03-25-2012, 08:39 AM
I think that what we're actually doing here is testing out an actual car exchange. It may or may not be a success, and meanwhile, if enough guys are willing to establish they each have the same Accurail Santa Fe box or Athearn MKT covered hopper with the same numbers, they could certainly go ahead and try that and see if it works. However, decaling equipment so it has the same numbers as another guy seems like a certain amount of work in itself. Time will tell whether shipping is too expensive or too much of a hassle.
I'm inclined to want to work toward what eightyeightfan is proposing, where we have a good idea of industries, locations, and regions of each guy's layout. When I post on shipping my first car later today, I'll suggest some things there, too. Right now I think we're doing the right thing in having two guys take a first concrete step, and we can work toward having more bells and whistles as we go along. The point I would make, in fact, is that the idea of having an exchange of real cars via mail, UPS, DHL, or whatever, looks appealing enough that two guys are actually going to give it a try.
I'm inclined to want to work toward what eightyeightfan is proposing, where we have a good idea of industries, locations, and regions of each guy's layout. When I post on shipping my first car later today, I'll suggest some things there, too. Right now I think we're doing the right thing in having two guys take a first concrete step, and we can work toward having more bells and whistles as we go along. The point I would make, in fact, is that the idea of having an exchange of real cars via mail, UPS, DHL, or whatever, looks appealing enough that two guys are actually going to give it a try.