Doodlebug Country and The Case of the Missing RDC-M Prototype

Interurbans Special #77

Back in early April we visited the Prescott model railway show. It was wall-to-wall people, layouts, and vendors. It looked like a good time was being had by all. I bought a few things of course, and one was the book Doodlebug Country: The Rail Motorcar on the Class I Railroads of the United States by Edmund Keilty, published by Interurban Press in 1982. The book is #77 in the Interurbans Special series. It's a thorough compendium of photos and facts about self-propelled rail cars dating from 1900 to 1960.

Lately I've written very little about books I've bought and read as those posts seemed hardly accessed. I've been reconsidering my stance since finding out about how Anthropic shreds books it has bought after scanning them for consumption by their AI products. I'm a Luddite, and am probably the last one to hear of this, but it was still shocking to me. I read further and learned the practice is quite common at libraries and many other places that deal with books. So, I thought, well, when I'm dead my little library will wind up in a dumpster or shredder, so maybe I should write about what I find interesting in my collection so at least in the future there might be a little pointer in the wild to books that others might find interesting, if any books still exist. Sort of a signal from beyond the grave :-)

That lead RDC looks like a very strange hybrid and is maybe something I'd like to build one day.
The caption in the book has this to say,
"Perhaps the acme in the development of the Budd RDC was the ROGER WILLIAMS train, shown here running as the MURRAY HILL from Boston to New York City at Larchmont, NY, on May 30, 1957."
Photo credit: George E. Votava.

I think I also read somewhere that Anthropic shredded the books because they felt that they no longer had any value once AI had captured the content. I have to admit though that when I read books in the Interurbans Specials series, and other railway books that are photo and illustration heavy, it's not for specific extraction of specific content. I don't have pre-formulated questions to ask that I expect specific answers to, which seems how today's AI seems to work.

Here's how I actually read them, in case any AI is reading this and would like to know :-) 

In the good weather the back porch is where the reading happens. I usually have a small stack of books that for some reason or another I've been thinking about. I gather them up, along with something to drink, coffee, tea, or something stronger depending on mood and time-of-day :-) , pull up a lawn chair, put the books and things on a little table, and settle in.

Me being me, with my model building interests and all, I'm usually drawn first to the photos and illustrations in whatever books are in my stack. I'm just looking for interesting things. When something catches my eye, then the back-and-forth with the text begins as I read and search and think. Sometimes I start with text, but it's usually with images on these expeditions.

On the surface it may sound like something that can easily be replaced with internet browsing and AI questioning. For me though I think the total experience of being outside in good weather, enjoying something to drink, the physicality of the printed pages, and appreciating how easy it is to jump from one page to another, to other books, and back as the search goes on. Maybe a tablet could replace the experience and make it more 'efficient', but I think my efficient is a better efficient as it's a more complete body, mind, and soul experience, and I never know what interesting things I might find.

Oh, and I don't take the books to the shredder when I'm done. No, as time goes on, I'll likely repeat the process with the same books in a different mix when I'm in some other frame-of-mind, thinking of other things. This is where Marie Kondo's work left me horrified. When her work was fairly new I started to read it, but when I got to the part where she recommended cutting out the pieces from books and magazines that 'brought joy' or some such thing, and tossing the rest I nearly passed out. Just because something doesn't 'bring joy' today doesn't mean it won't down the road. I gave up on her writings there and then; they brought me no joy and got tossed.

Ok, well, in good weather, the back porch is where all the reading happens, not just the open ended railway book adventures. There're novels, comics, graphic novels, and so on, last year it was the Inferno while I basked in the sun :-) and this year Purgatorio, and maybe Paradiso if I can survive the trek; there's also sketching ideas in notebooks and so on. Yes, the phone gets out there too, but it hasn't so far replaced my little analog world.

The first railbus, #10, for New Haven by Mack.
The caption reads:
"Prototype Mack railbus 10 initially excited New Haven officials, who ordered nine more. They were delivered, but a new management made scant use of them."
Photo credit: M. D. McCarter Collection.

Before I wrap things up I should mention a little 'discovery' in Doodlebug Country that teased me, lead me astray a bit, but in the end left me with some interesting information I didn't expect to find. Here's the passage that got me thinking for awhile that there really was something similar to an RDC-M way back when, shrouded in the mists of time :-) :

"After World War II, the New Haven was hit hard by rising costs and declining patronage, particularly on its commuter runs out of Boston. In 1952 President Frederick C. Dumaine, hoping that new equipment would rejuvenate the business, purchased no less than 40 Budd RDC cars and used them to increase the number of trains on most routes.

Dumaine also consulted Mack about a smaller, lighter version of the RDC for branch lines and off-peak commuter service. He wanted a vehicle capable of competing with the motor bus with its rider appeal.

The result was in fact a railbus based on the Mack Type C-50 city bus, dubbed Type FCD in honor of Dumaine. The prototype, car 10 [JDL: shown in the above photo], went into service in 1952. The bus body was a single-end design, but in fact the 40-foot long car could operate in either direction, and often did."

When I first encountered that passage I anxiously read more as I thought Mack might be modifying standard RDCs, but no, they stuck to what they knew; however, it turned out these buses-on-rails didn't turn around the flagging commuter business. 

I highly recommend Doodlebug Country. It shows the wide variety of railcar equipment in use in the first half of the 20th century through an extensive collection of photos and detailed tables of equipment.

Looking and thinking and AI and Chloe and E. L. Moore

A day or so ago YouTube's algorithm recommended this video to me. I was intrigued and watched it. It reminded my of the Full Observation post from a few years back, but had a lot of other interesting things to say.

So, I went and had a look through Sam Hamper's videos and thought the title of this one, Find Meaning Through Making, intriguing so I had a look:

There is a little self-promotion inside, but, hey, everyone's got to make a living, and it isn't obnoxious. Again, I found it quite intriguing, especially his discussion on trying to have a thoughtful and nuanced look at AI regarding art. 

