Emerald Coast Garde lub Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club · t Garden R herford. temporary ength. 2...
Transcript of Emerald Coast Garde lub Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club · t Garden R herford. temporary ength. 2...
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Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club WFRM
www.ecgrc.com - 3 - October - November 2012
Traffic up on bridge and low in the yard ‐ Photo by Keith Rapley
The new railroad bridge was installed Saturday, 13 Oct 2012 after much work by Orlando and Charlie and some other folks (I am sure). They removed the old center bridge pier since the new bridge spanned the entire space that the two old five‐foot bridges and center pier occupied. Then they tweaked the old end bridge piers with their precision grinding wheels to carve up the concrete so the new bridge would easily fit into the piers and keep the track level with the approach trestles. Paul Karzcewski: “IT'S one FINE BRIDGE!!” Yes, the new bridge is very prominent. But it does grow on you. Charlie built the bridge so it handles all kinds of G scale train traffic. So bring your oversized equipment and give it a try. Those double‐stacked containers, high Evans boxcars, the USA trains car carriers, and those huge K‐27 locos. Look for the new bridge to be sporting some Christmas lights this coming Christmas season. It is just too, too tempting. Spot lights have been discussed to highlight the new bridge's superstructure. There
is an immense amount of fine detail that is not easily seen at first. Again, Thanks very much, Charlie and Orlando. A job well done.
Before being harvested and sold, an individual cranberry must bounce at least how many inches high to make sure they aren’t too ripe?
a) 1 inch b) 2 inches c) 3 inches d) 4 inches
Milton City Council
Wesley Meiss was sworn onto the Milton City Council, 9 Oct 2012. This is Wesley's very first elected governmental office.
Wesley is the youngest city council member ever, which has members now of age 59 to 82
Wesley was past president of the Santa Rosa County Historical Society and is a frequent face at the RR Museum. On several occasions, Wesley was running the riding mower to battle down the high grass on the empty lots north of the boxcar‐flatcar‐caboose track and across Henry Street.
Wesley along with Bob Cole gives the RR
Museum two friendly faces in Milton City Council
and Santa Rosa Board of County Commissioners.
Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club WFRM
www.ECGRC.com ‐4‐ October – November 2012
Storage Building Much, much progress has been made with the new
Storage Building at the Jordan Lot. It has not been as
quick and simple as some expected.
In the Beginning, there was a slab ‐ cleaned up by Ian Sinclair
And trusses were at the ready
Saturday, 27 Oct 2012, was the start of final
construction with many folks coming together to get
the walls up and the trusses up on top.
The initial construction crew included Art Tuttle,
Orlando Gomez, Tom Walkup, Frank Paine, Bob Cope,
Andy Sloan, Bill Carrington, Mike Stokes, Tom
Augustine, Keith Rapley, and Jack Grill. There may have
been others helping out (besides the sidewalk
supervisors) not included here in this crew list. If you
are not included, it was not a deliberate slight. Busy!
Stud walls up during construction ‐ Photo Mike Stokes
Then there was a building started
By the end of that first day of construction, the walls
were up, sheathing in place, and trusses hauled over,
lifted up and secured in place on top of the new Storage
Building. The new Storage Building was taking shape.
And a nice shape it is!!!
Later in the week, Tuesday, 30 Oct, George Wilson and
Art were working on the roof panels and outlookers. In
the process, Art was up on a ladder working on the
under eave outlookers and had a misstep or reached a
bit too far.
Art took a bad tumble and fractured or cracked his
pelvis. Painful but he did not require any surgery or
pins. Fortunately, Art fell only about 6 to 7 feet and not
Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club WFRM
www.ECGRC.com ‐5‐ October – November 2012
from the top of the building. And Art did not land on
any stumps on the ground, but he did land on his tool
belt. Still a painful fall.
Ryan Sanborn of Sanborn Construction came later with
a small crew to finish the roof decking and got the
tarpaper tacked on the top. They also got some of the
plastic building wrap put up in place.
