I have several of these great little models, and I would like to build a module in the 2' x 4' format that will include a working display for them. Because space is very tight, I want to "cheat" on standard radius (using flex-track) so I can put a small demo loop with, interchangeably, the DeWitt, the John Bull and the Lafayette, on a loop that will have to be crammed into about 16" diameter, or 8" radius. There are other details, but I won't clutter this post with them just now.

I'm going to set up a trial loop to see if the shorter cars will run on something that tight (they also need some weighting to stay on the track). My question is, has anybody else already done this experiment, and can I learn from it what will or what won't work in practical terms. Of course, I know and respect the standards for turn radius, but because these are such tiny cars, will they run successfully (at slower speeds, I'm sure) on tighter curves?

Thanks for any data someone may have already accumulated...............

Railsider

OK, I know the conventional wisdom is "don't" ... but I'm just enough of an experimental iconoclast to want to break that rule. So please don't cite it in this thread.

The big problems, as I understand it, are electrical shorts and the damage water does to scenery made of artificial materials. So we carefully avoid all such things. Also, water sitting there gets stagnant, stinky and unhealthy. So change it frequently, which means have a system to do this.

I have a decorative pump-driven waterfall that turns out to be precisely N scale, and in fact has a resin-cast loco on a bridge going over the falls. I will have to drill out the ends of the track section, grind the ceramic (waterproof) material down and lay track to integrate it into a layout, but the water does not splash anywhere close to the tack. I plan to have a drain-hose at the bottom so I can clean it out every session and add clean water regularly.

Has anyone tried this? and what did you learn?

I have seen several articles about real-water seaside and harbor scenes in hobby magazines. Nothing is really quite as realistic as the real thing, apparently.

Another plan is an HO swimming pool made from a plastic blister-pack. A scale swimmer with a small chip of rubber magnet glued to the chest floats in the pool. Underneath, out of sight, a magnet swings back and forth from one end of the pool to the other, dragging the swimmer on continuous laps. I fill and empty the pool with a squeeze-bulb syringe.

Animation is a sort of sub-hobby within the WGH with me, and I'd like to hear from others similarly afflicted.

Railsider

I am looking for some biographical background on Frederick Methvan Whyte, the man who invented the Whyte Classification (or Notation) System for steam locomotives. I am researching a book on eponymous scietific units and scales, and the Whyte System is one of about 300 I want to incluude. For each, I try to list the date and place of the person's birth and death.

Here's what I already know: Whyte was born March 2, 1865 ... and died sometime in 1941. What I don't know, and hope someone can tell me, is the place of his birth, as well as the place and exact date of his passing in 1941. Whyte graduated with a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University in 1889, and worked for quite a number of roads during his career. He was not an "engine-driver" engineer, but designed locomotives and systems. He proposed the system we all know well in 1890, and it became a national standard after ALCO adopted it in 1903. He traveled to Australia in 1921 as a consulting expert in railroad design. It's possible he may have died there. He is also described as "Dutch American," though it's not clear if he was born in the US or in the Netherlands.

Please share any reliable and accurate information you may have, and receive my undying thanks (plus a note in the book when it's published). It would help greatly if you can add your source for the data, so I can verify it.

Many thanks, fellow railroad buffs and modelers!

Bill .....
                           (alias "railsider")

(I can't find a place to discuss communications protocol, so I'll just blurt it out)

I just rejoined not too long ago, and I get into the Board only now and then, but it's as exciting and interesting as ever. Thanks, I am sure, to the tone set by The Bach Man. But the second time I started to log in, I looked up at the bar full of places to click, and I could NOT find anything that said "log in" ... I was stuck!

Finally, in desperation, I clicked on "log out" and figured I'd have to give up.

And, wow, whaddaya know! "log out" means "go find log in" !!! After a minute or so of getting my feet back on the ground, I clicked the new "log in" that appeared after I had clicked "log out" and there I was ... ready to wreak havoc upon The Bach-Man's Board once again!

However, it occurs to me, Johann Sebastian, that this could confuse other people who are as naive and dumb as I am, but possibly not so lucky. So, may I Ask the Bach Man  if you would consider doing something to clarify that, like maybe adding a "log in" button at the top of the first screen?

Now that I know the secret code, I'm okay. But the next guy may benefit, that's all I'm sayin' .....

Thanks, Mr. Johann Sebastian Bach -Man, and keep up the good work!

Plasticville's "Town Hall" is, I'm told, modeled on Philadelphia's Independence Hall. I plan to put one on a "Historic USA" On30 layout, as its original self. I am looking for a source for the statue of Benjamin Franklin that stands in front of the building. Of course, it needs to be fairly close to O scale. Any suggestions?

Railsider