Is Research Rewarding to You?

[nkp_174]

My modeling drives research and research drives my modeling.

A few years back, I stumbled open the Oahu Railway while visiting Hawaii. I was appalled that I had a blind spot like that in my narrow gauge knowledge. First it was the purely the pursuit of filling in that void with info on that interesting railroad. That led to starting construction on an OR&L passenger car. Well...that led me into researching their passenger cars...and before long, the combination of the joy of researching the road and modeling its intense operation made it my prototype.

If I were to model the post-depression RGS, D&RGW, EBT, or C&S, essentially no research would be needed. Nor would any scratch building of equipment (or, anymore, building of kits) be required. While many find this preferable, I would find my hobby to be only 1/3 of the way fulfilling.

Most recently, I was researching paint schemes for 1941 fighter planes based had Wheeler Field. The reason is to paint P-40 warhawks for both George Welch and Ken Taylor. I've got one of the kits so far...partially assembled. It'll go somewhere on my layout. I've also been researching the correct color for coral ballast...as the Oahu Railway used.

[Green_Elite_Cab]

Sometimes...if I actually find what I'm looking for. Fankly, I would rather research in a well-stocked library than on the 'net.

I can almost agree. More often then not, the hardest bits of information to find are in old railroad magazines, or in out of print books. Stuff on the internet is always very general, and often times, people don't really know what they are talking about.


I hate to call people out on it to, but it happens. A good chunk of the time, people make assumptions without really knowing for sure. For example, they may assume all Silverliner and Arrows are "Budd" cars, simply because budd made some stainless steel MUs (in reality, Budd only made the Silverliner I and II, and NONE of the Arrows).

This frustrates me, because sometimes I do have SOLID evidence to the contrary, but then people want to call me out for being a nitpick or a rivet counter. As far as prototype research goes, I think its important to know WHO built the vehicle. I'm not sure thats a small detail.

The other problem I have, is all the anecdotal stories. Don't get me wrong, I love a good story, and if its relevant to my interests, all the better. However, people are often wrong here as well

For example, I was discussing the PATCO, a local rapid transit line into Philadelphia. In reality, the PATCO was one the first train to run "automatically" in this country, beating out lines like the BART. However, an intelligent and older member of my club INSISTED that they did not run automatically, and stated that he always saw the engineer driving the PATCO trains back when it first was running, and began telling me that must be a "New" change.

My fellow club member definitely knows a lot, but he was wrong (I have at least three books and several magazine articles that confirm the PATCO started out with ATO). He certainly may have seen them driving the train manually, each engineer has to manually drive the train in each direction at least once every day, and they can choose to drive it manually whenever they want (ATO produces slightly better train times).

The problem here is that, if I didn't have those books and articles, I would have been inclined to believe him if the question every came up about the Automatic Train Operation on the PATCO.

These kinds of stories get frustrating, because it becomes difficult to flesh out where the fact or fiction is. For many prototypes, the information is not clearly in any particular book or magazine, and so you may have to rely on someone elses's first hand memory of something that occured 30-40 years ago, if not more!

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This isn't to say that books are perfect either (I find discrepancies in books all the time), but USUALLY they either have photos to back themselves up, or at the very least, someone checks these books for facts. Indeed, many books contain a bibiliography of the books that they got their information from, and you can generally rely on a book.

Additionally, older books were written when the prototype was running, and unlike our minds, the details reccorded in a book do not get fuzzy.

The "minor" things that occured then that are of no consequence now, are usually available in the form of old magazines. For my electric prototypes, magazines like "Headlights" and "Electriclines" are fantastic. Even though they are out of print, they all had "news" sections, such as articles on the introduction of the old silverliner MUs, which are LOADED with facts that you can't find anywhere else today (is there even a modern resource on these self-propelled cars? I think not....).


Now, there is no guarantee that any library would be "well stocked" enough for our purposes, but at the very least, it can help you find the right books for the job. This is where the internet is useful, since you can ask which books are appropriate for which subject (hence the creation of the thread "Your Railroad Book Library"). If you're lucky, you might be able to get them to order in the proper book for the job. I have found multiple books this way (which i later purchased for my own personal collection).

[Green_Elite_Cab]

My modeling drives research and research drives my modeling.

Ironically, this almost inhibits my modeling, since I end up becoming interested in multiple topics, and I frequently get caught up on a new project before finishing the previous one (which is why I never get anything done!).

[Sumpter250]

. . . . and that, is what keeps life from becoming "dull, and uninteresting !

[tomustang]

As this being a hobby I chosen, I accept research and find it just rewarding as every other aspect of the hobby, besides the budget

[cn nutbar]

As you know,my good friend Doctor Wayne is the true creator of my collection.Whenever I have asked Wayne to either paint a locomotive or even build a particular passenger car or freight car that is not available otherwise,the groundwork begins with doing research for the desired item.Even though I am not involved in the actual building or painting process I have felt I have made a small contribution through photos and data found in books and internet research---it is also enjoyable in sharing this information when Wayne and I get together .When you look at the model when it is completed all the credit belongs to Wayne,my contribution is certainly minimal but it is rewarding for me.