Decked, wrapped and ready for shingles
Then, a crew of Museum folks tackled the shingles for
the roof on Saturday, 3 Nov. After a long day, we got it
finished. Ever present in our minds was not to reach
one nail too far. Roofing crew included Orlando Gomez,
Mike Stokes, Ed Dice, Frank Paine, Mike Moore, Paul
Weston, Bill Carrington, George Wilson. Not counting
the sidewalk supervisors, if someone got missed our
apologies.
New red roof on Storage Building
Finally, on Monday, 5 Nov, George Wilson and Tom
Augustine with a little help from Ed got the building
wrap finished. It was like a jigsaw puzzle fitting the
plastic pieces so it would cover the building properly. In
the end, the Storage Building was completely wrapped.
Then they put the outside door in, shimmed and locked
up. Finally, all dried in and ready for the rain.!!!!
George Wilson with Storage Building all dried‐in
On Saturday, 10 Nov, Mike Moore adjusted the new
door and its shims so it closed easily without any
dragging and plumbed up so the door seals nicely all
around. Thanks, Mike Moore, no light shows around the
new door now and it closes easily and locks just great.
What is next you ask?
Well, we are glad you
asked. Lots more work to
do. The forest green metal
siding was installed 17
Nov, just like on the Train
Shed at the Jordan Lot.
Orlando was busy hanging
the metal panels and not running trains even while
other folks ran their trains. Next up, the milled 2x4 mid‐
wall board. Next the hardy board or milled board siding
like on the top half of the Train Shed. After all of that
work is done with the outside, the electrician Ron
Armstrong will get an electric supply line, circuit breaker
box and 8‐foot ceiling light fixture installed. Then some
painting will need to be done. Final stages inside will be
getting the electrical outlets installed and wired
followed by the inside walls. Then lastly, with the inside
walls up, install shelving for all of the G Club materials
stored in the Third Railcar. That includes track, tubs,
rugs, dioramas and buildings and such. Lots of things.
Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club WFRM
www.ECGRC.com ‐6‐ October – November 2012
Answer: D
Baldwin County Fair A new event for the club is the Baldwin County Fair in
late September. The Baldwin County Fair has been
running for 61 years. So this was their 62nd Fair. This
year's fair ran from 25‐29 September 2012. The
Baldwin County Fair is very much like the Santa Rosa
County Fair and not quite like the Pensacola Interstate
Fair. This is another family‐oriented fun fair.
Panoramic view ‐ photo by Paul Weston
Ed Dice, Paul Weston and Tom Walkup set down a total
of 12 tracks, for a busy 700’ 1.5” of track with at one
point 13 trains running all at one time.
Lots of finger pointing at the trains
Favorite Trains voting was initiated. Little ballots and pencils so folks can write down their favorite train. A total of 290 votes/comments were collected during the show. While Paul, Tom and Ed estimated 870 visitors (felt like more than that) based on 33% voting participation estimate. However, later at Atmore Williams Station Day show, the favorite train participation was only 4.6%. Thus, it may be that the
Baldwin County Fair visitors to the train layout were more like 6,300 people which is more in line with what the fair managers were extolling as the attendance numbers to expect. While I do not know the final attendance figures, I did get a clear idea that the fair had a great turnout of folks to the Fair and they were very happy.
Paul's cartoon train got lots of attention, so did Ed's pumpkin train
The favorite train voting was interesting to see what
trains folks liked, it was most important to use as a
barometer of visitors. Something to keep statistics on in
the future shows. Maybe some time we will have a
head counter able to count everyone visiting the show
layout. Difficult to count heads while also watching
trains and people and answering questions, too.
Paul's cartoon train derailment fouling three tracks ‐ tsk, tsk, tsk
Fair arrangements were great and accommodating.
Being inside with the air‐conditioning was great and
Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club WFRM
www.ECGRC.com ‐7‐ October – November 2012
sure helped speed set‐up work along very well. Parking
was very close just outside the building. The building is
the Baldwin County Civic Center. It was built after
Hurricane Ivan stomped over our countryside back in
2004. This was built to be the hurricane storm shelter
for the entire Baldwin County. It is rated for a category
five hurricane and has lots of security features added by
FEMA guidance and lessons learned. The building
generator is HUGE!!! Can run a whole lot of trains!
Fair food was good, albeit pricey. Typical for fair food.
Paul and Ed found the shrimp basket to be tasty and
just a little spicy.
