HERE'S A LETTER THAT WE WROTE SOME YEARS AGO TO A WELL-KNOWN, LONG-TIME ONE INCH SCALE SMALL MANUFACTURER, INQUIRING ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF PURCHASING A CUSTOM-MADE (to our Euro Fans : BESPOKE) POWER TRUCK IN ONE-INCH SCALE :
I am a long-time "live steamer" who, frankly, much prefers traction: trams, street cars, interurbans, and trolleys. I am very taken with the idea of operating battery-powered one-inch scale NON-RIDING trolleys. Designing them as non-riding from the outset means that they needn't be built to carry 200+ pounds on their roof, nor do we have to be concerned with damage to delicate pantographs or trolley poles. Modeling electrically-powered prototypes produces easily designed and realistic model trolleys as a natural outcome.
I am subject to fits of quixotic thought-experiments (thanks to Albert Einstein for coming up with that wonderful phrase) regarding this strange and wonderful hobby that we both share. A strong and recurring theme is that of developing and marketing a line of one-inch trolleys. Your diesel-outline locomotives strike me as --- arguably --- ideal candidates for the basis of a nifty trolley model. You have already performed the most difficult task of producing the power truck, although I understand, of course, that the side frames probably would need re-designing, and that some compromises with precise scale-sizing might have to be made.
Nonetheless, your diesel power trucks provide one of the best ready-to-use power units on the market today. Page 107 of a popular, widely available book titled "A Trolley Car Treasury", authored by Frank Rowsome, shows the manufacture of a prototype 1905 wooden trolley body in a trolley-car erection shop. It does not take much imagination to picture a similar scene taking place in a small commercial woodworking shop, followed by mounting that body on a power truck, adding the appropriate details and finishing steps, and then marketing the complete trolley to traction fans.
If one omits the weight of a rider, a model like that could easily run on the code .332 track that is widely available from "G scale" model train sources, representing very acceptable 4" high rail (about 75 pound prototype rail).
Power could be supplied by either the common overhead catenary or by (occasionally-found) third rail (code .332 or 0 gauge rail) mounted alongside the running rail.
Any good business man immediately asks what the potential market is. My instinct, coupled with a detailed search of the Internet, shows a list of many thousands of possible buyers. These range from members of the many trolley fan and preservation groups to the many hundreds of members of trolley groups such as the East Penn Traction Club and the CERA. I might add the untapped thousands of one-inch scale miniature hobbyists.
Identifying them and targeting the advertising of this product to that audience could be done in a straightforward manner through their membership and other popular publications.
Determining an affordable price-point for the model would be of critical importance; setting it properly so that it produces a profit only slightly less so. Building to a cost that ensures a profitable sale would be made easier by your pre-design and construction of the power trucks.
I have posited a project that sets a high bar, but you can see that I have given it much thought. Model trolleys can realistically negotiate much tighter radius curves than comparable main line engines. This means a much wider potential market, without the 5-acre minimum needed for live steam.
Building them ready-to-run will also appeal to a much wider audience, without the restrictive need for metal-working and machining skills. Making available a realistic sound system is a natural adjunct. We need a much wider audience than the very small live steam group. Getting, say, Neiman-Marcus to show it in their famous Christmas catalogue would be a public relations coup of the first magnitude, and is well within the realm of possibility.
If some or any of this triggers a positive response, please let me know. If not, I might well be interested in a quote on the power trucks alone. Thanks for listening to a long-time fan.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE RESPONSE QUOTED A PRICE OF $1,500 PER TRUCK, as I recollect --- a fair and reasonable price, but I never did follow up.
Harold Nils "Hal" Pelta
Electric Railways Network
P O Box 208
Ellenton, FL 34222
HNILS@msn.com
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Final Blog in this series
ADVANTAGES OF A NATIONAL T⁴ ORGANIZATION
My contention is that a national model organization could function to maintain, reproduce, and distribute archives of rare and otherwise unobtainable or out-of-print photographs, images, engineering drawings, books, periodicals, and videos, properly safeguarded against vandalism, theft, and loss .
