This is what so many people in previous threads have been complaining about - anti-social behavior of railfans driving away the younger generation away from the hobby. This is perhapsa textbook example of such. The link goes to a science project by a middle school student, not a patent application or masters thesis. It by no means is a final, fully tested and peer reviewed design. So what does it matter if there are details he failed to fully address or even realize were there? Is it our job as railfans to trample on the efforts of a child? He did a great job in finding a solution to a problem, testing to the best of his ability and documenting the results.

Being an engineer, I would praise this student for his efforts and encourage him to study the problem further. Sure, I might use some of the deficiencies in his design to teach him, but I would certainly not use them to belittle and simply poke holes in his design. If he were a graduate of a university with an engineering degree, things might be different, but he is not. Either way, it is not constructive to just poke holes in a design. There is more to it. You need not present solutions, but in the countless number of engineering reviews I have participated in, not once have I seen “poking holes” be constructive. When a reviewer sees a deficiency, he asks for justification/explanation of the design rather than simply saying “your wrong.” If the reviewer cannot be satisfied, the designer must go back and continue with his design until the reviewer is satisfied. After reading the entire project and going over his research, I think this middle school student has done an excellent job of addressing something he sees as a problem, when considering his age level.

The fact of the matter is that 95% of the people on this forum (most of which are well beyond 13 or 14 years old) would not be capable of designing something such as this and meet the requirements of a prototype railroad. The understanding of the engineering is just not there. But that same 95% seem to immediately jump all over the fact this young kid made mistakes. So yes, it is confirmed - You are smarter than an 8th grader. Congratulations. Such anti-social behavior is why so many people are turned off by railfans and in turn, their hobby. They come across as know-it-all a-holes who feel it necessary to butt-in and correct someone anytime they hear a “mistake” regarding the railroad. When I was in college, my wife used to joke that a social interactions course should be required for anyone majoring in engineering. Apparently, railfan’s need it even more. So rather than jump all over this kid, lets give him praise for what he has accomplished, encourage him to learn from the mistakes he has made and help him grow and learn.