Cupcake cafe inside the auditorium ‐ lots of frosting on cupcakes
Something different at the fair was a huge antique
tractor exhibit, including one‐cylinder 25 HP “Titan”
tractor – plowed the fields, then powered a sawmill.
About 80 different antique tractors and farm
equipment. And there was an operating gasoline
powered washing machine, too. Paul got to see it
operate.
Plus a nifty blacksmith and coppersmith working their
wares and skills. They sure made working with metal
look so easy.
Midway with just a few rides in place, during set up
Saturday rain closed the midway early and resulted in
the carnival rides and trucks packing up very early and
out on the road Saturday evening. Trucks loaded with
many different rides departed the fairgrounds area for
other shows all during the afternoon and evening, and
likely on into the night. Most were gone by morning the
next day, Sunday.
Sneaky Gnomes Pop Up
Gnomes at the Baldwin County Fair
Well, those sneaky Gnomes popped up again. Not at the
Jordan Lot Garden Railroad this time. The Gnomeville
village magically appeared at the Baldwin County Fair.
They showed off their little village to the fair folks.
Gnomeville at the fair
Keep your eyes sharp for their next appearance. They
just might bring you some good luck.
Q: What was the turkey suspected of?
A: Fowl play
The cupcakes were works of art
with almost more frosting than
cake. And what wonderful frosting,
including a mint flavor!! MMMMM!
Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club WFRM
www.ECGRC.com ‐8‐ October – November 2012
Tailgate Swap Meet The Fall Old Fashioned Tailgate Swap Meet was held Saturday, 20 October 2012. And it started early at about 6:30 AM with Lorene and Bob Fasnacht setting up on the inside Baggage Cart.
Swap Meet Oct 2011 was a busy, busy place
Had sellers arriving and setting up all morning. The end
result: sellers 31. This is the most sellers ever at one of
the Old Fashioned Tailgate Swap Meets. We ran out of
space in the Museum Courtyard for vehicles by 10 AM
because of some non‐seller vehicles parking
inappropriately. At the end, most of the sellers seemed
very happy with their sales. No clear idea of how many
folks visited browsing the seller tables and buying. A
couple from Baton Rouge get the prize for most distant
attendee. Things pretty well wrapped up a little after
Noon.
Beautiful weather blessed the swap meet. The morning
chill gave way to sunny warmth. Could not have asked
for a better day with better weather. Fantastic!!!
Due to the record turnout of sellers and use of space,
we may have to take different measures for the next
swap meet in April 2013.
The Diner Cafe had coffee (set up by
Art) and donuts, 2 doz., all eaten up,
money for that made (and I did not get
even one donut), and still got $5 for
Museum coffee. So that was a success.
Donuts all gone. Coffee all gone by late
morning.
CSX sent four large trains by
on the mainline for all of the
swap meet folks. And with
everything, there was a rush
of humanity for the tracks. Thanks, CSX. Now, can we
talk about a loco on static display at the siding?????
October Club Meeting The October Club meeting was originally rescheduled for 3 PM, so that most club members could attend Dan Hayden's Open House for his HO layout. However, President Jack Grill at the behest of many members decided to go ahead and hold the October Club meeting about 12:45 PM instead of the planned 3 PM. Any inconvenience to Club members was apologized for by Jack. Most folks present were about to leave for the day and would not have been available for a 3 PM meeting. And no one seemed to have gone to Dan Hayden's open house anyway. So, Jack decided sooner was better than later.
At the meeting, we did get a new member to join. His
name is Rodney Rich. Rodney is from Panama City. Bob
Cope had been working on him to join up for a while.
Now we have three members in the Panama City area ‐
Bob Cope, Mike Stokes and now Rodney Rich.
Veterans Day
There was a small group of folks at the Jordan Lot for
the 12 November 2012 Veterans Day gathering. Ian and
Barb Sinclair, Bill Carrington and Ed Dice met to run
some trains. The weather was great but threatening.
Rain was predicted but did not show up at the Jordan
Lot during the morning or Noon times.
Ed ran 19 RoadRailers around on loop #1 for a while. Bill
put up a small steam loco that he recently bought from
Fayne over on Airport Rd, Milton. It sounded great.
