Volume 68, Issue 3 Fall 2000
Doug Albrecht informs us that Bill Mitchell is in good spirits, is getting mobile, and is working hard at Sinai towards recovery. Although his speech center was affected by the surgery, he is improving day by day, and would welcome visitors. He is usually tired after a full day of therapy during the week, and hence, visits are best on weekends.
Hurry back, Bill. We miss you, and the BSME needs you.
This Issue
Good things are happening at the BSME. We had a terrific session with the shooting of the Tracks Ahead feature, which included running of both the narrow gauge and the short line on the HO side. Although you will have to wait until next October to see this event on the tube, the producers of the Tracks Ahead show promised to provide the club with a VCR tape of the show sometime soon. For those who could not make it to the shoot, the article by Jim Berg gives a really good feeling of what was going on.
One of our newest members, Kevin Hunter, took a fantasy trip out west this summer, riding the narrow gauge rails of the D&RGW. His two-part story and photos evoke a sense railroading that we all love, regardless of our chosen gauge or scale.
Continuing with the narrow gauge theme is a story on the Slim Gauge Guild of Pasadena, California - a model railroad club dedicated exclusively to narrow gauge railroading, in two scales - Sn3 and HOn3.
We also have a story of an interesting piece of model rolling stock from Ben Mc Knew - a crummy featuring a conductor with a crummy attitude.
Finally, we wish to welcome a new member, an O scaler, David Vaughan. Welcome David, we hope you enjoy our fine club.
Once again, if you have any comments, critiques, observations, articles, thoughts, or just want to blow off steam, let's have 'em. It's your club and it's your SWITCHER.
Calendar
Oct 7, 8, Timonium Scale Show
Oct 20, HO Operating session
Nov 5, 1pm - 5pm: Boy Scout Open House
Jan 1, 7, 14, 21, 28, 1pm - 5pm Open House shows
HO Division
The HO division has been busy with a few projects both before and after the Tracks Ahead shooting. Ben McKnew has been busy installing signals at our crossovers and adding relays to light them. His Son Patrick has started working on reforesting the mountain behind Johnstown. Nick Costanzi has been doing his usual weekly chore of cleaning tracks and getting the engine terminal and Yard in tip top shape, on top of which he is editing The Switcher. Keep up the good work Nick. Kevin Hunter was able to get the Narrow Gauge working except for the lower loop, which may be working by the time you read this. He has a lot of narrow gauge equipment he wants to run. Ben finished the Narrow Gauge Trestle, which we will probably dedicate at our Birthday party in 2001. Keith and Kevin Wood, John McPherson, and Charles Edlow removed the city blocks, dusted the buildings, washed the streets, and put it all back. Keith, Kevin, and Jim Berg erected the TV tower and got the lights working again. Jim also took down the black plastic and put the heralds back in the center of the layout to hide the rain-damaged ceiling. He also replaced the broken plastic which held the yard turnout throws with a piece of Masonite. Keith and Kevin fixed the broken throws, and with a little epoxy we will have knobs on each through so as not to catch on your clothes or stick you.
I hope we can have an operating session on Oct. 20th beginning at 8pm. This will be more of trying out scenarios than a complete operating session. Once such scenario is as follows: We start with a loaded coal train pulling out of the mine, and it heads east around the layout towards Wilson yard. We will determine how many laps around the layout it will make before arriving at Wilson Yard. As it is headed east, it would arrive Wilson Yard via Y6, but we may consider backing the train into Y1 or Y3. After arriving at Wilson Yard the road power will be cut off and head to the Engine Terminal. We then use some switch engines to put the loaded coal train down the Baltimore Terminal District via Y5 to Cicada Point. The next move would be to bring empties back from Cicada Point to the Yard for a trip around the layout to the Coal Mine. We will have to determine if both of these moves would be in the same session or over two sessions. Also while this is happening, our passenger service between Baltimore and Wheeling with stops at Kehs Corner and Tvioli will be running both East and West bound. We can also decide if we want to run an express from Baltimore to Wheeling and a local with the stops at Kehs Corner and Tvioli or what. Any thoughts and ideas for scenarios should be brought to my attention and we can discuss and/or try them at this operating session. Thanks to all those who are making our layout fun again, your work is greatly appreciated.