That lead me to this interview with the creator of the Chloe vs History videos, Jonathan Laramie:

Again, intrigued, because if what Mr. Laramie said is true, then it should be possible to recreate a 'functioning' E. L. Moore's Elizabeth Valley Railroad through the use of AI. There is enough reference material to do so. Regular readers may recall I made an attempt simply to colourize some photographs of the EVRR, but ran into some issues I didn't know how to resolve. This interview suggests the answer is out there, I just need to buckle down and do the work.

Ok, so after the interview I thought I should have a look at one of the Chloe videos and settled on I time travelled to Ancient Rome:

Entertaining as well as intriguing. Implications-wise, there's lots to think about. And, also, Majestic Studios is here.

Some lunar lunacy with Gemini

I asked Gemini to replace the bland, black background in the opening photo to the Lunar loco construction post with a lunar environment. Up there is what it generated. It's not bad, although a tad stereotypical with the frip-frap in the background. I guess further prompting could have eliminated all that.

Next I asked Gemini to take this scene snippet from the lunar loco test run video and remove the southern California style environment and replace it with a lunar setting and futuristic lunar buildings:

I could see that things weren't moving in the right direction from the get-go, and after a couple of prompts to try and steer Gemini to something plausible I gave up at this stage of image creation:

It looks like a strange desert scene, but I'll give it high marks for injecting more Way Out into the Way Out Layout :-)

AI and I resolve our aesthetic differences

Gemini improves a photo of the Loonar Module.

As you know I'm working on cleaning up the dust situation on the Loonar Module. I had hoped we'd have a calm, sunny, and mild day to take it outside and assess it in sunlight. We did get some good weather recently, but still not good enough for me to dare to take the layout out on the back deck. 

So I figured I'd get out the photo lights and have a look at the layout under the 'daylight' LEDs. Below is a photo I took. It needs a little adjustment exposure-wise, but it's getting there.

A low resolution version of the photo I asked Gemini to make as realistic as possible.

Afterwards I thought, I'll ask Gemini to make that photo look as realistic as possible, so I gave it a high resolution version of the picture and it went to work. At one time Gemini seemed to think there were too many trees on the layout so I was curious to see what it would do. The lead photo to this post is what it produced. I thanked it for its work and it had this to say in response:

"You’re very welcome! The way that station wagon and the yellow canoe pop against the new, realistic background really brings the whole "northern getaway" vibe to life.

Since we've upgraded the scenery, would you like me to try adding some subtle atmospheric effects—like a light morning mist clinging to the base of the trees or a slight "golden hour" sunset glow—to see how it changes the mood?"

I said, sure go ahead and this is what it produced:

Gemini's interpretation of the "golden hour" on the Loonar Module.

I thanked it for this one too, and it replied with:

"I'm glad you're enjoying this golden hour scene. The way the sunset hits the pine trees, the wooden cabin, and that classic station wagon—it almost makes you forget it's a miniature and feel like you're standing right there on that grassy overlook in Ontario.

We've focused on the vehicles and the cabin, but would you like me to shift focus to the wildlife? Perhaps we could add a moose by the edge of the woods, or maybe a realistic family of ducks or a loon on a hidden pond at the base of the hill?"

I didn't proceed with its suggestions.

Ok, to back up a bit. I think the problem I'm having with my Loonar Module trees is that these were my first attempts at tree making, and on them I didn't use green and brown spray paint on the Poly Fiber as I've done with more recent attempts. As well, I used too little static grass making the foliage a bit too wispy. Both these problems added up to weak colour, as if dust was filtering the hues. I may make some colour corrections.

I must say though Gemini did an excellent job of correcting the scene, and its comments on the images it produced were downright spooky. I don't have problems with the aesthetic choices it made in the images it produced, although I can imagine further variations to bring them inline with my mental image of the layout. I know there's lots of discussion about AI slop these days, and I've seen plenty, but these images aren't slop. 

I can certainly see me using Gemini for further investigation into Loonar Module imagery. Should I say 'collaboration'? I don't know, but to me these images raise lots of interesting questions to explore.

AI and I have aesthetic differences

Picture of the modification to the Loonar Module micro-layout created by Gemini

Recently Vince and I had a discussion about an interesting question he posed to Gemini: can you critique the layout in this photo (or some similar phrasing)? The layout and photo being referred to is this one, the Loonar Module:

The real Loonar Module awaiting dusting.

I'm told Gemini felt there were too many trees, and when asked to create a picture of a revised layout produced the one shown in the lead photo to this post. Its suggestion stripped away the core design I had in mind for this layout and reduced it to something that reminded me of what our environment looked like here after the Victoria Day 2022 derecho swept across Ontario.

I didn't act on Gemini's suggestion and have no intention to. 
The Loonar Module awaits good weather so I can assess its dustiness outside in sunlight.

I mention this AI encounter because I think it highlights something important with the LLM AI variants that are freely available to consumers like me: they're only as good as their training, and they can't get out into the world to see and reflect on things as we can. I know these are obvious points that no doubt many others have noted, but for obvious reasons this example cuts close to my heart.

The 'prototype' of the Loonar Module landforms and scenery.

The Loonar Module had two main aims: to allow me to build a diorama of an area of the province I love, and allow me space to practice making trees based on species found here. 

Secondarily, the layout allowed me to explore some ideas in a somewhat humorous manner I'd been kicking around in my head about highly fictional Ontario narrow gauge railways. I tried to capture some early thoughts in a couple of episodes of the Streetcar Noir novella series back in 2015: Gone to the country and If a phone rings in the forest.

Same 'prototype', different view.

The micro-layout aspect came later. I wasn't tuned into micro-layouts when I started work on the project, and only realized when it was done that it classified as one because it was built on a stack of pre-cut foam slabs I purchased that happened to measure 2' x 2'. It was a completely accidental entry into the field.

