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Rail Transport Modelling

Rail transport modelling

Model railroading (US) or Railway modelling (UK) is a hobby in which rail transport systems are modeled at a reduced scale, or ratio. The modeled world includes rail vehicles (locomotives and rolling stock), tracks, signalling, scenery (roads, buildings, vehicles, model figures and natural features such as streams, hills, canyons, etc.). The earliest forms of model railways are the 'Carpet Railways' which first appeared in the 1840s. Model trains are generally more realistic than toy trains.

General description

Involvement in the hobby can range from the possession of a train set to spending many hours and large sums of money on a large and exactingly executed model of a railroad and the scenery through which it passes, called a "layout". Hobbyists, called "model railroaders" or "railway modellers", may even maintain models large enough to ride (see "Live steam" and "Backyard railroad"). Model railroaders may find enjoyment in collecting model trains, building a miniature landscape for the trains to pass through, or operating their own railroad, albeit in miniature. Some older scale models reach very high prices. railroad Layouts vary from the very stylistic (sometimes just a simple circle or oval of track) to the "absolutely realistic", where real places are modelled to scale. One of the largest of these is in the Pendon Museum in Oxfordshire, UK, where an EM gauge (same scale as OO but with a more accurate track gauge) model of the Vale of the White Horse as it appeared in the 1930s is under construction. The museum also houses one of the earliest scenic models ever made - the 'Madder Valley' layout built by John Ahern. This latter layout was built in the late 1930s to late 1950s and brought in the era of realistic modelling, receiving coverage on both sides of the North Atlantic in the magazines Model Railway News and Model Railroader during the 1940s and 50s. Bekonscot in Buckinghamshire is the oldest model village, and also includes a model railway, dating from the 1930s onward. The world's largest model railroad track in scale HO is [http://www.miniatur-wunderland.de/data/cms/en/000/ Miniatur Wunderland] in Hamburg, Germany, while the largest live steam layout, with over 25 miles (40 km) of trackage is [http://trainmountain.org/ Train Mountain] in Chiloquin, Oregon, USA. Model railway clubs exist where model railway enthusiasts meet. Clubs sometimes put on displays of models for the general public. One rather specialist branch of railway modellers concentrates on larger scales and gauges, most commonly using track gauges from 3.5 to 7.5 inches. Models in these scales are usually hand-built and are powered by live steam, or diesel-hydraulic, and the engines are often powerful enough to haul even dozens of full-scale human passengers. One particularly famous model railway club is the Tech Model Railroad Club (TMRC) at MIT, which in the 1950s pioneered the automatic control of track-switching amongst hobbyists by using advanced technology for the time — telephone relays.

Landscaping

MIT layout, 85 x 85 cm (34 x 34") in size, using a substructure of plywood and cardboard, latex-based filler on thick aluminum foil for hills, natural lichen for shrubs, colored sawdust and copper wire for trees, commercial plastic kits for buildings and flocked paper for grass. The construction steps in creating this layout are described [http://www.saunalahti.fi/~animato/rail/rail2.html#build here]. ]] Some modellers pay special attention to landscaping their model layout, creating either a fantasy world, or closely modelling an actual location, often a historic one, which does not exist anymore. Landscaping is also termed "scenery building" or "scenicking." Constructing scenery generally involves preparing a sub-terrain using screen wire, a lattice of cardboard strips, or carved stacks of expanded polystyrene (styrofoam) sheets. A scenery base is then applied over the sub-terrain; typical scenery base materials include casting plaster, plaster of Paris, and hybrid paper-pulp (papier-mache) and plaster materials. The scenery base is covered with ground cover, which may be made from ground foam, colored sawdust, natural lichen, or commercial scatter materials for grass and shrubbery. Buildings and structures can be purchased as kits, or hand fabricated ("scratch built") from cardboard, balsa wood, basswood, or polystyrene or other plastic sheet. Trees can be fabricated from natural materials such as Western sagebrush, candytuft, and caspia, to which an adhesive and model foliage are applied. Water can be simulated using polyester casting resin, polyurethane, or rippled glass. Rocks can be cast in plaster and painted with stains.

Methods of power

Model railway engines are generally operated by low voltage DC electricity supplied via the tracks, but there are exceptions, such as Märklin and Lionel Corporation, which use AC. Most of the early models made for the toy market were powered by clockwork and controlled by stop/go and reverse levers on the locomotive itself. Although this made control crude the models were of large enough scale and robust enough that grabbing the controls as they ran around the track was quite practical. Various manufacturers also introduced slowing and stopping tracks that could trigger levers on the locomotive and allow reliable station stops to be performed. Other locomotives, particularly large models used actual steam. Steam or clockwork driven engines are still sought by collectors. Early electrical models used a three-rail system with the wheels resting on a metal track with metal sleepers that conducted power and a separate middle rail which provided power to a skid under the locomotive. This at first apparently strange arrangement made sense at the time as the majority of materials used for railway models were metal and conductive. Modern plastics were not yet available and insulation was therefore a significant problem. In addition the notion of accurate models had yet to evolve and toy trains and track were generally crude tinplate representations of generic models. As model accuracy became more important some model systems adopted two rail power where the wheels were isolated from each other and the two rails carried the positive and negative supply or the two sides of the AC supply. Other model systems such as Märklin instead used a set of fine metal studs to replace the central rail, allowing existing three rail models to use more realistic track. Although DC power with the positive and negative charges on the two rails is the most common method of power, Märklin and Lionel use AC power on the three rail system. American Flyer is another exception, which used AC power on two-rail track. American Flyer model locomotive. The entire engine is only 50 mm (2") long.]] Early electric trains ran on battery power, because few homes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were wired for electric power. Today, inexpensive train sets running on battery power are once again becoming more common, but these are generally regarded as toys and are seldom used by hobbyists. Battery power is also used by many garden railway and larger scale systems both because of the difficulty in obtaining reliable power supply through the rails when outdoors and because the high power consumption and thus current draw of large scale garden models is more easily and more safely met with lead acid batteries Engines powered by Live steam are often built in large, outdoor gauges, and are also readily available in G scale, 16mm scale and can be found in O and H0 scale. Hornby Railways produce a live steam locomotive in OO scale, development of work by some very dedicated modellers who hand-built live steam models in HO/OO, OO9 and N, and there is even one in Z in Australia. Occasionally the topic of gasoline-electric models, patterened after real-life diesel-electric locomotives, comes up among dedicated hobbyists, but these locomotives are not commercially available. Larger scale petrol-mechanical and even petrol-hydraulic models are commercially available but these are unusual and significantly pricier than the more usual electrical power.

Control

The first clockwork (spring-drive) and live steam locomotives simply ran until they ran out of power, with no way for the operator to stop and restart the locomotive or to vary its speed. The advent of electric-powered trains, which first appeared commercially in the 1890s, allowed one to control the train's speed by varying the current, or voltage. As trains began to be powered by transformers and rectifiers more sophisticated throttles appeared, and soon trains powered by AC started containing mechanisms that caused the train to change direction and/or even go into a neutral gear when the operator cycled the power. Trains powered by DC can change direction simply by reversing polarity. Electric power also permits control by dividing the layout into electrically isolated blocks, where trains can be slowed or stopped by lowering or cutting the power to a block. Dividing a layout into blocks also permitted operators to run more than one train on a layout with much less risk of a fast train catching up with and hitting a slow train. Blocks can also trigger signals or other animated accessories on the layout, adding more realism (or whimsy) to the layout. Three-rail systems will often insulate one of the common rails on a section of track, and use a passing train to complete the circuit and activate an accessory. Many modern day model railways use digital techniques and are computer controlled. The industry standard command system is called Digital Command Control, or DCC. Some less-common closed proprietary systems also exist. In the large scales the use of radio control has become popular, particularly for garden railways.