1. It could establish a consortium of model traction clubs and museums, existing as units of a national or international organization as suggested above, ideally in conjunction and cooperation with full-size heritage (vintage) trolley museums. Individual memberships would definitely be available and welcome, also .
2. It could tear down the walls between the several regional traction groups, while maintaining regionalism and individuality
3. It could utilize the many new Social-Media approaches to public relations, making them much more effective (who ever heard of Lady Gaga five years ago?; how many have heard of your group ?) Are you still depending on a monthly notice to a newspaper ? Good luck !
4. Bring down the expense of informing the public about who we are and what we do by sharing the effort and the cost;
5. Bring new voices and new energy to the hobby;
6. It could inform the public about the history of electric traction, as trolley museums are attempting to do;
7. In a small, but effective, way, change the world we know.
8. It could publish a national magazine that would present the best face of our hobby in a professional way, educating the public, spreading word of regional and national meets, acting as liaison to professional transit groups, providing a medium where small manufacturers can present their products, where new small model-makers--- even one-man garage set-ups --- can have their products showcased professionally.
9. When will all the separate. disparate branches of the traction - trolley - tram -- transit [ what I like to call the T-to-the-Fourth-Power] groups going to realize how much more could be accomplished if they presented a united face to the hobby public, in one location at one major annual exhibition in a venue that's
a. ... pleasant --- nice surroundings, decent accommodations --- without Beverly Hills prices
b. ... safe (an entirely different matter). We recently attended a miniatures program, a subject not too far afield from rail models, held at what we thought was a nice family motel ... that housed an outlaw motorcycle group get-together. The ruckus went on in the hallways and courtyards until well after 2:00 a.m. There really do exist many travel destinations that specifically market to and monitor for family groups. A large hotel, backed up by the local gendarmerie, would not have tolerated this behavior for five minutes; they would have politely but firmly told the rowdy guests to maintain the peace OR leave. A professional conference venue would not have tolerated this rowdyism for one minute.
c. ... easy to get to, unlike the often obscure locations chosen because they're cheap or free or, as in the following case, exotic. We were once invited to attend a major international event in Kuala Lumpur (!!), after being advised that our suggestion of Orlando, Florida was distant and inconvenient. They had to cancel the Malaysian program, presumably because of lack of registration or attendance . They settled later for their second choice : Dubai ! Not much higher attendance, but they still hold the record for exotic locations. Talk about exclusive (in the original meaning of excluding people) !
d. ... that provides other visitor attractions for the family while participants and enthusiasts are attending the show .
e. ... in a halcyon climate that does not require heroic efforts to prove how manly we are to fight our way through snow drifts . Why is it, when model exhibitions are held, the organizers seem to choose precisely the season that, in Florida, predictably or statistically, is most likely to feature tropical storms (Florida in the Summer) , OR, in Minnesota, blizzards, OR in Nunavut, Canada, ice, OR, elsewhere, impossible transportation schedules and travel times like those annual predictable peak periods around Thanksgiving or other major family holidays ?
f. ... that doesn't require hand-drawn campus maps or, as I was once seriously asked, "What's the latitude and longitude of this place?" -- and this was well before GPS technology.
8. ... finally, and last only because it continues to cause major constraints on attendance and the growth of the model hobby, in places that are NOT private, unmarked, unadvertised, and require driving over unpaved private roads . I've been told that attendance is restricted because of insurance requirements , like those fake restrictions that auto mechanics impose to keep us away from seeing what horrors they are doing to the family car.
UNIFICATION CAN AVOID MANY DIFFICULTIES
This is not to criticize any of the fine groups --- East Penn Traction, CERA, the Los Angeles group, the European tram enthusiasts, and on and on, each of which is made up of many first-rate modelers and organizers . However, the resultant "Balkanization" has held back our very special model interest from its rightful place in the hobby spectrum.
