h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I used t have a kit it was a set of molds in a sort of rubber, and you could make a plaster cast a section of brick, stone work or planking these fitted together, there were door and window molds and slate and tile roof and with skill and a lot of fiddling you could make a vast range of buildings. All in "OO" scale.

It was excellent, anyone come across this, also can we make sure there is a link between all gauges eg "OO" is the same as ???, ans list compatible sizes so folk can order out of area.

Flea Market Rescue Page Turner:
Entry: Model Railways - A87791043
Author: Bluebottle - U43530
Original author: Skinnylinny - U197750
Also starring: Researcher 216547 - U216547

Original entry: A823899 Model Railways (under construction - about 85% complete)

I think I might wait until after the weekend before deciding what the best way to take this forward will be, but if there's anyone who would be interested in contributing should this become a project (or even taking over a whole section) then please let us know.

<BB<

Hi <BB<

First I think I have found the answer to the LG Scale, it was a brand name
http://www.onlytrains.com/pdf/WhatIsG.pdf

The English is printed under the fold

I guess I have opened a here

I few points, I actually put a lot of thought into my list of entries, of course the final decision is yours.

There are few sections I would switch 'point?' Such as I believe 'Ballasting' is more a part of scenery, and the electric points should be a part of 'Track Laying'

I would really like the glossary as an independent Entry, as I can see it being linked from all the others. It is not a part of Skinnylinny's Entry and will probably be a separate solo Entry. I might be tempted, but I would need a lot of help with the UK Terms. I asked about 'switching' in my earlier post, is 'shunting' the proper term for switching cars and building trains?

I would also like to see a bit more on Layout Locations. You yourself said you don't have room for a layout, I would like to express that a true layout can range in size from a small briefcase to an entire warehouse. I might consider adding a bit to this part.

If you do a search for 'briefcase railway' or 'briefcase railroad' there are many sites available - some commercial and others 'home-built'. They are limited, but possible.

Another area that has not been mentioned is Model Railway Operations - Do you just watch your train go around the circle, or do you deliver certain cars to several sites and then return to pick them up after they have been filled. Maybe a passenger run with a strict time schedule. Many serious Model Railway enthusiasts carry a small box with an Engine, Private coach and a log book, that they seek to run, and record on as many layouts as possible.

Just a few more thoughts, Let me know what you decide.



F S

My bf and I have been talking about building a railway into grandma's old (grand) piano.

As I said, no decision has been made and won't be until next week, to give time to fully consider how to do this, and discover who is interested in doing what.

If the project will involve me and the material to hand, I won't want to be too ambitious and probably split what exists over 4 articles, possibly with a glossary.

Of course, if there are volunteers willing to write either write entire articles as part of the series or contribute to these articles, then that puts an entirely different perspective on things, and allows the project to grow. From my perspective this is the best idea, as it means this article has a greater set of knowledge and expertise behind it, and has a more worldwide perspective.

So at the moment I am keeping an open mind, trying to find out what people know about/would write about before deciding how to fit it all in.

The one thing I do want to ensure is that at least one entry is written in Skinnylinny's words, with Skinnylinny credited as the sole writer and all other researchers contributing to his section (including me) given 'Additional research by' credit.

If you do put a railway in a grand piano, we definitely need photos!

<BB<

I'm afraid we don't have the time and especially the space for the piano at the moment.

I'd like to just dump two links here, although I'm at work and so can't see the videos. It's about tiny railways:
http://jamesriverbranch.net/detail_16.htm
http://peanutroaster.hubpages.com/hub/Itsy-Bitsy-Teeny-Tiny-Model-Railroads

As I said, I'm willing to help but don't want to take over a whole Entry all by myself.

As promised, I am removing this from Peer Review in order to try developing it as a University Project, with assistance from anyone willing to help!

<BB<

Project Page: A87791700

I suggest that we continue using this conversation to discuss what needs doing.

<BB<

Okay – I've now split what we had before into four articles: Introduction, Gauge, Layout and Scenery, and I believe Florida Sailor is going to write articles on Location and Themes? If I've got the wrong end of the stick, let me know.

A87791719 – Introduction
I think the Introduction is pretty much there and doesn't really need more work doing on it.