Scales and gauges

Digital Command Control, 1:8) model locomotives.]] The size of the engines depends on the scale being used. The four major scales used are: G scale, O, HO (in Britain, the similarly sized OO is used), and N, although there is growing interest in Z. Somewhat different scales are used in Continental Europe. Engine sizes can vary from around 700 mm (28") tall for the largest ridable Live steam scales, down to matchbox size for the smallest ones in Z-scale. A typical HO engine is around 50 mm (2") tall, and 100 mm to 300 mm (4" to 12") in length. G scale because of its larger size is most often used for outdoor modelling. It is easier to fit a G scale model into a garden landscape and still keep the scenery proportional to the size of the trains running through. O, HO, and N gauge are more delicate due to their size and are used more often indoors. The words scale and gauge seem at first to be used interchangeably in model railways, but their meanings are different. Scale is the model's measurement as a proportion to the original, while gauge is the measurement between the two running rails of the track. At first, model railways were not to scale. Manufacturers and hobbyists soon arrived at de facto standards for interchangeability, such as gauge, but trains were only a rough approximation to the real thing. See NEM and NMRA. Official scales for the various gauges were soon drawn up, but the scales were not at first at all rigidly followed, and were not necessarily correctly proportioned for the rail gauge chosen. O (zero) gauge trains, for instance, operate on track that is too widely spaced, while the British OO standards operate on track that is significantly too narrow. Most of the commercial scales also have standards that include wheel flanges that are too deep, wheel treads that are too wide, and rail tracks that are too large. Later on, groups of modellers became dissatisfied with these inaccuracies, and developed finescale standards in which everything is correctly scaled. These are used by dedicated modellers but have not generally spread to mass-produced equipment in part because the inaccuracies and overscale properties of the commercial scales are necessary to ensure reliable operation in the hands of consumers as well as experts, and also to allow for shortcuts necessary for cost control. The most common scales and gauges in Europe and the USA are:

Model railway manufacturers

- Accurail Inc.
- Airfix
- American Flyer
- Arnold (models)
- Athearn
- Atlas Model Railroad
- Bachmann Industries
- Berliner Bahn
- [http://www.brimalm.com/eng/index.html Brimalm Engineering]
- Bing
- Broadway Limited Imports (BLI)
- Dapol
- Exley
- Ferris (obsolete)
- Fleischmann
- Graham Farish ("Grafar")
- Greenmax
- Hornby
- Ibertren
- Jouef
- Kawai
- Kato
- Klein Modellbahn
- Lehmann Gross Bahn
- Life Like
- Liliput
- Lima (models)
- Lionel
- Mantua (models), later Tyco
- Marx
- Märklin
- Micro Ace
- Modemo (Hasegawa)
- MTH Electric Trains
- Peco
- Piko
- Rivarossi
- Roco
- Rokal
- Stewart Hobbies
- Tomix
- Tillig
- Tri-ang Railways
- Trix Express
- Varney
- Walthers

Famous model railroaders

Famous within the model railroad press
- John Allen
- John Armstrong
- David Barrow
- Bruce Chubb
- Walt Disney
- Frank Ellison
- Ollie Johnston
- Al Kalmbach
- Tony Koester
- W. Allen McClelland
- David Rose
- Cliff Robinson
- Whit Towers
- Wayne Wesolowski
- Linn H. Westcott
- Bill Wight Other famous model railroaders
- Gary Coleman (N scale modeler and part owner of Caboose Hobbies in Denver, Colorado)
- Michael Gross
- Frank Sinatra (Lionel and tinplate collector)
- Rod Stewart
- Tom Snyder
- Neil Young

External links

- [http://www.peteena.com/ROADSIDE.HTM Roadside America] USA
- http://www.miniatur-wunderland.de The biggest model railway in Hamburg, Germany
- http://www.nmra.org/ The National Model Railroad Association, USA
- [http://www.the-gauge.com/ The Gauge] Community of model railroad enthusiasts.
- http://www.kleinmb.at Klein Modellbahn, Vienna, Austria (in German only)
- http://www.caorm.org/ Canadian Association of Railway Modellers, Canada
- http://www.saunalahti.fi/animato/rail/rail.html Model railroading in different scales and gauges, from Z to Live steam
- [http://cnum.cnam.fr/CGI/fpage.cgi?4KY28.28/0036/100/432/0/0 Récréations scientifiques: Un petit chemin de fer électrique], article in French magazine La Nature, p. 32, vol. 28 (spring 1887), perhaps the earliest example of an electric rail transport toy
- http://www.worldrailfans.inf
- http://germanrail.8.forumer.com/
- [http://scalemodel.net/ ScaleModel.NET] International List of Scale Model Related Web Sites, contains a large number of model railroad sites including the categories of manufacturers, retailers, organizations/clubs, web resources, magazines, and sites of individual model railroaders. Category:Rail transport modelling Category:Rail transport ja:鉄道模型

Hobby

A hobby is a spare-time recreational pursuit. In the Middle Ages, falconry was a very popular pastime (what today might be called a hobby), and of all the different birds used for it, the Eurasian Hobby was perhaps the most popular. It is said that the modern use of hobby to indicate a pastime followed from this. An alternative explanation is that the usage grew from another recreational animal called hobby: which was a type of small ambling or pacing horse. A hobby-horse was a wooden or wickerwork toy made to be ridden just like the real hobby. From this came the expression "to ride one's hobby-horse", meaning "to follow a favourite pastime", and in turn, hobby in the modern sense of recreation. Hobbies are practised for interest and enjoyment, rather than financial reward. Examples include collecting, making, tinkering, sports and adult education. Engaging in a hobby can lead to acquiring substantial skill, knowledge, and experience. However, personal fulfillment is the aim. What are hobbies for some people are professions for others: a game tester may enjoy cooking as a hobby, while a professional chef might enjoy playing (and helping to debug) computer games. Generally speaking, the person who does something for fun, not remuneration, is called an amateur (or hobbyist), as distinct from a professional. An important determinant of what is considered a hobby, as distinct from a profession (beyond the lack of remuneration), is probably how easy it is to make a living at the activity. Almost no one can make a living at cigarette card or stamp collecting, but many people find it enjoyable; so it is commonly regarded as a hobby. Astronomy is an interesting hobby in that the amateurs often make meaningful contributions to the professionals. It is not entirely uncommon for an amateur astronomer to be the first to discover a celestial body or event. In the UK, the pejorative noun anorak (similar to the Japanese "otaku", meaning a geek or enthusiast) is often applied to people who obsessively pursue a particular hobby. Whilst some hobbies strike many people as trivial or boring, hobbyists have found something compelling and entertaining about them (see geek). Much early scientific research was, in effect, a hobby of the wealthy; more recently, Linux began as a student's hobby. A hobby may not be as trivial as it appears at a point in time when it has relatively few followers. Thus a British conservationist recalls that when seen wearing field glasses at a London station in the 1930s he was asked if he was going to the (horse) races. The anecdote indicates that at the time an interest in wildlife was not widely perceived as a credible hobby. Practitioners of that hobby went on to become the germs of the conservation movement that flourished in Britain from 1965 onwards and became a global political movement within a generation. Conversely, the hobby of aircraft spotting probably originated as part of a serious activity designed to detect arriving waves of enemy aircraft entering English airspace during World War II. In peacetime it clearly has no such practical or social purpose. Pursuit of a hobby may have calming or helpful therapeutic side effects. In some cases, however, (for example in collecting) the line between a hobby and an obsession can become blurred. There is more than one documented case of violence over things as simple as coin collecting.

Scale model

A scale model is a representation or copy of an object that is larger or smaller than the actual size of the object being represented. Very often the scale model is smaller than the original and used as a guide to making the object in full size. Scale models are useful:
- in engineering for testing the likely performance of a design object at an early stage without the expense of building a full-sized prototype.
- in architecture for showing the look of a new construction before it is built
- in entertainment for constructing objects or sets that cannot be built in full size Scale models are also built or collected as a hobby: aircraft; cars; vehicles; figures; matchstick models; military vehicles; railways; rockets; and ships. These models — especially aircraft, cars, and ships — may be radio controlled. radio control and part of the National Mall, Washington, DC. The diagonal slash across the layout depicts Pennsylvania Avenue, which would be the hypotenuse of the triangle. ]]

History of the scales

Before the plastic model kit industry

Hobbyists' scale models derive from those used by the firms which made the full-sized products. Originally, a "scale" was a physical measuring instrument, a notion which survives as concerns weight. First among scales are the rulers that are triangular in cross-section and called architect's scales or engineer's scales. The terminology used was of this manner: "scale size to full size", or the reverse. An architect's scale was used to make the first affordable models: doll houses and their furniture. Its popular scales for these miniatures were "one inch to the foot" and "one-half inch to the foot"; there is also "three-quarters inch to the foot". The proportion of the model to the prototype was originally called "size", as in "full-sized" or "half-sized", as used on a blueprint for making something that would fit on a workbench. Shipyards were the first to use the scales to make models of things larger than a house. The scales they used were expressed in a different manner: "one-foot-to-the-inch" through "six-feet-to-the-inch" were common. During the Second World War, battleship models were made "eight-foot-to-the-inch", in the later phrasing, "one-eighth-inch to the foot"; you will find these models used for training workers in maritime museums. The model ship would be referred to as "one-ninety-sixth size", or "1/96th", but rarely, as there were few scales commonly used; it couldn't possibly be "1/98th scale", for example. There were also rotary instruments in which one would line up marks on two dials to be able to translate measurements from units on the prototype to units on the model. After the production of kits to make plastic models became an industry, there were developed rulers marked in the model units and which are called scales.

Comparing scales

Phrases used are those of "larger" and "smaller" scales. The scale of 1/8"-to-the-foot is a larger scale than 1/16"-to-the-foot, even though the denominator is smaller. So a larger model is made to a larger scale. You can remember this in that a full-size, or full-scale, model is larger than a half-size model.