Ed and the Sinclairs went off to lunch, intending to get a
free lunch at Roadhouse Grill. But the large groups
standing outside clearly indicated a long wait for any
sort of table. So we headed on down the road to
Mama's and had a good meal there.
Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club WFRM
www.ECGRC.com ‐9‐ October – November 2012
Calendar Events 13‐14 Oct ‐ Munson Heritage Festival Logging heritage events with G scale RR POC: Ed Dice 20 Oct ‐ Tailgate Swap Meet Tailgate Swap Meet starting early. POC: Ed Dice 20 Oct ‐RR Museum Annual Meeting Annual RR Museum membership meeting 20 Oct ‐ Club meeting Monthly meeting at 3 PM. POC: Jack Grill 18‐28 Oct ‐ Pensacola Interstate Fair Annual Pensacola fair 27 Oct ‐ Atmore Williams Station Day Atmore, AL ‐ Williams Station Day train show 4 Nov ‐ Daylight Savings Time ends 17 Nov ‐ Club meeting Monthly meeting at Noon in Dining Car 22 Nov ‐ Thanksgiving 24 Nov ‐ Jay Cotton Festival Jay Cotton Festival and Christmas Parade, Jay FL POC: Ed Dice 1‐2 Dec ‐ St Anne's Christmas Market Christmas arts and crafts market POC: Ed Dice 7‐8 Dec ‐ Lionel Christmas Fri 10am‐3pm; Sat 10am‐8pm 14‐15 Dec ‐ Lionel Christmas Fri 10am‐3pm; Sat 10am‐8pm 15 Dec ‐ Club meeting Monthly meeting at Noon. POC: Jack Grill Christmas luncheon
25 Dec ‐ Christmas 31 Dec ‐ New Years Eve 1 Jan 2013 ‐ New Years Day 13‐20 Jan 2013 ‐ Diamondhead Steamup I‐10 Exit 16, Diamondhead Resort POC: www.Diamondhead.org 19 Jan 2013 ‐ Club meeting Monthly meeting at Noon. POC: Jack Grill 16 Feb 2013 ‐ Club meeting Monthly meeting at Noon. POC: Jack Grill
Health & Welfare
Couturie ‐ Ed very busy with medical courier job, runs all over the
area to hospitals, doctors' offices and medical clinics. You may see
him out and about.
Jim Neidermayer ‐ Doing OK, just slower than before. Jim
Stephanie Carrington ‐ Stephanie is getting along fine. She had a nasty red eye back in early October. Very scary it was. Not painful
but ghastly to look at. All better now. And no vision issues.
Paul Karczewski ‐ Paul has finished the first loop of 7‐1/2 inch track. It was reported he was scurrying around like a kid at Christmas. Congrats, Paul.
Rapley/Dorner ‐ Bobbie Dorner having issues with her leg. ”They are about ready to cart her off to the glue factory. Read that as
more tests and another MRI in her future. ... Not much else
newsworthy.” – Rap “Leg, amputate at neck.
Show....GREAT! Several sales, a paid commission and several things
to work with........B” ED: See Keith's 250 ton crane?
Sloan ‐ Beth and Andy traveling in the Sicily and Italy area. Seeing the sights.
Mary Caraway ‐ Still getting things ready to sell her house and move up to Iowa to be with her son and family. She is very grateful
for the packing material and boxes that Orlando and folks have sent
her.
Carol Stewart – suffering bouts of TMJ. Best wishes from
everyone that the pain gets less and even goes way away, Carol. Get better!
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Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club WFRM
www.ECGRC.com ‐11‐ October – November 2012
Munson Heritage
A new event for our participation, the Munson Heritage
Festival, was held 13 ‐ 14 October 2012. This is the ninth
year to celebrate the logging heritage of the Munson
area. There were lots of historical craftsmen and
artisans set up at the Krul Lake Recreation Area.
Frank's logging train and sawmill
Frank Paine and Ed set up and ran the small G scale
display at the Munson Heritage Festival. We got down
two medium sized ovals. Frank ran his logging train by
his sawmill on the outer loop. Ed ran a mix of Santa Fe
passenger, coal/pumpkin train, Hershey chocolate, air‐
powered flyer, and an eggliner.
