Hello guys, I came across this diorama and I thought it worthy of posting on here. If this isn't the right place then please feel free to move it.


http://www.all-model-railroading.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=7291

45 views and not one reply?? Well I will think twice of posting anything neat like that again!

A little testy, eh?

The link took me to a discussion about an area 51 model.

Bill

I don't see where you asked for comments.

Thats the one. I thought it was neat using steam trains in a diorama.

I have several thoughts... First of all, 45 views without comment is common on this site. Most of our participants read but don't regularly comment. In this specific case I would have liked information from you on why you chose to post it here...

Second thought, or really a open question in light of the various "future of RYPN" threads on the board. Where do model railroads fit into railroad preservation, and therefore how do they fit with this sites goals.

There are lots of sites which are dedicated to model railroading, products and techniques, so those discussions probably are better off there.

On the other hand some museums use models in their interpetive work. At least one model railroad group (San Diego) describes its self as a museum and includes interpetation and education in its mission statement.

Clearly the display at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry is railroad interpetation. Rio Vista makes excilent use of various models which they have. There are several large models built by railroad shop personel in the golden age that are displayed at the B&O and California State Railroad Museum. Both Orange Empire and the California State Railroad Museum have displays about model or toy trains. The B&O Museum has a garden railroad. Many sites have a Brio trains in a play area.

Thoughts welcome.

Hello Admin.
If there is another place it should be posted instead of here feel free to move it...

Whether it is a model layout for historical interpretation (like Steamtown's), or Thomas wooden trains like in the Green Mountain RR depot at Bellows Falls, these are topics that definitely deserve discussion here within the context of the museum or tourist railroad.

The RRMofPA has a tremendous toy/model hands-on room that is something I think should be a model for the industry.

I would also suggest that discussing successful displays of interest to visiting families are MORE important to RYPN than discussing those of interest to the railfan.

I have stayed out of the "what should RYPN be" threads, but it dawned on me reading this... RYPN should not be of general interest to the average buff. It should target the active preservationist, weekend railroader and the museum professional. All topics related to preservation, business ops, railroad ops and marketing should be explored.

My two cents.

Rob

One of the things that distinguishes this forum from a lot of others is that there is much less of the "attaboy!" and "wow, kewl site!" comments (which many refer to as "static" or "noise") prevalent on a great many other sites, railroad and non-railroad.

Whether you consider it fair or not, a great many rail sites and groups maintain almost a brick wall between prototype rail discussions and modeling discussions, just as there seems to exist a similar "wall" philosophically between scale model railroading and tintype/toy train collectors (they mix like oil and water, trust me). Heaven help you if you dare to post modeling questions on the PRR prototype Yahoo group instead of the PRR-Modeling Yahoo group.

Sure, we at the Baltimore Streetcar Museum "oohed and ahhed" at the first of the new Bachmann Spectrum HO models of the Museum's "Peter Witt" 6119--but we're not going to discuss how well it runs, or where you can get it at a discount, on this forum. On the other hand, the operating O scale diorama in the visitors center might be a valid topic for discussion. Ditto whether models of preserved equipment stimulate gift shop sales, or are an effective fundraiser.

Models of railroad equipment were a very useful tool in planning, design, manufacturing, and sales promotion, and were produced by many locomotive and equipment manufacturers. Didn't somebody write an article in a nationally distributed magazine recently (hint: RMC December Issue) about the many uses EMD made of models in their business activities? I can tell you firsthand that the author of that article, who has worked almost four decades in the railroad industry, was not in the least concerned that it was published in a model railroad magazine rather than a railroad history magazine. He was very pleased that it was published by people who appreciated its importance and relevance to both modeling and railroad history. The story got told, that is the important thing, and the folks at Railroad Model Craftsman did a great job with the layout and presentation of the article.

I typically get twice as many requests each year from the Model Railroad Clubs and the NMRA region for presentations on equipment related topics as I receive from the railroad historical societies in my area. And the audience at those events is usually a couple decades younger than the railroad history crowd.

