NMRA Roundhouse June 2017

JUNE 2017Inside this issue:Scratchbuild Skeleton Log CarsCrossing America with AmtrakGN Disaster - The PrologueStarting Model RailroadingNMRA Down Under - Part 2 CP 6041 - SD40-2 at Christow FREEMO Event in May 2017 photo by Peter Bowen

On the weekend of 6th and 7th May 2017 ChristowDevon was the host of the second annual Freemo week-end where the following modules were gathered togetherfor a huge operating session running trains on HO Free-mo modules built by:Geoff Tiller - Springfield YardNeil Rogers - Dale Yard, Rifle River, Clinch River, Main StIan Smith - Jillsburgh Depot, BreweryMel Rogers - Emmery Cut, Melvin, Rockwood, Dayton,Emmery CrossingPaul Burton - Lumber millMike Ruby - Causeway, 23rd streetPete Colton - Alpha, Ridgley (working as two modules)Keith Webb - CoercriDan Spalding - Steyning Park, 45deg curves x2Martyn Read - Nucor & Lead, double track endsceneTom Winlow - White Rock JunctionIan Lampkin - Fort Myers (24’ version)Harry Brown - Brownville, Trident Park, CurvePeter Lloyd-Jones - Jonesville + 6” signal-modulePete Saunders - RocklinSimon Hughes - Sullivan ScrapPeter Bowen - RoundhouseBrian Moore - QuislingDavid McLaughlin - Blue Ridge SummitWestern Union Group - 2x staging yards, Lipson Jcn,2x 4’ straights, 3x 60’ curves, 3x 45’ curves, dry wash2  ROUNDHOUSE - June 2017

As you will have read in President Robin Swan’s tribute, it is with great sadness that we have learned that we have lost a most loyal friend of the NMRA British Region, Martin Boyask. Martin was, amongst other things, our Editor of Roundhouse for 34 years. This was a most significant volunteer role which Martin undertook with grace, good will, patience, great editorial judgement and encouragement to all who wished to contribute to Roundhouse. Martin’s generosity in his gift of volunteering was also so most generously supported by his dear wife, Linda. We offer our most warm and sin- cere condolences to Linda and all of Martin’s family, friends and colleagues. A minute’s silence was held at the Christow Freemo meet on Saturday 6 May 2017. It is hoped to publish a fuller tribute to Martin in the next issue of Roundhouse. Please email your memories, tributes and photographs to President Robin Swan as soon as possible.This issue of Roundhouse is based on what Martin had been preparing. I volunteered to be Guest Editor for this issueand the next issue in order to give time for a new Roundhouse Editor to volunteer. While a new Roundhouse Editoris eagerly awaited, I am delighted to report that Peter Bowen, NMRA BR Membership Director, has very generouslyvolunteered to take on the role of Roundhouse Design. This issue is a tribute to his sensitive design skills and tenacityin finding numerous files and images to complete the issue. A further thank you is due to Ian Wilson, who generouslyforwarded electronic images of his original artwork for Roundhouse. If something that you submitted as an article orBeanery ad has not appeared, please accept our apologies and kindly email them to me for inclusion in a future issue.It has also not been possible to ensure that all images were of a suitably high resolution for this issue.The gift of volunteering is fundamental to the life and well being of all voluntary organisations. The NMRA BritishRegion has been blessed in its life by many generous gifts of volunteering – dedicated people giving freely of theirtime, skills, insights, passions and expertise, very often supported in their giving of time and energy by their partners.All volunteers have one thing in common – a willingness to share their skills, knowledge and time to support theNMRA British Region and all its members! That includes you!The NMRA British Region BoD (Board of Directors) are looking for people to become part of our team of volunteersand whether that is to fill existing or emerging roles depends on what you have to offer and the time you can commit. Ifyou are interested then please make contact with me or any of the BoD. We’d love to hear from you! And volunteeringcan count towards the Achievement Programme!David McLaughlinGuest Editor and Vice President NMRA British Region ADVERTISING IN ROUNDHOUSE COPY DATES FOR FUTURE ISSUES OF ROUNDHOUSE Deadline for August is 30th June - Deadline for October is 31st August For Commercial advertising: Jonathan Small, Millfield, Vyner Road North, Merseyside CH43 7PZ Tel: 0151 652 2763 [email protected] PLEASE MENTION ROUNDHOUSE WHEN REPLYING TO ADVERTISERS   June 2017 - ROUNDHOUSE 3

Martin Boyask bills and produce the annual report and accounts. A keyAs I expect you all know the sad news that we have lost responsibility is to monitor the financial standing of thea loyal friend of the British Region of the NMRA. Martin Region, and advise the BoD on a day to day basis to aidBoyask was, amongst other things, our Editor of Round- decision making.house for 34 years. With his hard work and leadership, he Our accounts to date have been produced on what ac-took the magazine from a basic duplicated type-written countants refer to as an Income and Expenditure basis.newsletter to a full colour magazine published six times Simply put this means that income and expenditure isa year. Over the years he maintained an independent apportioned to the year to which it relates, rather than theeditorial stance — even through periods of change and year in which it is received or spent. Thus subscriptionscontroversy. received in February 2016 are apportioned to 2017/18,This issue is largely as Martin edited it before he passed (and 2018/19 if two years’ subs are received). Whilst thisaway. Out of respect, other than adding some additional is very logical from an accounting perspective it makesmaterial to complete the magazine, we have not made bookkeeping somewhat complex, and it can be difficultany substantial changes to this issue of the magazine. to reconcile figures in the accounts with funds in theThe next issue will dedicated to the memory of Martin. bank. Two factors that add to the complication are theAnyone who wishes to share their memories of Martin inevitable delay between subs being paid by memberswould they please forward them to me as soon as and payments from the Region being made to the USA.possible. The latter payments are made in dollars and are subjectThankyou. to exchange rate fluctuations. Our accounts are further complicated in that the changeover of our financial year occurs at the time of maximum financial activity, namely March/April.Financial Matters Having spent much time considering this I put two rec-This months car concerns matters financial. But please ommendations to the Board recently which have beenread on because it may be of benefit to many of you. agreed. The first is that we should produce accounts onBefore I hand over to the Treasurer - Chris James - I want a Cash Account basis. This reports income and ex-to bring to your attention the Arden Rail Fund. penditure as they are received/paid. This makes it muchThose who have been members for more that a few easier to reconcile the funds we have at any momentyears will remember fondly the Arden Rail Show put on with the balances at the bank. Cleary we cannot ignoreby Kathy Millatt and Nigel Bowyer. It was a public show- future payments that we are committed to make such ascase for the NMRA (BR). Rather than a meeting for mem- payments to be made to the USA, or funds received in re-bers (hence the name Meet), it was a show for the public spect of future years, but these are shown as notes to thebased around Norther American Model Railroads. The accounts, rather than in the body of the accounts them-surplus funds from those shows were donated by Kathy selves. Many companies are moving to cash accountingand Nigel to the NMRA for the purpose of encouraging as it is easier for them to monitor cash flow, which canshows put on by NMRA Groups for the public. be a major source of financial problems, particularly forFrom that fund, grants are available at the discretion of smaller organisations such as ours.the BoD. They are subject to the availability of funds, The other change we have implemented is to move ourthe merits of the competing claims and the overall level financial year from April-March back to Jan-December.of support for those events from other NMRA funds: for The Christmas/New Year period is very quiet with fewexample, insurance. If a group thinks they have a valid transactions so the balances shown in our ledgers moreclaim, then please put it in writing to the President of the closely align with our bank statements. An added benefitRegion. An example of such a grant is the one given to is that the bulk of our subscription income will be receivedthe event organised by the Kent & East Sussex Group on in the first few months of the financial year rather than atthe 22nd April - MODEL RAILROADING REVEALED. the end of the preceding financial year, which will assistI went down there and it was an excellent advert for the us to keep track of how much headroom we have for ex-NMRA. Many thanks to the team who organised it. And penditure during the year. Note that our subscription yearnow over to my Colleague. will remain 1 April – 31 March as at present.Treasurer’s input to President’s Car I have produced accounts on a cash account basis forI have been treasurer for about 18 months, and now have 2015 and for 2016 which will be published in Roundhousea clearer understanding of how the Region operates and shortly and subject to audit in the usual manner. I willthe costs and incomes associated with it over the year. report in more detail at the convention, but if anyone hasThe role of the treasurer is not only to pay the pay the any queries in the meantime they can email me at [email protected]  ROUNDHOUSE - June 2017