Jim Berg, HO Superintendent
O Division
Featured in the Tracks Ahead filming of the O division was Winnie Kehs Western Maryland F7 ABBA locomotive. This fine model is now owned by Carvey Davis, who refurbished the set, replacing the drives in each unit. During the filming, Carvey had his now can motor powered F7 set pulling a 60-car freight over the rails.
The O division was ready for the Tracks Ahead shoot thanks to the efforts of many, including Bob Jackson who repaired the turnout between blocks 4 and 5/5A. This has been a troublesome spot for some time, and it is now operating smoothly. Also Doug Albrecht has repaired the railing on the turntable bridge, and Dick Manning with the assistance of Rich Randall continues to work on the trolley line. Most recently they have energized the interurban interchange with the main line.
Overall, the division is running well.
Doug Albrecht, O Superintendent
Tracks Ahead Visits the BSME
by Jim Berg
August 18 saw the gang from Tracks Ahead visit the BSME for filming for the upcoming (2001-2002) season. Tracks Ahead is produced by Milwaukee Public Television. David Baule is the producer, and the rest of his team was John McKay (Videographer) and Gail Guzybowski (Audio Engineer). This season's episodes are being filmed in HDTV format, so will really show the details of our layouts. We will receive a VHS copy of the show when all the post production is completed, expected to be early next year.
The crew arrived at 8:30am and left a little after 5pm, and it was a busy all day affair. We had a large crowd of people to operate the layouts, and three members were interviewed for the episode. Doug Albrecht was interviewed for the club history and background, Carvey Davis for the O scale layout and Ben McKnew for the HO scale layout. Operators and groupies included Keith and Kevin Wood, Jim Berg, John McPherson, Nick Costanzi, Charles Edlow, Patrick McKnew, George Watson, Ted Leach, and Dick Manning. After the interviews were shot we started filming the trains.
The filming commenced at Kehs Corners for the HO layout and included the HO Narrow gauge thanks to the great work of Kevin Hunter. We had a coal drag provided by Nick Costanzi, two passenger trains provided by Keith and Kevin Wood, and George Watson provided the narrow gauge equipment for film day. Filming moved down the layout to the engine and yard facilities. The round house was full of steam equipment for the publicity shots, including an engine sitting on the turntable. The film crew moved upstairs to get the engineer cabs and dispatchers tower, complete
with the audio of the engineers and dispatcher running the layout, as we do for our shows. Filming on the HO layout finished with shooting some city scenes.
The film crew moved on to the O layout and started their work with the town of Piedmont including the trolleys and a couple mainline trains. And then it was Doug Albrecht working the Engine and Yard facilities. It was interesting to watch the Videographer, John, set up the shots and explain to everyone what he wanted to move when, and the visual cues he would use to each person to start the train or trolley when he wanted. It made the scenes quite complex. I myself am anxious to see the final product.
The O scale layout was finished with shots of the coal mine and town, with members pressed into service as visitors and one HO member was forced to become a pseudo O scale operator. When Kevin was asked if he was defecting to the O scale side his reply was short and simple "No!"
For those who were not able to make the filming I videoed most of it. However, I wasn't thinking and didn't get Doug's Interview on tape. We won't be able to get an unedited copy as that is the way it works, and besides it was filmed in HDTV so we don't have the equipment to play it! Both Doug and I did receive letters from Tracks Ahead , and one is included here for everyone's reading.
I personally want to thank everyone for coming down and making this filming a success, and to all who put in a lot of hard work getting the layout cleaned and ready for the crew. The episodes they are filming will be for the next season of Tracks Ahead, which is scheduled to air in the Fall of 2001. It takes about three years from the start of planning through filming to post production.
Doug Albrecht
Baltimore Society of Model Engineers
225 West Saratoga
Baltimore, MD 21201
Dear Doug;
I was certainly a pleasure to work with you on your feature for "Tracks Ahead." Thanks ever so much for your hospitality and help during the videotaping. I have had a chance to review the footage and everything looks just great. The piece will be inserted into the series sometime prior to the scheduled release date of October 1, 2001. A VHS copy of the finished segment will be forwarded to the club sometime in the near future.
Once again, thanks to everyone involved for making our job so much easier. I hope that you enjoy the new release of "Tracks Ahead."
