I've got the proto bug, particularly with track. first i was using c80 then to atlas c55 but then the spikes seemed to big and the ties to short so I switched to ME c55 and I was content for a few weeks until, low and behold that seemed out of scale to! So now I do c40 but even now I worry that the ties are not wide enough or that the ballast is to big...yup I've the proto bug :we-eek:
You guys are a bunch of sick puppies. That said if I am at the extreme end of the bell curve I guess I would be clasified as having: "Freelance-ittes" - in its ultra extreme stages.
Prototype-itis, redux You know you have prototype-itis when: Someone says you're a sick puppy, but for the life of you, you can't understand WHY. ^_^ --Bryan
when you have to count the number of ties on a yard track or spur. when you have to stain the oil spots in your switches and track just right.
you have to match every speck of rust dirt oil and grime on your engine because the prototype had it. you try to match the dents dings of the prototype. you go to all the bother to detail your engines like a picture only to have nobody notice or scoff at the thought of doing such a thing. your engine gets its 92 day inspection when the real ones do. a engine in your fleet recieves a patch job when the real ones do. your engine gets a new paint job as the real rr the engine goes in for a rebuild as per the real one.
You are enjoying watching your Intermountain SD40T-2s haul a brace of coal cars up your N-scale Gilluly Loops until you notice that IM put the wrong air horns on these locomotives -- and Lo! The spell vanishes and you find yourself looking at a very expensive toy train. AAARGGGHHH! --Bryan
You know you have prototype-itis when... ..you have a model of each loco in the current roster of the company you model. i model cp rail and currently have around 90 ac4400...now i just need about 310 more to duplicate the roster...
-You have started compiling a list of re-weight dates for every piece of rolling stock you have. Even if you freelance, cars would still have to be re-weighed every few years and reporting marks changed to show the date, location and new weight. Jason
Well, that's not too hard for me, the end of the railroad furthest from me is an hour and a half, the other end is about twenty minutes. The other railroad starts twenty minutes from me and ends about thirty minutes drive away. I have walked the length of this other railroad, the Beaufort and Morehead, in an afternoon.
Well, at least your wife knows what to buy you for Christmas. Give her my number and, oh, wait, um, never mind, Dan might read this.
Prototype crisis du jour You know you have prototype-itis when: * Even though you're running N scale trains, and nobody can see your rolling stock's road numbers without a magnifying glass, you can't bear to run two freight cars in the same consist that have the same road numbers. (Worst case.) * You can't bear to even OWN two freight cars with the same road numbers. Is there a cure? ^_^ --Bryan
Owning the entire roster - of course! Oh yes, of course. Currently, I own models of all the Rio Grande's PA/PBs, F3s, and SD-7s; about the half of the GP-30s and GP-35s; and about 20 percent of the road's F7s, SD-45s, and SD40T-2s. Having gotten this far, and wishing to operate my Grande layout prototypically, how can I deny myself anything short of a complete roster? This is very, very dangerous, and could lead to divorce, bankruptcy, and -- ultimately -- extreme poverty, so pay attention. TO ENSURE THAT THIS CALAMITY DOES NOT BEFALL YOU, MODEL A SMALL ROAD. Let us put this in perspective. The SP is not a small road. In the 1950s, SP had 935 F units. To duplicate the SP's 1955 F unit roster with Intermountain F units will set you back $83,215. Help! Save us! ^_^ Bryan
"2"? only "2"?. //Note to self: Don't let Bryan visit. He would probably go inito shock iupon seeing my 10 CP Boxcars with the same road number. Hmm, better check my Railimages album and delete any photos. Yes there is a cure: How many psychiatrist does it take to change a person with 'prototype-itis? Only one but first the patient must want to change.
2? What about 25 of ONE number? I have, er.. Uhm.. Nevermind...:tb-cool: May God help your poor soul if you model UP in modern day.. Only something like 7500 locos... Or BN in the 80's. Only 838 SD40-2's... Bryan, look at the bright side, there's only 73 Tunnel motors on the Grande! Funny how you failed to mention the GP40/-2's, the 4-axle hotrods... Tis' why I model only 10% of the Grande roster!
I got them all! Plus most of the F unit fleet, GP30, GP35, GP40, etc... Sigh! :eh-shocked: Of course, I won't run the tunnel motors until I figure out how to wire the nose Gyra lights.
I've been following the suggestion by Rick McClelland (another Frisco modeler) and been modeling 10% of the Frisco roster circa mid-1970s. In other words, to represent the 146 GP38AC/-2s on the roster, I need 14 or 15 such diesels. For the GP7s, I already have 3. SD45s? I'll need 5, and I only have 2. That's in HO scale- on my small N layout, I should have 6 engines in Frisco colors to run the thru freights, locals and switchers. Best bet is to stay at 10% of a medium-size road, or narrow the eras to when the desired locomotives existed (another sign of prototype-itis, only modeling the locomotives within a certain time frame).
Back when I was concentrating on BN, I decided on 1%.. That still meant 8 SD40-2's alone! I used fiber optic thread to light the MARS lites on a GP30 once. While it doesn't ocillate, it does have a neat effect. Should work for a TM as well.
With the Portland and Western, one could conceivably buy a loco a month and have most of the roster in two years... although you'd have to paint every one of them.
yes ! get yourself an alps printer ! renumbering is lots of fun. speaks one which renumbered several dozens of kato ac4400......