Welcome to my fourth ‘From the I’m delighted to report that JamesHead End’. The gift of volunteering Lucas has graciously volunteeredis fundamental to the life and well to take on the duties of the NMRAbeing of all voluntary organisations. British Region Registrar.The NMRA British Region has James can be reached atbeen blessed in its life by many 12 Yeomead,generous gifts of volunteering – Nailsea,dedicated people giving freely of North Somersettheir time, skills, insights, passions BS48 1JAand expertise, very often supported Telephone 07715 173909in their giving of time and energy bytheir partners.As you will have read in President [email protected] Swan’s tribute, it is with great All these volunteers have one thingsadness that we have learned that in common – a willingness to sharewe have lost a most loyal friend of their skills, knowledge and time tothe NMRA British Region, Martin support the NMRA British Region andBoyask. Martin was, amongst other all its members! That includes you!things, our Editor of Roundhouse for The NMRA British Region BoD34 years. This was a most significant (Board of Directors) are looking forvolunteer role which Martin undertook people to become part of our team ofwith grace, good will, patience, volunteers and whether that is to fillgreat editorial judgement and existing or emerging roles dependsencouragement to all who wished to on what you have to offer and thecontribute to Roundhouse. Martin’s time you can commit. If you are interested then pleasegenerosity in his gift of volunteering make contact with me or any of the BoD.was also so most generously supported by his dear wife, We’d love to hear from you! And volunteering can countLinda. We offer our most warm and sincere condolences towards the Achievement Programme!to Linda and all of Martin’s family, friends and colleagues. A big ‘thank you!’ to the team that put on the excellentA fuller tribute to Martin will follow in due course. A Merstham Freemo on 4 and 5 March 2017! A terrificminute’s silence was held at the Christow Freemo meet weekend, wonderful generous hospitality and greaton Saturday 6 May 2017. model railroading!The great volunteer work of Michael Ingham as the Please be assured that I look forward to meeting youNMRA British Region Registrar over the past 12 years and to hear first hand from you about what you enjoywas recognised at the Benson meet held on 14 January (and don’t enjoy) about the NMRA BR so your views2017 when President Robin Swan presented Michael can be considered by the BoD as the BoD considerswith the Freedom of the Region. the care and future development of the Region and its membership. Happy railroad modelling! David McLaughlin 1 May 2017 Vice President on behalf of the BODJames Lucas (left) recently met with Michael Ingham(right) to review the role of Registrar   June 2017 - ROUNDHOUSE 5

BLACK DIAMONDS pmjandlrr@talktalk .net 01284763701Meets: Sat 24th June; Sat 15th July; Sat 19th Aug; Sat 16th NORTH EAST DIVISIONSept; Sat 21st Oct; Sat 25th Nov; Sat 16th Dec. All meetings at SOUTH YORKSHIRE - SHEAF VALLEY GROUPKegworth Village Hall. DE74 2FH. from 9.30 to 4.00. The Hall Scheduled meetings at the Sheffield Model Railway Societywill be open from 9am and help will be much appreciated with premises, (TSL Turtons Ltd), Burton Road, Sheffield S3 8DAsetting up and taking down. www.black-diamonds.org.uk Steve Meets 11am to 3pm, last Sunday of the month. All NMRADennison 07834 718651 [email protected] members are welcome to come along - please check with ChrisCALDER NORTHERN Hobbs first for further updates or info. Tel 01909 562285Meets: Sun 11th June; Sat 15th July; Sun 13th. Aug; Sat [email protected] Sept; Sun. 8th Oct; Sat. 11th Nov; Sun. 10th Dec. Meets NORTHUMBRIA SUB DIVISIONat “Crewe Heritage Centre”, Vernon Way, Crewe CW1 2DB. The clubrooms of the Blyth & Tyne MRS at Redpath House, 40www.caldernorthern.org Les Herriot: [email protected] Saville St., N. Shields, NE30 1NT www.xclent.net John WrightCENTRAL DIVISION tel 0191 416 6280Central (North): West Midlands, Staffordshire and Shropshire NORTHERN IRELANDSteve Scott 07912 499430. Informal get-togethers on the 3rd Tuesday of each month, any-Central (South): Northamptonshire and Warwickshire one interested please phone Desmond Browne 028 9042 5110Brian Clark 01234 959326. [email protected] RAILROADERS “THE WATLING ROAD” RED DRAGONS (WALES) DIVISION(formerly Nene Valley Railroaders) Meet above Northants Model At Conservative Club, Vere Street, Cadoxton, Barry, Vale ofSupplies, Dunster Street, Northampton NN1 3JY every first, Glamorgan, CF63 2HU Meets: 1st July; 2nd Sept ; 2nd Dec.third, and fifth Thursdays of the month, 10am to 1pm. New Vanessa Howells 07855-034326 [email protected] welcome. We have an operational end to end layout comwith a switching theme (HO DCC) and hold regular operating See Red Dragon page on Barry & Penarth MRC’s web site atsessions on the second Sunday of even months from 10.30am www.bpmrc.org.ukonward. Geoff Ford, [email protected] or SCOTLANDtel 0208 951 0198 Meets at the premises of the Cupar Model Railway Club InCYDER BELT Cupar Fife on 6 May 2017. Details later. Niall SmithTHREE COUNTIES GROUP SOUTHEASTERN DIVISIONHereford, Gloucester, Worcester SEABOARD SOUTHERN GROUPPhone Rod Welch 01594 826400 or [email protected] Meets every 2nd (modelling) and 4th (social) Friday betweenTo ask about exhibitions contact Gavin Fry. gavin@worcsn- 6pm and 10pm at the Maidenbower Pavillion, Crawley, Westgauge.co.uk or [email protected] Sussex. Contact Dan Spalding on 07876 553211 or secretary@EASTERN DIVISION seaboard-southern.org.ukPaul Purnell 01284 763701, before 9pm leave a message if SOUTH SHORE GROUPnecessary. Email [email protected] Weekly meetings, on Wednesdays at the Sompting Village Hall,THAMESIDERS in Sompting (just off the A27) between Worthing and Lancing.Meets third Saturday of each month at Whitegates Farm, Frat- Meetings start 7.00 until 10.30. Tea and Coffee available. Toing, Essex CO7 7DG 10am to 5pm. HO and N scale modular confirm that a meeting is to take place www.southshore.org.uklayouts all welcome; free tea, cakes etc. Check with Geoffrey or contact Nick Whitmarsh Tel: 01903206695. [email protected] 01255 677482 or [email protected] comNORFOLK & SOUTHWESTERN GROUP KENT & EAST SUSSEX GROUPCambridgeshire, Norfolk & Suffolk: The Group meets at members’ homes on a regular basis toMeets: June 10; July 8; Aug.12; Sept. 9; Oct. 14; Nov. 11; view and run members’ layouts and to hold clinics. Visit theDec.9; All enquiries contact Paul Purnell Group’s page on the Region website at www.nmrabr.org.uk/American Model Railroading in HO Everything You Need To Go Worldwide Systems Shipping DCC Model RailroadingLocomotives Freight Cars Thousands Of Items In Stock Books High Quality Pre-Owned ModelsPaints & Adhesives Passenger Cars Detail Parts Magazines Scenics Vehicles 9 Miles from Heathrow Airport Buildings Couplers/Trucks/Wheels Website Only Shows In Stock Items and Clearly Marked Advance ReservationsOur Yeovil Road shop is open Tuesday to Saturday 10.00am to 4.00pm. (Closed Bank Holidays), Shop open 5 days a week - Website 24/7 www.modeljunction.info916Yeovil Road, SloughTrading Estate, Berkshire, SL1 4JG6  ROUNDHOUSE - June 2017