Best Regards-
David K. Baule
Executive Producer
"Tracks Ahead"
Celebrating 175 Years of American Railroading
by Doug Albrecht
At the B&O RR Museum's Annual Members Meeting on Wednesday, September 20, 2000, Director Courtney Wilson announced plans for celebrating 175 years of "America on Track". This event will be national in scope, encompassing all facets of the American experience with its railroads, including historical, cultural, industrial, and (yes even) recreational aspects. Baltimore's Mayor O'Mally is the honorary chairman of the 16-month celebration that will culminate on July 4th, 2003, the 175th anniversary of the laying of the first stone of the B&O Railroad. The highlight of the overall event will be a week-long recreation of the Fair of the Iron Horse - not in Halethorpe, but rather on the campus of the Museum. The Fair will coincide with Baltimore hosting the National Convention of Commuter Railroads. In order to give the Fair an atmosphere of a fair or carnival, there will be several pavilions located on the adjacent grounds of Carroll Park and the Mt. Clair mansion. Each pavilion will have a theme emphasizing some aspect of railroads in America. Some of the themes under consideration are:
- Railroad people - from porters to presidents, gandy dancers to robber barons
- Vendors and suppliers - a railroad "trade show"
- Cultural influences - how the railroads helped influence and spread American culture
- Railroad hobbies - model railroads and railroad memorabilia collecting
among many others. Regarding the last theme, Courtney suggested privately that the BSME could take a lead role in planning and preparing the pavilion.
Courtney had previously announced many of the highlights of his speech in the Summer 2000 issue of the "Roundhouse Review", the Museum's quarterly newsletter. Also in the "Review" is a picture of the America on Track logo, which Courtney hopes to have displayed on the sides of every locomotive in America during the entire 16 months of the celebration.
Following his speech, Courtney introduced the Museum's new curator and deputy director, Edward Williams, who proceeding to open up some of the museum's treasures for a members-only look inside. Included were the car shop, where Western Maryland F-7A #236 and the St. Elizabeth Porter steam locomotive are the final stages of restoration, coach #20, dating from 1868 (members were given white cotton gloves to protect the upholstery, and Caboose #1775, the bobber (which included a tour of the cupola).
We at the BSME wish Courtney and Museum every success in this ambitious project and we will look for ways that we can contribute to the success.
Live Steam Through the Mountains - 2000
by Kevin Hunter
Those of you who've met me know that I have a narrow view of railroading, so when this August I was in the neighborhood of Denver I scheduled in a few extra days of travel, and headed down to the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad, running on the old narrow gauge tracks of the D&RGW.
The two bit history lesson:
In late 1879 the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad won its case in the Supreme Court against the Santa Fe Railroad, securing its trackage rights north of Espanola, New Mexico. The court win put the company in a secure position, and new investment money came rolling in.
In 1880 a flurry of building activity pushed the 3 foot gauge Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad up across the mountains toward the mining fields of the San Juan mountains - near Durango and Silverton Colorado. The pass chosen was at the head of the Cumbres Creek, above the Rio de Los Pinos; the river that cut the Toltec Gorge. It may have been chosen because it was lower in altitude than the alternate routes. It also may have been chosen because it was more southern route, effectively blocking advances made into the area by the Santa Fe. The tracks from Alamosa along the Rio Grande River to Antonito, then up to Cumbres Pass, and down to the new railhead of Chama were started in April, and completed on December 31, 1880.
Most of the D&RGW tracks were re-laid to standard gauge by 1900, but the run from Antonito to Chama, like the run from Durango to Silverton, was laid in very tight places, and with very tight "20 degree" curves (20 degrees in 100 feet). These curves prevented heavier and longer standard gauge equipment from ever making use of the line, so that section of the line was operated with narrow gauge equipment by the D&RGW until 1968. In 1970 the newly formed Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad took over operations of the line.
Arriving in Chama, New Mexico, you can see that the railroad yard, just down the slope from Main Street, is about half the town. The station is original, and painted like every building on the line in golden yellow with brown trim.
The coaling tower is small by mainline standards, but it still towers over the track. The water tower stands at the end of the yard, painted to match the station.
The yard is full of old rolling stock- boxcars, flats, stock cars, and a line of cabooses. OM and OY, the rotary snowplows built in the 1880s, sit end to end on a side track, still in operational condition, waiting to do battle with the snows of Cumbres Pass.