Origins of the plastic model kit

For aircraft recognition in the Second World War, the RAF selected making models to the scale of "one-sixth inch to the foot" (which was two British lines, a legal division of length which didn't make it to America, besides being a standard shipyard scale). Although some consumer models were sold pre-war in Britain to this scale, the airmens' models were pressed out of ground-up old rubber tires. This is of course the still-popular "one-seventy-second size". It wasn't predestined to succeed; there were competitors. The US Navy, in contrast, had metal models made to the proportion 1:432, which is "nine-feet-to-the-quarter-inch". At this scale, a model six feet away looked as the prototype would at about half a statute mile; and at seven feet, at about half a nautical mile. After the war, firms that moulded models from polystyrene entered the consumer marketplace, the American firm Revell notably offering a model of the Royal Coach around the time of the 1953 coronation. In the early years, firms offered models of aircraft and ships in "fit-the-box" size. A box that would make an impressive gift was specified, and a mould was crafted to make a model that wouldn't ludicrously slide around inside. Modellers could not compare models, nor switch parts from one kit to another. It was the British firm Airfix that brought the idea of the constant scale to the marketplace, and they picked the RAF's scale. In the 1960s, the company Monogram offered an aircraft actually labeled as ¼" scale, which may have been a common contraction in factories. They meant "one-quarter-inch to the foot", or "one-forty-eighth size". Shortly thereafter, hobbyists lost the ability to distinguish the two, and now the proportion is referred to as scale.

Terminology

The terms and the means of writing them down have changed, and for model kits they are now standardized for the European Union. In English-speaking countries, such terms as "1/72" were used, but the format with a colon as "1:72" is often preferred. The slash format is usually avoided with decimal fractions: "1/76.2" is usually not used; it's "1:76.2" instead. That hybrid OO gauge can also be expressed by explicitly using a mixed system of units as "4 mm:1 ft" or "1 mm:3 in", but the dimensionless form makes comparison with other scales easier.

Rational choice of scales

The nominal height of a man is simple in the inch-based system: six feet. Many traditional scales are derived so that a figure of such a height against the model can be readily imagined as a simple relation to an inch. Although the metric system has specified a limited series of scales for blueprints and maps, when it comes to models, there may be a problem with these scales for a readily imagined person of 180 centimetres. Model railways have the additional difficulty of having to present the rail gauge as a simple number, the height of a person being secondary. Trade authorities in metric countries are attempting to specify scales that are simple mulitiples of 2 and 5, but neither tracks nor people seem to fit. Or it could be that they are using the statement of rationalization for competitive advantage, so that people will buy models of their scale and not those of another manufacturing country? On the other hand, wargaming scales have traditionally been traced to metric system, where the number of millimetres relate to the relative height of the human figure based on 180 cm standard man. Therefore 25 mm scale (popular in historical and fantasy wargaming) refers to 1:72 scale, whilst the 15 mm scale (nowadays the most popular scake in ancient, medieval and Renaissance wargaming) refers to 1:120 scale. Likewise, 50 mm scale is the same as 1:35 military model scale, and 5 mm equals 1:350 naval scale.

Typical scales of models

Model aircraft

The premier scale for model aircraft vehicles is 1:72. Airliners are at 1:144, with a few at 1:288. A scale with more room for detail is 1:48. Other, arguably more luxurious, models are available at 1:32 and 1:24. A few First World War aircraft were offered at 1:28 by Aurora. Other scales which failed to catch on are 1:64, 1:96, and 1:128. Repressings of old moulds are often revived in these scales, however. There are also the most common carrier aircraft at the scales of their ships (see below). Although the Soviets did not supplant 1:48 with their scale 1:50, nor 1:32 with their scale 1:30, the Japanese tried to offer the scale 1:100. There is a major European project to bring about 1:150 to replace 1:144, just as they have small toy airliners in decimalized scales. And the French firm Heller SA, unlike any other in the world, offers models in the scale 1:125.

Model rockets and spacecraft

Model rocket kits began as a development of model aircraft kits, yet the scale of 1:72[V.close to 4mm.::1foot] never caught on. Scales 1:48 and 1:96 are used. There are some rockets of scales 1:128, 1:144, and 1:200, but Russian firms put their large rockets in 1:288. Heller is maintaining its idiosyncratic standard by offering some models in the scale of 1:125. Fantasy spacecraft, of course, can be of any scale, as they aren't going to be compared to anything on this planet.

Model railways

Fantasy spacecraft Main article: Rail transport modelling Model railways use the term "gauge", referring to the width of the tracks just as full-size railways do. Although railways were built to many gauges, generally it's the 'standard gauge', 4ft 8.5inch, that is referred to, as it is in this section. Meaning the distance between the inside vertical edge of opposing rails, gauges for model railways were originally in inches, but later they were standardized in metric units, even for companies which put models in traditional Architect's gauge proportions on such metric tracks. A range of scales were accepted by model railroaders for each gauge for mere convenience's sake. The most popular scale to go with a given gauge was often derived at by the following roundabout process. German artisans would take strips of metal of standard metric size to make things to blueprints whose dimensions were in inches: hence "4 mm to the foot" yields the 1:76.2 size of the "00 gauge". This British scale is anomalously used on the standard H0 gauge (16.5 mm) tracks, however, because early electric motor magnets were awkward in small 3.5mm/foot loco. models. The Germans have a more developed terminology, which can explain this a bit better. Baugrösse (English: "building size") is the alphanumeric designation, which has nothing to do with physical measuring. It's used for gauge, as in "No. 1 gauge", "HO gauge", or "Z gauge". Maßstab (English: "measure") is the proportion, with a colon, as in the corresponding terms "1:32", "1:87.1", and "1:220". Spurweite (English: "track width") is the distance between the tracks, or correspondingly "1¾-inch", "16.5 mm", and "6.5 mm", and again gauge is used for this in English. One might add to these the old use of the term scale, of "3/8 inch to the foot" and "3.5 mm to the foot" for the first two, while the last really isn't expressible in this manner. Early 1900s German mass-produced toys had a measured gauge from rail centre to rail centre of rolled tinplate rail, with much latitude between flange & rail. There are three different standards for the "0" Gauge, each of which uses tracks of 32 mm for the standard gauge. The American version continues a dollhouse scale of 1:48. It is sometimes called "quarter-gauge", as in "one-quarter-inch to the foot". The British version continued the pattern of subcontracting to Germans; so, at 7 mm to the foot, it works out to a scale of 1:43.5. Later, MOROP, the European authority of model railroad firms, declared that the "0" gauge (still 32 mm) must use the scale of 1:45. That is, in Europe the below-chassis dimensions have to be slightly towards 4ft. 6 inches, to allow wheel/tyre/splasher clearance for smaller than realistic curved sections. "Live steam" railways, that you actually ride on, are built in many scales, such as 1-1/2", 1", and 3/4" to the foot. Common gauges are 7-1/2" (Western US) and 7-1/4" (Eastern US & rest of the world), 5", 4-3/4". Smaller Live Steam gauges do exist, but are hardly "rideable".

Model cars

Live steam Live steam Although the British scale for "O" gauge was first used for model cars comprised of rectilinear and circular parts, it was the origin of the European scale for cast or injection moulded model cars. MOROP's specification will not alter the series of cars in 1:43 scale, as it has the widest distribution in the world. In America, a series of cars was developed from at first cast metal and later styrene models ("promos") offered at new-car dealerships to drum up interest. The firm Monogram, and later Tamiya, first produced them in a scale derived from the Architect's scale: 1:24, while the firms AMT, Jo-Han, and Revell chose the scale of 1:25. Monogram later switched to this scale after the firm was purchased by Revell. Some cars are also made in 1:32 scale, and rolling toys are often made on the scale 1:64.

Model robots

Japanese firms have marketed toys and models of what are often called mecha, nimble humanoid fighting robots. Model robots are marketed in scales 1:100 and 1:144, like model aircraft, which seems strange to some westerners as they believe that they are best displayed in scenes crashing against houses, and thus should use natural model railway gauges instead. Still, as there are 1:144 model railways, in Japan itself this do not matter much; and numerous after market accessories for mecha models (as well as scratch building, which is what makes this hobby fun) render this "strange" scaling matter little. Currently, Bandai is the main producer of mecha models, commonly called Gunpla, as most of them are models for Gundam. In general, they are release in the following scales:
- 1:60 Perfect Grade, with very detail frames and other details, such as fully articulated fingers. Priced at around 28000 yen.
- 1:100 Master Grade, with quite detailed frames and outbody, though not as elaborate as perfect grade; usually lack a detail head and articulated fingers. Priced at around 3500 yen
- High Grade are generally shown with external only, with no frames. (though some have exception, such as HGUC, high grade-universal century). They come in all 3 scales (1:60, 1:100 and 1:144). However, some of the 1:144 are actually models of very large mobile suits, which makes them reaching equivalent height to a 1:100 or even 1:60, with elaborate frames and details. Priced at around 1400 yen for 1:144, 2500 yen for 1:100, and 4000 yen for the 1:60.
- Non-grade/Low-grade models: They are usually very unarticulated, though priced at 500 yen are good as a quick build, or as parts for Gunplas of other grades.
- Super Deformed, non scale: They are no too articulate, due to their deformed size. Just like their 2D origins, their head are quite large compared to the rest of the body. Usually, they do not require glue or paint (snapped together), though when they are used will greatly enhance the look of the model. Due to the fact that mechas are not real objects, and is humanoid, aside from aiming at realism, it may also aim for pure creativity, either on creating an entire new look of the model, or strike artistic poses. Thus, scratchbuilding for Gunpla is actually quite common.