divisions-groups/divisions-groups-list/south-eastern-division/ Alverstoke, Hants PO12 2ET NMRA Members welcome.kent-east-sussex for up to date information on events, Mike www.freewebs.com/gosportrailroadgroupArnold 01892 459967 [email protected] Bob Norris 07846 482190. [email protected] GROUP THAMES VALLEYThis Group meets in members’ homes every two months or so Meets every Monday at 7.30pm. Peter Smithto run members’ layouts, test out locos on a DCC programming [email protected] 01494 864833 or Dave Fryertrack and just shoot the breeze. Please contact Stephen Black 01494 439755on 07768 516487 or e-mail him on: [email protected]. READING GROUPThe meets are open to all NMRA members and others thinking Mike Ingham 01189 872707 [email protected] joining, including those in South and West London. Robin Swan 01189 792448 [email protected] DIVISION WESTERN UNIONHO BEARWOOD GROUP Meets: (all Saturdays): 17 June; 22 July; 19 Aug; 23 Sept; 21Monthly meets 8.30 am to 3.00 pm at the Bearwood Community Oct; 18 Nov; 16 Dec.Centre, King John Avenue, Bournemouth BH11 9TF. Visitors Western Union holds HO-modular meets each month at 1stmost welcome. Tea, coffee, biscuits available all day, and ex- Crownhill Scout Group, Dayton Close, Plymouth PL6 5DX.cellent fish and chips at lunchtime. If you are coming from afar, Access from 8am onwards. If you wish to take part in the oper-please phone to confirm dates. Tom Winlow 02380 261971 ational and running side of things, you are required to be at [email protected] hall by 8.30am maximum, to lend a hand in carrying-in, erectingSW&N (SWANS) and wiring up (or other helpful stuff within your capabilities) andStanwell, Windsor & Northolt to remain to dismantle and pack the layout at the end of the day.This group currently has a membership of eight with active Coffee & Tea provided. Mike Ruby 01752 369068layouts, ranging from N to G - scale and we meet in members’ [email protected] once a month, on rotation, to run trains and enjoy a meal OTHER GROUPS WITH NMRA MEMBERStogether. Charles Hendy 01895 637043 The WUT Group (Part Of North London SME) Legion Way, offGOSPORT GROUP (SOLENT SUB-DIVISION) Summers Lane, North Finchley, London N12 0QQ Meets everyThe Group meets on the second Friday of each month at 7:30 Wednesday evening. Contact Rai Fenton 020 8529 7307pm. N Scale modular, HO, and On30 layouts. Running Meets [email protected] times a year at St. Mary’s Parish Centre, Green Road,Victory Model RailwayClub held their 5th annualExhibition at Admiral LordNelson School,Portsmouth on Saturday13th May. 16 layouts werepresent, mainly British OO,so we were really “out-numbered”!Our layout consisted of 18sceniced modules plus 2six-road return loop yards,including a Power Station,Coal Mine, Main Station,Trestle bridge, smallerhalt, Saw Mills and farms.The large yards, sevenscale miles, enabled usto run approximately 25trains, varying from 24ftdown to 1ft in length, and giving the viewers plenty of operation to watch. The whole timetable is scheduled on a com-puter and, although mostly single track, enables us to keep trains running and passing. To see the same train operat-ing again over the layout would take about 2 hours of trainwatching! Overall size was 31ftx16ft.Congratulations to The American Railroad Group Gosport’s “Solent Summit” N scale modular layout took “Best inShow” at the 2017 Victory show in Portsmouth. L-R: James, Ted, Chris, Bob, Chris, Morgan and Kerry . . . continued on Page 31   June 2017 - ROUNDHOUSE 7

TRENT VALLEY SHOWSaturday June 17th 10 am to 4 pmArmitage with Handsacre Village Hall,Shropshire Brook Road WS15 4UZ******* NMRA British Region 2017 Convention and AGMSeaboard Southern North American Train Show GRAND CENTRALSaturday 30th September 10am to 4pm Derby Conference Centre Limited, London Road,The Charis Centre, Crawley, W Sussex Alvaston, Derby, DE24 8UXFor those on foot / public transport the main entrance is 27th, 28th & 29th October 2017West Green Drive, Crawley, West Sussex RH11 7EL. It Hosted by Black Diamonds, with the NMRA(BR)is walkable from Crawley Station or via Metrobus (www. A Registration Form is available through the Regionmetrobus.co.uk/) Route 1 or 2 (Crawley Hospital stop) website www.nmrabr.org.com or directly using:from Crawley Bus Station, opp. Southern Trains station. https://www.black-diamonds.org.uk/app/down-For those driving the car park is accessed via Town Barn load/5803657736/BookingForm.pdfRoad (opp No. 38), Crawley, RH11 7ED All Registrations please to:Refreshments will also be available on-site. Steve Dennison,Exhibitors (Currently confirmed) Debdale Wharf Marina,Chica, IL (HO) – Peter North: We are very pleased to wel- Kibworth LE8 0XAcome back Peter North and his latest inspirational layout.High Line (HO) - Chris Prior: Inspired by a visit to NewYork this is the eponymous “High Line” in the early yearsof ConrailBuda (N) – Paul Evans: mainline railroading in Buda, ILcovering CB&Q through to BNSFEastwood, Vermont (HO) – Andrew Knights: Andrew’slatest US outline layout depicting 1950s-60s diesel transi-tion in suburban Vermont0n30 Freemo (Surrey & Sussex Black Sheep FremOn30Group) – See the continued progress on modules fromlast year plus some new additionsTilly Yard South (HO) – Rob Strachan: Minimal spaceSanta Fe urban switching in the ‘50sLemmington Park (HO) – Western MRS: Urban Chicagoswitching and commuter passenger in the 70’sNMRA British Region DisplayModelling Demo – Mike ArnoldTraders (invited – to be confirmed)Kent Garden Railways (New and pre-owned, all scales)Sunningwell Command Control (DCC/Blackstone HOn3)Railroad Trading (Books/DVDs)JB Modelworld (Stock boxes)Brian Trains (Pre-owned sales)Ray Morris (Pre-owned sales)Barry Jones (Pre-owned sales)Seaboard Southern Club Sales*******NMRA Mendip FREEMOSaturday and Sunday 4th and 5th November 2017Henton Village HallWells, Somerset BA5 1PD*******Benson Winter Meetwill be on Saturday January 13th 20188  ROUNDHOUSE - June 2017

WE WANT YOUR Model Railways We will buy almost any Railway Collection, large or small. All gauges will be taken, in any condition. We always give an honest price and will collect and dismantle any layout. Telephone: 01302 371623 Mobile: 07526 768178or email: [email protected]   June 2017 - ROUNDHOUSE 9