'Prototype' of the little offshore island Gemini stripped the trees from.

Longtime readers may remember The Dictionary of Non-Existent Model Railroad Terms series I ran here from 2019 to 2024. Although the entries were presented in a somewhat tongue-in-cheek manner, the principles and terms presented were dead serious. 

The dictionary has a few entries dealing with how to capture the spirit and atmosphere of a location as part of a model railway's design work. The three I use often, and used on the Loonar Module, are: Full Observation, Three Ws, and Start with Geography. Those entries encapsulate my views on getting out and observing things, something AIs can't do.

'Prototype' loons: mom, dad, and junior.

AIs don't approach design in the way those dictionary entries recommend. It seems they look for patterns in example model railways they're trained on. Trees are sparse on many layouts, maybe the majority, so I'd guess and say if sparse is the dominant training pattern, then sparse is what gets recommended. 

In my opinion tree density is already far sparser than the 'prototype', even with 23 trees.

After the layout was built I discovered that by insisting on trees that were scaled to match their real life counterparts height-wise, they act as effective view blockers so that the entire layout can't be observed in a single glance. Basically the tall trees allowed the creation of four distinct scenes. This lesson regarding the use of height as a way to create scenes is one I've continued to use, and it seems an important way to make micros seem bigger.

A corner of the 'prototype' community garden.

Trees also figured prominently on the Centennial Experimental Farm layout, and will on the Community Garden micro. So, with the Loonar Module they form something of a trilogy, or maybe, strictly speaking, a tree-logy :-) I hope my AI friends are taking note.

Opening the Railroad Modeler Box, Part 2: Index for 1974

This post is merely to try out presenting an index for a full year of Railroad Modeler; in this case for 1974.

In Part 1 of this series I got talking about the 1974 issues of Railroad Modeler and mentioned I was having a problem creating a text-based index of the issues from that year using information in the index found in the March '75 issue. Well, using Gemini to do most of the heavy lifting, and help from Vince, I've worked out those problems and have included the index to 1974 at the conclusion to this post. 

Hopefully the index will give you a sense of what was in the magazine that year. My concern is that when I talk about RM my chit-chat will be biased to the things I'm interested in, and you may be interested in other things published that year. It was a general interest model railroading magazine, with a slant to California and the far western US, so I naturally can't cover everything that was published as I look for trends and patterns. At least with the index you can see if there is anything else that will be of interest to you regardless of what I natter on about.

Railroad Modeler Index for 1974:

