betrayal....

I wouldn't abandon grades wholesale, but I'll never build one that ends in a curve anywhere near the edge of the platform.

We have heard and are responding. Here at K.T.S.S. we are in the the final development stages of a revolutionary system to protect your most valuable trains form those Evil Forces that lurk in the shadows and travel the universe. Our new CC3 Boards will offer the protection you need. Using recently aquired technology we have developed the Next Generation of Command Control and Cloaking boards which will be available in the near future for your prized locomotives. These boards will be available for both steam and diesel engines with custom sound sets that will surpass anything you have heard in both the Proto Sounds 3 and Rail Sounds ver 5 boards.  In addition to State of the Art Sound and Command Control these custom boards will offer the following additional features to offer full protection from all Evil, both seen and unseen, in the known universe.

Self Contained Full Shield Capability. A self generating force field that will protect the assigned engine from any and all damage from collision with another object, as well as protection from small children, pets, slippery hands, and fumble fingers. Force field density and range are fully adjustable and settable with any DCS or TMCC hand held remote.

Full Cloaking Capability. Never again worry about someone playing with or stealing you most valuable prized engines again. Cloaking mode can be set to either Automatic or Manual, with a User adjustable TTC (Time to Cloak). This feature is settable from .5 Seconds to 15 Seconds. The engine can be cloaked with either your command control remote or with the KTSS 2 button remote (Available Separately). This remote will toggle on or off Shields on all engines, and Cloaking on all engines, with the appropriate button.

We at KTSS are also working on a prototype Transporter Module, that will be available separately. When available this module will plug into your existing KTSS CC3 Board. Look for further specifications and release date tba at a later date.

Suggested Retail Price:

KTSS CC3-S, Steam Command Cloaking Board - $172.48

KTSS CC3-D, Diesel Command Cloaking Board - $162.48

KTSS 2 Button Remote - $39.95 (2-AAA Batteries, Not Included)

These Prices are the target price, but final price tba when boards go into full production. We are in the final testing stage and these should go into full production and be available to the public closer to the end of the first quarter this year.

I have been pleased to bring you this announcement and hope your next Command Control board purchase will be a KTSS CC3 Board.

Sincerly,

Jim Kirk

CEO, Klingon Train Safety Systems LLC

Addendum: Projected Release of the CC3 Boards will be delayed temporarily due to a slight glitch in the firmware on the CC3 boards. We were aware of a potential problem with cellular interference causing the boards to cloak with no signal from the remote. We were working to correct this problem, when an additional problem with the AIM (Artificial Intelligence Module) created a mutated command set that extended the range of the cloaking function. We felt the additional shielding placed around the command module would eliminate cellular interference randomly activating the cloaking feature. Upon initial testing of the new shielding, where CC3 modules were bombarded with cellular signals to test this effectiveness. We were unsuccessful with this new shielding design and because of the unknown command set mutation the boards again went un commanded into the cloak mode. Unfortunately this time the cloaking extended well beyond the board testing area and the entire Product Development Facility was included in this event. For obvious security reasons plans had been made to move the 2 Button Remote, Used to De Cloak the boards, to a separate remote location, but at present time this move had not yet been made. We are working at a separate facility on a universal un cloaking device, but we may be months away from a working prototype.

We appreciate your continued interest in this new product line, and an announcement will be forthcoming as soon as the Product Development Facility is found.

Jim Kirk

CEO, Klingon Train Security Systems, LLC

Oh yeah!

I like people with a good sense of humor.

Nice change from some of the "dry" posts!

Oh, put me down for two steamer boards. ( Any thoughts of making one for humans?)

Greg

Funnee. Love it. 

When I first started running expensive trains on this, 5 track twin shelf [7'-6' and 9'-0"]airborne and stepladder layout, I had nervous puckers so often that laxatives were finally required. But after a major derailment and arrest by the 4" plexiglas safety  wall I relaxed [somewhat].

Most of my trains are "protected" by front and rear boards.  However, I have an area where there are large radius return loops that are "hidden" from public view and where trains could potentially derail and fall three to five feet to the rubberized floor below. 

I had one fall yesterday--a first because I was careless with a vacuum cord.  I need to hasten my efforts to protect this area as well so my trains will not experience a free fall. 

