Herein an e-mail to Ron Kutch from Jo Moore at Barnes & NobleI wanted to let you know that I have confirmed Richard Troxell's book signing for "Texan Trains" for Saturday, August 31 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. (at the Barnes & Noble bookstore). Any help you can give in promoting this event in your train newsletter would be appreciated. I've included some dust jacket info for you to include if space allows.
Texas is rich in railroad history starting with the Republic of Texas and railroading in Texas continues to thrive today. Troxell brings it all to life with stories of train robbers, train wrecks, the rise and fall of railroad towns, steam engines, historical depots, and direction for where to ride and what to see today - all wrapped around the clues to a real treasure hunt.
Author, Richard Troxell traveled 11,802 miles of road writing his first book, "Barbecuing Around Texas." This time he covered 10,876 miles of track from Dalhart to Brownsville, Texarkana to El Paso.
Thanks, Jo Moore
This would be a nice event for the club to support. Try and make it on Saturday, August 31.
The Southern Appalachia Railway Museum is hosting a "rare mileage" trip over several western Oklahoma short lines from October 31 - November 3.The trips will operate over the Wichita, Tillman & Jackson, Hollis & Eastern and Farmrail Railroads between Wichita Falls, TX, Altus, OK, Hollis, OK, Clinton, OK and Enid, OK. The routes encompass trackage formerly owned by Santa Fe, Union Pacific, Katy, Frisco, and the Kansas City, Mexico & Orient.
For those of you who aren't familiar, "rare mileage" refers to the fact that this is a very special opportunity to take a passenger train ride over a freight-only railroad. With a couple of minor exceptions, passenger trains haven't operated over these lines in over 40 years.
If you're interested, get your tickets quickly, these seats are limited and will fill up fast.
For more information, visit:
http://www.techscribes.com/sarm/srm_farmrail_info.htmJeff Ford/Amarillo
AMTRAK RECEIVES MONEY TO OPERATE THROUGH SEPTEMBER
On July 18, 2002, Congress appropriated $205 million to ensure that Amtrak continues to operate through September 30, 2002 (the end of the federal fiscal year), and into the year ahead.This appropriation enables Amtrak to move forward on a request to Congress and the Bush Administration to appropriate $1.2 billion to continue Amtrak's existing services through September 2003. While no agreement has been reached, Amtrak's new CEO, David Gunn, has pledged to run an efficient, cost-effective railroad, and be transparent about finances and operations. This will give policymakers what they need to make informed decisions about Amtrak and the role it can play among the Nation's intercity transportation systems.
AUGUST CLINIC
This month's clinic will be given by Ron Warner. Ron plans to conduct a decal clinic at the August 6 LMRA meeting. He will provide a demonstration and then assist others who wish to try "hands-on" decaling. Ron will bring sufficient materials for a maximum of four decal work tables, however, if you wish to try your hands-on skills, please bring sharp scissors or an Exacto-knife tweezers, a few toothpicks and some Q-Tips. This clinic is a natural follow-up to last month's session by David Lamberts on airbrushing.
By Bill Marvel as printed in the Dallas Morning News Friday, May 17, 2002, pg 1C.Once a year, Grandpa would get out the electric train. He'd lay the tack in a circle around the tree, attach the wires and plug in the transformer.
Then the train would take off like a jackrabbit, caroming around the rails. The crossing gate would bob as the cars rolled by, and if it was a really advanced train set, the engine would whistle, sort of, and smoke would curl back from the stack.
But they've been working on the railroad.
Model railroads - please don't call them electric trains - have rolled into the age of the microprocessor. With chips and software, they can do almost anything real railroads can do.
Sophisticated lighting cycles though artificial mornings, noons and nights, winking on city lights one by one as darkness descends. The sounds of trains mingle with the clangor of inside industry. Operators dispatch trains by computer, sometimes from hundreds of miles away, via the Internet. A few advanced techies have mounted tiny cameras in locomotive cabs, providing an engineer's -eye view of the track ahead.