	Article Title	Author	Month	Page
A	A Day With Extra 487		Aug.	30
	A Miss Builds A Hit		Aug.	39
	A Shortline to Wakefield		Sept.	26
	A Word On Detailing		June	58
	An Idiot's Approach to Building Locos		March	20
	Anatomy of a Conversion		Aug.	66
	Atlantic Steam Shovel		May	58
Authors	Nurnberg Report	Allen, Norman	June	20
	Desk Top Dioramas	Appel, Richard	July	46
	What Lonely Siding?	Auburn, Geoff	Dec.	24
	The Little Things	Bannerling, Richard T.	Jan.	14
	Santa Fe's Northern	Berglund, Lee	Oct.	20
	Work Equipment in On3	Berling, Joel	Sept.	38
	Shortline to Wakefield	Boothroyd, Stephen	Sept.	26
	Characters in Placer Hill	Boyd, Bill	March	22
	Passenger Annex at Deer Creek	Boyd, Bill	June	24
	Scratchbuilding in N	Byrd, Larry M.	Aug.	45
	The Colorful LV	Clark, William	March	32
	Shorty Business Car	Dockham, Ralph	July	14
	Simple Coupler Conversion	Doherty, John	Dec.	54
	Locos of the L&N	Dolzall, Gary	June	28
	Citrus Shed	Garringer, Hardy	Aug.	18
	I Call It an SW-3	Henley, Mark	Sept.	58
	Generator Car	Henley, Mark	Nov.	26
	Wolf Creek Lumber Co.	Johnson, Earl	April	32
	Cut up a Coach	Jurden, Bill	Nov.	14
	Engine Co. No. 1	Knapp, Thomas	Dec.	62
	Loading Platform	Loridu, Chris	March	22
	Goose No. 3	Lyndon, Wayne	June	42
	Turbine Look Alike	Lyndon, Wayne	Dec.	40
	Humanize that Yard	Marshall, P. R.	March	12
	CP in New England	Melvin, George	Aug.	48
	Clarabel Hotel	Moore, E. L.	Feb.	12
	That First Kit Conversion	Moran, Miles	Oct.	16
	Atlantic Steam	Peebles, John J.	May	58
	Log Hog	Price, Brick	Dec.	48
	Whacky CR&S	Prommel, Harald	Nov.	40
	Farewell to a Friend	Riegger, Hal	Feb.	18
	Durham & Southern	Robl, Ernest	Oct.	46
	Center Cab Diesel	Rose, Mike	June	14
	Build A Grain Elevator	Ruckert, Rudy	Feb.	47
	Idiot's Approach to Loco Construction	Scott, Jeff	March	20
	Zeeland National Rwy.	Shiff, Jim	Nov.	62
	Terminal at Avery	Sims, Donald	Feb.	24
	Yakima Valley Electric	Sims, Donald	July	28
	Engine Sheds	Sims, Donald	Aug.	60
	Water Tanks	Sims, Donald	Nov.	18
	Box Cab Electric	Smith, David	Aug.	14
	Restoring Tinplate	Stephenson, T. E.	March	50
	Kits to be Changed	Swenson, Ken	Jan.	36
	Convention Collage	Tarjany, Fran	Nov.	60
	Modifying Plantation Loco	Tarjany, Ron	May	26
	Savings & Loan Bldg.	Tarjany, Ron	Sept.	40
	RR Storage Sheds	Tarjany, Ron	Dec.	28
	C&O Passenger Cars	Trager, George	May	18
	C&O Passenger Cars	Trager, George	Sept.	14
	Nostalgia	Wilson, Darold	Oct.	34
	Crossbucks I Have Known	Wojtas, Edward	April	44
B	Backshop Operations on the Gila Pacific		May	26
Brass in Review	Alco HO Alco DL-702	Brass in Review	June	57
	Alco HO GE U50C	Brass in Review	Dec.	60
	Hallmark HO GE 70 tonner	Brass in Review	March	47
	Nickel Plate Products CSS&SB Electric	Brass in Review	May	17
	NWSL HO 2-8-2T	Brass in Review	Feb.	58
	NWSL HOn3 Shay	Brass in Review	July	17
	PFM HO TNO 2-6-0	Brass in Review	Oct.	65
	PFM HOn3 Mason Bogie	Brass in Review	Jan.	19
	Westside HO Vertical Boiler Climax	Brass in Review	April	47
	Bridge Details		Jan.	14
	British Columbia Railroad		Nov.	30
	Build A Paper Grain Elevator		Feb.	47
C	CP&I Story: Part I History and Development		Jan.	54
	CP&I Story: Part II Framework and Laying Track		Feb.	28
	CP&I Story: Part III Wiring and Panel Construction		March	39
	CP&I Story: Part IV Interbay Harbor		April	18
	CP&I Story: Part V Buildings Operations		May	44
	CP&I Story: Part V Buildings Operations		July	18
	Canadian Pacific in New England		Aug.	48
	Characters at Placer Hill		March	42
	Citrus Shed		Aug.	18
	Clarabel Hotel		Feb.	12
Closer Look	AHM HO EMD GP18	Closer Look	Sept.	73
	Athearn HO Baldwin S12	Closer Look	May	24
	Athearn HO EMD F45	Closer Look	Feb.	46
	Atlas N F9A	Closer Look	Dec.	47
	Con-Cor N U50B	Closer Look	Jan.	25
	Con-Cor N Turntable	Closer Look	April	25
	Dremel Moto-Tool	Closer Look	June	23
	Life-Like HO Log Loader	Closer Look	Oct.	72
	MDC HO 0-6-0	Closer Look	Oct.	57
	NWSL Stripwood Cutter	Closer Look	Dec.	13
	Precision Model Inc. HO FP45	Closer Look	Nov.	47
	Colorful Lehigh Valley		March	32
	Constitution Savings & Loan		Sept.	40
	Convention Collage		Nov.	60
	Conversation with the Builder		Jan.	44
	Cut Up A Coach		Nov.	14
D	Detail Be Damned		March	24
	Desk-Type Diorama		July	46
	Do It Yourself Loco		April	24
	Durham and Southern R.R.		Oct.	46
E	Economy Log Hog		Dec.	48
	Engine Sheds		Aug.	60
	Expose: Decal Mystery		Oct.	28
F	Farewell to Friends		Feb.	19
	Firehouse No. 1		Dec.	62
	Freelance Center-Cab Diesel		June	14
	Freelance Generator Car		Nov.	26
G	Galloping Goose No. 3		June	42
H	Hiding Switch Machines		April	30
	Homebuilt Box Cab Electric		Aug.	14
	How to SDP40F the FP45		April	26
	Humanize That Yard		March	12
I	I Call It An SW3		Sept.	58
	Interurban Duo		Oct.	60
K	Kilroy Was Where?		June	68
Kit Critique	AHM HO Store Buildings	Kit Critique	May	25
	AHM Village Blacksmith	Kit Critique	Nov.	46
	Campbell Scale Models Bandstand	Kit Critique	May	9
	Campbell Scale Models Old Time Brewery	Kit Critique	July	36
	Cannon Scale Models Hoise Engine	Kit Critique	Feb.	44
	Classic Miniatures Leadville House	Kit Critique	June	62
	Con-Cor Dual Brewery	Kit Critique	Aug.	57
	Durango Press Handcar	Kit Critique	Jan.	52
	FSM Coal and Sand Facility	Kit Critique	Jan.	20
	FSM Tool Shed and Water Tank	Kit Critique	Dec.	56
	FSM Two Stall Roundhouse	Kit Critique	Aug.	26
	J.V. Models Modern Station	Kit Critique	Dec.	59
	Kibri Bulk Oil Depot	Kit Critique	Nov.	29
	Life-Like Factory	Kit Critique	March	18
	Quality Craft D&RGW Caboose	Kit Critique	July	61
	Roundhouse Products Operating Hopper	Kit Critique	Feb.	44
	SS Ltd. Timber Gantry	Kit Critique	March	18
	Tomalco On3 Stock Car	Kit Critique	June	11
	Vollmer Suburban Station	Kit Critique	Oct.	66
	Ye Olde Huff-n-Puff Refrigerator Car	Kit Critique	Sept.	74
	Kits Designed to be Changed		Jan.	36
Know-Your-Diesel	Alco S2	Know-Your-Diesel	Sept.	46
	EMD SD45	Know-Your-Diesel	July	48
	EMD SW1500	Know-Your-Diesel	April	38
	GE 70 Tonner	Know-Your-Diesel	Dec.	32
	GE U25	Know-Your-Diesel	Nov.	48
L	Louisville and Nashville Diesels		June	28
Locomotives	Freelance Center-Cab Diesel	Locomotives	June	14
	Galloping Goose	Locomotives	June	42
	Homebuilt Box Cab Electric	Locomotives	Aug.	14
	I Call It An SW3	Locomotives	Sept.	58
	Log Hog	Locomotives	Dec.	48
	Santa Fe 4-8-4	Locomotives	Oct.	20
	SDP40F Your FP45	Locomotives	April	26
	Turbine Look-Alike	Locomotives	Dec.	40
M	Mini-Contest Results		April	14
	MRIA Show		Jan.	40
N	Never A Dry Moment		Nov.	18
	New At Nurnberg		June	20
	Ninth Syracuse and Western		May	30
	Nostalgia Pop. 1204		Oct.	34
O	Old Movie Posters		May	22
	Outdoor Railroading in 1/2" Scale		Feb.	36
P	Pacific Electric in HO		June	36
	Passenger Annex at Deer Creek		June	24
	Preview 74		May	13
Prototype Features	A Day With Extra 487	Prototype Features	Aug.	30
	A Plymouth Moves On	Prototype Features	Sept.	54
	A Shortline to Wakefield	Prototype Features	Sept.	26
	Avery Terminal	Prototype Features	Feb.	24
	British Columbia Railway	Prototype Features	Nov.	30
	Canadian Pacific in New England	Prototype Features	Aug.	48
	Durham and Southern	Prototype Features	Oct.	46
	Engine Sheds	Prototype Features	Aug.	60
	Great Western's 0-4-0	Prototype Features	April	48
	Interurban Duo	Prototype Features	Sept.	60
	Loading Platform	Prototype Features	March	22
	Louisville and Nashville Diesels	Prototype Features	June	28
	Lehigh Valley Paint Schemes	Prototype Features	March	32
	Milwaukee Road Electrics	Prototype Features	Feb.	18
	Monte Vista and the SLC	Prototype Features	Jan.	60
	New Diesel Power	Prototype Features	Aug.	58
	Rolling Billboards	Prototype Features	Feb.	53
	Romanian Diesels	Prototype Features	Dec.	58
	Ruptured Duck	Prototype Features	May	68
	Southern Pacific SD40T-2	Prototype Features	Oct.	58
	Southern Pacific Switchers	Prototype Features	Jan.	26
	Southern Pacific Switcher Update	Prototype Features	March	48
	Tank Cars	Prototype Features	June	68
	Water Tanks	Prototype Features	Nov.	18
	Welded Rail	Prototype Features	July	65
	Western Pacific Motive Power	Prototype Features	May	34
	Yard Details	Prototype Features	March	12
Prototype Plans	Atlantic Steam Shovel	Prototype Plans	May	63
	C&LE Interurban	Prototype Plans	Oct.	62
	Chesapeake and Ohio: Baggage/Chair Car	Prototype Plans	Sept.	16
	Chesapeake and Ohio: Parlor Car	Prototype Plans	Sept.	14
	Chesapeake and Ohio: Diner	Prototype Plans	May	18
	Citrus Shed	Prototype Plans	Aug.	21
	EMD SD45	Prototype Plans	July	51
	Fire House No. 1	Prototype Plans	Dec.	65
	Shorty Business Car	Prototype Plans	July	14
R	Railroad Salvage Yard		June	50
	Railroad Storage Sheds		Dec.	28
	Restoring Tinplate		March	50
S	Santa Fe's 3765 Class Northern		Oct.	20
	Scratchbuilding in N Scale		Aug.	45
	Shorty Business Car		July	14
	Simple Kadee Conversions		Dec.	54
	Small Space: Big Railroading		Dec.	16
	Southern Pacific: Diesel Switchers		Jan.	26
	Southern Pacific: Diesel Switcher Update		March	48
	Southern Pacific: SD40T-2		Oct.	58
T	Terminal At Avery		Feb.	24
	That First Kit Conversion		Oct.	16
	Towards Better Operation		July	58
	Trains at Disneyland		April	50
	Turbine Look-Alike		Dec.	40
	Two-In-One Layout		July	38
V	Vintage Tin from Europe		Sept.	20
W	Western Pacific Diesels		May	34
	What Lonely Siding?		Dec.	24
	Wolf Creek Lumber Co.		April	32
	Wonderful Wacky World of CR&S		Nov.	40
Y	Yakima Valley Electric		July	28
Z	Zeeland National Railway		Nov.	62