As well as placing on your track, it can be most informa- tive if you place it on a well car or flat truck. Pulling it with a very slow switcher and reading off the gradient can be even better, allowing you to adjust transitions into the gra- dients. Of course one with little play in the truck/bogies will be best.From David Pennington Placed across the track your transitions into and out ofI am studying at the Open University and for my final pro- super elevations may also be measured and adjusted.ject I am designing a tablet based freight car forwarding Mine was also very useful when building my baseboards,program for US Model Railroads. I have created a web and they could also be of value when erecting at exhibi-site at www.tm470routingproject.co.uk which describes tions where floor contours are often a bit dubious.the project and gives details of the progress. As it is part *******of a university project, I have to be able to reference I had some interesting (conversational) commentsoutside sources of information. Hence, I am looking for regarding the scale vs. Gauge matters (John Knight,a few people who would be willing, on an informal basis, last issue). There is certainly some deviation from theto keep in touch with the project, pass comment where prototype in terms of gauge, often for practical reasons.appropriate and be open to being asked questions about Several modellers still do not realise that early OO camethe function of the target software. about because UK locos were often too small for motors(NMRA Member 800907 00) available in those years, so they made the models 4mm******* = 1 ft (instead of HO 3.5 mm) but used existing HO track,From Ron Gager so effectively slightly narrow gauge!Does your old stock of Milliput get too hard to mix? Yes of The bottom line is that scale is a fixed figure. It simplycourse it does, because the railroad modeller’s equivalent represents the relationship between the model dimen-of Tipp-Ex is only used in small doses from time to time, sions and the real thing. Gauge, the distance between thejust like Tipp-Ex. Some of mine goes back many years. model track rails, is often a conveniently available trackSo, this is what you do! Removing the plastic wrapping, rather than what the real thing ran on. So the “correct”place on a suitable plate, non metallic of course, and track for, say, OO is a bit over 18 mm gauge (EM or P4)place in your microwave oven. Give it just 20 seconds rather than the 16.5 mm of HO. Similarly while N scale allon DEFROST ONLY and it will become quite workable, runs of the same track, American models are usually builtunless it is really far too old. to a different scale to European models, from 1:148 (e.g.As granny knows, anything metallic, even gold rims on European) to 1:160 (US)tea cups in a microwave is likely to lead to disaster. *******This tip originated from Milliput themselves, which is so From Peter Bowengood of them, bearing in mind it would almost certainly I have been struggling with track planning and after print-reduce their sales. ing out numerous Peco code 83 switch templates and sticking them together I have discovered a really brilliant AND track planning tool called AnyRail from www.anyrail.comLaying track with many gradients plus super elevation there is a free version for small track planning projects.Do it better and save money. Perhaps the best feature is being able to accurately de-May I suggest that a digital level device is going to be sign and print 1:1 pages with registration marks to easilyvery useful here. I have the one sold by Micro Mark but it prepare a full size plan.costs $44 plus huge American postal charges. Similar *******devices are available in the UK at around £21 to £27, From Ian Webbsome with free postage. Of course I have not tried these Can anyone suggest anywhere that I might find somebut the pictures suggest they are suitable. O-scale decals for a Southern Railway PS-4 that would be most welcome.Google “Digital Levels” and peruse the ones by Neoteck,Digi-Pas, and one called Level Box.10  ROUNDHOUSE - June 2017

In the late ‘50s I started with Triang coaches, two Amer- My main interest is long distance American and Canadi-ican style passenger cars lettered Triang Railways. One an passenger trains. A set of Athearn passenger car kitswas a vista dome, the other a coach. This came from the formed my “streamliner”.Xmas bazaar at Lewis’s in Manchester. They had a big I replaced the early wheelsets with Jackson wheels whichTriang display layout, while a more up-market store in the improved their performance on our mixed trackwork.arcade had Hornby, and a big window display for those The passenger train was pulled by my second loco, a Trixwith deeper pockets. C-Liner from Beatties.Both models were duly altered using new wheels and GP9’s and an Athearn F7 followed, with a dummy B unit,Peco Simplex couplers and were traded in years later. with turned brass RP25 wheels on the A unit.In 1964 a couple of freight cars were bought from the Later two Tyco locos, a Pacific and a Mikado followed,Monk Bar model shop in York. found to be not as successful as the diesels but more toOne car was a FEC box car, ready to run by AHM, the the taste of my co-operator, my younger brother!other an Athearn box car kit. Silver WP colours, with Having used Airfix couplers, as easier to obtain and moreRP25 wheels in sprung trucks. affordable, I converted to Kadees in the early 1970’s - aThen came a Trix BL2 in Western Maryland colours from breakthrough for operation and a bit of a milestone.Beatties. Pete Knight worked there, and out me in touch The second-hand Rivarossi cab forward cost the same aswith a pal who sold me Athearn freight cars, and became a very worn second hand early United ATSF 2-8-0. A bita new friend. I also bought some second hand items from of a comparison of what was locally available at that time.Beatties including a Rivarossi cab forward.In the mid ‘60s I started buying mail order, from Brookes,Victors and Milholme Models. Milholme had a nice dis-play layout and sold a good range, including early N scalebrass.   June 2017 - ROUNDHOUSE 11

Some years ago, I came across an article about design- better planning would have avoided the problem I aming and building a layout in which it was suggested that now faced with. I needed to paint the rails a rust colour,you should avoid, if possible, building your layout wider paint the ties, ballast the track, put in a platform, wire inthan you could safely reach, about two feet. The base- additional DCC droppers, and add in some detail to bringboard height above the floor of my layout is 54 inches it all to life.and even standing on a suitable two step ladder, I couldonly reach so far.On my own layout, the Denver Craig and Pacific, I in-stalled an access hatch to reach the farthest part of thelayout at one of the two yards. This board has two hiddenstorage tracks under the yard but they are not in the wayof the access hatch. This has proved successful albeit itis a tight squeeze to get under the layout and come upinto the working area. The first photograph shows the Not withstanding the above, and looking at the photo- graph, you may be wondering how I laid the track. Well, it was a case of standing on a three step ladder and at times kneeling on the baseboard to lay the tracks nearest the wall.access hatch in the open position. However, the opposite It was most uncomfortable at times but it had to be done.side of the layout has been more of a challenge because It was a case of gluing the cork and using track pinsI have two hidden storage roads under the yard, and and Copydex, (other similar glues are also available), to secure the track in place. When I designed the layout both yards would be on their own individual baseboard so if the layout had to be dismantled, it could be done so without it being destroyed.12  ROUNDHOUSE - June 2017

There are five tracks which cross from one board to thenext. The second photograph shows an overview of theyard in question and the third photograph shows wherethe boards separate. The first task was to remove ties oneither side of the baseboard joints and insert copper cladand solder the rails to the copper clad and then using arazor saw, carefully cut through each rail. In addition, thebus wires for the DCC, and the accessory decoder wiresare attached to the baseboard frame so I purchased acouple of strips of male/female screw terminals to dealwith electrical side of separating the boards.Having got this far, it was time to take the drastic step ofunbolting the two boards and dragging the board forward,about 18”, to give me sufficient working space from theback. Naturally, until the planned work is finished, therunning of trains has been seriously curtailed. To be continued.... ‘BRICKS & MORTAR’ American Railroad Store Authorised dealer & stockist for HO, N & Z including:-American Z Line Athearn Atlas Bachmann USA BLMA DPM Cornerstone Deluxe Innovations Kato Fox Valley Micro-Trains Full Throttle Intermountain Roundhouse ScaleTrains Walthers Red Caboose Rokuhan Tangent Trainworx Woodland Scenics Give us a try, new stock arriving all the time Plenty of FREE parking right outside the door Friendly service (FREE tea & coffee always on) Where you can see, touch & feel before you buy If we do not have it in stock we will endeavour to get it Browse our new website – www.mech-models.com NMRA Members Open - Mon to Fri 9.00 to 5.00 Sat - please ring MECH MODELS Unit 9, Lancaster Park, Newborough Road, Needwood, Burton on Trent, Staffordshire, DE13 9PD www.mech-models.com 01283-575444 [email protected]   June 2017 - ROUNDHOUSE 13

