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I have done alot of research for my layout but I don't yet have a complete track plan for it. Would you accept what I have come oup with so far in terms of the history aspect of using carfloats in the New York and the railroads that were involved with them? I am working on a track plan now but I still have a few rough spots taht need to be taken care of beofre I would ne willing to make it public for comment and suggestions.

Irv

Irv:

Your layout design is N scale and from your posts it's clear you've put a lot of thought into trying to do a car ferry plan in N. I think readers would find such an article very enlightening, especially if we can find some prototype photos to illustrate it with. And of course, it should have a track plan, even if not completely the "final" version, with some commentary as to how you came up with it (what thought process did you use, what research, etc).

I'm very glad there will be more issues.  Its tough waiting three months between issues, now we will only have to wait two.  However, I'm not certain at this point how I could contribute.  I'm told I'm a good writer and often edit others work, but I would need a topic that I know a lot about AND that people would find interesting.  Perhaps something will come.  I once presented an article idea to MR and they asked me to submit it, but unfortunately, several things happened in life at that time and it never saw the light of day.  It was more of a commentary piece on getting into the hobby, but I'm not sure it would be of much use now.

Anyway, I'm glad we'll be going to every two months now. Hooray!!

I am glad you like the idea. I think this will also give the opportunity to really review everything I've collected over the past year. Unfortunately, the only photos I have access to shoing these operations are copyrighted so I will have to see if i can get permission to use them. Some places I can get access to such as the viaduct that runs over Queens Blvd and certain other laces that are accessible by car or by foot. I'll see what I can come up with. Of course I have already posted one of the drawings of the New York Connectinf Railroad that came form teh book of the same name which I can footnote but I ma not sure if all footnoting the sources is enough in certain cases. However, I will ask before using anything just to make sure I don't get anyone into trouble.

BTW, I always knew that undergraduate history degree I got many years ago would come in handy one day.

Irv

Footnoting sources is not sufficient if those sources are copyrighted and you use a copy,

You can redraw maps and other diagrams yourself and avoid copyright issues.

<Footnoting sources is not sufficient if those sources are copyrighted and you use a copy,

You can redraw maps and other diagrams yourself and avoid copyright issues.>

I could redraw the maps if I knew how. I don't. But I am not concerned about that because there really is only one map I would need of the rails. I ma more concerned with the photos as some of them have been reproduced in Morning Sun publications. Others I can take myself and I will see if I can get permission if I need to access the proprty on which some of these tracks are laid. 

One place that featured car flats service in Queens has been turned into a park and is even caled Gantrey Park. The only obstacle there is that some of the area is now a dog run so one does have to be careful of stepping on some stuff that could be quite nasty.

Most of the track from Bay Ridge to Oak Point yard is still very much in use though the activity on those rails isn't even a shadow of what it once was. I doubtr there is more than one train a day if that on the line since most of the industries that used to use rails either went out of business or converted to trucks in the 1960s and 1970s.

Irv

Irv:

Just contact the publisher and ask. Tell them we're happy to give them a nice credit box and lots of links to any web site they chose. You can also tell them our circulation is 20,000+ and they can think of it as free advertising. You can also tell them we're free to our readers and our circulation is growing every issue.

Most publishers will be fine with this - if they're not, then we also have other sources we can tap for photos.

When it comes to maps, there are lots of sources for those and we'll redraw them if necessary.

Thanks for the help with this project as that relieves me of some of the worries I have. I will certainly make sure of letting the publishers I will be cointacting what the project and the MRH is where I hope to get it published. My wife says I have become obesessed with this in the last year, but I don't think so. It's nice to know I can get some support for this project.

In any case, one of the things I have been looking for is film clip of actual car float operations. I found about a minute of this in a film made by the Pennsy during World War II to show how that railroad was working hard to get the stuff of war into the hands of the troops unfortunately it doesn't go far enough in what I woud like to see. A moving picture of this type of operation would certainly make for an interesting addition to the article. Now I only ave to remember where I saw it. I probably do have the URL for it written down in my notes so I'll have to find it. If not I'll look for it again as it is surpirsing what can be found simply by seraching for it on-line.

Irv