Hello All --
Paul, you're going to hate Model Railroad Planning 2001! :o)
When I saw the teaser on the cover that reads "The Helix Killer", my
first thought was "Could that be an elevator or something?" But I
dismissed the thought, thinking that "Nah, no-one would actually do
it."
Well -- there it is on page 78. An article by Dick Roberts on
building a whole-train elevator. And point one in the "Learning
points" box is "Just because everyone else isn't doing it doesn't
mean you shouldn't give it a try".
I agree that these sorts of things are rather exotic (at least in
North America) and you're not likely to find them on many layouts
here. However, for modellers with very limited space, they may solve
some problems and provide some opportunities.
For example: you want some staging on a shelf layout but don't want
to sacrifice an entire shelf to a staging yard, or make a shelf
excessively deep for a yard. An option might be to put space for a
single track behind some building flats and use a two, three or four-
track elevator in that space.
I would not be overly concerned about it being "gimmicky", but I
_would_ be concerned about:
* the engineering costs
(time, complexity, reliability, maintentance)
* the impact on train operations
(will it be a hassle to operate during a
session and will it detract from the
miniature world illusion?)
Used for staging, I think an elevator has the potential to add a lot
to a layout. Not sure that I would try it myself, but I think it
could be done.
While you don't see elevators, sector plates and traverser tables
often in North America, you do see sector plates and traversers
frequently on British layouts - and almost always on serious layouts
featuring high-quality models.
Thanks --
Jon Piasecki
jonp@...
--- In small-layout-design@y..., Paul/Celine Kossart <kozys@t...>
wrote:
Jon and list,
These items pop up now and then in the model press when they seem
to be
short on anything of substance or want to introduce something "new"
to the
hobby. As one friend of mine put it, "There really hasn't been
much of
anything new in the hobby for the past forty years - most of the
ideas are
stolen or reworks of something from the past."
IMO, they are gimmicks and really aren't employed in the real world
on a
serious layout. When I see things like track elevators (vertical
switch -
been there, read that a L-O-N-G time ago) swivel plates, train
turntables,
and other gimmicks, I just move on to more serious and realistic
articles.
Not trying to be difficult, but really people, has anyone ever seen
one of
these contraptions in use on a real layout. And if so, I bet it is
only
one or two of you on probably just one layout each, if that.
Hardly a
ground swell.
Well I have to go now and get back to work on the anti gravity
interchange
track which is picked up by a radio controlled model of the
Goodyear blimp
using advanced photon modulation technology and carried away to
Oz - or is
that never-never land? Who cares. I'm sure some model railroad
mag will
pay me to print it.