The buildFirst I cut a section of the 5/32” x 5/16” rectangular brasstubing to a 40’ HO scale length, this forms the main bodyof the car. I used a mitre box to ensure a square cut andthen removed any burrs with a file [Pic 1].I then used my scale rule, set square and scribe to mark I then applied solder paste on the insides of the log bunkout the centres for my drill holes for the trucks and NBW ends and under the bunks. I then made sure the bunksdetails. If you have difficulties seeing the marks you have were square on the body using my set square, then usedmade you can use a marker pen and then scratch off a blow torch to heat the joints, now you could use athe ink with your scribe, engineers blue is the traditional soldering iron but mine simply isn’t hot enough. Alterna-method but it’s much easier to just use a marker pen. tively with solder paste you can apply it to your modelOnce I had marked the centres I used a pin vice and a and then pop it in the oven, ask the oven owner’s0.90mm drill bit to drill the holes for the details on the side permission first! It’s important when using a blow torchof the body and two on the top of the body for the track that you don’t set fire to everything on your work benchpin that will secure the couplings. Then I drilled two holes so I use a spare ceramic tile, you probably have one lyingto mount the trucks with a 1.80mm drill bit for the 2/56 around the house, alternatively this was a sample tile thatKadee mounting screws, if you have one you could also cost me 98p [Pic 6]. I also test fitted my trucks so that Iuse a No.50 drill bit [Pic 2 and 3]. could make sure the car would roll.So now to make the log bunks, I cut two sections 10’ in The next job was to add some strapping to the log bunksHO sections of 5/32 x 5/32 brass channel, file off any for this I used 20 thou brass wire, I didn’t use solderburs and use a mitre box to ensure you have a square paste here - I used solder and put two blobs of soldercut. Next I made the ends of the log bunks, I took a piece onto the main body securing one end of the wire and thenof the 1/8 x 1/4 rectangular tube and made marks at I bent the wire over the bunks before securing them on6”,12” and 18” in HO scale on the tube. Then I made a the other side of the log bunk [Pic 7].45 degree cut between 6” and 12” marks then made a 90 Then I drilled the holes in the log bunk ends to secure thedegree cut at the 18” mark and repeated the process so chain that would be used to secure the loads to the car.that I had 4 ends [Pic 4 and 5]. I secured the car into a vice and used a pin vice with a 0.90mm drill bit [Pic 8]. Now all the soldering and drilling had been done, so I could start adding the plastic detail parts - first I added the NBW nut and bolt details to the side of the car body. Be careful to cut the details short near the coupler boxes at the car ends [Pic 9].14  ROUNDHOUSE - June 2017

I choose to use the old KC brake system on my car. I two assemblies and connected it to the pipe from thedecided that the likelihood would be that this car would brake cylinder [Pic 12].be old, possibly built in-house and built using what was to With that the brake gear was complete and it was timehand, plus the KC system has less parts than the AB sys- to add the chain, I used 35 links per inch chain fromtem. This did present a problem though - I had no space scalemodelscenary.co.uk which works our as about 2.5” chain in HO scale. I measured out two lengths of 50’ in HO scale of chain and opened up the link at the end of each chain using the end of some pointed tweezers. I then passed through some 20 thou wire and passed this through the holes in the end of the log bunks that I drilled earlier. I bent the wire through 90 degree and trimmed it off, wrapped the chain around the log bunk and then secured the end with a drop of CA [Pic 13].to mount the brake cylinder. So I fitted a 5’ x 3’ in HOscale piece of 10 thou styrene to the car body, lined upwith the centre line.I added the brake cylinder and brakelevers to the underside of the car body & plate, I used CAto attach these to the brass car body [Pic 10].I then added the brake wheel to the end of the car and At this point I assembled the car with the trucks and testused 20 thou brass wire for the brake rods to the brake ran the car before disassembling the car for painting.wheel and the trucks [Pic 11]. In real life we need air to I used Tamiya flat black paint for the body and trucksmake the brakes work, so I added Kadee #438 air hose [Pic 14].and angle cock assemblies to each end of the car and I weathered the car by applying dark rust powder andthen added a length of 20 thou brass wire between the then sprayed the car with Dullcote, then applied medium and light rust to the chain and bolt details [Pic 15]. The final job was to fit the couplers. I used Kadee #148 whisker couplers with Kadee #262 Narrow gear boxes. At ¼” wide these fit snugly inside the end of the car body. Then the final task is to fit a Peco track pin through the   June 2017 - ROUNDHOUSE 15

holes I drilled in the top of the car body to secure the draftbox in place. To fit the pin I used a drop of CA appliedwith a tooth pick - any more than a tiny drop could getinto the draft box and clog the coupler. I then cut off theexcess at the bottom of the car. Ideally if I had the correctcouplers to hand when I started the project I would havefitted these before painting as I then had to go back andpaint and weather the top and bottom of the track pins.But here is my first scratch built freight car ready for ser- 20 thou brass wirevice together with my second log car ready for paint [Pic 10 thou styrene16 to 18] Cal Scale KC brake system kitList of Materials 1 pair of Kadee arch bar trucks5/32” x 5/16” Rectangular Brass Tube 1 pair of Kadee No178 whisker couplings1/8” x 1/4” Rectangular Brass Tube Kadee Airhoses5/32” x 5/32” Brass Channel16  ROUNDHOUSE - June 2017

SPECIAL OFFER FOR NMRA Members only £135 The History of the Union Pacific Railroad in Cheyenne (Darwin)(First two pages heavy vertical crease, no publisher’s shipping box)Alcos Northeast. Beyond Schenectady. Smoke, Guts and Glory 1969-2006 (Confalone) £45Burlington Northern Locomotives. Three decades of BN power (Schneider) £25Burlington Northern Railroad Cabooses 1970-1995 (Del Grosso) £30Chesapeake & Ohio Mountain Type Locomotives (Parker) £23 NEWEncyclopedia of Western Railroad History: 4 Volumes (Robertson) £100Lines of Country: An Atlas of Railway and Waterway History in Canada (Andreae) £120Model Railroading's Guide To Modeling And Detailing Diesels. Volume Two (Lee) £15Nicholas Morant's Canadian Pacific (Garden) £45North American Steam Locomotives: The Mountains (Farrell) £60Northern Pacific Railway Diesel Era 1945-1970 (Schrenk) £35Northern Pacific Yellowstone Park Line Classic Steam Era (Schrenk) £45Pennsy Diesels 1924-1968. A-6 To EF-36 (Douglas) £25Pennsy Electric Pictorial (Zak) £40 NEWRailroad Critters In Color Volume 5 (Timko) £48 NEWRailroading In The Land Of Infinite Variety. A History Of South Dakota's Railroads (Mills) £35Southern Pacific Narrow Gauge Locomotives and Freight Equipment (Bader) £65Spokane,Portland & Seattle Rwy In Color. Diesels of the Northwest's Own Railway (Austin) £40Steam Echoes. The Railroad Photography Of Glenn Beier £25The Chesapeake & Ohio West End (EuDaly) £49The Model Railroader's Guide To Steel Mills (Kempinski) £10The Pacific Coast Railway. Central California's Premier Narrow Gauge (Westcott) £55The Great Adventure. The Railroad Legacy of Stevens Pass (Burwash) £30The Norfolk and Western...As I Knew It! (Thieme) £49The Virginian Railway (Reid) £20The Western Maryland Railway. Fireballs & Black Diamonds (Cook) £40Trackside Around Rochester 1970-1980 with Daniel Orr and Greg Marling £48 NEWWestern Pacific Power In Color. The Last 25 Years (Mackinson) £48 NEW72-82 - Western Pacific's Final Decade (Benson) £65 NEW 250+ Morning Sun titles, both new & pre-owned in stock. New Four Ways West arriving soon. All new Morning Sun still £48All In-Print Morning Sun, Withers, C&O Historical Society, Signature Press, White River Productions and Four Ways West titles available to order. FREE UK POSTAGE & PACKING SEE OUR TRADE STAND In 2017  June 17th TVNAM (Rugeley, Staffs), 27th-29th October NMRA National Convention (Derby) Possibly the biggest & best collection of North American railroad books this side of the Atlantic! MEMBERS OF THE NMRA Also stocking UK and International titles. Visitors welcome by prior appointment. Good quality North American collections always sought. Linda Tinker Railway Books 01335 330965 Meadow View, Longford Lane, Longford, Ashbourne, Derbyshire DE6 3DT www.lindatinkerrailwaybooks.co.uk [email protected]   June 2017 - ROUNDHOUSE 17

