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Posted - July 01 2013 : 8:58:39 PM
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Ok, this afternoon at work , I had a brainstorm, and decided to share my thoughts ( and some of my "stuff" ) with TF members.
I collect various technical hardware cast-offs and unwanted items at my job, and since I have so many of this particular item, and I won't use them all, I have decided to "share" them, via a contest. Here's my plan -
I have a supply of fiberoptic cable extenders, and have some thoughts as to how to use them as loads. I broke the extender apart, and am going to call them tranformers or electrical variacs, or something and put them on flats or in Gondolas. Anyway, some of you may have OTHER ideas as to what to use the various parts and pieces for, and I'm interested in your ideas for these parts. So, The Contest begins July 1, and ends at Midnight July 13th ( Sunday ). That gives people 2 weeks to find out about it, and then decide to enter. The prize will be 10 of these fiber-optic cable joiners, either broken apart or unbroken, your choice. I will award 10 of each of these to the top two winners after July 13th ( date to be established later ). Assuming the winners want them, you can enter the contest and not desire to receive these. Read the rules down the line. Basically, all ideas will be submitted publicly on this thread, and I will organize them at the end into a poll, and the top 2 vote-getters will be eligible to receive 10 of these pieces. OK, read the following rules :
1) To enter this contest, use this thread, first sentence you post should state in caps I ENTER / YES ( to receive 10 pieces if you win ) or I ENTER / NO ( I will enter the contest, but don't want the items ). If the top vote-getters say NO, I will go down the voting list by popularity til I find two people with YES beside their entry claim. So you can just enter for personal enjoyment and competition without wanting to receive any of these items, or elect to receive them. I will foot the postage bill unless you live in China or Russia or Timbuktu. Then all bets are off. 
2) For your ID, your second sentence should be your Forum name/ID. Since they are all unique, it will be easy to use and see there.
3) Post your thoughts as to what you would use these pieces for, or what ideas you have to use them, being as simple or creative as possible. No idea is too simple or complex to publish, but PLEASE don't post a 100-page dissertation , try to keep it to a paragraph, or a few sentences if possible. I have to sort through them, as do the potential voters. And please don't vote for YOURSELF, either! Assuming I don't get 10,000 entries, I will then post a poll ( not having done one, not sure how many entries it will allow? ) and let people vote on them. If the number of entries grows beyond a poll size, I may have to just pick two winners myself, or have people vote for their top 2 choices, but I would like input from other TF members on this as well. No multiple entries, only one allowed, if you DO post a second, the date/time of the first will be selected over the 2nd one.
4) Entries start at the time of this post, and end at 11:59:59 on Sunday night July 13th. ( Ok, Eastern Standard Time USA, which is GMT -4 hours on Daylight Savings Time now)
5) Poll posting, or selection of winners by Contest starter, may depend on number of entries and difficulty of posting them in a poll format.
6) There is no cost involved in this contest to entrants, only fun will be allowed.
7) Should there be a dispute of any kind, the Contest Starter ( I, Jerry Casper aka AMC_Gremlin_GT ) is the SOLE arbiter of the final results, and may discriminate, adjudicate, or declare total supremacy in the final decision as to who has the two "best" ideas ( other than me ). I rest my case.
8) On your mark, get set, GO!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok, here's a few pictures of the items in question, bigger than a quarter when the two halves are together. The dust cover with opening "door" will fit an HO scale man and still have about 1/4 inch space left over his head, for a size comparison. Lots of ways to use THIS piece! 

Ok, that's all I have so lets have at it and have some fun with what YOU could do with these pieces in a scenery kit-bash.
Jerry Casper
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
Edited by - AMC_Gremlin_GT on July 01 2013 9:02:51 PM
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Posted - December 07 2014 : 12:12:16 AM
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About the only thing I can think of is covered flat car loads? But it is hard ro tell how big they are from the photos. I need a flat car I suppose to use as a visual guide.
Sean
"If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough!" - Mario Andretti!
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Posted - December 07 2014 : 12:19:55 AM
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I won't enter cause you sent me a bunch already
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Posted - December 07 2014 : 09:59:58 AM
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Heh, no on ever entered the contest . I'll find them again, I think I know where they are, and will post them on a flat car, I think you can get two rows on a flat lengthwise, or a single row width-wise. I was thinking they look sort of like transformers or electrical devices myself. Anyway, other than Microbusss, no one else was interested at the time. No entries in my contest. Oh well.
Jerry
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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Posted - December 13 2014 : 1:33:04 PM
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Well, as promised, I took some pictures with an HO flat car, to show the load size. These kind of remind me of transformers or electrical items, so I'll go wtih that. :) Here's the pictures and scale to size :

I still have quite a few packages of these left, If anyone wanted any, I'd send them for the cost of shipping. They come glued together, you have to crack the two halves apart to get what would fit on the flat car. But I intend to do an entire consist of re-purposed computer and electrical parts as loads, eventually. You wouldn't need any additional weight, either, as with all these on one flat car, they provide a substantial weight on their own. I'll probably glue these down to some sort of wooden skid.
The other piece is the dust cover, it has a spring-loaded snap-shut lid, would make an interesting cooler or tool chest of sorts. But I liked the look of the fiber-optic housings better myself. :)
Jerry
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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