I'm afraid I can't agree with Paul and Jim regarding the Bulletins . . . I
haven't seen #37 yet (my membership lapsed), but I am sure it will have
information and photographs I can use - at some point.
I agree to an extent - if I were to value data strictly by its direct
applicability to my modeling (a switching pike at a mythical city halfway
between Hannibal and St. Louis in Oct. 1944), a lot of Bulletin material would
be irrelevant. On the other hand, the coverage a while back on the B&W/B&NW
helped me decide that my branch line would have to use a P-6 Atlantic and a
CF-7 shorty combine for its mixed train . . . The Bulletin on the coal fields
gave me hopper car photos for detailing and great material for upgrading my P2K
0-8-0 . . . .
Trackside details represent CB&Q standards, and help me there - just about any
freight equipment of my period could come rolling past . . . .
More importantly, I support the present philosophy because it is good
historiography. This society is building a library of considerable value for
decades to come, by associating all the information together and treating it
exhaustively. The issue on consolidations cleared up an error in Bernie
Corbin's book - there *were* class D-5 and D-6 engines - the reefer issue
proved that all commercial steel-sided BREX ice reefers were wrong by pointing
out the strange fork-ribbed dreadnaught ends . . . .
If I support the BRHS for another 20 years before I see a Bulletin issue
dealing with military troop train operations, I will still feel it well spent -
Marshall Thayer
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
|