A Book?

[bob turner]

Shutterfly has been good to me, allowing me to store my photos for free. They recently decided that I had to make a purchase every 18 months, however small, to remain a good person. So typically I order prints, which are basically useless, since they convert them to 3x4, thus cutting off the smokebox and back half of the tender. But it is ok, because the useless prints cost five bucks - cheap for 18 months of hosting hundreds of photos.

But guilt is setting in - so I am taking them up on the offer to do a book. I have no idea what it will look like, and it is like pulling teeth, getting these photos in without chopping off the ends. But according to them it will only cost $38, apparently before applying their incessant 50% discount.

I am at page 4 of 20, and am just doing SP Steam (and maybe Diesel) photos with minimal text, kind of like what I do here. I have no idea what Shutterfly wants for duplicates, but assuming I successfully get this done, I will ask, and maybe see if I can offer copies at less than the cost of the original.

I probably have to get this done within the next couple months to retain my "good person" status. I will update here.

[ScaleCraft]

My wife has been doing these for what, 12 years?
One version annually for each granddaughter, plus a family one.
You'll get "50% off" coupons. Don't believe it!

[Johnbeere]

In your situation what I'd consider doing is hosting them on Google Drive. It's free (if you don't exceed 15 gb), and you can change the settings to allow anyone with the link to go through and look at your photos. You can also share photos and copy the link to post here, and those images will remain up so long as they're in your Google Drive. Just my two cents.

[up148]

The only bad part (I think) storing photos on "google" is that it is no offsite like the other hosting services. I have google and when I tried to put a photo on it, it said "backing up photo". So, I assume it is just on my computer and I already do that in several files.

The problem hosting on your own computer is trying to send photos to this forum. I post photos to several other forums (Non-train) and my computer is fine, but MTJ will not accept it. Sadly, I think it reduces the content on this forum as posting photos is a hassle.

[Johnbeere]

I think Google Drive does offer the ability to backup files on your computer to Google's server, but the main use of it is to host your files on Google's server. You get a free 15 gb of storage - I think the business model is that by offering free storage you're attracted to use Google products. I have used Drive before to host photos for this site and it's worked fine. It's somewhat complicated to post photos here from Google though - the link they give you when normally sharing the photo doesn't work, you have to inspect element (F12 on a keyboard), highlight the image, and copy and paste the link directly from the website.

Here's an image shared normally:



Here's an image shared by copying the raw link from the website:

[bob turner]

I have had very few problems with Shutterfly. They were changing something, breaking links of photos I posted maybe three years prior, but it looks like they stopped that. And they have very little tolerance with high aspect ratio images, such as a long articulated steam model. But on the whole, I like what my book is starting to look like, and if it really is $40, I will be a happy camper.

I will of course try to enter my daily 50% off coupons, but if that doesn't work, I will write them a check.

If I can figure out how to let you all look at it without charge, or even my account itself, I will do it. I must have 500 photos stored, mostly of trains. Sure, a few airplane photos, and maybe I will load a photo of me as a corporate pilot . . .



All grey now . . .

[Johnbeere]

I've never used Shutterfly, so I don't know if you can share them, but it would certainly be nice to look through those photos.

[up148]

Yeah, that radio stack dates the photo. KNS-80's, KY96's or KY196's, KMA24 and can't see the rest. Piper Cheyenne? You look like a cocky sh*t, but we all did.

[up148]

Thanks John. I can use Shutterfly but requires more work than I care expend. Google doesn't sound any easier and I know how to use Shutterfly just need to quit being to lazy.

[bob turner]

Sorry I didn't answer that. Often I do not want my name on the last three posts, to stay there for a week. This week it was eight days between posts - I guess a lot of folks were at York or Oklahoma.

Yes, 1981, and KNS-80 - top of the line at the time. They had a "gotcha"- one could be in the RNAV mode ( a teeny tiny R on the screen) and think he/she was in VOR. These days it is all GPS, and can get far more complicated. I have just learned enough to be dangerous with the new Garmin 750 nav system.

But the reason for this post: I just pulled the trigger on my SP Steam book over at Shutterfly. They indeed did give me a discount - $39 plus ten bucks shipping and three for tax. 30 pages. Looks just like my SP Steam thread here, so you are not missing much.

It was out of guilt - they are hosting hundreds of my photos, so I figure that I can spread the $53.84 over the last five years, and it works out to ten bucks a year for photo hosting - possibly a bargain? And I wind up with a book.

No, I don't know if I can get multiple copies to sell or give to my buddies at a reasonable discount. I will check on that when the product arrives in the mail. I assume it comes from China, since book rate in the US for a 30 page book is probably $2.50 or so.

[up148]

Shutterfly has been hammering me with emails and telling me that I needed to buy something or lose my access. You have to buy a product with your photos on it every 18 months. So, I quickly bought a coffee mug (40% off) with photos of locos I don't own anymore. Waiting for the mug to arrive, but it looks to be a nice size and weight.

Back on aviation. When I first got into aviation in 1975, Narco MK-12's (some tubes) were still common and the King KX-170B (no tubes) was all the rage. Loran was available for the small aircraft, but really wasn't that accurate for short flights so not all that popular in general aviation. Loran became boat anchors as soon as GPS hit the market. ADF's (automatic direction finder) were also still good sellers in 1975, but once again technology obsoleted them so quickly they were worthless.

