MR April: track plan tatoo

Honestly, Rob, I thought this year's offering was pretty weak and obviously a joke from the outset. There have been occasions in the past where you could read through the entire April Fool's articles and only realize after giving it some thought that it was meant as a joke. I feel that the best example was from long ago. It was one for a moonbase layout, perhaps in the 1970's. The article was extremely well done, detailed and so convincing that several readers later wrote in about having built examples! More recently, the "product review" of a prototype boxcar was pretty good.

CNJ999

Well, that moon base layout was IMO the best kind of fun: light hearted, yet well worked out. If you were going to build a RR on the moon, the MR design would work as well as any. Well, it might need a few tweaks. :-)

I suspect MR published in the April issue because then the tight-arses could dismiss it as mere April Fools joke.

We need more foolishness. Serious modelling and nonsense can co-exist quite nicely.

"CNJ999" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@j27g2000cwj.googlegroups.com:

I kinda liked the product review of the prototype box car. They could have run that any issue and I'd have enjoyed it, though.

The tube train also sticks in my mind. With a little wood (balsa or pine) and some weight, and some water, you could build a "tube train" that's powered not by electricity, but water itself. Hm... sounds like fun for someone with those materials laying around and small chunks of time to use.

Puckdropper

Puckdropper spake thus:

Heh; reminds me of part of the recent PBS program on the creation of the New York subway system. The first design actually built was a car that was moved by blowing air through the tube; it actually ran for a distance of several blocks, though it was found to be completely impractical for any longer distances. This could be an interesting project, kind of like those tubes in stores and offices they use to whoosh small containers from place to place.

Actually Beach's pneumatic railroad ran for only about 300 feet. The question of practicality is a moot one as Beach ran out of money before any extension could be made. The duration of operation was approximately one year and predated the building of the first IRT by over thirty years. The whole episode is an interesting story full of corporate and governmental corruption. I don't believe the car was blown through the tube, rather it was sucked by using pumps to establish a partial vaccuum. Thank you.

Jerry

ISTR an 'Air Powered' subway system in operation somewhere in Europe. Paris maybe? Late 1800s, early 1900s.

Chuck Davis

Tatoos are a sin against the temple of god.

Even if it's a tatoo of Jesus ?

"CNJ999" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@j27g2000cwj.googlegroups.com:

Agree. A joke from the start. OTOH the NoTrak Modules and the article on the Undec railroad where pretty good.