BLOG NUMBER FIVE IN A SERIES

READY-TO-RUN MODELS


This next advantage might not take hold quickly, but it's something to consider, so hold your fire until you see the general reaction to this proposal and think it through . If we built automobiles like we build live steam locomotives or model trolleys, we'd probably still all be driving teams of horses !

Picture this Alternate History : The instruction book --- 650 pages of "Build Your Very Own auto-mobile" --- begins : "Order the castings for the frame" . The instructions would continue "Lay out the main frame according to Construction Drawing # 2063 " ; "Weld Part 104 to Part 675" ; and on, until you had your brand-new (?) automobile in front of you a few years later, one of maybe six in your entire home town . Some of them might even run. It might even save on road construction and maintenance .

Our proposal suggests building and selling ready-made models at the Traction Museum : assembly-line-built, buy-it-and-run-it the same incredibly exciting day -- picture finding a two-inch scale Peter Witt trolley under the Christmas tree.

Another probable advantage is that a Mega-Scale model streetcar's price would drop precipitously when small companies find that they can produce multiple models at assembly line costs, making it much more affordable by the average household, and spurring more people into the hobby .

Traction modellers would truly come into their own, complex and fascinating, to add still another challenge to this great aspect of the hobby . Maybe we could even eliminate the "Made in China" Syndrome and proudly place "Made in the U.S.A." on these products again.

TO BE LAUNCHED BY A NATIONAL (INTERNATIONAL?) MODEL TRACTION ORGANIZATION UTILIZING MAJOR MODERN MARKETING and PUBLIC RELATIONS EFFORTS

There is one last point that needs to be covered : This paradigm shift MUST be combined with a major, industry-wide, simultaneous marketing*** campaign extolling the virtues of this new approach to the hobby. It would provide extraordinary opportunities for family fun and hours spent together; for the acquisition of many new useful skills and historical knowledge by our youngsters; for the introduction of a new hobby and the rescue of an old one; an investment where everyone benefits . We contend that only a broad, professionally-designed marketing campaign can do the job well, and only a nationally-coordinated campaign can do the job in a professional manner.

*** MARKETING IS NOT ADVERTISING, or at least, not only advertising . Observations indicate that most small businesses are completely unaware of the distinction, and neither are most organizations aware of the possibilities, as they practice neither marketing nor advertising. Sadly, it shows !

IT'S BEEN DONE BEFORE ... AND BY RESPECTED MODELLERS

As an aside, Bruce Moffett, noted author from CERA territory, has built (and runs on batteries, I believe) a beautiful trolley model in a scale of 1:8, which he controls from a seating-car (is there a better phrase that I have missed in over 50 years in the hobby ?) coupled directly behind the traction motor; here's proof :

NO ! That's not the Moffat Tunnel behind him --- note the different spelling ! Besides, he's probably heard that at least one hundred times already .

SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE NEW SCALE AND GAUGE

We worked out the minimum radius requirement for a streetcar in the Mega-Scales . It would require a 10' radius for P Scale and a 15' radius in GH Scale to comply with prototype standards for civil engineering construction, to scale down the 60 foot minimum radius recommended by prototype transportation engineers . We can follow the lead of our British and Continental colleagues, and build "fiddle yards" and street scenes that are not locked into round-and-round track patterns.

WHAT NEW SCALES AND APPROACHES MIGHT LOOK LIKE

Here are some pictures in these ultra-scales to encourage the expansion of our vision in harmony with the ideas in this article .

The photo shows Mr. Parry, a serious British inventor, designer, and manufacturer set up at an industrial exhibition with a two-inch-to-the-foot (1:6) scale) Proof-of-Concept model to demonstrate the feasibility of his Light Rail vehicle. Parry People Movers, utilizes the inertial power of flywheels for the very short range station-to-station transit needs often found in rural England . (Image copyright not secured from Parry People Movers, UK ) .

Mr. Parry and his Parry's People Mover in P Scale (1:6), a light rail vehicle powered by an internal flywheel, which is set in motion at passenger stops by external plug-in electrical power, and whose inertial power moves the vehicle to the next passenger stop. Just the right size for 12 inch action figures and Barbie dolls as passengers.

These are photographs of an even more daring expansion in both concept and scale by Gordon Hatch, a trolley modeler from British Columbia who built a magnificent three-inch-to-the-foot (one-fourth scale) trolley layout in his backyard. We understand that the entire set-up was donated to a local museum in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada after Mr. Hatch's recent passing . (Photo was copied from the Internet with no commercial intent or benefit ; image copyright has not been secured from the family of the late builder despite best efforts, although they were published on the Internet) . Hoping that these photos stir the blood of previously-unmoved modelers .

OBJECTIONS FROM CRUSTY OLD-TIMERS

We anticipate a storm of protest at these suggestions . We wonder how Joshua Lionel Cowan's first efforts at Gauge Zero (O Scale) were received by cynical customers a hundred years ago ; probably something like "We already have all the possible gauges from #3 down to tiny #1; heck, we'd have to call that rascally peddler's trains "Zero gauge (0 gauge) ! " ... with raucous laughter in the background !

We have found, in over three-quarters of a century of looking at the world, that by a certain age most people have closed their minds about everything and then securely locked up the contents, no matter the facts or changes in circumstances . We just ask that, if that's happened to you, you open them just a bit to consider the possibilities and advantages . Meanwhile, we'll raise the drawbridge over the moat, slam shut the massive bolts on the main gates, and wait out the storm of live steamers and small-gage model traction buffs with pitchforks and torches . Just stop laughing as you watch the diminishing number of live steamers grow even smaller . Those who don't plan for the inevitable are doomed to deal with the inevitable .