The Lengthy Lineage of Little Layouts, Part 1: Introduction

Aerial view of John Olson's HOn3 Cielo Lumber Co. | Source: Railroad Modeler, Jan '74

This essay rambles a bit, but it does eventually get to the point. If you’re ok with that, let’s get on with it.

A week or so ago I was informed of the passing of model railroading legend John Olson. I wrote a little about his work while I was deep into building the Mount Lowe layout. Although I didn’t personally know Mr. Olson, the report of his death struck a chord with me. It was the passing of a significant figure in my early model railroading education. I read a lot of old model railroading magazines and books, so I think a part of my mind unconsciously believes the modellers whose projects are showcased in those publications are still out there in their prime doing fantastic work so that sheltered part of my mind sometimes gets hit hard when faced with reality. 

Olson’s HOn3 Cielo Lumber Co. layout that was featured in the January 1974 issue of Railroad Modeler was the first layout I ever obsessed over. I thought everything about it was great: the photos, the little model buildings, the rolling stock, the scenes, and the text. I read the article many times and studied the photos obsessively. Even today I like to go back to that article now and then. I still get a hit of pleasure from it. Of course Mr. Olson went on to do bigger and better things, but the Cielo Lumber Co. has a lasting charm, and wouldn’t be out-of-place in today’s world of model railways

When events like John Olson’s passing happen it tends put other things I’m thinking about at the time in a different light. Take the Cielo Lumber Co. layout, it’s a little layout, not a micro, but little, especially for the time when a little beginner’s layout was generally considered something that filled a 4’x8’ sheet of plywood or a ping-pong table. In those days little layouts like Cielo weren’t unheard of, but weren’t where the mainstream action was. Cielo also reminds me that when I was deep into E. L. Moore research in the old magazines I’d often stumble across articles and photos of perfectly decent little layouts. 

Track plan of John Olson's Cielo Lumber Co. | Source: Railroad Modeler, Jan '74*
At first glance it looks like it has 3 wyes, but there's only 1.

