JSVideo vintage 4x3 film of the 0 Scale C&O empire of Jim Eudaly

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Chris Webster
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JSVideo vintage 4x3 film of the 0 Scale C&O empire of Jim Eudaly

Postby Chris Webster » Sun Feb 28, 2021 11:28 am


up148
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Re: JSVideo vintage 4x3 film of the 0 Scale C&O empire of Jim Eudaly

Postby up148 » Mon Mar 01, 2021 11:36 am

Back in the late 90's, while living in KCMO area, I was fortunate to be able to attend several Friday night operating sessions at Jim's. At that time the track & power was 100% completed and the scenery about 75-80%. It is a fantastic layout and Jim is a very serious modeler and his railroad is operated per the prototype. Everyone who attended, even on your 1st night, had to operate.....as there were no visitors.

It was immediately obvious that everyone but me had a good working knowledge of real railroad operations, plus all actual locations on the C&O that Jim had modeled. The first night I was assigned an articulated pusher and these were really needed and functioned just like on the prototype. Jim ran prototype length trains and if a pusher wasn't used on hills the train would slip and stall. Jim had special couplers on the pusher and caboose, so they would never set, which meant you had to maintain proper speed/force or a gap would open up and the train would slip. This would bring a shout from the engineer (who you couldn't see) and the room would go quiet (except trains running). Conversely, if you pushed too hard or tried to close a gap to quickly, you could slam into the caboose and cause a derail. It was pretty intense actually and I always went home with a headache. My day job was pretty intense and after a hectic week of business it just wasn't a way I could relax. I just wanted to run trains, not work another job, so after a few sessions I bowed out. My problem, not Jim's, it just turned a hobby into work for me.

Rufus T. Firefly
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Re: JSVideo vintage 4x3 film of the 0 Scale C&O empire of Jim Eudaly

Postby Rufus T. Firefly » Mon Mar 01, 2021 1:02 pm

up148 wrote:........... it just turned a hobby into work for me.


Never a good thing. There are a number of very serious Ops guys in my area that live for it.
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De Bruin
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Re: JSVideo vintage 4x3 film of the 0 Scale C&O empire of Jim Eudaly

Postby De Bruin » Mon Mar 01, 2021 6:39 pm

Great story Butch, I can relate; the downtown club worked like that for decades (sweating bullets hoping that you get it right)
I liked the prototype operation, but I know it chased a bunch of potential members off, which nowadays is something we can't afford any longer.

Beautiful layout, ditto the subsequent video of Ed Rappe's PRR, the shear scale of the landscaping is mind boggling, let alone the track work and control design.
Fabulous.
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bob turner
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Re: JSVideo vintage 4x3 film of the 0 Scale C&O empire of Jim Eudaly

Postby bob turner » Mon Mar 01, 2021 7:37 pm

After some struggling I pulled it up on the TV and watched half of it. The Greek said the scenery looked fake, to which I said it is fake, but it is really, really close to what happens in West Virginia in October. My favorite flight was a Cub ferry from Atlanta to Westminster at exactly that time of year, and that is what those trees look like in October!

But me too - I like model trains, and appreciate good scenery, but count me out of real railroad operations. These days, I am not even powering locomotives (although I am making provisions for motor, gearboxes, and springs, should I meet an untimely demise).


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