Interest In Tour Car or Car Exchange?
#31
I am game for this again and will mention it on the other forum.
Les
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#32
It seems to me that the point here is fellowship, not as much pretty pictures or exact prototype emulation, although participants are free to add whatever paperwork they wish to their own shipments. Participants are free to add a "story line" to their shipments or not. The exchange would be open to anyone willing to receive an HO car in the mail, photograph it in whatever way they found appropriate, post the photos here or on another forum (or both or all), and send it along. That would be part of the guidelines, which I'm roughing out in my mind. "Whatever way they found appropriate" might not necessarily mean having it on an HO layout at all -- I've seen photos from an equivalent tour where some guys put it on a tree stump in the back yard, took it to a local rail museum, etc. -- that's all kosher. A bare plywood or foam layout is also fine. Common-sense good taste should apply.

Part of the assumption would be that stuff happens in life, packages get delayed and lost on the mail (tell me about it), guys get sick or have crises of one sort or another, and cars may disappear. One disadvantage of having a single "tour car" is that if the tour car disappears, the tour is delayed. This way, with multiple cars in play at any time, the program continues even if a car goes south. Naturally, anticipating that mishaps, as well as ordinary wear and tear, can take place, participants should use inexpensive (e.g., Bluebox or Accurail or equivalent) equipment that they won't mind losing, seeing couplers or steps damaged, etc, as this happens.

Participants should get the permission of car owners before making any repairs or changes. Any disagreements should be resolved in the direction of (1) recognizing that damage or disappearance are risks all participants assume in joining the program, and (2) the priority in the program is good fellowship and the continuation of the program.

So this is a draft -- please make suggestions. A more final version of these guidelines will be posted when we officially start the program.

Next: how does a participant request a car or make a car available for request?
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#33
Ralph Wrote:Not to be a Luddite Mike but can you describe how we'd use that with the waybills? I guess I imagined sending a paper form. Get me up to date. Is OpenOffice something we'd all have access to like sharing files?

That program will open almost any format you use and is free. So you could download it and open files done with word, works,
or XYZ.
Les
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#34
I would say that one thing that made me start thinking about giving the car exchange here another try is the successful locomotive tour at The Whistle Post -- you can check this out at <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.thewhistlepost.com/forums/whistle-post-traveling-car/14584-introducing-2013-twp-locomotive.html">http://www.thewhistlepost.com/forums/wh ... otive.html</a><!-- m -->

My inclination is to adopt some of the good features from that tour.
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#35
I have the waybills in Open Office, but when I tried to download it onto the Big Blue website, I got a message that .odt documents weren't recognized on the website. If anyone has Open Office downloaded, send me a PM with your email address and I'll send you a copy of the blank waybill which looks like this:

http://bigbluetrains.com/forum/download/...p?id=14217


Attached Files
.pdf   Big Blue Waybill.pdf (Size: 176.32 KB / Downloads: 220)
Mike Kieran
Port Able Lines

" If the world were perfect, it wouldn't be " - Yogi Berra.
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#36
Here is a little more of my thinking on how to do this. As I've said, and it sounds like the preference of the moderators here, this would not be an activity specifically associated with this forum (or any other). On the other hand, the point is to post photos of the cars on each other's layouts, as well as to get in touch with each other to arrange the shipments.

A second issue is the personal information of the participants. Naturally, to ship the cars, other participants will need to know the addresses and full names of the people to whom they send the cars. There are always going to be risks connected with this, so participants will need to understand that they assume the risks of giving this information out, even on a limited basis. However, we will need to limit this information on a need-to-know basis. Unless you're actively sending or receiving a car, you don't need to know that a guy with the forum ID of bigboy4014 is actually Sam K. Smith of St Louis, Missouri. You don't need to know his e-mail or his physical address.

So here is how I think this can be handled. I will set up a blog on BlogSpot giving guidelines for the program, contact info for me and other coordinators, and a list of participants in this fashion.

For instance, it would go

jwb Big Blue
Mike Kieran Big Blue
Ralph Big Blue
Chet The Whistle Post

and so forth. To contact an individual for the first time, you would go to the forum where they're listed and PM them on that forum. At that point, they could release any necessary information to exchange a car. Then when the car arrived, they could post photos of the visit on the particular forum they preferred. The forum might allow a thread for this, or the individuals could post something like "PRR 123456 Visiting my ABC Railroad from jwb's Layout".

Individuals would need to understand that they had an obligation to keep full names (where applicable), e-mail addresses, and postal addresses of the other participants confidential. All contacts other than setting up actual exchanges would be via PMs on the respective forums.

I would like to keep this whole thing as organizationally flat as possible, so it isn't about individuals. I'll be happy to set up the blog where the guidelines and participants' names, news, sample waybills, and so forth, can be posted, but I'd very much like to be sure one or two other guys can also get access to make changes to the blog and sub for me whenever needed. The point of this should be the fellowship of a good bunch of guys, not something where one person is indispensable.
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#37
Here's another puzzle I'm working on: how do we equalize car distribution? I think anyone who signs up should basically have the same chance to exchange a car as anyone else, with anyone else on the list. Among other things, this prevents the kind of clique I've seen in clubs now and then, where only certain guys get to have their cars in certain other guys' trains (!!!!).