The engine is filthy black sitting under it's column of black smoke. Number 489 is a heavy D&RGW outside frame 2-8-2. Low and powerful, it sits close to the narrow track. On every run up the steep grades up to Cumbres Pass the old K-36 covers itself with a coat of black cinders.
A gray auxiliary water tank car that is part of the OY consist is the first car behind the engine, followed by the passenger cars, and finally an open gondola for the intrepid photographers braving the snow of cinders.
The presence of the water car was a puzzle until just as the train started, spray nozzles were opened creating a fan of water ten feet to either side of the train to protect against fire. The weeds and brush grow right onto the track, and the fire hazard in Colorado is the highest it has been in years. A speeder follows half a mile behind the train carrying fire extinguishers, looking for fires set by flying cinders.
On the open platform between the cars, looking down, the rails are just wider than the gangway between cars.
The sound of a steam engine under heavy load is more rare than the engines themselves. In Strasburg, and the other museum lines the runs are often slow, and short, and without any major obstacle. On the climb to the Pass each exhaust chuff becomes sharp and clear. The chambers on the back side of the pistons are slightly smaller (they have a drive rod in the chamber lowering the overall displacement), and have a slightly softer, deeper note, creating a Chuff-Chuff-chuff-chuff counterpoint.
The land slopes far away to the peaks on one side and drops about six hundred feet to the river on the other.
The cars sway a bit as the trucks range about finding their center. On the tightest turns the flanges bump the rails and squeal like a trolley.
About four and a half miles out of Chama the track crosses the Lobato trestle. One hundred feet tall, and three hundred ten feet long, it is the only major bridge on the line. It is light enough that when a double headed train reaches the trestle, the helper engine has to break off and cross separately to prevent overloading the span.The climb from Chama to Cumbres Pass climbs over 2200 feet in about 13 miles. By winding into, and out of, every creek valley on the one side of the steep sided ravine. This way, the track is able to almost double it's length during the steep climb and keep the ruling grade down to four percent. A longer train will continually be passing itself on the "S" curves.
Crossing Cumbres Pass at over 10,000 feet elevation, the valley on one side is replaced by a steep rise to the ridge crest, and a wooded valley appears on the other. The roar of the exhaust is cut back to a quiet chuff, and the train begins it's much more gentle decent along the walls of the Toltec Gorge toward Antonito...
Next time, the end of the trip, and travel along the ghost roadbeds ...
[More of Kevin's photos can be viewed at
www.widgetworks.com/~kevin/personal
- worth checking out-ed.]
The Slim Gauge Guild
by Nick Costanzi
Just a bit south of the old AT&SF depot in Pasadena California (Bill - take note!), where I spent many hours watching the Super Chief, El Capitan, and the fast mail hauled by Alco PA's, roll through, is a basement that is not much good for anything but storage - low ceilings, no lights, no plumbing, no heat, no air. No, not much good for anything else, except for two model railroads devoted to narrow gauge operations. This 2K sq.ft. basement is the home of the Slim Gauge Guild, a model railroad club, perhaps unique in many ways. The Slim Gauge Guild is a loose confederation of narrow gaugers who have pooled their efforts, and in the tradition of true narrow gauge railroading in the U.S., are piecing together two outstanding railroads - one HOn3, the other Sn3 - with chewing gum, bailing wire, and whatever else can be gotten and used on the cheap.
The origin of the Slim Gauge Guild is itself an interesting story. To begin, it is not one club, but two. No, not one HO and the other S, rather the group who occupies the basement, and an earlier enterprise, the Slim Gauge Guild known as the SGG, which is still in existence, but inactive. The current Slim Gauge Guild was begun in 1985 at the Old Whistle Stop in east Pasadena, California, and included some members of the original SGG as well as Brian Brooks, an owner of the Whistle Stop. The first three meetings in the basement location were held by flashlight (remember - no lights!). The club took two years to build the layout room, which included some judicious movement of posts and beams to accommodate aisle ways. But once lighting was in, modular layouts appeared for "operating sessions" while the room was finished and bench work begun in earnest.