So many things changed in the 70's and 80's and not just in aviation.

[bob turner]

I am pleased with my book. Paper is high quality, photos reproduced exactly as I specified. I checked with their help desk, and found that if I poke the "share" button, I can share my book with you. I think you can look for free. Try it and let me know.

https://www.shutterfly.com/share-produc ... DWEBMPRLNK

The nice person from India said that copies cost the same as the original - that was pennies over fifty bucks with shipping. She indicated that it is possible for a third party to buy direct. It was worth $50 to me, since it memorializes a small part of my collection, but I am sure that most of my friends would be happy just looking at a digital copy once. If you hit the link and it doesn't work, let me know.

I tried it from this post, and indeed it took me to the book. Then I clicked on the book cover, and found I could scroll between pages with the arrows on either side. I note that the image on my computer is somewhat fuzzy, but the book is nice and clear.

In 18 months, I will do a Lobaugh book - I do not begrudge them the $ since they are indeed friendly about hosting my photos for use here (this is the only forum that requires a host, but alas, the only forum I now belong to).

[R.K. Maroon]

Thanks for sharing the link to the book. It was a very enjoyable read. A few comments:

-- There are a lot of references to people and companies that, I imagine, only a small number of people will understand, such as the "Adams tender" on pages 21 and 22 (and perhaps elsewhere). Being a doorstop fan, I know that Adams and Son made a casting set for a very nice SP Vandy tender. As a regular follower of this forum, I also know that Bob is fond of the tender that can be constructed using these castings. The trick is knowing how to roll and rivet the sides.

-- The reference to Vauclain on page 5 threw me at first, as I associate Vauclain with a unique compound steam locomotive, whereby a single cylinder block contains both high and low pressure sections (that is, two pistons and two piston rods). Here is the lone Vauclain built by Bill Lenoir:


https://dl.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mo6qys1lu4gzasdi6j3d5/Lenoir-LV-2-8-0.jpg?rlkey=t3nnuhnh7jnpb8vkt7aid7avb

I didn't see any resemblance to Bob's model, so I figured I was missing something. Wikipedia fills in the blanks (again):

"Samuel Matthews Vauclain (May 18, 1856 – February 4, 1940) was an American engineer, inventor of the Vauclain compound locomotive, and president of the Baldwin Locomotive Works."

A-ha! So Bob is saying that Baldwin added SP features to the demonstrator to try to get SP to bite. OK, the first thing I looked for was number boards on the boiler -- check. And what else? I am not an SP expert so I am guessing -- low headlight and front-mounted bell? And it's an oil burner with a Vandy tender, but that was so obvious I almost failed to notice it. What other features would a more astute observer pick up, Bob?

-- I did pick up on the reference to Jerry White on page 13. You'll be hearing from Rod Miller soon, I imagine (well, probably not).

-- I would have a hard time picking a favorite. The full page spreads on the AC-6 and AC-8 are impressive. But the daylight GS-2 on page 27 knocks me out. The GS-4 is more commonly modeled (to put it mildly), but this 14-car pre-war Pomona Valley Daylight just begs for a GS-2:


https://dl.dropbox.com/scl/fi/2604yd8b4llaji2d6o9il/SP-Daylight.jpg?rlkey=99ac9dc1a1e5pbagtw984hm16

I should say that John Fisher's fully-sprung GS-1 does look pretty sporty in the lead with the Daylight. Still, it's hard to argue with a skyline casing and Daylight colors.

Great book, Bob -- quite the worthwhile project. Thanks again for sharing.

Jim

[bob turner]

Turns out that I can alter the book, and it is still available to look at or even purchase ( Shutterfly has a "free extra pages" sale about once a week, so if I ever decide to get a hard copy of a double-size book, I can do so for basically the same price. I assume anyone can do that, if at all interested in a hard copy). The cover and paper quality are excellent. Not sure about the longevity, since I have only had it for a week and only looked at it once.

On the big 60000 4-10-2 - I included an SP tender with gold lettering. I should have put an extra photo in there showing the Baldwin coal tender - it is also Vanderbilt style. In fact, here:



The original is in a museum in Philadelphia, and is lettered exactly that way, only the gold leaf has cracked with age (kind of like a dried up mud puddle). It has been black for almost a hundred years, but is said to have been purple on its demonstration voyage, hence the purple paint on my model. Scale Coat, and specially made decals. Runs (last time I tried) like a Swiss watch on my superelevated 74" test loop.

I have posted this photo many times, and always note that the SP converted the thing to oil for the demo run up the Sierra to Truckee/Reno.
The guys restoring the San Jose P-8 Pacific discovered gold lettering under many layers of black paint on the tender, so one could guess that the SP shop used that tender for the conversion. There is no real info on which tender they selected, but the SP was notorious for swapping tenders at every shopping event.

[bob turner]

A Piper Cub friend dropped by my hangar yesterday, and brought with him a train buff. I am sort of deaf, and did not get the guy's name, but he knew of me, and had seen my book!

As far as I know, this thread is the only place in the whole world where a link can be found to that book, and I note that any changes I make (I added a bunch of pages) will only show up with a new link. Here it is:

https://www.shutterfly.com/share-produc ... DWEBMPRLNK

But the real reason for the bump is that I assumed the book was known only to the five of us. There must be a bunch of folks who look but do not participate.

Just so you know, the next book will be doorstop Diesels and electrics. So far I only have a cover page.