F&SM F units

Dynamic brake grids. Their purpose is to turn the electricity generated by the traction motors in a dynamic braking application into heat so it can be dissipated (the Law of Energy Conservation).

Dieter Zakas

Dear sirs, What I thought was odd was seeing the F units at all. I thought the Franklin & South Manchester was set sometime about 1935. Has the era been altered a bit to catch the diesels, or was that just a fun shot with the neat B&M engines? Cordially yours, Gerard P.

The era listed in the latest article is 1930s-1940. The first B&M 4200- series FTs were delivered in late 1943, so I guess it fits.

[An early article about the layout in Model Railroader (April 1986, p. 80) listed the era as "about 1935," and the roster was all steam at that time.]

"Mark Mathu"

This always gets me. How can a layout be set in "1930's to 1940"?

If, as in the example above, the FTs were delivered in 1943, then the layout is set in 1943.

The newest modelled item on the layout, be freight car, passenger car, locomotive, building, lettering font, motor vehicle etc., sets the date. Period.

-- Cheers Roger T.

Home of the Great Eastern Railway

What city is the F&SM layout located in? Is it ever open to for visitors. I would like to see this. His scenery is inbelievable.

First, let me say I made a typo. "1930s-1940" should have been "1930s-1940s" per the article.

Baloney.

Modelers can cover an era, and not a specific year on their layout. The newest modeled item on the layout does not necessarily set the date.

Period.

Rolling stock and vehicles are easily changed too. So they don't necessarily have to set only one date. Of course, if a billboard advertises a brand new

1953 model automobile, then it would be kind of hard to explain that you're modeling 1949. But even those can be removable.

Other than something like that where you give an actual date, a person would have to be the world's greatest expert on dating to know exactly when every item on the layout was first made or introduced.

Jim

I agree, but don't forget that Sellios is worshipped by the "it's your layout, do what you like with it, anyone who thinks differently is an elitist" crowd, for whom period and historical accuracy are difficult concepts.

Actually, the newest item would set the earliest possible date, not the exact date, if one wories about such things. You really should get yourself a time machine, they work great.

MacIndoe

"Mark Mathu" > Modelers can cover an era, and not a specific year on their layout. The

Of course it does. If you have a 1958 Chevy on the layout, you can't claim it to be set in 1952.

Period!

-- Cheers Roger T.

Home of the Great Eastern Railway

Bull-oney. I have a pre-1964 gondola on my layout but you're telling us my layout is set in 1967.

My most recently finished model on my layout is a gondola -- the last prototypes of this series were scrapped in 1964. Yet you claim that my layout is set in 1967 because I also have a caboose that I modeled as it looked when it was delivered in that year. How can you claim -- without exception -- that my layout is set in 1967 if I have a gondola model that was scrapped in 1964?

YOU ARE WRONG! Your 1967 date is no better than saying that my layout is based in 1964.

My layout is set in the "mid 1960s," NOT in 1967 as you have (incorrectly) decided. My gondola model is inconsistent with your 1967 date.

Are you changing your story now? You said the newest modelled item on the layout sets the date, period.

Not the latest possible date.

"Mark Mathu"

Sorry, I'm not telling you you are "wrong" as it is, after all, your layout and you're free to do as you wish.

However, what you do have is an anomaly, and you're happy with that, so be it.

-- Cheers Roger T.

Home of the Great Eastern Railway

Latest date, latest possible date,what's the difference and who really cares?

You're just being argumentative.

It's your layout. Do what you like. End of discussion.

-- Cheers Roger T.

Home of the Great Eastern Railway

It sounds like you already have a time machine, wired backwards. As I said, the newest item sets the earliest possible date. If you have a loco built in 1955, then the layout is dated sometime after that.

MacIndoe

If each person is free to what they wish on their layout, why does it always get you when you see a layout with a time span for an era, such as the F&SM's

1930s-1940s era?

You say that if the newest equipment on the F&SM were the FTs then the layout is set in 1943, period.

That's an absolute rule that doesn't work. It doesn't cover having other equipment on the layout which would have been retired before 1943. That's why modelers have a time span for the era that their layout is set in. And it shouldn't always get you every time you see that.

Technically, the date can't be any EARLIER than the "newest modeled item on the layout". It can certainly be any reasonable time later. "Reasonable' being a time frame before which OTHER even newer items would be almost certainly somewhere in view. I'd suggest about five years for this to happen.

So, if the B&M FT's were delivered in 1943, the scene could be anywhere between 1943 nd 1948, approximately.

BUT, the F&SM is more of a 'fantasy' layout than a meticulous scale model. This has been pointed out MANY times, and more-or-less agreed to by it's creator, George Sellios. He's trying to create the IMPRESSION of an era and location, not modeling it with precise accuracy. It's mostly freelanced. So a much wider leeway can be allowed to the F&SM.

There's NOTHING wrong with a good fantasy, and the F&SM is certainly a GOOD one!

Dan Mitchell ==========

Mark Mathu wrote:

But some of use are that strict about what goes on the layout.

I model 1905 and to the best of my knowledge, only one car is too new by about 2 years.

But each does as he/she desires.

Howard

It looks like your're both saying the same thing, just each using "newest" and "latest" in different fashions.