The Florida Forestry folks seemed very happy with it all.
They talked about some of the food vendors selling out
of things. The BBQ guy was very happy with all the BBQ
he sold out with. Saturday was busy all day long, but
we did not see any crush of crowds like we were told to
expect. Guess it is a difference in point of view. Sunday
was a bit slower, but that is the usual situation.
We talked about the RR Museum, the riding train,
Jordan Lot Garden RR, birthday parties, swap meet and
Lionel Christmas. Ed did pass out lots of the website
slips that Andy Sloan made up and let those folks know
that they could find a flyer on the website.
The weather was clear and only a little wind. But that
little wind did cause the Museum info board to topple
over. We had good running, in spite of all of the
problems.
Jay Cotton Festival This coming Thanksgiving Saturday, 24 Nov., is the Jay
Cotton Festival and Christmas Parade in Jay, Florida. The
RR Museum has been requested to participate with a
planned set up in an outside parking area. The RR
Museum will set up the Museum information table
including Tom Moody's history books for sale. And with
some luck on the weather, we will also get the N scale
layout up there and running.
With that, a small G scale railroad is also being set up to
help honor the cotton industry heritage for Jay and to
entertain the kids. Many details are still to be worked
out and planning is in progress. So far it looks like a 10' x
15' oval and possibly a second oval inside of it. About all
that can be set up in a couple of chilly hours Saturday
morning.
This is a one‐day show. And is the third time (2009 &
2010 before) that the Jay museum has hosted this and
are hoping it will catch on this time for the folks of Jay.
If you wish to participate, contact Ed Dice for further
info.
Atmore Williams Station Ed Dice went to Atmore AL for their reviving of the old train show at the Williams Station Day celebrations. This was held 27 Oct 2012.
Atmore Williams Station Day train show kids
Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club WFRM
www.ECGRC.com ‐12‐ October – November 2012
Ed was able to set down two tight ovals, the cloverleaf and a single back-n-forth. It still provided everyone with lots to see and take in. The kids were enthralled with the running trains.
Favorite Train voting collected 36 votes. But Ed was able to accurately count all visitors to the gym at 782 folks stopping by to see the train show. Besides the G scale railroad, the show organizers had a newly built HO modular layout with two tracks plus a slide show of prototype rail fan pictures, DVD videos of trains, and Operation Lifesaver information. No sellers at this train show this time, but expect some in the future. In past years, the gym was totally packed with seller tables.
It was a long one-hour run up there and another hour back. But it was a good time. Glad that the G railroad was inside given the very chilly and damp Saturday morning. Brrrrrr!!!!
Warehouse Gone The old Warehouse building over by the CSX mainline and the Museum passenger cars is gone.
Empty lot where the Warehouse was standing
Sanborn Construction has finished dismantling, not
demolishing, the old Warehouse building. They carefully
disconnected the myriad of boards and beams, so as to
maximize the salvage value. Lots of hard work by the
Sanborn crews.
Have heard various stories as to how the Warehouse
was used by different businesses over the years. One
thing is that the Warehouse building was about 110
years old. Older than the current Depot building.
Besides the recent use by Sanborn Construction for
storage and unfulfilled ideas, it has seen many other
uses. Remember we do know of some vagrants or
homeless folks setting up camp inside until they were
sent packing. During the clean out, the contents
revealed a very varied collection of items including
theater seats, many old business furniture items like
cabinets for small parts and office files, and even a
bunch of bed frames. It was used to store canoes for
Adventures Unlimited. Earlier on it reportedly was part
of a hardware warehouse. Also heard that it was the
only Sears & Roebuck store in the area. I am sure better
and more authoritative sources can tell of the "accurate
history" for the Warehouse building much better than
my recount of various conversations and stories
overheard.
So history can be interesting and is around us
everywhere. Go ahead and DIG IN. Mr. Jernigan has
lived in the house across the street from the old
Warehouse for his entire 80+ years. So he knows a lot of
facts and history and would LOVE to talk with folks
about it.