Model tanks and wargaming

Just before the twentieth century, the British historian (and science fiction author and forgotten mainstream novelist) H. G. Wells published a book, Little Wars, on how to play at battles in miniature. His books use 54mm lead figures, particularly those manufactured by Britains. His fighting system revolved around the use of spring-loaded model guns which shot matchsticks. This use of physical mechanisms was echoed in the later games of Fred Jane, whose rules required throwing darts at ship silhouettes; his collection of data on the world's fleets was later published and became renowned. Dice have largely replaced this toy mayhem for consumers. For over a century, toy soldiers were made of white metal, a lead-based alloy, often in Architect's scale-based ratios in the English-speaking countries, and called tin soldiers. After the Second World War, such toys were on the market for children but now made of a safe plastic softer than styrene. American children called these "army men". Many sets were made in the new scale of 1:40. A few styrene model kits of land equipment were offered in this and in 1:48 and 1:32 scales. However, these were swept away by the number of kits in the scale of 1:35. Those who continued to develop miniature wargaming preferred smaller scale models, the soldiers still made of soft plastic. Airfix particularly wanted people to buy 1:76 scale soldiers and tanks to go with "00" gauge train equipment. Roco offered 1:87 scale styrene military vehicles to go with "H0" gauge model houses. However, although there isn't any 1:72 scale model railroad, more toy soldiers are now offered in this scale because it is the same as the popular aircraft scale. The number of fighting vehicles in this scale is also increasing, although the number of auxiliary vehicles available is far fewer than in 1:87 scale. Armies use smaller scales still. The US Army specifies models of the scale 1:285 for its "sand-table" wargaming. There are metal ground vehicles and helicopters in this scale, which is a near-rationalization of a notion of "one-quarter-inch-to-six-feet". The continental powers of NATO have developed the similar scale of 1:300, even though metric standardizers really don't like any divisors other than factors of 10, 5, and 2, so maps are not commonly offered in Europe in scales with a "3" in the denominator. Consumer wargaming has since expanded into fantasy realms, employing scales large enough to be painted in imaginative detail - so called "heroic" 28mm figures, (roughly 1:64, or S scale). Firms which produce these do so in so small production lots that they are necessarily made of white metal. And the quite successful British firm Games Workshop even offers plastic fantasy war machines, like Warhammer 40,000.

Model buildings

Other than as an adjunct to model railroading or in forming dioramas with model war machines, this has not caught on as a hobby. So the expected standardized sizes from architectural practise have not developed. Hence Heller can offer a model of the Eiffel tower at the unique scale of 1:650, which couldn't be compared to anything.

Model ships and naval wargaming

In the first half of the twentieth century, navies used hand-made models of warships for identification and instruction in a variety of scales. That of 1:500 was called "teacher scale." Besides models made in 1:1200 and 1:2400 scales, there were also ones made to 1:2000 and 1:5000. Some, made in Britain, were labelled "1 inch to 110 feet," which would be 1:1320 scale, but aren't necessarily accurate. Just before the Second World War, the American naval historian (and science fiction author) Fletcher Pratt published a book on naval wargaming as could be done by civilians using ship models cut off at the waterline to be moved on the floors of basketball courts and similar locales. The scale he used was very strange (maybe 1:550), but as the hobby progressed, it was progressively replaced by the series 1:600, 1:1200, and 1:2400. These had the advantage of approximating the nautical mile as 120 inches, 60 inches, and 30 inches, respectively. As the knot is based on this mile and a 60-minute hour, this was quite handy. After the war, firms emerged to produce models from the same white metal used to make toy soldiers. One British firm offered a tremendously wide line of merchant ships and dockyard equipment in the scale 1:1200. A prestige scale for boats, comparable to that of 1:32 for fighter planes, is 1:72, producing huge models. For the smaller ships, kits are offered in the traditional shipyard scales of 1:96, 1:108, or 1:192. Airfix makes full-hull models in the scale which the Royal Navy has used to compare the relative sizes of ships: 1:600. Monogram makes some kits to half the scale of the US Army standard: 1:570. Some American and foreign firms have made models in a proportion from the Engineer's scale: "one-sixtieth-of-an-inch-to-the-foot", or 1:720. But the continental Europeans have an on-going project of getting rid of all conversions and measurements which they consider non-standard. As they saw how four Japanese model-making firms (Tamiya, Hasegawa, Aoshima, and Fujimi) formed a cartel to apportion out the project of putting out waterline kits of the whole fleet of Japanese warships of the Second World War on the market in a proportion that no firm from any other country did - 1:700, the Europeans are attempting to have the scale of 1:400 standardized for full-hull model ships, even though some Japanese firms have produced larger ships in the luxury scale of 1:350. And in scales more conducive to wargaming, Europeans are now marketing waterline kits in the scales 1:1250 and 1:2500 to supplant the British and American lines. The Chinese are joining them. Such trends toward standardization has not affected the Japanese firm Nichimaco, which still produces fit-in-the-box sizes from old molds, and 1:450 size models.

Scales

Model railways have unique scale/gauge designations, such as: Z; N; HO; OO; EM; P4; O; S; 1. Model figure scales are usually expressed as the height of a six-foot (1.83 m) figure; for example: 54 mm. Other model scales are generally given as a ratio.

External link

- [http://www.one35th.com/ 1/35 scale armor modeling]
- [http://www.morop.org/en/idf/index.html European Union of Model Railroad and Railroad Friends]
- [http://machinemess.singaporeanimenews.net Machine Mess - The Singapore Scale Model Community]
- [http://scalemodel.net ScaleModel.NET - International List of Scale Model Related Web Sites] Category:Scale modeling ja:スケールモデル

Locomotive

A locomotive (from lat. locus motivus) is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train, and has no payload capacity of its own; its sole purpose is to move the train along the tracks. In contrast, many trains feature self-propelled payload-carrying vehicles; these are not normally considered locomotives, and may be referred to as multiple units or railcars; the use of these self-propelled vehicles is increasingly common for passenger trains, but very rare for freight (see however CargoSprinter). Vehicles which provide the motive power to haul an unpowered train, but are not generally considered locomotives because they have payload space or are rarely detached from their trains, are known as power cars. Traditionally, locomotives haul (pull) their trains. Increasingly common these days in local passenger service is push-pull operation, where a locomotive pulls the train in one direction and pushes it in the other, and is therefore optionally controlled from a control cab at the opposite end of the train. This is especially true of "High Speed Rail lines", such as the Japan’s Shinkansen and France’s TGV trains. TGV Grange class steam locomotive, at Bristol Temple Meads station, Bristol, England]]

Origins

The first successful locomotives were built by Cornish inventor Richard Trevithick. In 1804 his unnamed locomotive hauled a train along the tramway of the Penydarren ironworks, near Merthyr Tydfil in Wales. Although the locomotive hauled a train of 10 tons of iron and 70 passengers in five wagons over nine miles it was too heavy for the cast iron rails used at the time. The locomotive only ran three journeys before it was abandoned. In 1813, George Stephenson persuaded the manager of the Killingworth colliery where he worked to allow him to build a steam-powered machine. He built the Blucher, the first successful flanged-wheel adhesion locomotive. The flanges enabled the trains to run on top of the rails instead of in sunken tracks. This greatly simplified construction of switches (called "points" in UK) and rails, and opened the way to the modern railroad.

Benefits of locomotives

switches There are many reasons why the motive power for trains has been traditionally isolated in a locomotive, rather than in self-propelled vehicles. These include:
- Ease of maintenance - it is easier to maintain one locomotive than many self-propelled cars.
- Safety - it is often safer to locate the train's power systems away from passengers. This was particularly the case for steam locomotives, but still has some relevance for other power sources.
- Easy replacement of motive power - should the locomotive break down, it is easy to replace it with a new one. Failure of the motive power unit does not require taking the whole train out of service.
- Efficiency - idle trains do not waste expensive motive power resources. Separate locomotives mean that the costly motive power assets can be moved around as needed.
- Flexibility - large locomotives can be substituted for small locomotives where the gradients of the route become steeper and more power is needed.
- Obsolescence cycles - separating the motive power from the payload-hauling cars means that either can be replaced without affecting the other. At some times, locomotives have become obsolete when their cars are not, or vice versa.

