The post on lag bolts/coach screws/threaded inserts got me thinking.
Do you realise we do things in our hobby that are at total odds as to the "correct" way of using them? Here are some that came to me off the top of the head:
White glue thinned 2: or even 3:1 for ballast - if you don't use matte medium or something else.
White glue thinned 10:1 and used as a ground foam fixer - sprayed through a mist bottle.
White glue (OK, I got a thing for white glue) used to bond caneite to pyneboard for track roadbed. One member at a train club I was at, an architect by profession wanted to use liquid nails as this was the "correct adhesive for the task". We didn't come to blows, but voices were raised.
Caneite used as roadbed. Strange that after being flooded with wet water/ diluted white glue for ballast, wet plaster, water from spray bottle between plaster coats, paints and stains applied with brush and spray bottle, the damn stuff - which is supposed to self-destruct at the mere mention of water - remains firm and stable under the tracks.
Acrylic or plastic paint diluted 3:1 and 6:1 for various scenery techniques.
Wiring (less said the better)
And so on. Oddly enough, we wildly over-compensate in some areas, especially layout legs. Oregon has a compression strength of 1000psi roughly. So a single 2 x 2 oregon leg could support 4000lbs of layout, or 16,000lbs if we use 4 legs. Thats near enough 8 tons! Now count the legs under your layout and work out what it could support. My old HO layout would, I estimate, support 28 tons! A freaking Peterbilt! OK, you can add all the riders I omitted here - tensile, shear and twisting forces that may be at work, but the point remains.
We are not engineers! Gee, I'm glad. Imagine a layout designed to correctly meet all engineering standards...
Steve Newcastle NSW Aust