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

A87791755 - Scenery
I believe he planned on having a series of slits along the top of the longitudinal pieces (From above: | | |) and along the bottom of the latitudinal pieces - - - , so that a contoured grid (From above: #) is formed. I can picture that it would work, but seems like a lot of hard work trying to ensure that all the slits meet up in the correct places.

Plaster-covered chicken wire definitely sounds easier.

You are the one who is in charge of editing this section, so if you want to replace that paragraph and write a new one following your preferred method, then go ahead.

<BB<

I'm already hard at work:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Pp-rAbGc2A-u3pj3pIMmjwLzJsObmCRGoezeg9J1JXY/edit?usp=sharing

I just saw you type 'A more difficult thing is to add water to your scenery. Ponds, rivers and the sea are'

(Come out of it now, sorry!)

<BB<

Yes, you can watch me type.

Would you like me to copy what you've written there over to the Scenery article now, or are you still working on it?

<BB<

I think you can copy it, thanks. But I didn't put in the footnotes so you'd have to find them all in the original Entry.

As your changes were in red, wherever I've spotted something red I've added it to the text (as this keeps the original GuideML, links, footnotes and all). Have a thorough read through and check I've caught everything - if you deleted sentences or paragraphs that weren't in red, I'm afraid I might not have picked up on it.

Sorry - I've got to rush now... Real life getting in the way, alas.

<BB<

Thank you, I'll check it as soon as I can.

So FloridaSailor - how are you getting on?
Any suggestions for the glossary?

Also, are you able to add:

to the top of your entries? I hope we'll soon be able to start searching for a sub-editor.

<BB<

BB, will you be able to take some photos (one per Entry) when you visit people with a model railway?

At the moment my Dad's railway is in boxes, as the shed he had it in currently has a rather leaking roof. I should be able to photograph my step-dad's, but his is a very basic oval with a couple of sidings and no real scenery.

I do have photos I took at a railway exhibition earlier this year - but I'm never entirely sure what the copyright implications are. I didn't build the model railways, but they were exhibited in a public place, so does that mean that they're okay for us to have photos of?

<BB<

I will have to discuss this question with others.

Badges added

Looked over the Glossary, one or two comments;

I am not sure it is correct to equate 'Caboose' as simply an American 'Brake Van' as they also include sleeping quarters for the crew and an office for the Conductor. In the US a trip can take week or more for transcontinental service. They are only used on Freight Trains.

It might be worth noting that a Marshalling Yard is also known as a switch yard in the US.

I notice you have a title for 'Turntable' but have not yet given an explanation. Might I suggest;

Many older engines were designed to only pull trains from their rear. The Turntable is a large section of track mounted on a revolving platform that allows the locomotive to be turned around in a Marshalling Yard.

We could also add that the turntable often gave access to several bays in a 'Round House' where they could be repaired or stored when not in service.



The Cable Cars in San Francisco have a turntable at each end of the lines. In the old days the passengers were all encouraged to help turn the car by hand. The last time I was out there the practice had been forbidden with only the two man crew allowed to rotate the car.



I started playing a bit with the various types of rolling and running stock. I started with the various types of American 'passenger cars' - I think I overwhelmed myself with the variation Maybe something for a later time.

I think we might want to link the 'Model Village' in the Scenery section.

I saw you talking about photos, a few sections might use shots of actual full size trains, but models would be much better.



F S

Page Turner:
A87791719 - Introduction
A87791728 - Glossary
A87791737 - Scales and Gauges
A87792105 - Baseboard Locations
A87792114 - Themes
A87791746 - Layout
A87791755 - Scenery

I've added those to the Glossary section, good call
Do you have model railway photographs we could include in the project?

Just so you know, I checked the regulations on what you have to do in a University Projects before you can get a University 'Field Researcher' badge. It says:

'If any Researcher has contributed significantly to five or more entries in the project, they may also qualify for a Field Researcher badge. It will be up to the project co-ordinator to let us know of any individuals who qualify.'

At the moment, FS, you have 'contributed significantly' to four entries – Introduction, Glossary, Baseboard Locations and Themes, so if you did want to include another entry, such as on types of rolling and running stock, including passenger cars (or is that to be for full-scale railways?) it would help you get a new badge as well as add significantly to this project.

I wasn't entirely sure what you meant by 'I think we might want to link the 'Model Village' in the Scenery section', I'm afraid. Do you mean add a link to the entry currently in Peer Review about a Model Village?

<BB<

Hi <BB<

I have put my entry on running and rolling stock back up at A87755755 I believe it is fairly complete, but still a sad mish-mash of US / UK terms. I would really appreciate your help getting this sorted out. If it would be easier, you are welcome to cut and paste my Guide ML into your own Entry, or leave comments here, which ever is easier for you.. Otherwise I will make the changes myself and start a new Entry for it (this one is just my own scratch pad so I can test Guide ML while working). In any case I will be happy to add your name to the credit.

You inspired me to try a fresh tack



I did find two terms in this Entry That we should really add to the glossary

'Truck' the wheel assembly used under the rolling stock.

'Coupler' (or is there a different UK term?) attaching two cars together. This is particularly important as different styles are used by some manufacturers. It is important that they are made uniform on each layout.



Yes, I was referring to the Model Village in Peer Review, I am almost certain it will precede us to the Front Page



My comment about full size railways was only a suggestion that if we can not get a picture of something we want to include, a full scale picture could be used as an example of something that can be modelled.



F S

Wood Burning Steam Locomotive

The earliest style of locomotive, these were common in the first half of the 19th century. One of the most striking features of these engines is the large funnel shaped smoke stack required to give the fire a proper draft.


I thought the large funnel shaped smoke stack was a US adaption, some sort of spark catcher to stop the engines causing prairie or forest fires.

Also don't forget

Mail coach/car auto pick and drop off UK centric

Hi bob,

I disagree that the funnel shaped stack of a wood burning steam engine was a unique US adaptation. I have seen several photographs of European Locomotives with the funnel shaped stack- more properly it is a diamond shape that produces a venturi effect causing a vacuum to increase the draft.
The very early engines, like Stevenson's Rocket, had a straight stack - but they were ridiculously tall for the size of the engine.

Mail coaches (cars) are by no means unique to the UK. All US rail road stations had a pair of hooks where sacks of incoming, sorted mail were left and other a bag of outgoing, unsorted mail was picked up by the train. These were exchanged even when the train did not stop. I do not think this is an important point for a model rail road.

Thanks for reading!



F S

Hello all

I believe Bobstafford may have mentioned the mailcoach automatic drop off for historical model railway reasons in the UK. In the 70s in the UK there were two competitors in the model railway market – Hornby and Tri-ang. Hornby led a campaign boasting that their trains were more fun and versatile than Tri-ang's, and one of their biggest examples used in their adverts was that you could buy a Hornby mail coach set, where a train could pick up a mail bag from one place and then deliver it to another place. (This, along with the circus train which featured a giraffe sticking its head out the top of the wagon that would duck down whenever the train went through a bridge or tunnel, featured in the episode 'Hornby' of James May's Toy Stories). Hornby and Tri-ang eventually merged, but due to the advertising campaign, there are probably those in the UK who would associate model railways with the ability for the model trains to deliver mail bags from one place to another. Might well be worth a quick mention?

I've added a bit on Coupling and Truck – in the UK this is usually called a 'bogie' to avoid confusion with wagons, but I've added it too.

<BB<

The boss says photos of that exhibition are fine.