Furlow's latest in MR.

I agree, I'm desiging a largish HO scale layout & I dont really have operationality in mind too much. I love big scenery and having several HO scale miles of single track main line to play with I just wanna get a train going & watch it cavort through the vegetation, although I did want a feeling of going somewhere so I have put a 'drive-thru' staging yard on one end,I dont really care for having a timetable or way bills or whatever, if I feel like putting a certain car at a random industy spur then so be it. Thats just my opinion, but I would give my golf club set to have scenery like George Sellio's layout but thats when pigs will fly. I'm happy with 2-3 ft deep scenes and an easy walk around trackplan just to chill out, when its finished of course...

Anyway happy model railroading, whatever it means to you all.

Snowy Way Down In NZ (New Zealand)

I only have a tiny room. (10 by 10). I plan for HO.

I like GG1's, K4's and other Pennsy stuff. My view of scenery is where there are acres of manufacturing plants (Northern NJ, Pittsburg, Sydney or Melbourne.) Not the spread out mainlines of most of America. My railroad will have a station and facilities for making up trains. Lots of them. Short ones 2-4 cars big ones 6-8 cars. for purposes. It will have trainloads of coal, steel, ore, produce, and cattle passing through being serviced, and confusing the dispatcher who must route them through. It will have a local servicing the industries and setting out east or west bound pickups and drop offs.

The design problem will be to keep as much straight road as possible, meaning 18 to 22 inch hidden curves. Rolling hills, mostly terraced with brick, stone, rapwork, cuts and fills with lots of cinders.... Oh yes, a generating station and catanary for the GG1s....

It will be operatible by one person.

Prototype, design criteria, operations, scenery. It is a model railroad.

It is also a different view of things from the average modeler out side of the "corridor" Even chicago has long spaces between sidings.

Jim Stewart

What I actually meant to say was not "where" but rather "how" How do they find enough food to survive?

...................F>

I don't think I even want to know that, thank you. Do you know how and what a spider eats? Think Alien.

Jim Stewart

There is a story, which may be an "urban legend", but...

Seems the Feds wanted to sterilize a facility that had been used to produce biological toxins. They sealed the building (tented it?) and pumped it full of something that would destroy all life. They opened it back up in a couple of weeks (presumably after pumping out the poison) and found it full of, you guessed it, spider webs!

The way I've seen some spiders laugh at the Raid, I almost believe it!

Back in the early 80's Malcom Furlow had a "project" layout in MR. It was HOn3 and was called the San Juan Central. As best I recall it was a 6 installment project. It was completed and had some operation potential. As a matter of fact one installment was titled "Operation on the San Juan Central". Certainly not a large main line operation but bear in mind most of his work is logging and small mining lines.

I have been aqquainted with Malcolm since 1978. His Denver and Rio Chama western dioramas inspired me to start modeling in narrow gauge. When he started into professional photography he did many dioramas that seemed to be built just for photographing.

Malcolm did work for Disney at one time designing sets as did John Olsen , another HOn3 modeler and kit mfr.that someone mentioned earlier in this thread. As far as I know he is still with Disney.

Malcolm is a very busy and talented man. He is a musician...guitar , piano and sax , I think he sang country music for a short while. He is and has been a professional artist for about 15 years.

I'm glad to see him back into model railroading. I really enjoy and admire his work. I really don't think there is any facet of this hobby that I don't enjoy and appreciate although scenery, structures and super detailing are my favorite things to do.

I have some Z , quite a lot of N and some Nn3. I Also HO but my primary interest is HOn3.

When I seen the Bachmann On30 Shay that was released a short while back I had to have one. Well , now I have more On30 motive power and rolling stock and I'm working on a small diorama which will eventually be a part of a small On30 layout. Boy, you can sure put the detail in O scale.

Ken Day

Ken, The "San Juan Central" was made into a book just as Olsen's "A Model Railroad with Personality. Both are very good projects that everyone can get good ideas from. I like the San Juan Central and it's track plan is excellent for modeling shoreline or narrow gauge mountain railroads in small space. The San Juan Central yard on the extended shelf seems arranged to fit rather than provide much operation but if one could extend the yard and make it more functional and add staging at the interchange there would be some very good potential for operation without using to much more space. Bruce

I have met Mr Furlow a number of years back when he had a layout in Dallas Texas.

It looked wonderful (HOn3) but he could not run trains over it because of his weathering process of a shoe box full of dirt. Put the car in and shake handily! Trouble was all that dirt fell onto the rails making electrical VERY unreliable!

At that time he had a G ga passenger car on a module plank that made it into MR photos. It was much like the current issue photos... interesting to see however.

The current bearded face of Mr Furlow in the MR article seems to indicate he actually likes to live in this world of make believe.

I will say the new photos lightened my day!

-- Stephen

"If it ain't steam, it's a powered boxcar."

I have met Mr Furlow a number of years back when he had a layout in Dallas Texas.