It is no fluke that over 20,000 people showed up at the 2008 Amherst Railway Society train show, which is very model railroad oriented. The museums and tourist railroads that display at that show are definitely making good use of their time and effort.

EMD, ALCO, Baldwin, Lima, Budd and other manufacturers all produced models for commercial use, including desk models and paperweights. How many museums have any of these models on display? How many museums have advertising materials from the equipment manufacturers on display? How equipment was marketed and sold is a very relevant part of railroad history.

You guys keep looking for the doorway to a younger crowd. This is that doorway. There are lots of ways to work these kinds of materials into your presentations and displays and make them interesting and relevant.

PC

Since Strasburg RR has 3 gift shops, pretty much separating the various product "lines"...branded merchandise, model trains and books, and Thomas and other toys... I'd kind of like to hear what percentage of sales occur in each... MIGHT just be an eye opener for the stodgy "that doesn't belong here" types.

This topic of model railroading VS 1:1 scale is in my eyes a no win argument. Both sides are correct. I have two Northwest shortline models of the Polson #2 and the Rainier #70. The #2 in WI and #70 in Wa, both under restoration. I could take pictures of both models and real thing and make a fine post, appreciated by some and not by others. I choose not too because I think this site is geared more to preservation and the real thing. Strictly my opinion.

If we start opening the door to "anything" related then we loose what I like about this web site. If I want to learn or ask pertinent questions about a Bullared boring mill used to bore out WABCO air pump cyl I will go to Practicalmachinist.com, if I want to talk model railroading I will go to one of the many available web sites. It isn't a matter of right or wrong, but if we {and I mean all of us} start including "anything" related to RR then we soon become the McDonalds or Walmart of place to go. Sure many will enjoy the "diversity", but many of our professional Railroaders with real RR experience will just fade away from here. I also realize that one has the choice to not read every post that comes along, I don't read them all for sure.

There are some very valid points about "talking" about model railroading here and I can also agree with many of them. It is a great start to getting interested in the real thing. In many ways it is also an alternitive to getting involved in the 1:1 scale. FRA rules are easier to follow and comply with on a home pike. It also could be a money maker for museums to keep some Model RR stuff in there gift shops, of course some do already, while others will not go there. Keeping an open mind is important in all things.

I feel model RR should be acknowledged as being pertinent to our love of 1:1 scale railroading, I just don't care to see this website turn into model RR site. If the folks who run this website can easily find a place for this fine, but I feel it should be seperate, but thats just me. I like nuts and bolts and am more interested in shop related posts or related aspects of the real thing. But that is just me and I don't have the power and don't want it either, to dictate to others what is right and wrong. Just 2 cents worth, take it or leave it. Cheers, John.

In our exhibit car at the museum, we have an N gauge model of what North Judson looked like "in the 1950's" (condensed somewhat of course). It give visitors an idea of what North Judson looked like then, which it no longer does. Of the 4 railroads that came through town, two are gone completely, one partially (the museum) and one truncated (our short line connection and museum train operation). Plus nearly all of the railroad buildings are gone and the museum has added new ones, and put mostly different trackage down to replace what was previously there. Most visitors seem to like the display.

The Monticello Railway Museum has a model of their museum property with current buildings and much of their current equipment. This is kept at the Monticello, Illinois depot. I think MRM's display is HO gauge.

I just wonder how many other museums have model railroad displays to show what things once looked like, or how they appear today or other scenes germane to the current museum setting?

Les Beckman (Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum/North Judson, Indiana)

Les,
We currently don't have a model at Heart of Dixie. However, we are in the early stages of planning an education center/museum/discovery center on the property aimed toward kids & school groups. One of the things in the plan inclues a model. Not sure what it will be, but probably somehow depict L&N Mineral RR thru Shelby county (our line) and the RR's, both past & present, around the Calera area. Might also include something like a replication of the Vulcan mine here with its in-house RR. Kinda just in the dreaming/brainstorming phase right now.

This is all part of our new long term strategic plan to turn our place into a "destination."

Bill

Bill -

I applaud you guys for your forward thinking.

Les