Craftsman quality structure kits have been on my mind a lot lately, both because I have just completed my first build of one and because I am helping a friend dispose of a lifelong collection. This has led to a lot of research as I track down original product numbers and prices, and try to get an idea when various items were produced. That in turn has given me an overview of a part of the hobby I had never paid much attention to.

Anyone on here have experience running smoke units on their layout? Does the track get dirty faster? I would think yes, but it would be nice to find someone with actual experience to confirm this suspicion.

Graffiti, as we all know, has been around a long time (even ancient Roman ruins had it) ad even here in America, we have had graffiti that dates back well over 170 years... modern graffiti (with the spray cans) seems to date back to the first spray cans (1927... or 1949, depending on what source) however, it wouldn't be until about the 1980s that it became a real problem on the railroads.

My curiosity is... why?

Those of you interested in computer-assisted car forwarding systems may have read some of the posts that I've submitted during the summer about the Shipper-driven Traffic Simulator, a free, web-based, multi-user system that generates freight traffic and can also track cars, print waybills, switchlists, etc...