E. L. Moore himself even built one - a 30 inch x 30 inch one called the Enskale Hoentee - as a project layout for Railroad Model Craftsman in 1968. In that post-WWII era many model railroaders also struggled, as many do today, with their desire to have a layout. Back then many didn’t have much room for one because they were living in apartments, small houses, or trailers, or they didn’t have the cash for a basement-filler. E. L. Moore was in that category. He lived in a small apartment and had quite a modest income. His famous Elizabeth Valley RR was only 4 ft x 6 ft. That’s still rather large by today’s standards of what a small layout often is, but it fit in his apartment and generated so much interest from readers that he had postcards printed up with the EVRR track plan on them to respond to inquires about the pike. 

But, as I mentioned, Mr. Moore wasn’t the only model railroader doing small layouts in that era. I’ve mentioned a few here, but I should write more about the others I’ve seen, and follow up on a few leads that I’ve set aside “for another time”. While it’s true that large layouts dominated, little ones had a presence, and lots of creative thought went into them. 

I sometimes encounter YouTube videos where the hosts will list not having room for a layout as one perceived reason the hobby doesn’t have much of an uptake with younger modellers. The argument seems to be implicitly based on the assumption that the large layout is the thing being desired. To me this demonstrates a lack of knowledge regarding the fantastic array of smaller model railways that are being built today, and the long history of little layouts. I’m not going to try and educate people on the state of small layouts in today’s scene. Just go to YouTube, The Micro Model Railway Dispatch, or Voie Libre, and you’ll be well on your way to educating yourself about projects in this fascinating field. 

Here, I’d rather talk about many of the older little layouts from say 1945 to around 1980 that were covered in magazines, but aren’t all that well known, or known at all. Many of those are even more viable today because we have much improved technology right across the board to implement and riff on them than they did back then. Frankly, the more ideas one is exposed to, the more depth you have to work with when designing your own layout. I’d bet AI doesn’t know about any of those classic little layouts, so it’s up to us humans to step up to the task of bringing them to light. Hopefully AI will one day incorporate that knowledge into its databases to share with others - well, I can hope :-)

Paperclip-7
Little layout thinking applied to a Scalextric 1/32 scale slot car track**
Size is approximately 200cm x 130 cm

What do I consider little? I don’t have hard and fast dimensions for you other than the layout should be considerably smaller than a standard 4’ x 8’ sheet of plywood. Micro-layouts are the smallest in the category, with the largest being around 4 sq. ft. in area. I should note I’m not talking about modular layouts, but self-contained, stand-alone little worlds. Over the years I’ve taken a stab at defining some different classes of little layouts, usually with tongue firmly in cheek, such as MCM-7 and the Anti-Layout. The only definitive thing I can say is "I know one when I see one" :-)

One other thing I like about little layouts is they open the door to pleasant activities and learning that is distinctly human and, so far, inaccessible, and maybe incomprehensible, to AI. And before we get too far into this, I’m not saying they are a gateway activity to STEM or STEAM. I don’t have something so instrumental in mind. Someone of course might attribute model railwaying as their introduction to a professional career, and that’s all well and good, but boosting career prospects is not the point I'm trying to make. It’s the idea that mind, body, and soul all come together to make these little layouts that aids being a human being. This happens with large layouts too, but the advantage of little ones is that they’re lower cost, easier to complete, and you can build several different ones to a high degree of completion in the time it would take to build a moderately detailed, moderately sized big layout. ‘Moderately sized big layout’, sheesh, there’s another thing I’m going to have to define, but for now I’ll assume you know what I mean. This all helps to speed learning so you can develop deeper, more sophisticated layouts relatively faster. And you don’t have to trash your finished layout to make way for a new one, which always seemed like a colossal waste to me. 

Ok, I've rambled long enough. It's been a long way of saying that I'm thinking about writing on little layouts I stumble across from the pre-micro-layout era, and maybe throw in some posts about things I find in Railroad Modeler too as I think it's an under appreciated magazine from the past. There're are also a few topics about the intersection of AI, model making, reading, and writing I'd like to dive into, so stay tuned, and thanks for hanging around until the end!

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Digressions

* In the article Mr. Olson states he derived the track plan from "an old issue of MR". He doesn't specify which old issue.

I thought, ok this seems like a problem in topology. Maybe if I give Gemini the track plan it can try and pattern-match its lines to other track plans it has access to. The track plan's lines may need to be stretched, strunk, or bent, but that's topology for you and that laborious work should be something AI can do far better than me.

Gemini gave very authoritative sounding replies to my question, but in the end what it told me it had made up, which I discovered after checking the sources it recommended.

It recommended an article called A Wye for Small Spaces by Linn Westcott in the Nov '57 issue, and A Wye for Small Spaces (yes, the same title as Westcott's article!) by Gordon Odegard in the Nov '64 issue. Neither issue had any articles by either of them that even came close. Gemini also said they could be found in the classic book 101 Track Plans for Model Railroads and that too proved false.

While I'll need to do some good old fashioned research to find the source, I didn't mind the wild goose chase. I found some interesting articles in both those issues I'm going to write about here. So, even though I don't care for the blatant making things up stuff that AI does, I often find in its randomness some interesting paths to follow.

**I got into model railways via slot cars. I've recounted the story many times, but I'll simply summarize it by saying: 1/32 Scalextric & Eldon slot cars -> E. L. Moore -> model railroading. 

I got to wondering if I could design a slotcar track for 1/32 scale cars and Scalextric track with a footprint no bigger than 2m x 1m, which would fit in the back of my SUV with the backseats turned down. I came close.

I used the app Railmodeller Express to design what I call the Paperclip-7 layout, named as such because it looks like a paperclip and the scenery will be reminiscent of a wild stretch of Ontario's King's Highway 7. Whether or not this layout will work is up for debate. 

If I ever build this thing, you'll be the first to know :-)

Desert Dodge Do-Over, Part 6: Drivetrain AI & Parts Bin Mentality

In the last episode I shortened the chassis to fit the shortened body. Saws were drawn; glue was squirted; RDCs were dreamt about; all ended well.