After attending Nigel Kennedy’s concert at Sydney Opera Having taken several photos of John’s layout we thenHouse the night before, Sunday 29 January 2017 was moved on to Narara where Gerry Hopkins’ has hisalready hot at 7 a.m. when I made my way to the nearby layout, a HO scale US outline GN based. Once again theCircular Quay station only to find that there was a rail quality of the workmanship showed Gerry’s MMR status.replacement service going to Sydney’s Central Station. Gerry is the AP Manager for the Region, a position heAfter a wait of about 30 minutes at Central, I boarded the says lets him see the best modelling ideas that he canbi-level air conditioned train for the hour and half journey then take to use on his own layout. In other words he wasto Gosford, part of New South Wales’ Central Coast. sharing know-how as we say in the British Region! GerryThere I was met my NMRA Australasia Region President includes night time lighting in his layout room to highlightDavid O’Hearn accompanied by MMR Gerry Hopkins. the working signals and the lighting in his structures.Having distinctive NMRA clothing made it easy for me (photos 120-142)to recognise them. I discovered that Gerry Hopkins was “And now for something completely different” as they sayoriginally from the Cardiff area of Wales. With a similar on Monty Python. After a short stop at a shopping mallbackground and age we were very quickly exchanging for refreshments we went to Sam Mangion’s home wherebanter. I don’t know what David must have thought, al- I was treated to the sight of a fully scenicked HO scalethough he did seem to take it well. layout based upon New South Wales prototypes. At firstFor those of you with access, I have posted photos of my it seemed slightly strange to see 4 wheeled stock runningvisit to https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikehughes2011/ on the layout but I quickly forgot that when I looked closeralbums/72157676855421453 or https://www.flickr.com/ at the layout. In common with other layout owners, Samphotos/mikehughes2011/albums/ then click on NMRA has regular running sessions on his layout. Rather thanAustralia visit. have a crew run a train the entire length of the layout heOur first stop was to the Yattalunga, NSW home of MMR has various way points where the trains are handed overJohn Saxon. There I was given pass No 1474 to his from one crew to another. Part of this includes havingCedar Valley Short Lines HO layout. This layout has been possession of a token before the train can continue. Anfeatured in Railroad Modeller in the past. The multilev- interesting arrangement based upon prototype working.el 14 ft by 22 ft freelanced layout is based upon Tony (photos Aus 145-152)Koester’s Allegheny Midland layout and is set in 1960. Next stop was to Sam’s son Rowan. He too models Aus-Controlled by a CVP Easy DCC system the layout has tralian NSW in HO. Sam’s layout seemed quite large buta mainline run of 168 feet and includes a turn back loop this was dwarfed by Rowan’s multi level layout. The lay-that is inside the garage. The modelling was of a stand- out is still very much under construction but already thereard that shows John’s MMR status. (photos Aus 201-221) are over 300 hand built (using a jig) turnouts. Rowan tells18  ROUNDHOUSE - June 2017

me that there will be a total of around 425 turnouts in to-tal, including some 3 way and crossovers. This is a hugeundertaking for a young man in his early 30’s to fit in withhis young family and working life. I’m sure he is alreadywell on his way to MMR standards. (photos Aus 155-167)Next stop was the home of Ken Scales. Ken is a formerNMRA Australasia President who has also earned hisMMR. Based on Santa Fe practise, Ken’s layout rep-resents mountainous regions. The backdrops, skilfullyblend with the foreground so that it is difficult for the eyeto see where they meet and even more difficult for thecamera to determine. (photos Aus 170-194)The final stop was to Spencer McCormack’s HO scaleNSW layout. This appears to give a real flavour ofAustralian railways, which to me seemed to representan amalgam of British and American practices – at leastfor the period modelled. One unusual feature was thethunder and lightning around a darkened tunnel entrance- very impressive indeed. (photos Aus 225-238)My ‘taxi driver’ and host for the day, David O’Hearn finally made on my behalf were tremendous. When you real-took Gerry Hopkins and myself to Morriset station where ise this was in the height of the Australian Summer andwe boarded the train back to Sydney for me, with Ger- around the Australia Day National holiday period whenry leaving the train earlier. It had been a long day, hot most people would be doing other things rather thanoutside the air conditioned comfort of the car or most of model railways, I was treated like royalty. I’d like to saythe layout rooms we visited, but it had been extremely a great big THANK YOU to all those who made my visitinteresting. so enjoyable. I can assure you that I will do my utmost toPeople sometimes question the value of NMRA member- make sure that any Australasian visitors are made equallyship. I can truly say that this visit showed me that mem- welcome if ever they come to the British Region.bership can be not only a pass to local events and clubs,but also an international passport. The efforts that were   June 2017 - ROUNDHOUSE 19

This article is about our experience with train travel in recliners it became clear that being on a train for days atThe United States and Canada. a time would be uncomfortable and tiring so the sleeperIn 2011 my wife said that she would like to visit a lifelong cabin was the best way forward as the cost of the ticketfriend who lives in Canada. They had met up in the past included all the meals, whereas the recliners only offeredwhen the friend and her husband, who was born in the just a seat fare and you would have to buy your ownUK came over for holidays. meals etc.One of the problems we had was that my wife does not The train we settled on was the Amtrak, 3 days andlike flying, so we had to find a way around this problem. nights across the USA from Boston to Seattle.We have had holidays before that involved flying and I On average, there are 18 train trips from Boston tohad managed to get her to fly, but the maximum flying Seattle every day. Amtrak schedules have the mosttime she could cope with was 7 hours just enough to get departures from Boston to Seattle, with an average of 18to the eastern side of the USA 3,470 miles from London. trips per day, and 320 trips per month.We started to look at ways to get to Kamloops, British Train lines that have service on this route offer WiFi andColumbia where the couple live, a distance of 2,780 miles power outlets.from New York City: How long is the train ride from Boston to Seattle?Option 1: Cruise from Southampton to New York City On average, a train trip from Boston to Seattle takesthen making our way to Kamloops by road; 95h 6m to make the 2,486.9 mile journey. Amtrak hasOption 2: Flying to Toronto and taking the Canadian VIA the fastest advertised travel time of 72h 28m to get fromtrain across Canada to Vancouver and then on to Kam- Boston to Seattle.loops by road;Option 3: Flying to USA, either New York or Boston anddriving across to Kamloops;Option 4: Flying to USA and taking the train to eitherSeattle or Vancouver and driving the rest of the way.Having investigated all the options and their relevantcostings it was decided that we would fly and take thetrain which was option 4.Costing out the options of having a sleeper cabin or Our first day involved one night on the Lake Shore Limited from Boston South Street Station to Chicago. At Boston you could check in your luggage, airport style, through to Seattle. All you need for the 3 night/day jour- ney is an overnight bag with your essentials for the days. Amtrak Lakeshore Limited on Track No. 1 of the CSX Erie West Subdivision at North East, Pennsylvania by Craig Sanders of the Akron Railroad Club20  ROUNDHOUSE - June 2017