A87791728 – Glossary
Probably the last page to write. When you come across words and phrases you're not sure, let me know so we can decide what to include. We also need to work out what phrases are different across the Atlantic – I say railway, you say railroad, I say brake van, you say caboose (Not likely to replace the I say tomato and you say tomato song anytime soon...)

A87791737 - Scales and Gauges
Needs work done to make it interesting.

A87791746 – Layout
This one I'm trying to keep in Skinnylinny's words so that one entry is entirely credited to him. His article is the reason we're here.

A87791755 - Scenery
Tav – you can take what we have so far for the Scenery section and make whatever changes you want to. Feel free to re-write, add/delete etc. Whether you want to do a whole new article or list the changes so I can edit what we have is up to you.

Overall I want to emphasise that nothing is set in stone, so if you want to change what you're writing about, add something etc, let me know!

<BB<

I'll get to it, I promise. But chances are 95% that I will move to a new apartment next week, so I'll be a bit busy. Normal business will be restored as soon as (un-)packing and Internet connection allows.

Obviously moving house has priority over writing about model railways, so fear not, there's no hurry

<BB<

I meant to drop you a note last night

Look good, I assume you will take the lead on the Glossary?

Just to start off,

UK 'Baseboard' = US 'Train board' (53,700,00 hits) or 'Train table' (23,300,00 hits)

I will get started in the near future.

F S

I'm happy to take lead on the glossary, unless you particularly want to. At the moment we just need to gradually compile a list of what we need to include in the glossary, and probably the easiest way to do that is when we're writing the rest of it, and come across terms we do not know or think the reader won't know.

<BB<

I have started my two Entries, only a brief intro so far, but I thought I would list them here so you can put in the links;

Locations - A87792105

Themes - A87792114



F S

!

<BB<

I believe I am almost there on both, except for h2g2 links and translating everything to UK.

Also please note that I have changed 'Location' to 'Baseboard Location' because Skinnylinny has already used Layout Location as a header and I do not want to step on his excellent section. I am only expanding his thought and everything he wrote on the subject needs to be retained intact where it is. A link might not be a bad idea.

Are all the rolling stock in the UK Carriages and wagons? I have tried to use carriages for passenger cars, but continued to use the US 'cars' for the rest.

BTW there is something in your Glossary page that prevents the lines from wrapping on my screen, it is an annoyance in Riply, but in Pliny the side bar scrolls with the text hiding the centre of the lines. I suspect it has to do with the < pre > tag

F S

Looking at the scope of the Glossary so far, I begin to think that we might want to add another section on running and rolling stock. I have started to play with this in my 'Working Entry' site A87755755, this is only a temporary location, if we decide to add it to the project I will give it a new 'A' number, this is just my own, personal spot for entries so I can see how the Guide ML will look, that I am not quite yet ready to commit to. <BB< you might like to look at the format, this might be the best way to format the Glossary section itself. I was not sure how it would display, but on my system, at least, it is exactly what I wanted. If it does not seem to format properly for anyone please leave a comment here.

Thanks

F S

You can probably tell I've not really looked at the glossary section yet, just listed lots of words. Don't worry - it won't look like that for long.

I definitely think an entry on rolling stock would be beneficial.
In the UK we generally use 'wagon', 'truck' and 'van' for freight containers, wagon probably being the most common. Trucks are generally small, open topped and vans have specific use, such as brake van or post van.

<BB<

Ok, I'll slowly start with this now. Unfortunately I already have a problem:

There is the section about making mountains
'The method of building a large hill is different; because if it were made of solid plaster bandage, it would be very heavy, and not a little wasteful. Therefore, we build a framework, out of sheets of wood, in what looks from above to be a grid pattern, made of pieces of wood cut with a flat bottom and the rough contours of the hill on the top. For longitudinal pieces of wood, cut a slot in the top every time it crosses over a latitudinal one, and in a latitudinal one cut slots in the bottom. Glue this down to your board. This means that now you can see where, how high, and what shape your hill will be.'

I'm afraid I don't really understand that. I'd personally make mountains with wood and chicken wire or polystyrene. Both then covered with plaster of course.
I don't understand the thing about how the wood should be put together.