Duckunders

I think that unpluggable, tethered, walk-around throttles were _far_ less common in those days. Typically, everything was operated from a cab & control panel in a fixed position.

I've seen old plans and photos from old club installations that have a fixed elevated position with all of the engineer's cabs. You ran from there and didn't even go in to the layout itself in some cases. The operating position was elevated above the layout to allow the engineer to see everything.

The Aberfoyle Junction O scale club ( http://www.aberfoylejunction.com/) is a good example of this practice. This is a very nice display layout, and the operating positions are in an elevated tower in the centre.

Yep, in the 40s and 50s ...

Yep, in the 40s and 50s, walkaround layout design was a new idea, and nobody had even heard of multideck designs.

Walkaround layout design became popular in the 1960s and 70s, and really came into their own in the 1980s. Meanwhile, the multideck idea was introduced by John Armstrong in the late 1960s, with the first multideck designs being built in the 70s. By the 80s, more multideck designs started to appear, with the mushroom design first introduced in print by John Armstrong in the Oct 1987 model railroader.

My two-part article looking in-depth at the mushroom configuration appeared in the Jan and Feb 1997 issues of Model Railroader.

So when looking at designs from the 40s and 50s, keep in mind walkaround control was still 10-20 years away.

Even with cab control, I

Even with cab control, I cannot fathom getting much enjoyment out of playing human whack-a-mole - where I'm the MOLE!!!

I think whereas we might be using less floor space per model railraod nowadays, we are getting mroe railroad realestate then ever before.  Take a guess how these design elements impact things like my larger layout dreams!!

Whammo!

Are you suggesting the scale people on the layout are running around with rubber hammers waiting for operators to pop up through an access hatch then WHAMMO?

Charlie

May 1961 The first Multi Deck in MR by John Armstrong

This past weekend I was going through My collection of Model Railroader and I found in May 1961 John Armstrong introduced a"Track Plan of the month" Called for the men who want everything.

It actually explains a full attic with what he called a double deck Railroad with walk in isles in "O" Scale it appears to be 30ft X 36ft called the Easternport,Allegheny & Western RR. with 54" min radius 30" if built in HO. The Attic Track plan with coal, Ore, Passenger, Merchandise, and even electric Suburban Trains. it even has a summery of operations possibilities

So He actually drew and designed a multi-Deck and placed a 7 page article in Model Railroader in May 1961 pgs 49-55 he was definitely ahead of his time and the center of the room seemed to have the first indications of the Mushroom designif you have the issue check Fig 4. I guess you could call it a lop sided mushroom.

Well...lets suppose the Mole

Well...lets suppose the Mole is intoxicated[distracted due to train], and has to very quickly bob up and down out of the holes - without hitting the Deck!!!

The layout people sit around betting Kadee/MT coupler springs, from the lost place they zip off to, on when you will hit your head again next.

When you hit the head, they all shout "EARTH QUAKE" and their most notorious scientist crackpots go on a rant about this newfangled theory of plywood tectonics...which befuddles most people because the world is made of homosote, not plywood...either way, the crackpots go on and on and on about how the world is going to end soon and how the world is going to fall over...Meanwhile, the old timers, those who have lived through two or three layouts, or more, groan and say "yeah, and the majority of life is spent in little plastic padded cells - tell us something new!"

Nice work on the find, DAN!  [Sorry!]

I personally like the two decks, for more space, but I'm not sure about the interface between the two decks.  I'm not a helix fan, for certain.  The way I see it, I want the lower deck to be the lower desert horizon, and the upper deck to be the high desert plateau horizon.  I have to look into canyon grade architecture and engineering!

Who me? Sorry no...

Huh?

Opps, sorry - Corrected!

Opps, sorry - Corrected!

Oops Sorry...

:o)  Not that I mind the praise but I do like to see credit given where it is due. 

Wack-A Mole

Are you suggesting the scale people on the layout are running around with rubber hammers waiting for operators to pop up through an access hatch then WHAMMO?

Charlie

Actually I liked this the visual aspect got me laughing

Well i suppose if you whack

Well i suppose if you whack your head enough times I suppose you might come up and think the little people are all moving around....but seriously, who's going to believe you??

I think they're just sitting up there betting and laughing... 

On the club layout, though, i was looking at a house in benson, a town on the layout.  And as I look at it, it struck me that the builder of that section put himself on the front porch, with a fresh beer in hand.  and sittin gont he bench talking to a gal is another member.  Both members passed away in the last two years, the builder himself in December.  I have his brass Mikado, it't really an important peice to me.  This is the guy that introduced me to the club as i was digging through this real Hole in the Wall Hobby Shop - He was showing off his sweet challenger, though it never did work right.  When he finally rebuilt it with the NWSL kit, it worked - BUT then the turn radisu was too much fro the club layout, pooh!!

Tis the nature of the hobby.