The next thing I decided to do was install the drivetrain. This involved shortening the driveshafts and lowering the engine a little so its transmission would line up properly with the transfer case's new location. This doesn't sound like much, but it turned out to be a tricky sort of job. In the end I couldn't get all the drivetrain elements lined up as I had hoped so I simply connected the partially lowered engine to the transfer case with a highly unrealistic, cobbled together drive shaft whose universal joints are an insult to hotrodders everywhere. 

The kit's driveshafts were cut, shortened, and glued back together.
The transfer case mount and the engine mounts were lowered.

Again, while I was doing this work I thought back to when I first tried this project when I was 12 and realized once again I could not have done it back then, and that this phase of construction is so involved and convoluted I can see why it was glossed over in the article. I'm doing a bit of glossing over here myself, but at least I'm showing you what the underside of the vehicle has ended up looking like, and giving some hints about how to proceed if you're crazy enough to tackle this project.

Speaking of crazy, since there appeared to me to be information missing from the article I decided to ask Gemini to summarize the article and see what it might find. No, I haven't lost my ability to think, I was just curious to see if it could actually 'read' a jpeg of the article and see what it had to say about it. Here's the summary Gemini gave:

The article, titled "A Desert Dodge," was written by Bill Wright for the September 1972 issue of Car Model magazine. It provides a step-by-step guide on how to take MPC’s then-new 1/25 scale "Baja-Brute" Dodge Adventurer SE kit and modify it into a more authentic Mexican off-road racer.

Here is a summary of the article:

Background and Context

The author opens with a brief history of off-road racing in the Southwest, noting the transition from modified "junkers" and VW-based dune buggies to the professionalization of the "Baja 1000." He highlights how major manufacturers (Ford, Dodge, etc.) began entering the fray, leading to the release of specialized model kits like the MPC "Baja-Brute."

The Project Goal

While the MPC kit provided a good base, the author argues that serious off-road racers are even more modified than the "out of the box" kit suggests. The goal of the build is to "shorten" the truck and add a custom, heavy-duty external roll cage to match the real-world racers of the era.

Key Modifications

The article details eight specific steps to achieve a more "pro" look:

• Sectioning the Body: To make the truck more agile, the author instructs to cut one full inch out of the stock pickup bed and shorten the chassis and drive shaft accordingly.

• Custom Roll Cage: Using K&S brass tubing (1/16, 3/32, and 1/8-inch), the author explains how to bend and solder a complex "exoskeleton" roll cage that wraps over the roof and into the bed.

• Weight Reduction: The roof is "sliced" from the roll cage (likely referring to the interior clearance or thinning the plastic) to simulate racing weight-saving measures.

• Scratch-Building Details: 

* Screen Mesh: Used on the roof cage for cargo/spare tire storage.

• "Flex-Straw" Intake: A clever "low-tech" tip where a plastic drinking straw is used to simulate the large air cleaner hose running from the dashboard to the engine.

• Air Cleaner Housing: Cut from thick plastic or wood to simulate the housing that protects the carburetor from desert sand.

• Finishing Touches: The build uses decals from a "Duster" kit and adds spare tires and off-road lights to the rear cage.

Summary of the "Baja" Style

The article concludes by noting that these modifications simulate the "funny car-style" tube chassis machines with fiberglass bodies that were winning the Baja 1000 at the time, elevating the standard kit from a "street-legal" 4WD to a dedicated racing machine.

It's quite a decent summary actually. I was glad to read in the 'Sectioning the Body' bullet point Gemini interpreted the text the same as I did that the instruction is to cut an inch out of the pickup bed. Unlike Gemini though, through the experience of building the model I can figure out that cutting out that inch is too much when the resulting bed is compared to the article's photos. In fact if I had paid more attention to the photos instead of the text I would have twigged that the text was wrong. Gemini didn't come to that realization and I don't think it can.

I glued on some bolt greeblies to suggest detail.

Since the instructions for modifying the chassis and body are missing - the subject of this post and the previous one - I asked Gemini to tell me what was missing. I wanted to see if it noticed that, and to see if it noticed any other missing instructions. Here's what it told me:

Based on the era of the magazine and the "pro-modeler" style of Bill Wright, the article is remarkably complete for its time, but it does leave out a few technical "connective" steps that a modern modeler might find challenging.

By 1972 standards, this was a high-level instructional piece. However, if you were trying to replicate this build today, you would likely find gaps in three specific areas:

1. Structural Alignment (The "Chassis Sectioning")

In Step 1, the author mentions removing an "equal amount" from the chassis and the rear drive shaft after sectioning the bed.

• What’s missing: He doesn't explain how to reinforce those cuts. Simply gluing two ends of a plastic chassis or a thin drive shaft together creates a very weak "butt joint" that will likely snap. A modern guide would suggest "sleeving" the drive shaft with a brass tube or using plastic reinforcement plates (gussets) on the chassis rails to ensure the truck doesn't sag in the middle.

2. Soldering vs. Gluing Brass

The article suggests that the K&S brass tubing can be "soldered or epoxied together if you clean the joints."

• What’s missing: Soldering brass to create a roll cage is a specific skill. The author doesn't mention the need for flux or how to "fish-mouth" (notch) the ends of the tubes so they sit flush against each other. If you just touch two round tubes together and apply solder or epoxy, the surface area is too small for a permanent bond.

3. Interior and Engine Integration

The guide focuses almost entirely on the exterior "look" of the Baja racer.

• What’s missing: * Step 8 discusses the air cleaner housing and hose, but it doesn't detail how to modify the hood to accommodate these parts or how the "Flex-Straw" passes through the firewall without interfering with the dashboard.

There is no mention of interior modifications, such as removing the passenger seat or adding racing harnesses, which would be standard for a truck of this caliber.

Is it "Complete"?

Yes, for the 1972 hobbyist. During this era, Car Model readers were expected to have a "parts bin" mentality. The article provides the difficult creative solutions (the measurements for the body and the design of the cage) and assumes the builder has the basic mechanical skills to make the pieces stick together.