Any ideas? Mike Kieran, I have a feeling you might come up with something.
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#38
We can consider rotating the interchange like they do for the car tour. One thing that can come into play is the era modeled. I'm modelling 1979 while Lester Perry is modelling steam era. For me, I can always backdate my layout (I have a Varney Little Joe with full Central Valley valve gear).

I'm in the middle of a fantasy football draft, so let me ponder this and I'll get back tomorrow.
Mike Kieran
Port Able Lines

" If the world were perfect, it wouldn't be " - Yogi Berra.
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#39
If we do this like before everyone posts the customers they service on their layout. You contact them and place an order from one of their customers. They then send a car to that business for pickup. That car is then forwarded to you. So it is up to you whether you are participating or not. Now if you collect a lot cars and don't return them I guess you might be blackballed. As far as limits go they would be posted ahead of time. I can pull a 90 foot high cube auto box car it might look a little out of place but it has 2 trucks Kadees and is HO scale. I will put it into service on my layout.
Les
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#40
What if, for example, we have 8 guys in the car exchange? That means that we would each have 7 car exchanges. We could just work out the interchange with each member as to the type of car and its contents.

When we tried this experiment last year, Lester sent me a covered hopper with GERN Flux and I shipped him a reefer full of frozen fish. It worked on his steam era C&O layout and my 1979 diesel era layout.

Jwb shipped me a gondola with gears in it and I shipped him a Santa Fe reefer returning to the southwest (jwb lives in Los Angeles, the city that stole our beloved Dodgers). Both cars worked on each other's modeled eras.
Mike Kieran
Port Able Lines

" If the world were perfect, it wouldn't be " - Yogi Berra.
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#41
Well I'm in ...not big on the operational side of things , more for the fun of it all .

T
To err is human, to blame it on somebody else shows management potential.
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#42
Now I get it on the blog thing. You would list the participants and where to find them. Also any information they feel might be needed such as businesses, restrictions, era, forum to post pics and such. I think I like that. When we did this before we did have some simple rules. that might be a good place to start. I think I would make some changes.



Re: Shipping to others

Postby Lester Perry ยป Thu Mar 22, 2012 9:04 am
modifications are expected and requested


1. Rolling stock involved in the exchange remains the property of the original owner, and participants are NOT to make any changes in parts, modify, weather, or paint another member's model unless approved by the owner.

2. It is strongly suggested that a model be packed tightly in a regular kit box so it won't move. That box should be wrapped in bubble wrap and placed inside another box with surrounding plastic peanuts or adequate packing material and then well taped with packing tape. Models should be sent out first class mail...not expensive for a small, light box - insurance optional. This shipping box should be retained by the recipient for use in re-shipping the car to the next member of the group.

3. Shipping orders / requests shall be in writing preferably through this Forum.

4. A photographic record of the cars travels through your layout is expected.

5 all participants are to supply a list of business's shipping and receiving material and what the material would be.

6. Any rolling stock used in this exchange is at the owners own risk.
Damage from shipping, from wear & tear, or from an accident while in the possession of another member must be reported to the owner immediately. If the model is damaged after it is in possession of a participating member, a plan for the repair will have to be submitted to and agreed upon by the owner. All repair parts and associated expenses will be the responsibility of the member in possession at the time the damage was incurred. Unless otherwise agreed upon by owner.

7. Failure to return, report damage to, or abuse of another member's model will result in expulsion from the group.

8. Models should be shipped on or close to the date expected by owner.

9. The activities of the group are in no way connected with Big Blue, The Gauge.net, its owners, administrators, and moderators. Participation in this group is strictly voluntary and each participant assumes all liability for loss or damage to their own property.

10. Participation in the Interchange Group as a member constitutes agreement with these guidelines.

The old rules which might still be good.
Les
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#43
Here's what I'm currently thinking, based on the very good input above:

Individual participants will have different schemes of operation, as well as era and prototype preference. Since the main priority of the program is fellowship, the priority activity is to exchange a car. Each participant should find some justification for receiving a car from any other participant, under the general understanding that the car will be HO scale with operable wheels and Kadee-compatible couplers. Pairs of participants may work out between themselves the exact era of equipment, type of shipment, the consignee and shipper and their theoretical "location" at whatever level of detail they find mutually satisfactory. This can certainly be explained when they post photos of the exchange. Sample paperwork for those who are interested will be provided on the blog. Participants are encouraged to experiment in this area and report on experiments.

What I would tentatively like to do is list participants in alphabetical order by their forum IDs on whatever forum and encourage the first pair (Al and Bob, say) to work out an exchange. Then Chuck and Dan, Ed and Frank, and so forth. For starters, I think we'll go by cycles. In other words, we'll begin a cycle early in September and let it run until all participants have exchanged cars. Then we'll recalibrate, list new members if any, and repeat. We'll use the comment section on the blog to resolve problems, exchange ideas, and so forth.

New participants may join at any time by contacting the coordinator and requesting their name be put on the list, although it may take time to set up an exchange with an available current member. If two new participants join at once, they can set up an exchange right away. A participant may leave the program at any time by requesting his name be removed from the list of eligibles.

Suggestions welcomed!
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#44
I agree jwb (no rhyme intended). If we pair up each round, we can work out a nice exchange. If there are an odd number of participants, we can either do a bye or have a participant volunteer.
Mike Kieran
Port Able Lines

" If the world were perfect, it wouldn't be " - Yogi Berra.
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#45
That sounds like a good plan to me.
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