COMPLETELY NEW AVENUES TO EXPLORE FROM OUR FEVERED IMAGINATION

I have been beating the drum, in this and other Blogs, for an expansion of model railways into new and hitherto (almost unexplored) avenues of effort.

I always characterize --- and think of --- Electric Railways as models realized in T⁴ , in which one of the T's stands for Transit, an often-neglected area of effort in the modeling hobby . Actually, there is at least one modeler in --- I believe --- New York City who has produced an extensive model based upon the New York City Transit System --- the NY Subway --- and has succeeded to such an extent that I am embarrassed to even try to emulate him .

Again, the advantages of the sharp curves and short turning radiuses, the world's familiarity with the system, and its one hundred-year history have much to recommend it .

I woke up today in a fever of creativity --- probably brought on by one of the preposterous (but  true) new TV shows being aired about multi-million dollar real estate listings --- thinking about an imaginary transit line extending from the Glitter and Swank of Park Avenue, NYC, with its multi-million dollar apartments, out to the Hamptons, with their luxurious beachfront homes .

This makes the high fashion of both terminii of this transit line very plausible. If we specify our newly proposed DisplayScale of  two inches = one foot, this allows venturing into one-sixth scale and the use of many products of the Mattel Corporation and small companies producing GI Joes and other military figurines . It also encourages small businesses to produce the myriad landscape , lineside, and track accessories needed .

We can even picture modeling a town like Breezy Point, the extraordinary little community of NYC Fire Fighters along the right-of-way, as a symbol of the resilience of the American people following the 9/11 terror attack . There's much to feed the imagination and many possibilities, as much of the line will be elevated . Note the great work that Jimmy Sparkman***  has done in 1:16, or 3/4ths inch scale, with SEPTA , the Philadelphia transit system, built on trestles and displayed at chest height, but decidedly NOT ridden upon . Give it some thought !

*** A real-life employee of SEPTA, the SouthEastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority, and a long-time member of the East Penn Traction Club