Let's be honest, it does not take much for a project to get the pink slip, and get set aside for another project. I could toss out a thousand excuses at this moment, and maybe, so could you.

To me a project set aside isn't really a project lost anymore. Because I have a tool to make sure I get back on track, when the fancy hits, or a commission leaves the shop. I inherited this tool from my great-grandfather, you see he was a tinkerer too.

Oh and before you think I haven't been made fun of, because of this subject, think again, I have. But I stand behind it whole heartedly.

I've purchased several calipers over the years, with the most recent (and highest end) set arriving this week.  That got me to thinking about their relative strengths for my uses and decided to share some thoughts with this community.

In the photo below are the four calipers I currently own - all have a 6 inch / 150mm range. From left to right, are:

Slowly building N Scale version of Progressive Rail in a 19" by 72" space.  This railway is based on a prototype, and an article that appeared around 2002 in Model Railroader, which was designed for HO scale.

The goal is to use code 40 rail, and hand laid turnouts throughout the entire scene.  Another goal is for this layout to fit in my camper, so I have something to work on at night when I travel and go camping.

I work at a Food distribution center in the midwest, and we get a wide range of Reefer containers and trailers. One thing I have to always watch for at work is a reefer unit with an "Alarm Light" on. While I couldnt find any prototype photos of container reefers showing the alarm light, I did include one in my video of a standard 53' reefer trailer, but basically the same thing.