I know many of you have heard of hom-asote, that excellent material for roadbed construction, but few of us have actually ever seen the stuff. This article will discuss the product and, believe it or not, describe where to obtain it in Lubbock, TX!The Homasote Company, founded in 1909 and located in West Trenton, New Jersey, is the nation's oldest manufacturer of building products made from recycled waste paper. The company first introduced Homasote board in 1916. Because it was impervious to weather extremes, the U.S. government began to use Homasote in field hospitals and military houses during World War I.
Homasote is made from 100% recycled newsprint and consists entirely of paper fibers converted from recycled wastepaper. Added to this are ingredients that give it weather-resistant features. The small amount of newsprint ink remaining through the processing gives the board its grayish tint. The raw material (wastepaper) is conveyed to a hydrapulper, where hot water is added. A high-speed rotor in the bottom of the hydrapulper breaks down the raw material into pulp. The refined slurry (98% water, 2% pulp) is then fed to holding tanks. From the holding tank, the slurry is pumped to fill molds 8 feet by 12 feet in size. When the mold closes, water is removed from the slurry leaving a large, thick mat. The mat is conveyed to a large press, where time and pressure establish the proper thickness while removing more water. These sheets are then conveyed through a dryer for two to six hours, depending on thickness. Additional water is removed as the sheet is dehydrated to 2% moisture content. The sheet is now board stock and is cut to size and made into a variety of Homasote products.
Homasote has an enormous variety of uses including automotive part's trays, shot gun ammunition wadding, casket parts, children's furniture, window shims, etc. Its claim to fame in the model railroad hobby is its superb roadbed properties. It is an excellent sound deadener. It holds spikes without gluing. It can be cut and sanded into any straight or curved shape. It can be glued, nailed, or stapled. I suspect that more of us would use it as roadbed material if we could find it. Good news!
Call Bowman's Lumbar on University and ask for Ben. Tell Ben you want to order some Homasote board and if he forgets, remind him that his vendor is Prime Source in Dallas, TX. Ben's number is 745-3333. Homasote comes in different densities. Classification 440 is excellent for roadbed work and is not quite as heavy as some of the denser varieties. I use ½ inch thick board, but it comes in other thicknesses. The manufacturer is The Homasote Company, Box 7240, West Trenton, NJ 08628-0240 (800 257-9491). Note that the editor has no financial interest in the Homasote Company nor in Bowman's Lumbar.
John Lott wanted me to remind the members to bring to the April 3 meeting your finished freight car kits which he kindly distributed some months ago. The winner will be judged based on construction skills and gets to keep the car. The losers owe John $3.00.
The Tucumcari Mountain Modular Railroaders will present their second annual train show July 22-23. The show will be held in the Tucumcari Convention Center at 1512 South 2nd Street, Tucumcari, New Mexico 88401 (505 461-1797). Their e-mail address is Rambobj@hotmail.com They also have a web site at http://tuc-trains.tripod.com. For more information you may contact Christine Grubb, the show coordinator.
I received the following letter in the club mailbox last week. If there is any interest in this, let's discuss it at the next meeting.
What would you say if ehobbies offered you 10% off your next purchase of model railroading items? How about 10% off every ehobbies purchase, forever. Now let's toss in free ground shipping on every order over $25. Would you call it unbelievable? We call it "ehobbies Club Rewards."
ehobbies is offering every hobby club and their club members in the United States, 10% off each purchase and free ground shipping on orders over $25, every day, all year, forever. This is not a onetime offer, but ehobbies' way of saying we support the hobby clubs that build, promote and preserve hobbies and hobby traditions.
Just complete the enclosed application form and return it to:
PMB #1 15
3250 Olympic Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90404
We'll send you an ehobbies Club Rewards Card with a special number that will identify you as a hobby club member and ensure you get your discount and free shipping. In addition, we will keep you informed about new model railroading products, special sales and other promotions from ehobbies. All this because you are a valued member of the model railroading community.
There's lots going on at ehobbies and Club Rewards is just the beginning. Enclosed is information about ehobbies Communities, including chat rooms and message boards. We've also got ehobbies Auctions and ehobbies Magazine. So spend some time at ehobbies and save some cash.
Feel free to share this information with other club members so they can join in the savings. The next time you are online, go to www.eHobbies.com/clubs/club-rewards.asp to learn more about this offer. If you have any questions or comments on our new program, please contact me at the email address below.
As many of you may know, during the week of March 12-18, the LMRA set up the "Demonstration Pike" at Godeke library. We were able to operate the pike most days. I want to mention a few club members who did long haul duty for us. Thanks are due to Homer Morrow, Ray Zipp, Randel Bittick, Sheldon Klock and Jim Baker for the time they spent operating the layout. Others who helped in setting up the layout, taking it down or operating it were Dr. T. H. Holmes, Garron Cagle and Jack Seay.
The Lubbock Arts Festival is April 15-16 at the Fair Grounds. We will be setting up the HO modules for the weekend. Details are in this news letter. At our April club meeting (April 3), we will want to get an accurate count of the number of modules we should plan for. If you are planning to display your module in the layout, make sure we know.
We are still looking for a club member to oversee the setting up of the modules. If you would like to volunteer for this job, let me know before or at the April meeting. (795-1358 or rtrea@nts-online.net)
We have a few weeks to get our modules, loco's and rolling stock up and running. Now would be a good time to get your module ready; add some extra detailing, build a new structure or do some scenery repair. My goal is to get the scenery and electrical work done on my two new modules. Hopefully they will be ready in time for the Festival.
Hope to see you April 3.
Bob Anconetani
The Arts Festival set-up is Friday, April 14 until 9 P.M. Take down is Sunday after 6:00 P.M. The Festival is open from Saturday at 10:00 A.M. to Sunday at 6:00 P.M.
DECALS
Below is the art work for the decal Ron Warner mentioned at the last meeting. (Not yet available for the web page) He would like to see if there is enough interest in this decal to peruse getting some printed for the club. They would be sold just like the Lubbock Western Railroad decals.
PO Box 53674
Lubbock, TX 79453