Classification by motive power

Locomotives may generate mechanical work from fuel, or they may take power from an outside source. It is common to classify locomotives by their means of providing motive work - the common ones include:

Steam

power power The first railway locomotives (19th century) were powered by steam, first by burning wood, later coke and coal or petroleum. Because of the steam engine, some people took to calling the steam locomotives themselves "steam engines". The steam locomotive remained by far the most common type of locomotive until after World War II. The age of steam correlates highly to the coal era. The first steam locomotive was built by Richard Trevithick, and first ran on 21 February 1804, although it took some years before steam locomotive design became efficient and economically practical. Fairy Queen, built in 1855; plying between New Delhi and Alwar in India, is the longest-running steam locomotive in regular service in the world, but John Bull, built in 1831, is currently the oldest operable steam locomotive. John Bull is preserved in mostly static display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. The all-time speed record for steam trains is held by an LNER Class A4 4-6-2 Pacific locomotive of the LNER in the United Kingdom, number 4468 Mallard, which pulling six carriages (plus a dynamometer car) reached 126 mph (203 km/h) on a slight downhill gradient down Stoke Bank on 3 July 1938. Aerodynamic passenger locomotives from other countries such as Germany and the United States attained speeds very close to this, and this is generally believed to be close to the practicable upper limit for the direct-coupled steam locomotive. Before the middle of the 20th century, electric and diesel-electric locomotives began replacing steam locomotives. Steam locomotives are less efficient than their more modern diesel and electric counterparts and require much greater manpower to operate and service. British Rail figures showed the cost of crewing and fuelling a steam locomotive was some two and a half times that of diesel power, and the daily mileage achievable was far lower. As labour costs rose, particularly after the second world war, non-steam technologies became much more cost-efficient. By the end of the 1960s-1970s, most western countries had completely replaced steam locomotives in commercial service. Freight locomotives generally were replaced later. Other designs, such as locomotives powered by gas turbines, have been experimented with, but have seen little use. By the end of the 20th century, almost the only steam power still in regular use in North America and Western European countries was on heritage railways specifically aimed at tourists and/or railroad enthusiasts, known as railfans or train spotters, although some narrow gauge lines in Germany which form part of the public transport system, running to all-year-round timetables retain steam for all or part of their motive power. Steam locomotives remained in commercial use in parts of Mexico into the late 1970s. Steam locomotives are in regular use in China, where coal is a much more abundant resource than petroleum for diesel fuel. India has switched in the 1990's from steam-powered trains to electric- and diesel-powered trains. In some mountainous and high altitude rail lines, steam engines remain in use because they are less affected by reduced air pressure than diesel engines. petroleum 73096, a 4-6-0 steam loco, at Virginia Water station, April 2004.]]

External links

- [http://www.steamlocomotive.com/ Database of surviving steam locomotives in North America]
- [http://steamrailroading.com/ Information on North American steam railroads in operation]

Diesel-mechanical

Diesel locomotives vary in the form of transmission used to convey the power from a diesel engine (or engines) to the wheels. The simplest form of transmission is by means of a gearbox, in the same way as on road vehicles. Diesel trains or locomotives that use this are called diesel-mechanical and began to appear (although limited in power) even before the first world war which saw a number of simplex diesel systems built for the war, a small number of which survive and are still operational today. It has, however, been found impractical to build a gearbox which can cope with a power output of more than 400 horsepower (300 kW) without breaking, despite a number of attempts to do so. Therefore this type of transmission is only suitable for low-powered shunting locomotives, or lightweight multiple units or railcars. For more powerful locomotives, other types of transmission have to be used.

Diesel-electric

railcar refueling at Dunsmuir, California]] The most common form of transmission is electric; a locomotive using electric transmission is known as a diesel-electric locomotive. With this system, the diesel engine drives a generator or alternator; the electrical power produced then drives the wheels using electric motors. In effect, such a locomotive is an electric locomotive which carries its own generating station along with it. Early diesel-electrics were switching engines used to move rail cars around in rail yards. The first went into service in 1918 with the Jay Street Connecting Railroad. Sixteen years later, the technology began to be applied to regular mainline service as streamlined passenger trains went into operation. Actually, a petroleum distillate-electric system powered the first such train, but diesel-electric systems soon proved to be more cost-effective because of higher efficiency and lower maintenance costs. The fuel for one early high-speed run from Chicago, Illinois to Denver, Colorado only cost US$14.64 (in 1934 dollars). In the 1970s, British Rail in the United Kingdom developed a high-speed diesel-electric train called the High Speed Train or HST. This train consists of two Class 43 locomotives (also known as power cars), one at each end, and a number of "Mark 3" carriages (usually 8). A complete HST set was originally designated as a Class 253 or 254 diesel multiple unit (DMU), but due to the frequent exchanges between sets the power cars were reclassified as locomotives and given class number 43. The unpowered carriages were simultaneously reclassified as individual coaches - the number of a DMU set should identify all its associated carriages as well. The prototype HST (designated Class 252) holds the world speed record for diesel traction, having reached a speed of 143 mph, although the operating speed of the production HST in service is 125 mph (200 km/h), hence the name "Inter-City 125". A variant of the Intercity 125, the XPT, is in service on New South Wales railways in Australia, but with a lower top speed and different carriages.

Diesel-hydraulic

Alternatively, diesel-hydraulic locomotives use hydraulic transmission to convey the power from the diesel engine to the wheels. On this type of locomotive, the power is transmitted to the wheels by means of a device called a torque converter. A torque converter consists of three main parts, two of which rotate, and one which is fixed. All three main parts are sealed in a housing filled with oil. The inner rotating part of a torque converter is called a centrifugal pump (or impeller), the outer part is called a turbine wheel (or driven wheel), and between them is a fixed guide wheel. All of these parts have specially shaped blades to control the flow of oil. The centrifugal pump is connected directly to the diesel engine, and the turbine wheel is connected to an axle, which drives the wheels. As the diesel engine rotates the centrifugal pump, oil is forced outwards at high pressure. The oil is forced through the blades of the fixed guide wheel and then through the blades of the turbine wheel, which causes it to rotate and thus turn the axle and the wheels. The oil is then pumped around the circuit again and again. The disposition of the guide vanes allows the torque converter to act as a "gearbox" with continuously variable ratio. If the output shaft is loaded so as to reduce its rotational speed, the torque applied to the shaft increases, so the power transmitted by the torque converter remains more or less constant. However, the range of variability is not sufficient to match engine speed to load speed over the entire speed range of a locomotive, so some additional method is required to give sufficient range. One method is to follow the torque converter with a mechanical gearbox which switches ratios automatically, similar to an automatic transmission on a car. Another method is to provide several torque converters each with a range of variability covering part of the total required; all the torque converters are mechanically connected all the time, and the appropriate one for the speed range required is selected by filling it with oil and draining the others. The filling and draining is carried out with the transmission under load, and results in very smooth range changes with no break in the transmitted power. Diesel-hydraulic multiple units, a less arduous duty, often use a simplification of this system, with a torque converter for the lower speed ranges and a fluid coupling for the high speed range. A fluid coupling is similar to a torque converter but the ratio of input to output speed is fixed; loading the output shaft results not in torque multiplication and constant power throughput but in reduction of the input speed with consequent lower power throughput. (In car terms, the fluid coupling provides top gear and the torque converter provides all the lower gears.) The result is that the power available at the rail is reduced when operating in the lower speed part of the fluid coupling range, but the less arduous duty of a passenger multiple unit compared to a locomotive makes this an acceptable tradeoff for reduced mechanical complexity. Diesel-hydraulic locomotives are slightly more efficient than diesel-electrics, but were found in many countries to be mechanically more complicated and more likely to break down. In Germany, however, diesel-hydraulic systems achieved extremely high reliability in operation. Persistent argument continues over the relative reliability of hydraulic engines, with continuing questions over whether data was manipulated politically to favour local suppliers over German ones. In the US and Canada, they are now greatly outnumbered by diesel-electric locomotives, while they remain dominant in some European countries. The most famous diesel-hydraulic locomotive is the German V200 which were built from 1953 in a total number of 136. The only diesel-electric locomotives of the Deutsche Bundesbahn were BR 288 (V 188), of which 12 were built in 1939 by the DRG. The high reliability of the German locomotives was paralleled by higher reliability of non-German locomotives built with German-made parts compared to that of the same designs built using parts made locally to German patterns under licence. Much of the unreliability experienced outside Germany was due to poor quality control in the local manufacture of engines and transmissions, and poor maintenance due to staff used to steam locomotives working on unfamiliar and much more complex designs in unsuitable conditions and failing to follow the unit-replacement maintenance methods which were part of the German success. It is notable that diesel-hydraulic multiple units, with the advantages of modern manufacturing techniques and improved maintenance procedures, are now extremely successful in widespread use, achieving excellent reliability.

