I second Mr B`s statement. I look forward to reading Lions posts & the humor in them as well as the factual content. I am constantly amazed at how he creates things at minimum cost. I also wonder how he finds time to work on his projects and keep to his religious schedule.
Bob D`sw
The schedule, It is called the “Horarium”, begins with the morning bell at 0600, followed by Morning Prayer at 0620, and breakfast at 0700. Between 0730 and 0800 the LION cleans the community room.
Noon Prayer is at 1140 with lunch following at 1200
Mass is at 1700 with supper following at 1745 (kind of a rhythm here, yes?
Supper is followed by recreation (mandatory, of course)
and then by Vespers at 1900.
That give shape to the day, actually the LION gets up around 0500 and by 0530 slips down to the computer office to check email and forums. Then him goes to morning prayer.
During the work day, from 0800 to 1100 and from 1300 to 1600 the LION does various things, Him spends time in computer office, him is network administrator (whatever that means) him is also registered nurse, and so keeps infirmary hours at the same time, in case someone needs toenails trimmed or ears cleaned. LION often must take monks to Dickinson or Bismarck for doctor’s appointments. Him has credit card, can eat lunch out.
LION is also manager of Wine Cellar, and must stop what he is doing to sell wine to visitors to the Abbey. Him also manages the sale of altar wine to churches. Him sells about 30 pallets of wine per year.
By 1400 LION is bored with doing the things he is supposed to be doing and heads on up to the train room unitl 1630 when he goes into the church to read scripture before Mass. We are all supposed to read scripture or other approved books for about an hour a day. LION reads scripture for 30 minutes before Mass, and then a history book of some sort before bed time.
After Vespers the LION is ready for bed. LIONS like their sleep. Put on C-Pap machine and sleep all night long. Him has a bracket near the head of his bed for a cold bottle of Diet Pepsi. Him has long straw so him can drink Pepsi without having to
It’s a small market but check out this site: www.eastpenn.org. There are links to modelers and other sites that deal with model transit layouts and some manufacturers, too. There’s a lot more going on than you think in the US. Most of it is custom and short run but there is a lot to be had.
Some plastic subway and transit models have been done.
We are familiar with the Life-Like/Walthers cars. A company called Images Replicas did models of the NYC R17 cars and the R142 cars in plastic kit form. Their product range was recently purchased by Red Caboose in Manhattan and you can get IR stuff through them now. Some of us oldtimers will also remember the old Walthers BART and DC Metro plastic models which were not bad for the time but Walthers hasn’t made them in years
I guess the market isn’t as small as it seems. The guys buying subway models are probably mostly city people that grew up around or near them. Theres a lot of folks that did that! Red Caboose tells me he does a good business with tourists too. You are seeing more transit agencies with gift shops now. The builders are having models made of their latest cars. They all want models.
I think you will see new plastic subway models from the smaller specialized makers that know the cars better than the ‘bigger’ makers do and they are not worried about catering to the UP and transition-era fans (not that there’s anything wrong with them) to make their money. I think their familiarity with the prototypes will make for better models. One guy to watch is: http://ihphobby.tripod.com with a lot of future plans and some of them are already happening. I know of at least one other project for an HO commuter car in another company’s plans. It is not
That seems as about much fun as cleaning, Quagga Mussels off of the bottom of a boat.
I like the route of the Broadway Lion much better.
If the Lion writes an article on subways and MR does not help Lion with making it great, then something is really wrong in the Model Railroad Magazine publishing world.
I would go out and buy the issue with no reservations.
Recently announced in the UK https://www.ltmuseumshop.co.uk/models/special-commissions/product/s-stock-4-car-set-motorised.html There are extra cars available to make the full 7 and 8 car sets that are actually used.
I had no idea this thread was about… I’m doing chicago area electric and railroads plus N&W/Virginian, this includes CTA, Island model works has Chicago EL/Subway, Imagine That has laser cut CTA EL structures. I have a few of the older MTS CTA cars plus a brass 2 car CTA set. I’m not reallly doing subway than I am the elevated, but I plan to show a representation of the Chicago Freight tunnels.
I live in the Buffalo area, but grew up in NYC. I would purchase some subway models, if there were any available! I particularly would like R40s. One day, perhaps I’ll have a 3D printer, the drawings, and will be able to make my own. With such, I’d also need to fabricate all of the girders and such for the tunnel structures, elevated lines and beautiful brick work for the stations. I’ve got a basement that could easily be filled with a layout containing 6-8 reasonably sized stations. I would start with one set, and go from there.
Has anyone installed sound decoders in theirs and added station sounds and conductor talk? How about a station containing a musician with a tiny speaker embedded in there for the music?
Technology is going to make it easier to re-create just about anything in miniature. Even though the cost may be prohibitive at times, It’s great the guys like Lion are finding ways to do things on the cheap.
Greg in Buffalo
Model Railroader would have no problem with publishing an article written by a LION, as long as him has a Social Security number. Even LIONS must render unto Caesar.
I suspect for most of us subways are a nonstarter. No Freight, no switching, no buildings and no variation to equipment, scenery or operation. I know I just stepped on some toes but compared to railroading there is a lot less to offer the modeler. I suppose it could be argued it isn’t even model “railroading” but it definitely isn’t for me. It makes sense as an el through a city scene but even then they usually aren’t where the trains are.
“Imagine That”, Are they still in business? I have searched the web and cannot seem to find their website anylonger
jim r
I disagree subways or in my case the Staten Island Railway are ideal for small rooms. A look at a typical NYC subway would have sharp turns not typically found on rural layouts and fairly close stations ideal for an around the room shelf type layout. Although my medical situation has forced me to postpone the ground breaking of The New Staten Island West this is one of the options I an considering.
Extreme disagreement on this.
No Freight - So what? If I won the Powerball tomorrow, there’s a pretty good chance I’d actually fill a basement with Washington Union Station with nary a freight train in sight, but a sea of Amfleets.
No switching - How do you think they put together trains of subway cars?
No Buildings - The stations themselves? A lot of subway systems spend vast amounts of time above ground (plus that’s where their yards are too). Plus you can get pretty creative with the actual layout and show what’s above street level, even if you don’t go above ground.
No Variation in Equipment - There’s more than one type of cars in most fleets. And MOW trains. I’ll come back to the more than one type of car thing.
No variation in Scenery - Only if you choose not to. DC Metro goes through cities, suburbs, national parks, industrial areas, basically anything except a farm.
No variation in Operation - Assembling your trains for one (with the restrictions like how DC Metro can’t lead with certain cars because of their crash resistance or that 7000 series cars can’t run in trains with the other cars in the fleet because the older ones don’t have the data links for the station announcements), dealing with track work, disabled trains, closed stations, and so on, and the MOW cycle.
"Usually aren’t where the trains are