Well, hope you enjoyed this newsletter and its pages
and pages of content. We are always looking for more
material on just about anything. Product reviews, train
show reports, special weekend summaries, or anything
related and pertinent to our garden railroading
community. Keith could write up his new 250 ton crane
and its support cars. Someone can chat about their new
sound system in a loco. So, put fingers to keyboard and
click away an article.
Enjoy the newsletter - Ed and Eva
Caboose Notes
Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club WFRM
www.ECGRC.com ‐13‐ October – November 2012
Remote Uncouplers
It appears that someone has been listening to the
groans of G‐scale railroaders popping joints and
aching backs whenever they have to bend / crouch /
crawl to uncouple cars in their trains. There have
been rumors and rumblings (like thunder over the
horizon) in the model railroading industry for quite
some time now about remote uncoupling and lots
and lots of guesses about what all it would entail
and be capable of. And folks have chatted about
how they could do it on their own using parts from
here and there.
Kadee Remote Uncoupling Systems
Well, now it is here via Kadee. Shortly, Kadee says
that #1 Gauge (G‐scale to the rest of us) remote
uncoupling system will be available. This is offered
under their new brand name of Kadee RC. While
not offered in other scales yet, there is a strong
possibility that it may develop there.
There are videos available from their website
www.RemoteUncoupling.com under Video Help
menu selection at that home page.
Garden Railways lists some prices (very pricey);
however, Kadee says the prices will be different and
lower than what was shown in the Garden Railways
article.
The starter kit includes the handheld transmitter,
body‐mount coupler kit, and receiver kit.
The handheld transmitter works off of two AA batteries.
The receiver kit includes the radio receiver, four-AA
battery holder and wiring harness.
The body-mount coupler kit includes #906 Kadee coupler,
trip-pin linkage collars, linkage rods, shims, large servo kit, mounting screws and hardware.
The large servo kit contains a hobby servo, servo tray and, mounting screws and hardware.
Looks like multiple uncoupler subsystems can be
addressed via the handheld controller, thus you
could mount two separately controlled couplers on
a loco. One on the front and one on the rear.
The Kadee videos did show a flat car with the
uncoupler system working on it (a top down look)
and the knuckle DID MOVE. It is obvious that it will
not uncouple with any strain on the coupler
knuckles. So just like the track mounted uncoupling
magnets, slack in the couplers is required for the
uncoupling operation. Other videos show the
system being installed on a G scale railcar which all
looks very simple, quick and easy.
Expect to see it at the Jordan Lot in the near future.
Who will be first? The race is on!!!!
Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club WFRM
www.ECGRC.com ‐14‐ October – November 2012
From Sam Clarke of Kadee – 9 Oct 2012
Presently we are in the middle of the final
stages before we put the remote system on the
market. We are still working on packaging,
instructions, warranty, and such. Final pricing is
still being worked out but nearing completion.
There will be a number of installations and operational options. One set up is mainly for rolling stock with a mechanical actuator that can operate one or both couplers at the same time the other set up is a self contained coupler with the actuator inside the draft gear box. This coupler has the same mounting holes as the common body mounted #830 and #906 coupler boxes but the box is slightly narrower. With some modeling skills both systems can be fitted into most locomotives. I've used both systems under flat cars but the self contained units will be best. We are hoping to release the remote in November and more info will be available then.
Massoth Automatic Uncoupler
In the Garden Railways Dec 2012 issue, the Massoth
Automatic Uncoupler was listed on page 55. The
website, www.massoth.com, has a website link to a
video.
It appears to be only a hook‐and‐loop type coupler.
Looks like it uses a standard hook‐n‐loop on the
rolling stock and does not require removal of the
rolling stock's hook part of the coupler.
The uncoupler does require connection to a
decoder of the user's choice be it Massoth, Digitrax,
LGB, Aristo‐Craft Revolution or other onboard
decoder unit. Looks like the price is $129 for a
2/pack.
Massoth’s literature compares its uncoupler to the
LGB offering that dates back to 1993, a Duo Loco
with a large motor‐driven uncoupler device which
worked off of track voltage as it started to come up.
It could accidentally uncouple your train if you
stopped and then started up again. This was also a
hook‐n‐loop type coupler.
So, if you lack a well‐trained elf with young joints to
uncouple your trains for you, you now have some
alternatives.