Gas turbine-electric

DRG] Main article: Gas turbine-electric locomotive Locomotives powered by gas turbines were developed in many countries in the decades after World War II. These used jet-type engines (similar to the turboshaft engines in a turbine helicopter) driving an output shaft. The normal method of transmitting power to the wheels involved an electrical transmission similar to a diesel-electric locomotive - the turbines running at constant speed driving a generator, feeding to large electric motors driving the wheels. Gas turbine locomotives are very powerful, but also very noisy (they sounded similar to a jet aircraft at takeoff). Union Pacific operated the largest fleet of turbine locomotives and used them extensively, at one point claiming that the turbines hauled 10% of the railroad's freight. Their efficiency was quite low, but this was initially not a problem; Union Pacific's gas turbines were fueled with cheap 'Bunker C' (later No.6) heavy fuel oil. This cheap fuel source vanished when improved refinery techniques allowed it to be 'cracked' into lighter petroleum grades. After the oil crisis in the 1970s and the subsequent rise in fuel costs, gas turbine locomotives became uneconomic to operate, and many were taken out of service. This type of locomotive is now rare.

Electric

Main article: Electric locomotive Electric locomotive The electric locomotive is supplied externally with electric power, either through an overhead pickup or through a third-rail. While the cost of electrifying track is rather high, electric trains and locomotives are significantly cheaper to run than diesel ones, and are capable of superior acceleration as well as regenerative braking, making them ideal for passenger service in densely populated areas. Almost all high speed train systems (e.g. ICE, TGV, Shinkansen) use electric power, because the power needed for such performance is not easily carried on board. For example the most powerful electric locomotives that are used today on the channel tunnel freight services use 7 MW of power. The world speed record for a wheeled train was set in 1990 by a French TGV which reached a speed of 515.3 km/h (320 mph). While recently designed electrified railway systems invariably operate on alternating current, many existing direct current systems are still in use—e.g. in South Africa, Spain, and the United Kingdom (750 V and 1500 V); Netherlands (1500 V); Belgium, Italy, Poland (3000 V), and the cities of Mumbai and Chicago, Illinois (which will be switched to AC by 2025). A small number of electric locomotives can also operate off battery power to enable short journeys or shunting to occur on non-electrified lines or yards. Pure battery locomotives also found usage in mines and other underground workings where diesel fumes or smoke are not safe and where external electricity supplies could not be used. Battery locomotives are also used on many underground railways for maintenance operations as they are required to operate in areas where the electricity supply has been temporarily disconnected. See also: Railway electrification system

Electro-diesel

Main article: Electro-diesel locomotive These are special locomotives that can either operate as an electric locomotive or a diesel locomotive. Dual-mode diesel-electric/third-rail locomotives are operated by the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad between non-electrified territory and New York City because of a local law banning diesel-powered locomotives in Manhattan tunnels. For the same reason Amtrak operates a fleet of dual-mode locomotives in the New York area. British Rail operated dual diesel-electric/electric locomotives designed to run primarily as electric locomotives. This allowed railway yards to remain un-electrified as the third-rail power system is extremely hazardous in a yard area.

Magnetic levitation

third-rail The newest technology in trains is magnetic levitation (maglev). These electrically powered trains have a special open motor which floats the train above the rail without the need for wheels. This greatly reduces friction. Very few systems are in service and the cost is very high. The experimental Japanese magnetic levitation train has reached 552 km/h (343 mph). The transrapid maglev train connects Shanghai's airport with the city. The first commercial maglev trains ran in the 1980s in Birmingham, United Kingdom, providing a low-speed shuttle service between the airport and its railway station. Despite the huge interest and excitement in the technology it was abandoned and replaced by a cable-hauled guideway a few years later.

Classification by use

The three main categories of locomotives are often subdivided in their usage in rail transport operations. There are passenger locomotives, freight locomotives and switcher (or shunting) locomotives. These categories mainly depend on manoeuvrability, traction power and speed. Some locomotives are designed to work in mountain railways.

References

[http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/11164 An engineer's guide from 1891] [http://www.keveney.com/Locomotive.html Animated engines, Steam Locomotive] 1 Locomotive Category:Rail transport ja:機関車 ko:기관차

Rail tracks

Railroad or railway tracks are used on railways, which, together with railroad switches (points), guide trains without the need for steering. Tracks consist of two parallel steel rails, which are laid upon sleepers (or cross ties) which are embedded in ballast to form the railroad track. The rail is fastened to the sleepers with rail spikes for wooden sleepers or Pandrol clips for cement or concrete sleepers. Rails, being made of steel, can carry heavier loads than any other material. Sleepers spread the load from the rails over the ground, and also serve to hold the rails a fixed distance apart (called the gauge). Rail tracks are normally laid on a bed of coarse stone chippings known as ballast, which combines resilience, some amount of flexibility, and good drainage; however, track can also be laid on or into concrete (this is called slab track). Across bridges track is often laid on sleepers across longitudinal timbers.

Railway rail

Unlike other uses of iron and steel, railway rails are subject to very high stresses and have to be made of very high quality steel. It took many decades to improve the quality of the materials, including the change from iron to steel. Minor flaws in the steel that pose no problems with, say, reinforcing rods for buildings, can lead to broken rails and dangerous derailments when used on railway tracks. The rails represent a substantial fraction of the cost of a railway line. Only a small number of rail sizes are made by the steelworks at the one time, so a railway must choose the nearest suitable size. Worn heavy rail from a mainline is often cascaded to branchline use. Rails are made in a large number of different sizes. Some common European rail sizes include:
- 40 kg/m (81 lb/yd)
- 50 kg/m (101 lb/yd)
- 60 kg/m (121 lb/yd) Some common North American rail sizes include:
- 115 lb/yd (57 kg/m)
- 133 lb/yd (66 kg/m)
- 136 lb/yd (67 kg/m)
- 140 lb/yd (69 kg/m) Rails in Canada, the United Kingdom, and United States are still described using imperial units. The examples in the diagram opposite are 113 and 95 pounds per yard (56 kg/m and 47 kg/m) respectively. Early railroads sometimes used strap-iron rails, which consisted of thin strips of iron strapped onto wooden rails. These rails were too fragile to carry heavy loads, but because the initial construction cost was less, this method was sometimes used to quickly build an inexpensive rail line. However, the long term expense involved in frequent maintenance outweighed any savings.

Axle load

By and large, the heavier the rails and the rest of the track, the heavier and faster the trains on those tracks can be.

Jointed track

Axle load There are different ways of joining rails together to form tracks. The traditional way of doing this was to bolt rails together in what is known as jointed track. In this form of track, lengths of rail, usually around 20 metres (60 feet) long, are laid and fixed to sleepers (U.K.) (crossties, or simply ties in North American practice), and are joined to other lengths of rail with steel plates known as fishplates (U.K.) or joint bars (N.A.). Historically, North American railroads until the mid to late 20th century used sections of rail that measured 39 feet (11.9 m) long so they could be carried to and from a worksite in conventional gondolas, which often measured 40 feet (12.2 m) long; as car sizes increased, so did rail lengths. Fishplates or joint bars are usually 60 centimetres (2 feet) long, and are bolted through each side of the rail ends with bolts (usually four, but sometimes up to six). Small gaps are deliberately left between the rails, which are known as "expansion joints" to allow for expansion of the rails in hot weather. The holes through which the fishplate bolts pass are oval to allow for expansion. British practice was always to have the rail joints on both rails at the same place on each rail, while North American practice is to stagger them. Because of the small gaps left between the rails, when trains pass over jointed tracks they make a "clickety clack, clickety clack" noise. Unless it is very well maintained, jointed track gives a fairly bumpy and uncomfortable ride, and is unsuitable for high speed trains because it is too weak. However it is still used in many countries on lower speed lines, unimportant lines, and sidings. Most railroad track in the United States is still of this type, however, and laid on timber ties; the lower speeds of American railroads make the disadvantages less apparent, and the abundant supply of timber in the United States makes its use for railroad ties much cheaper than in Europe. Jointed track is still extensively used in poorer countries, due to the cheaper construction costs and lack of modernisation of their railway systems.

Continuous welded rail

siding Most modern railways use continuous welded rail (CWR); in this form of track the rails are welded together, by utilising the thermite reaction, to form one continuous rail that may be several kilometres long. Because there are few joints, this form of track is very strong, gives a smooth ride, and needs less maintenance. Because of its strength, trains travelling on welded track can travel at higher speeds and with less friction. Welded rails are more expensive to lay than jointed tracks, but are significantly cheaper to maintain. As mentioned earlier, rails expand in hot weather and shrink in cold weather. Because welded track has very few expansion joints, if no special measures are taken, it could become distorted in hot weather and cause a derailment. To avoid this happening welded rails are very often laid on concrete sleepers, which are so heavy they hold the rails firmly in place, and with plenty of ballast to stop the sleepers moving. After new segments of rail are laid, or defective rails replaced (welded in), the rails are artificially heated so that they expand (this is called stressing), they are then fastened (clipped) to the sleepers in their expanded form. This ensures that the rail will not expand much further in subsequent hot weather, and because they are firmly fastened, cannot shrink in cold weather either. However if temperatures reach outside normal ranges (i.e. a hotter than usual summer), welded rails can become distorted. Joints are used in continuously welded rail when necessary; instead of a joint that passes straight across the rail, producing a loud noise and shock when the wheels pass over it, two sections of rail are cut at a steep angle and put together with a gap between them (a breather switch). This gives a much smoother transition yet still provides some expansion room.