It looked wonderful (HOn3) but he could not run trains over it because of his weathering process of a shoe box full of dirt. Put the car in and shake handily! Trouble was all that dirt fell onto the rails making electrical VERY unreliable!

At that time he had a G ga passenger car on a module plank that made it into MR photos. It was much like the current issue photos... interesting to see however.

The current bearded face of Mr Furlow in the MR article seems to indicate he actually likes to live in this world of make believe.

I will say the new photos lightened my day!

-- Stephen

"If it ain't steam, it's a powered boxcar."

I have met Mr Furlow a number of years back when he had a layout in Dallas Texas.

It looked wonderful (HOn3) but he could not run trains over it because of his weathering process of a shoe box full of dirt. Put the car in and shake handily! Trouble was all that dirt fell onto the rails making electrical VERY unreliable!

At that time he had a G ga passenger car on a module plank that made it into MR photos. It was much like the current issue photos... interesting to see however.

The current bearded face of Mr Furlow in the MR article seems to indicate he actually likes to live in this world of make believe.

I will say the new photos lightened my day!

-- Stephen

"If it ain't steam, it's a powered boxcar."

I have met Mr Furlow a number of years back when he had a layout in Dallas Texas.

It looked wonderful (HOn3) but he could not run trains over it because of his weathering process of a shoe box full of dirt. Put the car in and shake handily! Trouble was all that dirt fell onto the rails making electrical VERY unreliable!

At that time he had a G ga passenger car on a module plank that made it into MR photos. It was much like the current issue photos... interesting to see however.

The current bearded face of Mr Furlow in the MR article seems to indicate he actually likes to live in this world of make believe.

I will say the new photos lightened my day!

-- Stephen

"If it ain't steam, it's a powered boxcar."

I have met Mr Furlow a number of years back when he had a layout in Dallas Texas.

It looked wonderful (HOn3) but he could not run trains over it because of his weathering process of a shoe box full of dirt. Put the car in and shake handily! Trouble was all that dirt fell onto the rails making electrical VERY unreliable!

At that time he had a G ga passenger car on a module plank that made it into MR photos. It was much like the current issue photos... interesting to see however.

The current bearded face of Mr Furlow in the MR article seems to indicate he actually likes to live in this world of make believe.

I will say the new photos lightened my day!

-- Stephen

"If it ain't steam, it's a powered boxcar."

I have met Mr Furlow a number of years back when he had a layout in Dallas Texas.

It looked wonderful (HOn3) but he could not run trains over it because of his weathering process of a shoe box full of dirt. Put the car in and shake handily! Trouble was all that dirt fell onto the rails making electrical VERY unreliable!

At that time he had a G ga passenger car on a module plank that made it into MR photos. It was much like the current issue photos... interesting to see however.

The current bearded face of Mr Furlow in the MR article seems to indicate he actually likes to live in this world of make believe.

I will say the new photos lightened my day!

-- Stephen

"If it ain't steam, it's a powered boxcar."

I have met Mr Furlow a number of years back when he had a layout in Dallas Texas.

It looked wonderful (HOn3) but he could not run trains over it because of his weathering process of a shoe box full of dirt. Put the car in and shake handily! Trouble was all that dirt fell onto the rails making electrical VERY unreliable!

At that time he had a G ga passenger car on a module plank that made it into MR photos. It was much like the current issue photos... interesting to see however.

The current bearded face of Mr Furlow in the MR article seems to indicate he actually likes to live in this world of make believe.

I will say the new photos lightened my day!

-- Stephen

"If it ain't steam, it's a powered boxcar."

I have met Mr Furlow a number of years back when he had a layout in Dallas Texas.

It looked wonderful (HOn3) but he could not run trains over it because of his weathering process of a shoe box full of dirt. Put the car in and shake handily! Trouble was all that dirt fell onto the rails making electrical VERY unreliable!

At that time he had a G ga passenger car on a module plank that made it into MR photos. It was much like the current issue photos... interesting to see however.

The current bearded face of Mr Furlow in the MR article seems to indicate he actually likes to live in this world of make believe.

I will say the new photos lightened my day!

-- Stephen

"If it ain't steam, it's a powered boxcar."

Read the thread - I shouldn't have to repeat myself.

It very well may be... I did mean just plain running through the scenery, but I know that you knew that, I was just checking ;)

I do remember seeing his narrow gauge layout in an early episode of Track Ahead many years ago. Impressed by the vertical scenery, and the ability to take it apart and put it back together again in a few minutes too.

The ego was a little too big for my taste. That really turned me off. But I don't have to like the guy to admire his work. He has lost me on this one, though. When I opened the article in MR thought to myself, "..what is this supposed to be?". "What a monstrosity!" Then I saw the creators name, which explained a lot. What were the people at MR thinking?

Steve Moore Salt Lake City

Magazine sales.

CBix