I have kept mine on the carpet mostly.  Had one fly off on a hard floor, only a slight paint rub luckily.  I do have a layout that is about 2 inches off of the floor, and had a train fly off onto a tile floor, the engineer cranked the throttle to 11 as he entered the curve.  The locomotive now sports a dent.  I did plan on building a dual level layout once, and due to fear of falling off of the grade, I put the grade in the back against the wall so if it fell, it's only be onto it's buddies on the lower level.

Before Jim took over my responce to the OP, I felt the only way to keep engines from a catastrophic leap was to keep them at floor level on soft padded carpet. But then the realization that then they would be exposed to clumsy, large, uncordinated feet, attack cats, and dogs just looking for something to chase and chew. Maybe the only true way to protect those investments, is not to make them. Of course that would be no fun. There will always be gremlins, (Trust Me on This), evil forces in the universe, and just times when our brains take too long to register what our old eyes are seeing. I think it's dissbelief, until the dull thud and crunch registers in our ears. So the best plan may be to take some precautions, try to keep a watch full eye, and keep plenty of Valium and Budwiser on hand.

Golly!  Before reading this post I thought that Bee-trail was what you followed to find some honey. 

Charlie...that was the best read I have had in a long time!!  Very creative and funny!!

Alan

Thank You, but the credit really goes to the OP. If not for his rendition of the fateful event I would have never been inspired to write the reply.

Had a old Atlas O caboose that I wanted to add weight too. But I could not get it apart due to it was glued at the tabs.  A friend came over one day and by accident knocked it off of the layout on to the floor.  The caboose came apart in the right places and not damaged in any way. I added the weights to the caboose I needed and  no tabs were damaged, so I just snapped back together. 

The club's "Z" scale engine fell 4 feet to the rubber mat off of the club's Mountain layout.  The front coupler was damaged, and cars could not couple to it,  BUT none of us can see the damage to know what it would take to fix it.  AND most of all the people who look at the engine on the layout can't see the damage either. If us club members took off our glasses we may not be able to see the "Z" scale engine, near less the coupler.

My layout is on the floor, out of necessity.  But although we have cats, none of them have ever bothered the trains at all -- or even shown much interest in them.  I can't speak for dogs, though.

Our cats decided that on the under the Christmas tree loop was the best place to wrestle one night and they knocked my train over.  Somehow the only damage was they broke the finger of the coupler clean off of the locomotive.  For the rest of the season my little Dockside had to run backwards.  My son, then 4 at the time, was running around the track racing the train and fell on top of it.  Popped both trucks off of the tender and broke the connecting rods on one side of my Hudson.  Other than that, the floor has been an okay place for a loop of track.

Charlie Howard...I would recommend you get a drawing board, and then go back to it...lol

No problem with the hijack...better than being lo jacked. I am thinking.

Glad my prose inspired you...

And I am not really considering flat land Layouts...I just put that in so it would meet

Posting requirements relevance. Lol

I am glad ut was only the loco...if the passenger set went down too, I would still be screaming....

N Q D Y. Bee trail...usually leads to stings and not honey....

I had a reply to this, but I inadverntly mentioned three letters that signify another toy train magazine, so now my post has to be reviewed by management. I have two other letters for that C.S.

Yes. 1drummer, to answer your question, I did eliminate grades when building my current layout.  Just three very irregularly-shaped ovals suit me.

You could partner with Life Alert, incorporate an accelerometer, a ground proximity sensor and a tiltmeter to detect a fall and deploy the shields.

The tagline could be...

"I've fallen, but my shields are up!"

Jerry

R.O.F.L.M.A.O......................................

I still have grades on my current layout. However, I learned at a very young age the laws of physics (and Murphy's) governing curves, grades and table edges. My postwar O gauge milk car still bears the scars of its first flight. Now all the curves are wider and go into the layout and not off it.

Yeah the floor layout is for under the tree or a temp loop, because you have none. I've seen as much damage on the floor as anywhere else. Because those gremlins are everywhere. I was reading an old issue of CTT or OGR, not sure which, fellow had a really nice collection. He went to a ball game in Candlestick Park, after the earthquake he went home to find them all in a pile on the floor. Gremlins, Evil Forces Everywhere.

Foam pads on the floor will keep the delicate locomotives more intact.

Andrew

I, and many others, could give you all kinds of alternatives but I must confess that an earthquake is something you can't plan for in respect to a model railroad.  If one was that bad anyway the house would end up on top of the layout anyway--God forbid.  I think prayers are your best course of action.