7:30pm at the Highland Baptist Activity Center, 34th and Quaker. Sheldon Klock will show slides of the Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge. The new board officers will also be announced.
Details at the meeting.
http://home.earthlink.net/~jackseay . E-mail jackseay@sbcglobal.net mailto:jackseay@usa.net, . If you want to write a newsletter article or announcement (short or long), give it to me at the meeting, email it, call me: H 785-0068, W 792-6512, or send it to 5801-22nd St. #24, Lubbock, TX 79407. Articles for the web page can be long-winded.
Tuesday, 7:30 P.M., January 19th, at Patrick Pritchett's house, 4702-16th. St.
Thanks to all who helped with the club layout December 5th to the 24th.
Date: Dec. 13, 98 Subject: The Boomer is Enid Bound As the subject line suggests, I'm headed for Enid, OK. The annual winter cuts have found me, and I'm going where the work is... If any of you happen to be in the neighborhood, look me up! I am leaving the TPRHS in the capable hands of my VP, Richard Raff, he's not online, but can be reached at (806)622-3901. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! -Jeff Ford
All this has now changed. Jeff is now working for the railroad in Lubbock, of all places. I talked to him at Wings and Things.
G (1:20.3) scale Class ""B" 25 ton Climax. They came out with a G scale B-2 Shay last year. Though not exactly narrow-gauge (they run on standard width track) they have the look. I love to watch the geared locos run. Just the thing for a backyard logging railroad.
Also, new are 3 On30 passenger train sets. These are O scale, but run on HO track. These Spectrum locos are 2-6-0's, and have 5-pole skewed armatures for slow starts. This could introduce a lot of people to narrow gauge railroading. I hope to see more ready-to-run in the future, perhaps in Sn3, HOn3, HOn2 1/2, Nn3, and Zn3. Believe it or not, some crazy people do model Zn3. I hope to someday.
For those unfamiliar with the symbols, the O, S, or HO signifies the scale, the "n" means narrow gauge track, and the number (3, 2 1/2, 2) is the width of the track in feet. Sometimes, it is in inches, such as 30.
Last month, I had in the newsletter a plan for a 2'X4' N-scale layout. I will probably make a few small changes.
I got in the Micro-Engineering code 55 turnouts. Since they are all metal frogs, I will connect each turnout to a small electrical switch which will change the polarity of the frog (the center point where the tracks cross). This is the most reliable way to install these, because there will inevitably be some corrosion of the points and rails they contact, causing some open circuits. This is especially likely after weathering the turnouts and ballasting the track.
The Micro-Engineering turnouts have scale size spikes and tie plates, an advantage if you plan on doing close-up photography of the layout. It's a trade-off: more realism but more difficult installation using the M.E. Turnouts; or easier installation but not as close to scale appearance using Peco or Atlas.
I may also install switch machines. I haven't decided yet. If I do, there will a vertical control panel under the yard. The 36" high trestle benchwork that was planned to go up to the bottom of the yard will only be 18" high on both sides of the layout. That will provide space to access the electrical switches and switch machines.
For more stability, I plan on laying the track on 1/2" plywood instead of masonite.
A few weeks ago, I grabbed 4 turnouts and some track, plugged it all together on a desk, and learned a few things about how to get the most out the least amount of space. This is especially important to those of us who live in apartments. The design is below.
The track on the left of the first turnout has only enough room for a switcher and one car, so any moves there are one car at a time. In addition, there is enough parking space for only a few extra cars, so a lot of switching may have to take place to change the position of one car. It can take an hour or more to re-position just 11 cars in a small yard like this.
For a newcomer to the hobby, I would recommend a layout similar to this, rather than a bare oval or figure-8 . I suspect a lot of people buy a beginner set, watch the train run around for 20 minutes, then it's off to a closet shelf, never to be used again. A ladder can also be added in variations in several places on a larger layout.
Anytime you design a layout, think about how interesting it will be to operate months and years from now. To me, that means realistic operation in a realistic setting. Anything that detracts from that subtracts from the lasting value of the layout. Anything that makes it more realistic in appearance and operation makes it more enjoyable.
Here is the switch-list I used.
1a NP NW NW NW ACL
1b Heinz Shell Heinz NP CB&Q
1c NW PFE NP PFE UTLX
1d Shell CB&Q RI UTLX D&RGW
2a PFE NP D&RGW D&RGW NP
2b UTLX Heinz UTLX Heinz RI
3a CB&Q D&RGW PFE Shell PFE
3b RI UTLX CB&Q CB&Q Shell
4 D&RGW RI ACL ACL Heinz
5 ACL ACL Shell RI NW
I used a random method of assigning movements. I wrote down the starting locations in the second column. Each car identification (ACL, RI, etc.) was written on a separate little piece of paper and all were shaken up. Then as I took out each paper, it was written in the third column starting at the top and going down. These were the locations for the first moves. The process was repeated for the second moves, etc.
A bigger layout is generally better for both operations and scenery, but you have to examine how much space, time, and money you have available for construction and maintenance, and work within those limits. Whether or not is will be portable is also an important factor. A permanent layout has fewer restrictions on design, since you won't have to figure in door and hallway clearances, and the complications of module disconnections.
The best book I've read yet on layout design is "Design Handbook For Model Railroads" by Paul Mallery. I've started reading "The V & O Story" by W. Allen McClelland. It is also very good.
This is a point to point layout that will fill a space 7 1/2' X 9 1/2'. It is made of three modules 2' wide by 7 1/2' long by 6' high. This is for N scale but could be modified for HO scale.
The setting is the Pacific Northwest, with lots of cliffs and tree-covered slopes, and an ocean inlet you walk on. The floor is a 4'X8' piece of 1/2" plexiglass painted blue on the bottom. This is the water you walk on, in your stockings. This comes up to a 2 feet high cliff (removable for access to wiring). Above that is the scenery 2 feet deep and 4 feet high. The total height is 6 feet, some of that mountains and cliffs, some of it backdrop.
The 4 feet wide aisle should allow two people to operate at the same time. The yard on each side is slightly offset, so the operators can sit or stand next to each other, rather than trying to squeeze in opposite the same aisle space. More sidings could also be added to the end module, if you want to have three operators. Maximum grade is 4%. Yard and siding track is flat and straight.
To make the modules easier to connect, only one track crosses each boundary. The end module has a passing siding located on a curved trestle. The trackwork is kept simple to allow for lots of scenery (trees, cliffs, waterfalls, streams, hiking trails, campgrounds, etc.).
There are several switchbacks used to gain height without resorting to very steep grades. The track is split into four electrically isolated sections (blocks): one on each side module and two for the passing siding.
One side module could be completed before beginning the others. A diagram of the layout is below.
4 - 7:30pm - Meeting
19 - 7:30 - Executive committee - new board