One scale-model drive-in, theater, just on the market, includes a lighted marquee and neon sign, ticket booth, snack bar and an LCD (liquid crystal display) screen that can show videos from a DVD, VCR cable or satellite.
The only limit, says Terry Thompson, editor of Model Railroader Magazine, is imagination. The rest is technology.
In his imagination, Jack Burgess' garage layout in Newark, in California's Silicon Valley, represents a real lumber railroad, the Yosemite Valley, on an August afternoon in 1939. But it's technology that give each engine its own distinctive medley of sighs, clanks, and whistles. Chips and circuits provide the call of quail in the underbrush, the racket of crows overhead, the full-throated rush of a river. Electronics waft the bracing scent of pine across the minature hills and valleys.
When friends show up for an operating session on Richard Day's Fort Travis & Dayton railroad, in the den above his Richardson garage, they don't have to depend upon their imaginations. Microprocessors control the movement of each engine independently, the switchers that shuffle cars in the yard, the four-unit diesel that hustles into a siding with a long freight to let The Limited speed by. Signals wink red and green in response to the movement of trains, and heaven help the engineer who doesn't pay attention. (To be continued)
NATIONAL NARROW GAUGE CONVENTION
It is that time of year for me to start campaigning for the National Narrow Gauge convention. This year the meeting is in Warwick, Rhode Island (just south of Providence). It is the first time it has ever been to the east coast. The convention officially opens at 7:00 p.m. on September 4, (Wednesday). It concludes on Saturday, September 8 around midnight with a live auction. There is a lot on the plate for this years meeting. The convention will feature the regular activities of a NNGC including a large dealer room, prototype and model clinics, layout tours, on-site displays and module layouts, model and photo contests, and area tourist railroads and activities. Some of the later include the Edavill Railroad, Valley Railroad, Historic Newport Mansions Tour, Battleship Cove in Fall River, Mystic Seaport, and the New Bedford Whaling Museum and Historical District where you can actually see narrow gauge whales.The hotel is the Crowne Plaza Hotel at the Crossings in Warwick. The room rate is $119 per night. The convention's web page is http://www.22ndnngc.com . It's a swell meeting. If you're awake, you're having fun.
Q: What is a shoo-fly track?A: A shoo-fly track is a temporary railway track built and used for the purpose of detouring traffic while the permanent railway line is being reconstructed or repaired, or while some obstruction prevents it use.
To install grab irons on plastic cars and locos, bend the grab from the correct size wire, grip it near one end with needlenose pliers, and press it against the car. Press a hot soldering iron near the middle of the grab iron; this will cause the plastic to melt where it to touches the ends of the grab iron. Force the ends of the grab iron into the soft plastic, remove the soldering iron, and hold the grab iron in place with the pliers until the plastic cools and hardens. The grab iron will then be securely fastened.
ONE MORE HINT
Staples sold at stationery stores are often just the right length between bends to be used for grab irons.
EVENTS
On August 17, the Lone Star Railways and Hobbies presents the 2002 Eighth Annual New Braunfels Summer Model Train Show at the New Braunfels Civic Center. Contact Bryan Weidner at 830 935-2517 or e-mail at b55w@gvtc.com for details.The Austin Steam Train Association will present the Texas Hill Country Railfair and Festival on August 24-25 at the Burnet Community Center. For details contact the Austin Steam Train Association at 512 477-8468.
Developed by the T and DART, there is now a commuter rail service between Fort Worth and Dallas. This new business-class service represents the first major joint venture between the two cities since the construction of DFW International Airport. Scheduled train service is provided Monday thru Saturday. No regularly scheduled service is available on Sunday. Trinity Railway Express can take you to STARS, MAVS and concerts at the new American Airlines Center. The fair is $4. For details call 817 215-8600.Staying on Track is published monthly by the LMRA - David Lamberts, editor. Visit us on the Internet at http://www.railserve.com/lmra E-mail me at DWL1944@cs.com
Our mailing address is PO Box 53674, Lubbock, TX 79453