So where is the club now after fifteen years? After fifteen years, a typical club would have finished the layouts, been operating, and probably have completed or be in the midst of renovation and/or detail improvement. However in no way is the Slim Gauge Guild typical. For one thing, the club supports two very different approaches and philosophies. The Sn3 layout is operations. The HOn3 layout is an attempt to duplicate specific prototypic scenes in scale. As a consequence, the track work on the Sn3 layout is complete, the terrain is in, and as you can see, although far from sceniced, trains run - logs and ore move along the thin steel ribbons. On the other hand, the HOn3 is still much more a "work-in-progress." The mains are in - almost, and a few scenes have been completed. But the layout itself remains largely cardboard and photographs. But then, that is both the beauty and raison d'etre for the Slim Gauge Guild.
The Sn3 layout is basically a point-to-point scheme, or rather, point-to-many points: the standard gauge interchange at one end, and mines and logging camps are the others. The time period is the past, but neither the railroad nor the time is specific. Both steam and diesels are accommodated, so the structures and detailing are more or less generic. Of course this means buildings and railroad facilities and structures generic to the unique nature of narrow gauge railroading - old, built of local materials to the extent possible (read that as wood), somewhat ill-maintained, and most important, done on the cheap. Although only a few scenes are anything near complete, all the buildings have been located, and almost all of the bridges have been completed. Where buildings are yet to be constructed, paper board mock-ups occupy their spaces.
As with any narrow gauge, loops and switchbacks abound, and the physical placement of scenes on the layout provides an effective illusion of a long climbing main, clinging to rocky ledges and spanning deep river gorges. Yet, the track plan manages to focus the visitor's eyes on only one scene at a time, enhancing the illusion of distance and space. At the same time, engineers can easily follow and maneuver their trains (sometimes only a shey and two log cars owing to the steep grades) up and down and round and round. This is thanks to a well thought-out walk-around/cab control hybrid system, which features multi-throttle ports located at specific locations, designed to minimize trainmen interfering with one another.
On the HOn3 side, the thrust is to duplicate numerous specific scenes of the narrow gauge railroads that operated in Rockies: the Rio Grande, the narrow gauge portion of the Denver and Rio Grand Western, and the Rio Grand Southern. Photographs of scenes to be modeled are hung in conspicuous places to aid the members in constructing their railroads, and to give the visitor an idea of what will be there - some day. Plans even call for a replica of the famous "hanging bridge," which will require the viewer to crane his neck around the side of a canyon wall to see.
Unlike the Sn3 side, which was constructed track first, then scenery, the HOn3 side is construct-as-you-go, then do it again, at least in parts. Consequently, only a few scenes have been completed, but these are highly detailed and executed so well that it is easy to forget that you are viewing a model. Yet in other areas, only bench work and some corrugated board scenery forms are in place - along with the ubiquitous photographs, of course. None the less, the plan for the three separate narrow gauge railroads, including the standard gauge interchange at Salida, is so complete and detailed, that it does not take much imagination to see the rambling trains dwarfed by the majestic Rockies winding their way through the canyons and across the high mountain meadows.
In the next issue I will talk a bit more about the Slim Gauge Guild, and about how it operates as a club.
Two shacks on a flat car
by Benjamin P. Mc Knew
This here's Melvin. As freight conductor on the "big road" Melvin had no equal. No body could switch cars like him. A typical eight hour trip would be cut in half, the other half in the clear on some forgotten spur out in the boones napping in the crummy.
Well, Melvin wasn't happy. He decided to bump over to the passenger side. Ho! I Did I mention Melvin likes to gamble? He didn't last two weeks on the "LIMITED." On the 16th of May, the GM was onboard. The train stops at Hamlet, and where's Melvin? Back in the Parlor car holding a king-high straight flush. It's lucky for Melvin the train was still in the station when his face hit the bricks, other wise his injuries (broken nose, two front teeth, sore shoulder, and a very sore rear end), complements of the GM , could have been much worse.
Now Melvin is working for a contractor (Patrick's Railway), dragging cars from one bottle neck to another. Would you believe he still has an attitude? "I don't do hand brakes or air hoses. That's brakes work."
The caboose is a kit from Ye Old Huff and Puff. None of the details shown came with the kit.
Using one's imagination for Melvin's personality is just one more way to enjoy this great hobby.