Methods of fixing rail to sleepers/ties

breather switch There are several methods used to fasten rail to wooden sleepers / ties. In traditional British practice, cast metal chairs were screwed to the sleepers, which took a style of rail known as bullhead which was somewhat figure-8 in cross-section — wider at top and bottom (known as the head and foot respectively) and smaller in the middle (the web). Keys, which were wedges of wood or sprung steel were then driven in between chair and rail to hold it in place. The idea behind bullhead rails was that because both the top and bottom of the rails were the same shape, when one side of the rail became worn, the rail could be turned over to the unused side, thus extending the rail's lifespan. In practice, bullhead rails have a flat base (narrower than flat-bottomed rail), and the top part has curved edges which fit the profile of the train wheels. Like most of the world, Britain now uses flat-bottomed rail (Vignoles rail), which has become the worldwide standard type of rail and, as the name suggests, has a flat base and can stand upright without support. A flat-bottomed rail has a cross-section like that of an upside-down 'T' and is usually held to the sleeper with a baseplate, a metal plate attached to the sleeper, although for cheap construction they can be laid directly onto the sleepers. Vignoles Modern sleepers can be made of reinforced concrete and pressed steel, with rubber pads inserted between the sleeper and rail. This is done for two reasons: to give a smoother ride and to prevent the sleeper shorting the track circuit, a low voltage passed through the rails for signalling purposes. This is different from "traction current" which powers electric trains. A variety of different types of heavy-duty clips are used to fasten the rails to the underlying baseplate, one common one being the Pandrol fastener, named after its maker, which is shaped like a sturdy, stubby paperclip. North American practice normally uses spikes, which are fundamentally very large nails with bent-over heads to clasp the flat-bottomed rail. These are cheaper and simpler to install but can loosen if the tie rots — much more easily than the British chair does. This is mitigated by using very large and solid ties and using rot-proofing preservative. Image:Stanthorpe Rail Bridge DSC03186.jpg|Wooden Sleepers Image:Adelaide Darwin Railway Line between Adelaide River and Pine Creek DSC03643.jpg|Concrete Sleepers Image:Pine Creek Rail Steel Sleepers DSC03637.jpg|Steel Sleepers Image:Trevethick rail DSC00322.JPG|Iron & Brick Sleepers

Track maintenance

Vignoles] Track needs frequent maintenance to remain in good order, the frequency increasing with higher-speed or heavier trains. This was formerly hard manual labour, including teams of gandy dancers who used levers to force rails back into place on steep turns, correcting the gradual shifting caused by the centrifugal force of passing trains. Currently, maintenance is facilitated by a variety of specialised machines. The profile of the track is maintained using a railgrinder. Common maintenance jobs include spraying ballast with weedkiller to prevent weeds growing through and disrupting the ballast. This is typically done with a special weedkilling train. Over time, ballast is crushed by the weight of trains passing over it, and periodically it needs to be replaced. If this is not done then the tracks become uneven. Broken or worn out rails also need replacing periodically. Mainline rails that get worn out usually have life left in branchline use and are "cascaded" to those branchlines.

U.S. track classes

In the United States, the Federal Railroad Administration has developed a system of classification for track quality. The class a track is placed in determines speed limits and the ability to run passenger trains. The lowest class is referred to as excepted track. Only freight trains are allowed to operate on this type of trackage, and they may run at speeds up to 10 mph. Also, no more than five cars loaded with hazardous material may be operated within any single train. Class 1 track is the lowest class allowing the operation of passenger trains. Freight train speeds are still limited to 10 mph, and passenger trains are restricted to 15 mph. Class 2 track limits freight trains to 25 mph and passenger trains to 30 mph. Class 3 track limits freight trains to 40 mph and passenger trains to 60 mph. There is currently a legal battle between Amtrak and the Guilford Rail System over its trackage from Haverhill, MA, to Portland, ME. Amtrak is fighting for the Class 3 trackage to be used to operate its Downeaster at 79 mph. Class 4 track limits freight trains to 60 mph and passenger trains to 80 mph. Most track, especially that owned by major railroads the Union Pacific, Burlington Northern Santa Fe, CSX, and Norfolk Southern is class 4 track. Due to a technicality in law, Amtrak trains are limited to 79 mph on this track. Class 5 track limits freight trains to 80 mph and passenger trains to 90 mph. The most significant portion of Class 5 track is part of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe's Chicago–Los Angeles mainline, the old Santa Fe main, upon which Amtrak's Southwest Chief can operate at up to 90 mph. This is notable as the only area outside Amtrak-owned trackage or trackage upgraded through state funds where Amtrak trains can operate above 79 mph. Class 6 limits freight trains and passenger trains to 110 mph. Amtrak is currently working with the Iowa Interstate Railroad and the state of Illinois to upgrade a portion of its Chicago, Illinois–Kansas City, Missouri line to Class 6. Class 7 limits all trains to 125 mph. Most of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor is Class 7 trackage. Class 8 limits all trains to 160 mph. A few small lengths of the Northeast Corridor are the only Class 8 trackage in North America. Class 9 trackage limits all trains to 200 mph. There is currently no Class 9 trackage.

History

North America Some early rails were made by William Jessop in the 1790s. The steel mills making early rails often used some of the rails to build the tramways that bought iron ore and coal to those foundries. It took many decades for weak and fragile iron rails to evolve into the strong and robust steel rails of today. But problems can still occur, such as happened with the Hatfield train derailment in Great Britain on October 17, 2000. The accident involved gauge corner cracking which is now referred to as rolling contact fatigue, as the defect doesn't only occur on corners.

Railway signal

A signal is a mechanical or electrical device that indicates to train drivers information about the state of the line ahead, and therefore whether they must stop or may start, or instructions on what speed they may drive their train. train __TOC__ Signals are used to indicate one or more of the following:
- that the line ahead is clear (free of any obstruction) or blocked
- that points (also called switch or turnout in the US) are set correctly
- which way points are set
- that the driver has permission to proceed
- the speed the train may travel
- the state of the next signal Signals can be placed:
- ahead of points/switches
- at the start of a section of track (with block signalling)
- ahead of a level crossing
- ahead of platforms or other places that trains are likely to be stopped. Signals are sometimes said to "protect" the points/switches, section of track, etc. that they are placed ahead of. The term "ahead of" can be confusing, so official UK practice is to use the terms in rear of and in advance of. When a train is waiting at a signal it is "in rear of" that signal and the danger being protected by the signal is "in advance of" the train and signal.

Control and operation of signals

The earliest signals were directly operated by a signalman on the basis of his knowledge of the line ahead. There was no mechanical check that the signal provided correct information. Later, signals were mechanically connected to the points that they protected, so that the signal could only be set to show a "proceed" indication if the points were in fact set (or set and locked) correctly. When multiple signals are used to control movements in the same area, the signals will also be connected together to prevent conflicting indications. These signals are said to be "interlocked". For example, two signals facing trains approaching from converging routes at a junction are interlocked so that only one of the two signals can show a "proceed" indication. A subsequent development was to connect the signals to devices that detected the presence of trains, so that a signal could not show a "proceed" indication when there is a train in the section of track protected by the signal. Signals were originally controlled by levers situated at the signals, and later by levers grouped together and connected to the signal by wire cables, or pipes supported on rollers (US). Often these levers were placed in a special building, known as a signal box (UK) or interlocking tower (US), and they were mechanically interlocked in the signal box. Later developments were electric interlocking and controls instead of mechanical, then software interlocking. A development was that mechanical signals were operated by a electric motors that moved the signal arms, and current practice is for mechanical signals to be replaced by colour-light signals. Signals were originally totally manually-operated, then manually-operated with mechanical checks that prevented them from being operated inappropriately. Later signals were manually set to either "proceed" or "stop", or automatically set to "stop" by devices that detected the presence of a train. Many signals today are fully automatic, with either no manual control or in some cases manual control only when required.

