale guys. In that case, you will need a sugar daddy to finance the whole enchilada. Sugar daddies do exist, but ya gotta hunt 'em down. There is a small sugar daddy down in Texas that helped finance Kaslo's NYC caboose kit. Maybe he could be enticed since he lives in ATSF territory and might have a hankering the ATSF version of the Evans Auto Rack. Never know until ya ask..... If you can show that these cars traveled near and far over far flung RR systems, I am not sure it will matter how many different railroads actually owned cars like this. The NYC went from the Atlantic Ocean to Chicago. The ATSF went from Chicago to the Pacific Ocean. That covers a lot of territory without even including the UP which covers a lot of places as well. Were these cars restricted to only certain more localized areas? Or were they in general use all over? I sure do not know, but knowing that would be very helpful to your marketing efforts. Now, be honest, isn't this a heck of a lot more fun that simply trundling down to your local hobby shop and buying a pre-made auto rack car off the shelf. One that looks just like all the others on various layouts. Whoooooeeeee.........."more fun than any one human is entitled to have".....as Mr. Jackman would say. By the way, if all of us consider ourselves a "fringe element" does that not make us really "mainstream" -- at least on the S scale planet? Sort of like the hippies rebelling against conformity, but if you do not have long hair they will not give you the time of day. Or something like that........ I'm having fun. How about you.........Cheers....Ed L.
-----Original Message----- From: roy inman [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, May 18, 2007 11:04 AM To: Edward Loizeaux; List, S scale Subject: Re: {S-Scale List} Tolerance........ Ed, et al; Looks as if there may not be enough interest in the minds of Jim King and Don Thompson to bring the auto carrier to market. Unless we can find sufficient documentation to show that the 53'6" version was used pretty much all over the country on an assortment of roads. So that begs the question in my alleged mind: If we are a minority scale and like to have things that are different and not "mainstream," why would an Evans auto loader, open variety that was seen on maybe only the NYC, the UP and the ATSF, not be a viable project? And be careful who you are calling a "fringe element." That's me sir!! I actually take a certain pride in living here on the edge...even though I was not the one who critiqued John's post. Roy Inman, overreacting in Lenexa with tongue firmly planted in cheek (the upper one). From: Edward Loizeaux <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Fri, 18 May 2007 10:22:38 -0700 To: "List, S scale" <[email protected]> Subject: {S-Scale List} Tolerance........ Let's be tolerant and move on with getting an Evans Auto Loader built. More fun will come in due time as you get to know us better. Learn to ignore the fringe element since they are ignoring you. Ha! Cheers...Ed [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> 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/