[editor's note: Melvin and his crummy have had temporary duty on the C&W of late, and can sometimes be found hanging around the far end of the Wilson yard.]
Shov'lin' Coal
As you all know, the BSME was visited by the Tracks Ahead television program this August. The filming went on all day, and happy to say no mishaps occurred - on camera. We put on a good show, and all the work getting the layouts ready for the shoot really paid off. Happy to say that the collective efforts are continuing, with more members showing up on Friday nights to enjoy their club.
In this issue's Shov'lin' Coal I want to discuss two proposals for consideration by the members of BSME. One is the possibility of the club building some modules. In an e-mail to the editor, Keven Hunter, a new member of the BSME, has suggested some interesting possibilities. I think his proposal bears close listening.
The other consideration is opening the club on more than just Friday nights. Not necessarily a second week night or Sunday afternoon, but making keys to the club available to members at the discretion of the board. I am sure that I am not the only member who wishes to work on the layouts, but can not always match available time to the Friday nights when the club is open. I have been told of the theft that occurred, and why keys are no longer routinely issued to members. However, I suspect that what I suggest - providing keys at the discretion of the board - is a reasonable compromise that would protect the club's and member's property and yet facilitate maintenance and enhancement of the club facilities. Jim Berg has also suggested alternating Friday nights with Sunday afternoons as "official" club nights. Seems like a good idea.
The following is from a letter received (via e-mail) from Kevin Hunter.
"Keeping the club alive
"I have been racking my brain trying to think of ways to breath life into the club, attract new members, and make a start on a move to an as yet unknown new home. New trackage with a long projected life is the best way for any railroad company to grow.
The massive show pieces layouts that we have, combined with the ever decreasing ability to easily show them in our downtown location, have most members thinking about finding a new home. The HO layout has enough tired trackage that just getting a train to run on it seems to be half the current effort of the HO crew. I have had a couple of models damaged on crumbling scenery; on tracks only the most acrobatic folks could reach to keep clean.
I am the type who likes to build stuff, and then run it some to show off what I did. This aspect of development and construction are half of most clubs business. The development of new projects, which will survive the current layouts, are the only way I foresee to keep my long term interest in the club. Others have stated the same sentiment. New construction will help attract new members; and a growth in membership is crucial to the survival of the BSME.
"Small unit development projects
New construction projects, if they are not to be tied down as part of the main layouts, could be built in small, movable table units four to eight feet long. During construction these could be set up one, two or three at a time in the front room--a much more hospitable space in the winter cold, and summer heat. Once complete, several of the units can be assembled end-to-end for long-track operations. I feel we don't need to fear modules as the thing that will tear apart the club. Modules and modular construction don't have to dictate what we build, or how we build. Although some of the work may be completed in various members backroom or basement shops, I propose we take on modular bench-work projects as a club. Here are some points I think will make this work.
"The Manifesto:
—New projects should be built as complete scenes that are continuous for 12 to 16 feet (even more in O gauge). Each scene should break into shorter units, and be 24" to 36" deep for ease of maintenance, and transport.
—We should forget about NMRA standard module alignments within each scene so that the hills and curving mainlines of our region could be freely portrayed.
—All of our work should share a common color pallet and scenery texture to avoid that broken-up, discontinuous feel of common modular club efforts.
—Scenes should be orchestrated so that they flow one to the next if possible. If they don't, dividing features (mountains, dividers, strategically placed curves) should be planned to separate one scene from the next to let viewers "discover" what's around the next bend.
—Our displays should be presented with theatrically planned use of sophisticated lighting, valences, table fronts and skirting. These should be a consistent and integral part of our work, to hold our efforts a cut above the norm.
—Each project should be laid out so that it can be taken to a show. We should keep in mind that we do not need to take the layout anywhere unless that suits the needs, interests, and energy levels of the current membership.
—We should think of whatever we build as the beginnings of our next layout, an investment in the future, and a method to bring our club together with a new common purpose."
Kevin Hunter
C & O STEAM TURBINE
Mike's Train House has released an O scale models of the C & O steam turbine locomotive - both a tinplate version and a two-rail scale version. Peach Creek Shops in Laurel has a two-rail version for sale (they still had at least one when I was there on September15th), and they are asking $1,035 for it. I looked at it, and it looks to be a well-done model of an impressive engine.- John McPherson