One for the "prototype for everything" files

[tom mann]

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Sorry Tom, there is NOT a "prototype for everything". I always must take exception with that statement.

That being said, the list of crazy things for which there is a prototype just went up by one.

[wazzou]

Well what are you supposed to do with a boat when you are done with it? ;D

[sizemore]

And you wonder where Bachmann got the idea to put a boat on a flat-car....

The S.

[Packer]

Guess you guys haven't seen boats on land?

I've found boats when hiking in the woods, several miles from the nearest waterway. The may have gotten there in a hurricane.

[MrKLUKE]

.

[SquirrelHollow]

Guess you guys haven't seen boats on land?

I've found boats when hiking in the woods, several miles from the nearest waterway. The may have gotten there in a hurricane.

I have a good example from my 2007 Florida deer hunt.

It was taken in a fairly sandy, dry area - but surrounded by swamp.  In the background, is a F-5 that crashed in the '60s (the Navy decided to de-mil and leave, for some reason).  In the foreground, is a 2-3 year old Wave Runner... sitting in the middle of an old logging road (the road shown by google in the link).

I'll see if I can dig the picture up.
Google's current imagery doesn't show the F-5 any more, but there's some weird growth, or soil disturbance.  Maybe the swamp finally swallowed Northrop's baby.

[Philip H]

Sometimes said boats get dumped by a storm - hurricanes are notorious fo rit.  More often, they get dumped by someone who doesn't want the boat anymore, can't or won't sell it, and has no where else to dispose of it.  Once in a while they are dumped by thieves.

[up1950s]

Those are some crispy focused shots Tom .

[wm3798]

Wait, I think I know what happened...

[Dave Schneider]

Well, based on the location (http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=43.026314,-87.906359&spn=0.002745,0.006845&z=18) I suspect this probably the result of some drunken boaters from Chicahgah (I realize that this is redundant). Of course is is just across the wasteland from Performance Yacht Services....so maybe this is the higher class version of a redneck dumpster (minus the obvious bullet holes).

Speaking of Chicago, I do believe that this is the former C&NW main to the Milwaukee passenger station.
http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr0001/cnw5007.jpg
http://loc.gov/pictures/resource/det.4a32126/
You can see the top of the swing bridge over the Milwaukee River on the line that lead to the station (just above the boat in both photos). Hard to believe that this was the same track that used to host the "400s".

Best wishes, Dave

[Chris333]

The boat shows up on bing:
http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=r53v477p6z8k&scene=35076570&lvl=2&sty=b&where1=Milwaukee%2C%20WI

[Packer]

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=30.470633,-86.57395&spn=0.002011,0.004216&t=h&z=18

Here's around where I saw a pair of boats and assorted appliances (grill, dryer, stove, a few barrels), at least a mile from the nearest body of water. I can't find it on the map, but I found the trail I took (it's like a 5 minute bike ride from my place)

[Dave V]

It's a trap!!!



Here's the problem, yo...

This goes to the philosophy of modeling the mundane versus the unique.  In spite of the prototype, adding a discarded boat to a railyard would look unrealistic and would appear to be one of the many Ntrak tricks like alien landings, dinosaur digs, and haunted houses (sorry, Ntrak folks, but you know what I'm talkin' 'bout).  In this case, you'd almost be better off not adding the boat for realism.

As Ed says, there is not a prototype for everything.  Extending the axiom, even if there is a prototype for something obscure, it still does not add plausibility to the otherwise unbelievable.

_{<This from a guy whose signature has a PRR L1s side-by-side with a Conrail SD40>}