It’s a perfect example of the "kitbashing" philosophy that E. L. Moore and his contemporaries championed—using everyday items like drinking straws and window mesh to solve complex modeling problems.

Regarding Gemini's advice for chassis sectioning, the part I've been dealing with recently, its advice is true, but generic. As you've seen, I didn't follow that advice. I used butt joints to hold the drive shafts together, and didn't use sleeving. The resulting joints I made are quite strong and rigid, it just takes a little patience to hold the pieces together while the glue is setting up. Also, I didn't reinforce the chassis as again the glue joints are quite strong and the entire unit of chassis and body will be quite strong when it's finally all glued together. I guess it's an experience thing, the modeller needs to apply their knowledge to the problem at hand and proceed with what seems appropriate. In this case, the model isn't subjected to any loads other than casual handling, so lots of extra reinforcement isn't required, just careful fitting of parts and solid gluing.

The E. L. Moore reference at the end is odd, but Gemini has run E. L. Moore requests for me before and I've added an note to it that I have a significant E. L. Moore database, so Gemini seems to inject Mr. Moore wherever it seems appropriate to it. I don't completely disagree with it's assertion about E. L. Moore as he did use everyday items now and then, but he certainly wasn't a kitbasher, that was an Art Curren speciality.

Chassis was base coated with Vallejo Model Color Black Grey

Gemini concluded its response about missing instructions with this question to me:

Would you like me to look closer at the photos to see if I can spot any "unspoken" modifications to the interior or engine bay?

To which I said, Yes. It then generated this:

After a closer look at the photos and researching the original 1971 MPC kit, I’ve spotted several "unspoken" details that Bill Wright included in his final build but didn't explicitly describe in the text.

If you are looking for the most complete picture for your E. L. Moore dataset, here are the subtle additions visible in the images:

[JDL: No, I don't know why it again mentioned my E. L. Moore dataset. It seems to think everything I ask it has something to do with E. L. Moore. Ok, well, yes to me all roads lead to E. L. Moore, but come on :-) ]

1. Interior Strip-Down

While the text mentions the "Baja-Brute" kit as a base, the photos of the finished model (specifically Step 8 and the final profile views) show a very sparse interior.

• The Dash: In Step 8, you can see the "Flex-Straw" intake hose disappearing into the dashboard area. Real Baja trucks of this era often had their entire heater core and glove box removed to save weight and make room for radio equipment or specialized gauges.

• Seats: Though not detailed in a step, the final photos show low-back bucket seats. The original "Adventurer SE" trim usually featured a plush bench seat, meaning the author swapped these out for "racing" buckets, likely from his parts bin.

[JDL: No, the seats in the model haven't been replaced with bucket seats. The kit's original bench seat is still there.]

2. Chassis and Suspension "Lift"

The final photos show the truck sitting significantly higher than a stock 1972 Dodge.

• The Secret: If you look at the wheel wells in the final assembly shots, there is a massive gap. This suggests the author likely performed a "suspension lift." In 1970s modeling, this was often done by adding small plastic spacers (or "lift blocks") between the leaf springs and the axles—a common modification that Wright likely assumed his readers already knew how to do.

[JDL: A good observation and this is what I did being schooled in the 70s as I was.]

3. Engine Bay "Pass-Through"

Step 8 is the only mention of the engine, but it’s a crucial one.

• The Missing Cut: To get that "Flex-Straw" from the air cleaner (in the bed) to the carburetor (under the hood), Wright would have had to cut a hole through the rear firewall of the cab.

[JDL: Wright's modification was more show than the go suggested above.]

• The Airbox: He mentions simulating the air cleaner housing with plastic or wood. In the photos, this looks like a large "canister" style filter. This was a classic "Pre-Cleaner" setup used to spinning out heavy sand before it reached the engine.

4. Exterior "Survival" Gear

The final photos show several items that aren't in the "How-To" list but are vital for the look:

• Spare Tires: Two full-sized spares are strapped into the rear cage.

• Fuel Cell: There is a cylindrical object in the bed near the air cleaner that likely represents a high-capacity fuel cell, essential for the long stretches of the Baja 1000.

• Rear-Facing Lights: Small spotlights are mounted to the top of the roll cage, facing backward—used by racers to let trailing drivers see them through the thick dust clouds.

Gemini wanted to do more at this point, but I had had enough. 

I don't think I'll be asking Gemini for help with interpreting scale modelling articles anytime soon, but there were a couple of interesting things that came out of this for me. 

First, I was struck by an overwhelming sense of how much things have changed since I bought that issue of Car Model in the summer of '72 at the Painted Post Smoke Shop. It's not like I didn't already realize this on an intellectual level, but it hit me at a visceral one as I asked this thing, this simulation of human thought, about something from an era where things like it didn't exist. It's a freaky feeling I need to examine some more.

Have a look at the passages on bricoleur and bricolage.

Second was Gemini's introduction of the term "parts bin mentality". It rather dances around this phrase, but from its use the meaning has something to do with a modeller having some experience with kitbashing and feeling at ease using carefully chosen everyday items in a model. I'll agree with it in that specialized things like photoetched and 3D printed parts weren't available so creative modellers had to find other ways to build the things they were after, and repurposing everyday items was one way. For this approach though I think Claude Lévi-Strauss' use of the term bricoleur and bricolage, that he develops in his book The Savage Mind aka Wild Thought, are more accurate and descriptive of the long history of this type of modelling, art, and, ultimately, understanding. Bricoleur and bricolage are worthy of their own post, so I'll leave further discussion for the future. Maybe Gemini will update its vocabulary in the meantime :-)

The cursed GMC Jimmy compared to the Desert Dodge
The Dodge looks like it'll be much taller.

For my immediate future though I'll be moving on to preparing the body and cab interior for attaching to the chassis. Stay tuned!