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Joe, I understand you may have finished the draft, that you have it all packed and proofed, but in reading through your contents it appears you have the Initial introduction to service well established, but your content doesn't go very far away from the starting point. Everybody who buys a new car knows everything doesn't magically stay running like a dream after leaving the lot.
You have:
1. Realizing the dream: Bulletproof performance
2. Preventive: Break-in, testing, and lubrication
3. Preventive: Electrical pickup
4. DCC and programming
5. Locomotive lighting
6. Locomotive sound
7. Locomotive tuning and maintenance
8. Enhancing locomotive ops realism
You may have covered this in sections 1 and or 2 and 3 but...
9. Periodic (Scheduled) Maintenance
I don't see this next part much covered at all, and I DO believe it is an important issue that many people may not understand or realize until well into their model railroad story: Locomotives will not last forever.
Many of us start life thinking Every Single Unit can be saved, rehabilitated, and ran forever. I used to even thing everything could be rehabilitated, especially 20 years ago when many original brands still had their spare parts stock backing up their product lines (Mantua, MDC/Roundhouse, Athearn, Lifelike, Bowser, Etc.). You could get almost anything back then.
The turning point for me was back on the old Atlas forums where I do believe someone by the name of Mr. Harrison used to post quite often about the day to day operations of the MSI layout in Chicago. One aspect many people may not know is that locomotives wear out over time, and when you run trains 8 hours a day for weeks on end, it turns out some locomotive lifespans may indeed be measured in only a couple hundred Days. The old Atlas forum archives may have more detailed information about which brands last longer and which units die first (Steam was right on the top of the list), but I do remember that to be an eye opening saga.
There's then a couple things impacting the reality of Locomotive life that are at complete opposite to the model railroader's dreams. We want longer, heavier trains, and we shoehorn steeper (positive) grades than perhaps realistic, even if the trains can get up and down them. In terms of physics, any factor that increases mechanical resistance (i.e. acceleration due to gravity and F(g)=ma) increases wear ratios and wear ratios decrease locomotive life. Ideal trains would then be light, short and either level of on strictly negative grades - the exact opposite of what we all want!! We all have to at least acknowledge and accept this reality though, because it is what it is. For builders who like to build heavy machines, this may mean planning for the future by buying spare driveline kits to have on hand for rebuild time at the time of the initial build.
There is this matter of premature breakdown and failure due to accidents, and rehabilitating an engine after a fall or even just a handrail gets torn off. And how many times do we get people on these pages asking "Hey, where can I get replacement parts for XYZ?" Sometimes it's Really hard to hear and understand "The cheapest/ONLY option may be to buy !!!A Whole New Engine!!! and use that new unit for parts or transfer your shell onto that new chassis." It's a tough pill to swallow if you always thought "Buy one, Run one" and now have to learn "Buy Two, Run one."
Finally, there's the matter of motors, motor failure, and proper heat management. I have now seen no less than three Rivarossi articulated locomotives (the last runs before divestiture) with melted boilers because the motor is mounted inside the effective sealed plastic boiler with little to no heat management. The units can be enjoyed by being occasionally ran, but running them for extended time frames is absolutely ill advised if one want to enjoy that locomotive for an extended lifetime.
So here is the suggestion for a chapter 10. I wish I knew where Mr. Harrison(?) was because he could supply you with some stellar pictures, units to photograph, and stories about the torture tests conducted on the MSI layout.
10. Sober Expectations for a Realistic Future
Covering:
- Breakdowns
- Accidents & falls
- Spare parts
- CANN units (Because spare parts do not exist) (but that means I tear apart a second unit to fix the first??!)
- Premature wear out (the Heavier, longer trains on steeper, longer positive grades we love vs the lighter, shorter trains on gentler, shorter, flatter or negative grades our locomotives love)
- Throttle acceleration, wheelspin and plating wear out; Replating old wheelsets
- Motor burnout and Overheating Motor Awareness (Late model Rivarossi articulated, e.g.)
- Inevitable wear out (the MSI layout experience, for example)
- Enjoy it while it lasts, Don't expect an eternity of performance, and a Dignified Retirement.
If time between now and release allows it, I think the addition of these chapter(s) would be a worthy consideration. If not, then the 2nd Edition would suffice, but those holding a first edition may not be too thrilled.
