tirelessly on the railroad every week.
Before you walk away with the
idea this hobby can turn lead into gold, I will offer this. There have been times when my marriage has been strained by my hobby- related activities, purchases, and devotion to model railroading. Any hobby, pastime, or even a job can cause strain on relation- ships if done to excess. Make no mistake, relationships are part of the cost of model railroading and should be considered up front. In the end, it is just a hobby
— one with endless creativity. Its cumulative effects can be really awe-inspiring, especially if you have been modeling for years and have invested time and energy in the hobby. A large railroad is really just a product of time man- agement, budgeting, an under- standing family, and intentional work. To those who say, “Some- day, I will have a large model railroad,” I say: Someday begins today. — SMP
Postmarks I really enjoy your new format
and the magazine as a whole. I railroaded for 30 years starting in 1969. I am a kit-builder, bash- er, and scratchbuilder, so I enjoy learning new techniques, and the magazine has quite a few. When I received the May issue, I dove right into it to see what it offered. I found Brooks Stover’s article on bashing an Alco RS-1 interesting. Being a huge Alco fan, I do agree with Brooks that there’s nothing like the sound of an Alco, espe- cially the 539-series engine. One of the first locomotives I operated way back when was an S-2 and then an S-4, even an S-6, but it wasn’t the same. I noticed Brooks called the
box under the locomotive an “electrical box”; technically, it/
they are battery boxes. All loco- motives require starting batter- ies, which as the name implies are batteries to start the diesel engine. Because 64 volts is re- quired, there are eight batteries; each battery has four cells, 8 volts per battery. They weigh be- tween 286 and 326 pounds each, measure 28 inches long, 8¼ inches wide, and 18 inches tall. Larry Grzywinski
In your June editorial, you
state: “... the goal of perfection, which means different things to different people. The checksum of perfection in the end is seeing if people enjoy operating on your layout.” The second sentence seems to contradict the first. What about those who’d rather build than operate? What about those lone wolves who may or may not oper- ate but in either case do it alone? Aren’t they some of those differ- ent people? After our last move, I’m start-
ing over. I’m building a tiny (2x10-foot, plus some staging) urban layout. I’m hand-laying the track, building DC throttles, pro- gramming an Arduino to control servos to operate the turnouts, and scratchbuilding structures, many from old E.L. Moore ar- ticles. The track plan I designed allows operation if I get interest- ed in that, but I suspect shortly after I get this layout “finished,” I’ll unplug the 2x10 part from the staging, plug in an empty replace- ment, and start building some- thing else. From the folks I’ve talked to,
there’s a lot out there like me. We consider ourselves to be model railroaders even if “different.” (smile) Larry Blanchard
I enjoyed your June editorial.
One problem model railroaders have is that most of them have no clue how the prototype railroad
JULY 2015 11
runs/ran. I have been a modeler since age 4 (64 years ago), and while I have railfanned probably 55 of those years, I really had no clue about how a railroad oper- ates. For example, someone at a recent train show had a 100-car hopper train running all empty. That train doesn’t make a dime for the prototype railroad. A railroader friend of mine ex-
plained per diem to me once, but it flew over my head. I know each car is worth a certain amount to the railroad besides the cost of the commodity. I have a better understanding of prototype op- erations since I have custom de- caled and/or painted large scale pieces for railroaders and several locomotive engineers, who are close friends. They explain things like what an engineer goes through to push a loaded train around Horseshoe Curve and cut off at Cresson with the Helper Link system without stopping. I model a steel mill in 1:29
scale in my basement with Union Railroad and U.S. Steel. I have some Union Railroad rule books. I model the East Broad Top with Rockhill furnace (now Rockhill Iron & Steel) still going in 1958 in On30, and the Louisville & Nashville in Z scale based on a paper mill layout. I like switching operations, so I have read up on the lines. You are a locomotive engineer
as well as an instructor, so teach us how a train operates and a railroad works. Too many model- ers just couple up and off they go. Perhaps a monthly column would take us through the ropes. Many modelers have never read an employee’s timetable, much less all the rule books you have and need to know to pass your tests.
Cheers, Jeff Damerst
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