The Lake Shore Limited is an overnight Amtrak passen- of our journey which would be roughly 48 hours. Hereger train service between the Northeastern United States again we had a steward that would be with us for the du-and west to Chicago. The train uses the former main line ration of this leg of our journey. The amenities on this legof the New York Central Railroad, part of which is now the were just the same as the first leg from Boston.Empire Corridor. In Albany, New York it divides, with sep-arate sections serving New York City and Boston. Amtrakbegan service in 1975; its Lake Shore had operatedover the same route in 1971–72. The train is named forthe New York Central’s Lake Shore Limited, which wasdiscontinued in 1956. First Class Lounge in ChicagoBoston South Street Station The Empire Builder is a daily passenger train operatedWe arrived at Boston South Street Station and collected by Amtrak that runs between Chicago and the Pacificour tickets from the ticket office. There we were directed Northwest. The route has two segments west of Spokaneto the office to check in our bags (airline style). We then that serve two termini, Seattle and Portland.went to the Amtrak lounge where refreshments were The end-to-end travel time of the route is 45–46 hours foravailable, free of charge. After a time we were then an average speed of about 50 mph (80 km/h), though thedirected to the train where we were met by the steward train travels as fast as 79 mph (127 km/h) over the major-that would be in charge of the carriage which had the ity of the route. It is Amtrak’s busiest long-distance route.sleepers in it. The steward would be with us for the wholeof this part of the journey (from Boston to Chicago). Hemade sure that we were well looked after for the 24 hourjourney.The carriage amenities were very good, coffee, juices, Amtrak’s double-deck Superlinertea all on tap and free of charge whatever time of day or Like all long-distance trains west of the Mississippi River,night. There was a shower cubicle and of course toilets in the Empire Builder uses Amtrak’s double-deck Superlinerthe carriage. If you needed anything you just needed to equipment. The Empire Builder was the first train to beask the steward. Meals were taken in the restaurant car, fully equipped with Superliners, with the first run occur-breakfast no booking required. Bookings for lunch and ring on October 28, 1979. In Summer, 2005 the train wasdinner were taken by the steward of your carriage, as per “re-launched” with newly refurbished equipment.hotel restaurant style. All meals were cooked to order,and it has to be said that they were very good generousvaried and well presented, nothing like airline meals.We reached Chicago roughly 24 hours later and madeuse of the executive lounge which provided free refresh-ments whilst we waited to board the Empire BuilderService to Seattle and Portland via Spokane.When the announcement was made to board the Empire During typical service, an Empire Builder comprises theBuilder Service to our destination, which was Seattle, following (with destinations after Spokane in parenthe-we were directed to our relevant cabin for the remainder ses:)   June 2017 - ROUNDHOUSE 21

Two GE Genesis P42 Locomotives Amtrak Empire Builder Restaurant CarBaggage car (Seattle) In Spokane the train is split into two pieces. The locomo-Transitional Crew Sleeper (Seattle) tives along with the baggage car and first six passengerSleeper (Seattle) cars continue onto Seattle. A single P42 is stored inSleeper (Seattle) Spokane, which picks up the last four cars to transportDiner (Seattle) them to Portland. The opposite of this happens goingCoach (Seattle) eastbound. During peak travel periods, an additionalCoach (Seattle) coach is attached to the very rear end of the train be-Sightseer Lounge/Café (Portland) tween Chicago and St. Paul. It is left at St. Paul for theCoach/Baggage (Portland) next day’s return trip to pick up. This car is signed as trainCoach (Portland) number “807/808”, while the cars in the Portland segmentSleeper (Portland) are signed as train 27/28, and the Seattle segment isCoach (Chicago - St Paul) - This car is train number signed as train 7/8. This adds capacity during especially807/808. busy times in the year. When taking lunch and dinner the restaurant staff made sure that we did not sit with the same people twice, which was very interesting as the conversations were very varied. The cars have large picture windows which allow you to see the towns and countryside as your journey progressed.Amtrak Sleeper Cabin The train made stops, and depending on what was hap- pening on that stop, we were allowed to leave the train22  ROUNDHOUSE - June 2017 and stretch our legs. The engineers were changed roughly every six hours or 300 miles. The restaurant car was restocked and rubbish cleared. As with the stewards who looked after the first- class passengers the restaurant staff were the same for

the whole journey. On arrival in Seattle we collected ourluggage and off we went to collect a rental car and driveon up to Kamloops.After spending time in British Columbia visiting friendsand relatives in Vancouver we returned to Seattle.Whilst in Seattle we had some spare time before catchingthe train back to Boston via the same Amtrak routes asthe outward journey.In Seattle we found The Central Bar which is reputed to The people we met were very friendly and always goodbe the oldest bar in Seattle and the interior is very old and for a conversation.very typical old America. I can thoroughly recommend this method of getting fromThe trip back to Boston and services on this journey the east coast to the west coast of the USA.was equally as good as on the outward trip, the only Only one thing, in hindsight, I felt that I should havedifference was that the stewards were from a different planned for us to stay a few days in Boston, Chicago andbase but the service was excellent as all our needs were Seattle to make it an all-round longer holiday and takeattended to without delay. in more sights. However like most things in life there is aTo sum up the whole experience, was well worth it in cost to doing what takes your fancy.every way. The scenery was varied from plains to moun- We have the memory of this amazing trip across Americatains and towns. We passed through small and large as we are now unable to fly.towns during night and day not normally seen from motor-ing, each time the train came to a road crossing, whichwas extremely frequent, the engineer has to sound thehorn irrespective of the time of day or night.. . . from Mike HughesFollowing some discussion with our President Robin Swan I have formally given notice that, effective from the appoint-ment of the new board at the next AGM, I will no longer continue as Marking Coordinator.This decision has not been made lightly. I took on the task at a time when there was some upheaval within the Region.Indeed I was Marketing Coordinator originally when some of this came to a head, resigning and only coming back tothe task about 2 years later after much persuasion. I identified a number of points that needed action over a period ofyears. The main task was to clarify what the NMRA British Region represents and to get that message to all interestedpersons. That lead to our sharing know-how message, the complete updating of our brochure and the creation of anupdated, modern logo.Change is not always welcome. The process requires unfreezing, making the change and then refreezing the change.I believe that I have done that and the feeling within the Region is much more positive than it was. I have alwaysstated that I would only be Marketing Coordinator for a maximum of 5 years. That was 7 years ago! Couple that with achange in my family circumstances (with no longer having a dog my wife and I are finding we can take more holidays,for example) plus the fact that I am simply finding that I no longer have time to build and run or simply enjoy my loftlayout, I feel the time is now right to let others take on the task of marketing the Region, while I return to modelling.I am encouraged to see that the present BOD include people who are keen and anxious to take the Region forward.I have no doubt that they and others involved will do some things differently from the way that I would do this. Thatdoesn’t mean that their way is worse - just different. It will be exciting to see what happens, especially on the electron-ic front.I have spoken to Robin at length and have promised that, time permitting, I will make sure that all loose ends are tiedup to the best of my ability prior to the AGM so that there is an orderly progression.I am hoping to make a fuller statement at the AGM in October.   June 2017 - ROUNDHOUSE 23

A Sunshine CB&Q XM25/26 lightly weathered using a mix of Testors Dullcote mixed with a little Floquil boxcar red. Then given a light coat of Floquil dust. The roof was air brushed with Railmatch roof dirt. For anyone interested in one of these boxcars Speedwitch media have just brought out a resin kit for them which is much better than the Sunshine one which is around 25 years old. GN 50ft single sheathed boxcar. This is a very old Westerfield resin kit (it is still available)painted with car primer and then a mix of Trucolor ATSF brown and a little NKP red. It is weathered using a mix of MIG and Freestone weathering powders.~ The GN rebuilt these cars from 1941 onwards with a 6ft Youngstown door in place of the 10ft wooden doors which were 6ft and 4ft. In 1953 there were still over 850 in service and they lasted until 1972.For those who have not seen Tangent models.2 Tangent tank cars, left: he new 8000 gallon tank, right: 6000 gallon 3 dome lightly weathered.The 3 dome came direct from Tangent. The single dome which needs weathering was ordered from MECH MODELSand have found their service really good and well priced.I have no connection to MECH except as a satisfied customer.Photo and model Paul Doggett24  ROUNDHOUSE - June 2017