MODEL AIRPLANE PEOPLE BENEFIT BY DOING IT RIGHT
Our local radio control model airplane group has opted for a very large public park, with County approval, on an active county road, accompanied by much advance newspaper publicity, and photo and press coverage . When we arrived, without any reservation, volunteer members took turns directing our cars to free parking; other volunteers ascertained that we were unfamiliar with the hobby and appointed themselves to show us around, unlocked the building that housed their displays, and set up the computers containing video training simulators, so that we could try our hand at radio control flying virtually without destroying someone's prized model; other volunteers staffed a large outdoor booth serving inexpensive hamburgers made to order, with all the fixin's as they say in the South, and a reasonable choice of beverages. A safety area, not subject to crashes of errant model airplanes, and provided with comfortable seating under shelters covered for shade in a sort of pavilion, made for a very pleasant day, all for a total of a $2.00 parking fee to cover their modest expenses. Compare that to the last Trolley - Tram - Traction - Transit show you attended, and ask yourself which hobby presented itself better to the public .
LET MY PEOPLE KNOW !
AN INTERESTING MARKETING IDEA
Has anyone given thought to the marketing (NOT advertising !) opportunities?
Picture a chartered bus caravan from, e.g. , Philadelphia --- home to one of the largest charter bus operations in the country --- full of trolley fans, sporting custom-made banners emblazoned with
"East Penn Traction Club We're on our way to the First Annual Trolley, etc."
exposed to all the traffic, rest stops, and tourist restaurants along Interstate 95, all the way down to, say, Florida. Anyone along the road who inquires during a break would be handed a nicely printed brochure about the group and the exhibition/conference.
24 hours later, with no TSA pat-downs or runway delays, you and your trolley buddies would be delivered directly to your hotel, your modules safely stowed in the capacious baggage compartments of these long-distance buses. It certainly beats a flight to Dubai !
HOW DO WE GO ABOUT SETTING UP A NATIONAL T⁴ GROUP ?
We're personally getting much too long in the tooth to attempt this ourselves, but we strongly believe that people of good will with good reputations in this field --- like many of you reading this exhortation --- can get together and make it work. Do you agree ? Be in on the Genesis; eMail us at HNILS@msn.com OR ...
Post Office Box 208
ELLENTON, FLORIDA 34222 U.S.A.
We'll do what we can on this end to bring us all together.
IF YOU ARE THE FEARLESS LEADER OF A TRACTION, etc., GROUP AND WOULD LIKE TO SHARE THE JOYS AND WOES OF LEADERSHIP OF THE KIND OF NATIONAL GROUP DESCRIBED HERE, PLEASE WRITE to the same address [ OR, at least, COMMENT ],
AND, FINALLY (WHEW !) :
If you would like your very own copy of this [26-PAGE] Manifesto for a National Group, mailed to you in a plain brown SEALED manila envelope
1. replete with images clearly not suitable for framing,
2. ... with significant points emphasized in Boldface type
3. ... containing at least some additional material
4. ... on clean white 8 1/2 X 11 24 LB bond paper,
5. ... printed on one side only; the other side usable for any household purpose
6. ... NOT copyright --- In fact : Please copy, steal, distribute, etc. to your heart's content --- that's the idea of this whole effort.
... please write, enclosing a check for $ 5.00 (in EuroSpeak : USD) payable to "Harold Nils Pelta" --- which according to the audited statement of a world-renowned CPA firm, barely covers our costs of mailing, packaging, and petrol for delivery to the local Post Office --- mailed to :
Ellenton, FL 34222 USA
or use PAYPAL, PAYABLE TO HNILS@MSN.COM . I am told on Good Authority that YOU do not need a PayPal account, as the recipient already has one. If you encounter difficulties in this process, eMail to HNILS@MSN.COM or write us at the above Post Office Box address .
Sincerely yours,
The Iconoclast of the Catenary,
Hal Pelta
Editor's Note : Isn't it easier to write T⁴ than all that other stuff?
My contention is that a national model organization could function to maintain, reproduce, and distribute archives of rare and otherwise unobtainable or out-of-print photographs, images, engineering drawings, books, periodicals, and videos, properly safeguarded against vandalism, theft, and loss .
1. It could establish a consortium of model traction clubs and museums, existing as units of a national or international organization as suggested above, ideally in conjunction and cooperation with full-size heritage (vintage) trolley museums. Individual memberships would definitely be available and welcome, also .
