I got a chance to dig my speeder out of the shed last week and figured I should get a pic of it behind the barth....

Now thats what I call railroading. Something a little larger than Rusty's G gauge, but not much considering the size of the man cave.

Yes, it's a little larger than G gauge. Nice thing with this gauge is all the scenicking is already done for you

What do you use that on? Regular RR tracks? That opens up a bunch of questions. Permitting? Knowing when a train is coming?

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Originally posted by Danny Z:
What do you use that on? Regular RR tracks? That opens up a bunch of questions. Permitting? Knowing when a train is coming?

Yes, it is used on regular railroad tracks. All of your questions are good ones. That's why all runs are sanctioned with the railroads. I'm a member of NARCO, a national organization of about 1800 operators. We are licensed and insured The runs are planned with the host railroad and track fees are paid. There are usually 20 to 30 cars on a run. On an active railroad we go out similar to a work crew (that is what the cars were originally designed for)we go onto a siding when a train approaches and continue when dispatched.

quote:

Originally posted by TJ:
we go onto a siding when a train approaches

When I was a kid, the IC and/or RI work crews had a pair of wheelbarrow-like handles on each end of the work car to lift it off the track to let a train pass. Or to turn it around. People still referred to them as handcars, but I never was an actual handcar.

They had a motor that ran on kerosene, and fired about every other telegraph pole, I think.

Who is responsible for "getting track and time, also permits" from the host railroad.

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a pair of wheelbarrow-like handles on each end of the work car to lift it off the track to let a train pass.

they still have the handles. Mine is a little heavy to lift with the handles but the smaller cars do use them.

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They had a motor that ran on kerosene, and fired about every other telegraph pole, I think.

the older ones like that are affectionately called "poppers" because of the distinct pop they make as they fire

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Who is responsible for "getting track and time, also permits" from the host railroad.

The organization is divided into 11 different areas with each area having a number of clubs that organize the runs within their area. The clubs will have excursion coordinators that deal with the railroads and plan the events. Most of the runs are single day or two day events although some are organized with multiple railroads over 8 to 10 days

TJ, did you ever met Ric Tritsch? He used to own a couple of speeders.

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:
TJ, did you ever met Ric Tritsch? He used to own a couple of speeders.

I don't think we've met. Where does he live? Most of the runs that I have attended were on the left coast.