SAMRA and New Ideas

[eweltens@apcinc.com]

I agree with the earlier messages that everything went well at the show.  I loved the new control panel.  The only problem with my Madison cars was they were not lubricated the first time through the yard and they hung up.  A little oil and all was fine.  My engine with the low uncoupling plunger was a different story.

I like Scott's Idea of making scenery add-ons that go on top of the regular module.  It would be nice to have a module with a passenger station on it that was like this.  I might make one if that isn't already in Scott's plans.  I also like the through truss bridge idea; we could build a frame out of 1x2" lumber to support it and build it on an ABCD module layout for minimal width.

Here are some Ideas I came up with while at the show and daydreaming since then:

1.  Have a Corner Module building party at my house on Feb 23rd.

2.  Make some of the new corner Modules transition modules.  Why?  The inside track could be a wider radius than a normal "E" position track. It would allow for greater flexibility in connection of sides together where you would have an entire side be ABCE with the transition in the corner.  It would also save track since we would only be putting 4 lines of track on a corner instead of four.  Definitely needs some consideration and planning.  We should probably make the first two normal and then make the second two transitions if we do this.

3. Create a track plan template in Visio on my computer.  Individual modules would be graphically represented like pieces of a puzzle and could be rearranged to suit the required size layout either with the software or by cutting the pieces out of a sheet of paper for people without the program.  A uniform method of labeling/numbering Modules would be necessary, and I could propose one.

4. Build a tunnel or raised city (talked with Steve about this before) that could sit on top of a module for more visual appeal than a completely flat layout.