How to piss off a frog

[juanpmar]

Alain please stop this topic! Far too risky! What would happen if you get Peter started again on this train-project ?

Leo

It seems to me that only the frog is able to stop this topic and, to tell the truth, she is totally freaked looking at the train tracks without daring to cross them. Frogs likes more music than trains...

[AlainGr]

Alain please stop this topic! Far too risky! What would happen if you get Peter started again on this train-project ?

Leo

It seems to me that only the frog is able to stop this topic and, to tell the truth, she is  totally freaked looking at the train tracks without daring to cross them. I think she likes more music than trains...

+1

[AlainGr]

Wow, this was a project of a different dimension ! May I ask what "disconnected" you from this project ? Was it too much time consuming and you got jaded of it ?

Actually those tables. Envision over 100 meters (300ft) of length and certain width only to cover for the outside walls so to speak. Then it would have been in 3 layers, so that is actually 300 meters of length of table. And then there's still nothing counted for the middle of the space (which is 6 meters wide everywhere). In there had to be man holes at positions so all could be reached and all was to be of a construction I couldn't work out much.
But there was also the problem of designing the track for which I could not find proper software. So, had to scale the tables properly which already wasn't doable and together with that the proper scaling of bends, junctions and such. So I had to write software for *that* first, and that never happened.

But maybe the real problem was this :
When I was of the age of 11, we moved to a new house and in the old house my father built that table of the size of the room which could go to the sealing when not in use. I always helped my father with everything and learned a few things there;
All was to fit in a room in the new house, but it didn't. This is how I started to lay out the already fairly much lot just on the floor and with the 5 locs we had I made it all 100% automated. With relais and my own made contact rails and such and 100s of meters of electrical wire. Just on the floor. Once or twice a year I layed it out and made drew a new track design which would bring the most unpredictable behaviour of it all. So, 11 and up;
When 14 years ago our son was born, it was clear he would be joining me in the same fashion, later. So at his first birthday we gave him this nice steam locomotive. That would help.
But today he still doesn't know what to do with a soldering iron and is only capable of positioning his computer mouse a 100 times faster than I can. Plays Railroad Tycoon and the lot (btw the only game I ever played in my whole life). Modern times ? perhaps. But I already said it : once the simulation (or projection) by computer(s) would be there, it would already have been a great thing to play with. That is what *I* saw coming, only getting tired of the physical stuff to come.
So I saw that (not) coming with our son, and no way I would perform such a project for myself. Well, not anymore. Man, I already run hot when I have to plug in the analyser. Haha.

So it's a combination of a few things, but it was too large scaled anyway. Was due to be world's largest and most complex, but merely interesting to watch forever (which all tracks I know are not at all).

Oh, the "operating system" would have been the ERP software from my other life; it can nicely deal with demands and fulfillment which can be used to direct trains from A to B, but merely this ERP system already consists of tracking and directives (where to go to) by means of GPS data ...

Complex projects can be very enthousiastic as I recall some projects I realized in another life (nothing as complex as you detail here). You also need to feel that there is some kind of support for tasks that are not as exciting... I have abandonned many projects because of a lack of support, not that I asked others to help, but I hoped someone would offer his help.

Of course, this "to happen someday" hobby will be interesting, but not for the same reasons. At this part of my life, apart from very small things, programming is not anymore my activity of choice, but I admire your skills and talent from what you have done.

And as always, it is very interesting

Alain

[AlainGr]

Finally, I checked on the net for this "frog" and "French" thing. I seems that it is not related directly at Canadian French people, but to French (from France) first, and then extended here...

All this is because our French cousins like to eat frog legs... I tried that many years ago and with spices and garlic, I must admit that it really tastes good !

But if one thinks he will jump higher and further after, well... Think again

Wow... I can't imagine the compliments a guy would receive if he eats horse... Hum "You look like an stallion..." ???

But I would not say that I like to eat lobster, nobody would want to shake hand with me...

Alain