Thomas the Tank Engine

So, the kid is due in less than two weeks. The kid is going to need some trains to watch and later to play with. My On3 trains are a bit too delicate to turn over to even a junior high kid, and will therefore only be in the watch category for a long time.

Enter Thomas the Tank Engine.

Thomas is great because the appeal is to both boys and girls, and he gives a natural transition to more mature rail fanning. The littlest of kids want personality. Then they want fast & big trains but don't appreciate fine details (which they destroy). Then finally, as adults, the begin to appreciate the hobby more for its artistic and craftsman qualities: model railroading is all about creating a small, animated sculpture. Finely detailed scenes, smooth running trains, and creating optical illusions are the enjoyable parts.

The plan is to build a 4'x8' layout for Thomas the Tank Engine. It will be made out of foam so that it is light weight and portable. It will be based on the Rev. Awdry's original layout, Ffarquhay. The mainline will be an oval for Gordon and the other "big" engines; Thomas's branch line will split off at the main station and follow an "S" up to the town of Ffarquhay. Everything on the layout will be British. Last night I did a little research and determined that Bachmann's electric Thomas is British OO scale. This required a little effort because it is marketed as HO/OO. Since HO and OO are different scales, it couldn't be both (I can't be 6'2" tall and 6'6" tall at the same time!). After a serious search, I determined it to be British OO which is 1:76 scale (HO is 1:87.1) and uses HO track. Therefore, the buildings will be 1/76th full size rather than 1:87.1. The kid will also be able to take advantage of the 1:72 scale figures and model cars for playing with the layout. A side benefit of this is that the OO scale train I picked up in York last year, a medium sized British Rail locomotive with 5 freight cars, will have a place to run.

Today my plans are to make progress on my DSP&P stock car and waycar. It is almost a crime that I haven't completed my waycar since it is both close and I have dry transfers to letter it.

There are many words for the conductor's car:
-caboose
-cabeese (plural)
-cabooses (plural)
-waycar
-hack
-bobber
-brake van (British)
-guard's van (British)
-crummy
-cabin car
-buggy
etc...