2. It could tear down the walls between the several regional traction groups, while maintaining regionalism and individuality
3. It could utilize the many new Social-Media approaches to public relations, making them much more effective (who ever heard of Lady Gaga five years ago?; how many have heard of your group ?) Are you still depending on a monthly notice to a newspaper ? Good luck !
4. Bring down the expense of informing the public about who we are and what we do by sharing the effort and the cost;
5. Bring new voices and new energy to the hobby;
6. It could inform the public about the history of electric traction, as trolley museums are attempting to do;
7. In a small, but effective, way, change the world we know.
8. It could publish a national magazine that would present the best face of our hobby in a professional way, educating the public, spreading word of regional and national meets, acting as liaison to professional transit groups, providing a medium where small manufacturers can present their products, where new small model-makers--- even one-man garage set-ups --- can have their products showcased professionally.
9. When will all the separate. disparate branches of the traction - trolley - tram -- transit [ what I like to call the T-to-the-Fourth-Power] groups going to realize how much more could be accomplished if they presented a united face to the hobby public, in one location at one major annual exhibition in a venue that's
a. ... pleasant --- nice surroundings, decent accommodations --- without Beverly Hills prices
b. ... safe (an entirely different matter). We recently attended a miniatures program, a subject not too far afield from rail models, held at what we thought was a nice family motel ... that housed an outlaw motorcycle group get-together. The ruckus went on in the hallways and courtyards until well after 2:00 a.m. There really do exist many travel destinations that specifically market to and monitor for family groups. A large hotel, backed up by the local gendarmerie, would not have tolerated this behavior for five minutes; they would have politely but firmly told the rowdy guests to maintain the peace OR leave. A professional conference venue would not have tolerated this rowdyism for one minute.
c. ... easy to get to, unlike the often obscure locations chosen because they're cheap or free or, as in the following case, exotic. We were once invited to attend a major international event in Kuala Lumpur (!!), after being advised that our suggestion of Orlando, Florida was distant and inconvenient. They had to cancel the Malaysian program, presumably because of lack of registration or attendance . They settled later for their second choice : Dubai ! Not much higher attendance, but they still hold the record for exotic locations. Talk about exclusive (in the original meaning of excluding people) !
d. ... that provides other visitor attractions for the family while participants and enthusiasts are attending the show .
e. ... in a halcyon climate that does not require heroic efforts to prove how manly we are to fight our way through snow drifts . Why is it, when model exhibitions are held, the organizers seem to choose precisely the season that, in Florida, predictably or statistically, is most likely to feature tropical storms (Florida in the Summer) , OR, in Minnesota, blizzards, OR in Nunavut, Canada, ice, OR, elsewhere, impossible transportation schedules and travel times like those annual predictable peak periods around Thanksgiving or other major family holidays ?
f. ... that doesn't require hand-drawn campus maps or, as I was once seriously asked, "What's the latitude and longitude of this place?" -- and this was well before GPS technology.
8. ... finally, and last only because it continues to cause major constraints on attendance and the growth of the model hobby, in places that are NOT private, unmarked, unadvertised, and require driving over unpaved private roads . I've been told that attendance is restricted because of insurance requirements , like those fake restrictions that auto mechanics impose to keep us away from seeing what horrors they are doing to the family car.
UNIFICATION CAN AVOID MANY DIFFICULTIES
This is not to criticize any of the fine groups --- East Penn Traction, CERA, the Los Angeles group, the European tram enthusiasts, and on and on, each of which is made up of many first-rate modelers and organizers . However, the resultant "Balkanization" has held back our very special model interest from its rightful place in the hobby spectrum.
MODEL AIRPLANE PEOPLE BENEFIT BY DOING IT RIGHT
Our local radio control model airplane group has opted for a very large public park, with County approval, on an active county road, accompanied by much advance newspaper publicity, and photo and press coverage . When we arrived, without any reservation, volunteer members took turns directing our cars to free parking; other volunteers ascertained that we were unfamiliar with the hobby and appointed themselves to show us around, unlocked the building that housed their displays, and set up the computers containing video training simulators, so that we could try our hand at radio control flying virtually without destroying someone's prized model; other volunteers staffed a large outdoor booth serving inexpensive hamburgers made to order, with all the fixin's as they say in the South, and a reasonable choice of beverages. A safety area, not subject to crashes of errant model airplanes, and provided with comfortable seating under shelters covered for shade in a sort of pavilion, made for a very pleasant day, all for a total of a $2.00 parking fee to cover their modest expenses. Compare that to the last Trolley - Tram - Traction - Transit show you attended, and ask yourself which hobby presented itself better to the public .