Colour-light signals

:See also: UK railway signal Most railways use coloured lights to indicate to the driver of the train what action to be taken. Different colours mean different things and can be used in combination to increase the amount of information that can be indicated. Most railway signals worldwide use a multi-unit signal head with a separate lamp and lens system for each aspect colour, although there are still many "searchlight" type signals in use in the U.S. Reflectors are not used because of the risk of stray sunlight giving the appearance of illumination and thus causing a phantom aspect. Incandescent light bulbs are positioned at the focal point of a lens system usually consisting of a coloured Fresnel lens behind the front transparent lens. Searchlight signals have one permanently-illuminated lamp, the aspect colour being selected by a moving vane operated by an electric motor that positions the appropriate colour filter in front of the lens. This type of signal does use a (parabolic) reflector and thus lower power lamps and a less directional lens system are used since there is a far greater percentage of the light available to be directed down the tracks towards the driver of the oncoming train. They have the disadvantage of having moving parts in what can be a hostile location for mechanical equipment and thus need regular maintenance. Of course, this means that only one colour can be displayed at a time, though two or more heads can be used. A variant of this is the Unilens (tm) signal made by Safetran Systems Corporation, which uses a single-lens system, fed by three or four individual halogen lamps with parabolic reflectors behind them. These lamps shine through coloured filters into individual fiber-optic elements, which join together at the focal point of the lens assembly. This makes it possible to show four different colors (usually red/yellow/green/lunar white) from a single signal head, which is impossible for the traditional searchlight mechanism. More recently, clusters of LEDs have started to be used in place of the incandescent bulbs, reflectors and lenses. They have a more even colour output, use less power and have a working life of around 10 years, significantly reducing long-term costs. These are often arranged so that the same aperture is used for whichever colour light is required and are therefore sometimes referred to as modern searchlights.

Mechanically operated signals

LEDs]Prior to the introduction of electric signals, mechanically operated semaphore signals were widely used, operated by a wire rope from the signal box (and later often by electricity). They were so named after their resemblance to the semaphore flags. The signal consisted of an arm mounted on a tall post, mast or gantry, or sometimes projecting from a building, with a horizontal arm meaning 'stop', and an arm raised or lowered at an angle between 30 and 60 degrees to mean 'go'. The Great Northern Railway also developed a somersault signal that pivoted around the centre from horizontal, meaning 'stop', to vertical, meaning 'go'. Two methods were commonly used to provide a third 'caution' indication, that the train could pass but the next signal is indicating stop. One was the three-position signal, using horizontal for 'stop', 45 degrees for 'caution', and vertical for 'go'. Such signals were widely adopted in the USA after 1908, and there were a few instances in the UK. The other approach, which is the norm in the Britain was to provide a separate distant signal for this purpose - indicating, when 'clear', that the next signal controlled by that signalbox applying to that train were also 'clear'. Initially these signals were not distinguished, relying on the driver to know which were which, but over time they first gained a fishtail end and then in the 1920s changed colour from red to yellow. Ireland however mainained the use of red for both types of signal. Where a distant signal for one signal box is mounted under a home signal for another, a mechanical interlock is used to keep the former at caution when the latter is at danger. The traditional arrangement in Britain was to use a signal that lowers to indicate 'clear (a "lower-quadrant" signal). Once the IRSE had decided against three-position semaphore signals, the way was open to use "upper-quadrant" signals that raise from the horizontal to indicate 'clear'. Both types are fail safe in the case of a mechanical problem, but lower-quadrant signals require a heavy counter-weight (usually in the form of the "spectacle" that carries the coloured filters for use at night) to do that, while upper-quadrant signals will return to danger under the weight of the arm. Although not officially sanctioned, in Britain the practice of raising a signal slowly from 'stop' to 'go' indicated that the status of the line ahead was uncertain, and that the train might proceed with great caution. This was also widely used to indicate that subsequent signals controlled by the same signalbox may not be clear, and the driver should be prepared to stop at the following signal. For night operation, an oil (or later an electric) lamp was lit on the post, its colour changing as the arm moved by means of blue (combining with the yellow lamp to give a green light) and red filters mounted on the arm, or blue, yellow and red in the case of three-aspect signals.

Tokens

Traditionally, signalling systems were effective at providing protection where trains were travelling in the same direction. However, on single-line sections, where trains used the same track in both directions for long distances, there was much greater concern about the consequences that would follow from one train failing to stop at a danger signal, and it was felt necessary to provide additional safeguards. The standard approach was for the driver to be given a physical object called a token to authorise him to use a particular stretch of single track. Since there was either only one token, or electrical locking was used to prevent more than one token being released at any one time, for a given section of track the driver could be confident that no train would be coming from the other direction. The token system has now largely been replaced by other systems such as 'Tokenless Block', although the Radio Electronic Token Block system or RETB is still used on remote branch lines in Scotland, Wales, and East Suffolk - in this case, the driver does not physically carry a token, but a 'virtual token' is issued by radio.

International

Railway signals vary widely from country in both the semaphore and colour-light varieties.
- Red on its own means stop
- Yellow and green (and sometimes red) singly or in combination mean caution or clear.
- Colours in adjacent countries can have different meanings.
- Norwegian railway signals
- German Railway Signals
- Australian Railway signals

Model figure

A model figure is a scale model that represents a person, either a generic figure of a type (such as "World War II Luftwaffe pilot"), a historical personage (such as "King Henry VIII"), or a fictional character (such as "Conan"). Model figures are sold both as kits for the enthusiast to construct and paint and as pre-built, pre-painted collectable figurines. Model kits may be made in plastic (usually polystyrene), resin, or metal (including white metal); collectables are usually made of plastic, porcelain, or (rarely) bronze. Enthusiasts may pursue figure modeling in its own right or as an adjunct to military modeling. There is also overlap with miniature figures (minis) used in wargames and role-playing games: minis are usually less than 54mm scale, and do not necessarily represent any given personage. Model figures usually 54mm/1:35 or greater. In the 1960s, the now-defunct firm Aurora produced for the popular market cheap plastic models of movie monsters, comic book heroes, and movie and television characters in 1:8 size (about 9 inches or 23 cm in height). Such a market disappeared and no firm currently produces anything to match Aurora's quantity of many thousands from each mould. Firms that produce "garage kits" can only produce about 200 resin models from a mould, hence are much more expensive. Instead, the smaller (3¾-inch or 10 cm) action figures of have taken over the popular market, and even some of the larger size (12-inch or 30 cm) have been produced for recent movie characters (Princess Leia from Star Wars, for example). Large plastic military figures are made by some model soldier firms as a sideline. The Japanese independently developed series of pre-assembled, pre-painted figures for their anime characters in medium sizes. These eventually reached the world market. Model aircraft and vehicle kits in even smaller scales will also often include "model figures," or can be purchased as accessories. There are also kits of the drivers and servicers of cars, and the series of figurines that stand in the streets and platforms of model railroads.

Carpet Railways

Carpet Railways first appeared in the 1840s and became very popular Victorian model railway toys. The locomotives were very simple, usually made in brass, with a simple oscillating cylinder driving the main wheels. They were basically a boiler mounted on wheels, although simple decoration (usually bands of lacquer) was sometimes applied. Track was not used - the boiler was filled with water, the burner lit, and when steam was being produced, the locomotive was placed on the floor and allowed to run until either the water ran out or it crashed into the furniture. Very quickly, after a number had exploded, simple safety valves were fitted. They quickly gained the nickname of Birmingham Dribblers, as they had the unfortunate habit of leaving a trail of water behind them as they ran across the floor. Very often this trail would be mixed with the fuel used for the burner, and there were numerous incidents of fires caused by the locomotive crashing into furniture and over-turning so that the burning fuel was spilled over the floor. As time passed, embellishments were added, such as wooden buffer beams, buffers and steam whistles. Birmingham Dribblers are now very collectible, and a model in good condition will easily reach £400 at auction in the United Kingdom. Category:Rail transport modelling

1840s

Events and Trends

Technology

- First use of general anesthesia in an operation, by Crawford Long

War, peace and politics

- First signing of the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi) on February 6, 1840 at Waitangi New Zealand. The treaty between the British Crown and Maori made New Zealand a British colony and is considered the founding point of modern New Zealand.
- Mexican-American War (1846 - 1848) fought between Mexico and the United States of America. The latter emerges victorious and gains undisputed control over Texas while annexing portions of Arizona, California and New Mexico.
- Wave of revolutions in Europe. Collectively known as the Revolution of 1848. This leads to mass emigration of these refugees into industrial cities of the United States as well as to other locations around the world.

Rail transport modelling

General description

Landscaping

Methods of power

Control

Scales and gauges

Model railway manufacturers

Famous model railroaders

See also

External links

Hobby

See also

Scale model

History of the scales

Before the plastic model kit industry

Comparing scales

Origins of the plastic model kit

Terminology

Rational choice of scales

Typical scales of models

Model aircraft

Model rockets and spacecraft

Model railways

Model cars

Model robots

Model tanks and wargaming

Model buildings

Model ships and naval wargaming

Scales

See also

External link

Locomotive

Origins

Benefits of locomotives

Classification by motive power

Steam

See also

External links

Diesel-mechanical

Diesel-electric

Diesel-hydraulic

Gas turbine-electric

Electric

Electro-diesel

Magnetic levitation

Classification by use

See also

References

Rail tracks

Railway rail

Axle load

Jointed track

Continuous welded rail

Methods of fixing rail to sleepers/ties

Track maintenance

U.S. track classes

History

See also

Railway signal

Control and operation of signals

Colour-light signals

Mechanically operated signals

Tokens

International

See also

Model figure

See also

Carpet Railways

1840s

Events and Trends

Technology

War, peace and politics

Culture and Religion