LET MY PEOPLE KNOW !
Picture a national T⁴program organized like that, presented by an amalgamation of regional or national groups acting as a unified body, as a public introduction to the hobby ! Wouldn't that arouse more interest, recruit new members, and create more great memories for families than current arrangements? With more worker bees, the many vital components of such a program would be easy to handle.
This ultra-regionalism has splintered us and divided our efforts in so many ways, into so many directions, that it almost seems as though we're trying to keep people away. That has generally kept our branch of the model railroading hobby small, insular, and divided. When it's suggested that we could all meet in one grand location and present a united face to the public, we encounter a host of objections (it's too hot, it's too cold, it's too far, etc.), and the result is exclusive, in the original sense of the word --- tending to exclude people --- like some vast esoteric international political conspiracy.AN INTERESTING MARKETING IDEA
Has anyone given thought to the marketing (NOT advertising !) opportunities?
Picture a chartered bus caravan from, e.g. , Philadelphia --- home to one of the largest charter bus operations in the country --- full of trolley fans, sporting custom-made banners emblazoned with
"East Penn Traction Club We're on our way to the First Annual Trolley, etc."
exposed to all the traffic, rest stops, and tourist restaurants along Interstate 95, all the way down to, say, Florida. Anyone along the road who inquires during a break would be handed a nicely printed brochure about the group and the exhibition/conference.
24 hours later, with no TSA pat-downs or runway delays, you and your trolley buddies would be delivered directly to your hotel, your modules safely stowed in the capacious baggage compartments of these long-distance buses. It certainly beats a flight to Dubai !
HOW DO WE GO ABOUT SETTING UP A NATIONAL T⁴ GROUP ?
We're personally getting much too long in the tooth to attempt this ourselves, but we strongly believe that people of good will with good reputations in this field --- like many of you reading this exhortation --- can get together and make it work. Do you agree ? Be in on the Genesis; eMail us at HNILS@msn.com OR ...
... Write to T⁴at :
The National Traction, Trolley, Tram, & Transit GroupPost Office Box 208
ELLENTON, FLORIDA 34222 U.S.A.
We'll do what we can on this end to bring us all together.
IF YOU ARE THE FEARLESS LEADER OF A TRACTION, etc., GROUP AND WOULD LIKE TO SHARE THE JOYS AND WOES OF LEADERSHIP OF THE KIND OF NATIONAL GROUP DESCRIBED HERE, PLEASE WRITE to the same address [ OR, at least, COMMENT ],
AND, FINALLY (WHEW !) :
If you would like your very own copy of this [26-PAGE] Manifesto for a National Group, mailed to you in a plain brown SEALED manila envelope
1. replete with images clearly not suitable for framing,
2. ... with significant points emphasized in Boldface type
3. ... containing at least some additional material
4. ... on clean white 8 1/2 X 11 24 LB bond paper,
5. ... printed on one side only; the other side usable for any household purpose
6. ... NOT copyright --- In fact : Please copy, steal, distribute, etc. to your heart's content --- that's the idea of this whole effort.
... please write, enclosing a check for $ 5.00 (in EuroSpeak : USD) payable to "Harold Nils Pelta" --- which according to the audited statement of a world-renowned CPA firm, barely covers our costs of mailing, packaging, and petrol for delivery to the local Post Office --- mailed to :
T-to-the-Fourth-Power Society
Post Office Box 208Ellenton, FL 34222 USA
or use PAYPAL, PAYABLE TO HNILS@MSN.COM . I am told on Good Authority that YOU do not need a PayPal account, as the recipient already has one. If you encounter difficulties in this process, eMail to HNILS@MSN.COM or write us at the above Post Office Box address .
Sincerely yours,
The Iconoclast of the Catenary,
Hal Pelta
Editor's Note : Isn't it easier to write T⁴ than all that other stuff?
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