Left: Reading Camelback at Port Trenton NJ on Mike Tricker’s layout. All photos by Mike.Right: GP7 arriving at Port Trenton NJ Left: Langell Boys at Port Trenton watched by a Reading Railroad CamelbackRight: B&O 0-8-0 Switcher at Petersport NJ   June 2017 - ROUNDHOUSE 25

BNSF’s Scenic subdivision is aptly named and runs high The town of Wellington was set high up the mountainin the Cascade Mountains of Washington State. Rail-fan- above Scenic and initially was nothing more than a campning the Scenic sub is truly wonderful - normally, but in for navvies forcing a way through the beautiful but harsh2016 I found myself faced with numerous Maintenance of landscape which would become known as Stevens Pass.Way windows and bad photographic light, not to mention The pass was named after John F. Stevens, the survey-countless problems in having to avoid forest fires. Get- or who discovered it. Stevens had previously surveyedting bored waiting for a train to emerge from the 7.8-mile Marias Pass through the Rocky Mountains for the GreatCascade Tunnel (the longest railroad tunnel in North Northern and would later go on to engineer the PanamaAmerica), Canal. Indeed, the town of Wellington was originally known as Stevens City when it was nothing more than a “rough and ungentlemanly construction camp” which was described as being, “… a wide open place where easy women rode free on the trains to ease the loneliness of the construc- tion workers.” Literally, prostitutes were allowed to ride trains to Wellington for free in order to provide some form of incentive for navvies to remain at the camp.GN near Scenic showing 3 main tracks The original route ran over the top of the Cascade Moun-I thought it might be a good idea to venture off the beaten tains and required eight switchbacks with grades of uptrack in search of the original Cascade Tunnel, higher up to 4%. Trains would traverse backwards and forwards tothe mountainside. I set about researching the tunnel on gain in altitude before crossing over the mountains andthe Internet back at the hotel that evening and discovered then traversing more switchbacks to descend back downthat in seeking out the original tunnel, I would also be the other side. Freight trains often had to be split andvisiting the site of America’s deadliest avalanche, a trag- would travel over the top in segments. This whole pro-edy that became known as the Great Northern Railway cess was expensive and time consuming. Things wereDisaster of 1910 in which 96 men, women and children even worse in winter when heavy snowfall would causelost their lives. extensive delays.This then is the story of the tunnel, the tragedy and The original route over the mountains was always con-the town of Wellington, an old railroading town located sidered a temporary measure and barely two years hadon James Jerome Hill’s Great Northern Railway (GN), passed since its completion before work had begun onbetween Spokane and Seattle. James J. Hill was a Ca- the ‘original’ 2.6-mile Cascade Tunnel in 1897. Conditionsnadian who had worked many jobs in his youth, mainly were harsh. The camp on the eastern portal (which wasas a shipping and freight transfers clerk. He purchased eventually to become the ‘town’ of Cascade Tunnel) wasseveral bankrupt railroads and set about constructing histranscontinental railroad - the Great Northern Railway.In opening the Pacific Northwest to settlers from aroundthe world, Hill was to become known as the legendary‘Empire Builder’.Part way down the grade between Wellington and Scenic The switchbacks before the opening of the first Cascade Tunnel (Photo credit M.E.Reed / Washington State26  ROUNDHOUSE - June 2017 Historical Society)

The town of Wellington cade Tunnel’. The steam locomotives would be kept indescribed by one journalist as the “wickedest town on steam as they were hauled through the tunnel but pow-earth” with at any one time, 800 men working, 800 men ered down to a bare minimum to avoid suffocating thesleeping and 800 men at the bar. Tunnelling gangs set off crews and passengers. However, because the locomo-from both east and west and broke through to greet each tives were still in steam, they could quickly take over fromother on the 23rd September, 1900, the tunnel finally the box cabs upon exiting the tunnel at the other side.opening to rail traffic on the 10th of December. Generally, the electrification of the tunnel worked very well. There were occasional incidents such as the time when, in order to save money on freight charges, a local farmer decided to walk his cow to market – right through the 2.6 mile tunnel. Somehow, both farmer and cow man- aged to survive unscathed, well presumably until they reached the abattoir when it was almost certainly curtains for one of them. The working of the electric and steam locomotives in unison through the tunnel worked a treat. However, this was only part of the story as additional steam helper locomotives would be required to get a train up into the Cascades and to the tunnel itself. An article in the Rail- way Age magazine (November, 1925) describes a typical working from Seattle Interbay yard:Between 1900 and 1906, the GN introduced the F 2-8-0 A 2,500-ton time freight, out of Seattle consisting of aboutConsolidations. Train lengths increased from 25 freight 60 cars, covers the 80 miles to Skykomish in approxi-cars to 35 / 40. Three hundred trains per month would mately 5½ hours when hauled by a 250-ton Mikado typepass through the tunnel and with the more powerful loco- 2-8-2 oil burning locomotive. At Skykomish, two 2-6 +motives, ventilation became a major issue. There were 8-0 mallet type locomotives of 260 tons are cut into thecountless incidents of crews being partially overcome by train at about uniform distance apart, to assist on the 2.2smoke and section crews being affected by pockets of percent grade to Wellington. Including a delay at Skykom-fumes. Engineers and firemen would carry gas masks as ish for this operation of one hour and for water at Scenica matter of routine. A tragedy was narrowly avoided when of 20 minutes, the 21.4 miles to Wellington is covered ina passenger train became stranded in the tunnel and 4½ hours. On arrival at Wellington, the steam helpers arethe crew (and most of the passengers) were overcome replaced in 30 minutes by the electric locomotives locatedwith fumes. The quick thinking of an off-duty fireman two ahead and two in the centre of the train. It takes awho was riding the train as a passenger, saved the day further 22 minutes to run through the tunnel; 15 minuteswhen he released the brakes, enabling the train to role to at Cascade tunnel for cutting out the electrics and in-safety. A decision was soon made to electrify the tunnel. specting air brakes and then a further 4 hours to reachThe August 1929 edition of Railway World explained the Wenatchee.decision: Passage in winter was still difficult and hazardous, even“This tunnel has always been a nightmare to passen- with the new tunnel. Electrification solved the issue ofgers and to trainmen. It required an hour after each train suffocation but the heavy winter snowfalls were stillpassed to clear it of smoke sufficiently to pass the next, causing problems. The town of Wellington, located at theand its capacity was thus limited to twenty-four a day.” western portal of the tunnel provided the base for numer-The electric system utilised a three-phase 6600 volts AC ous snow-clearing crews throughout the winter months.system and required the use of two trolley wires and the Snow ploughs would be hooked up to two steam locomo-rail as conductors. A dam and powerhouse were con- tives at a time and sent into action. If the snow proved toostructed to provide electricity for the four Alco / General difficult for the rotary ploughs, it would have to be clearedElectric box cab locomotives, Nos 5000 - 5003. Typically, by hand. Gangs of up to a hundred men would work totwo or three of the box cabs would be lashed together clear major blockages. The work was hard and incrediblyand attached to the head end of a train - directly in front dangerous. In the February of 1907, snow fell continuous-of the steam locomotive. As trains got longer and heavier ly for 48 hours causing severe disruption with trains beingover time, all four box cab locomotives might be used, the delayed for a full week. Passengers had to be dug out ofbox cabs being added / uncoupled at either end of the an eastbound train at Gaynor when a snow slide partiallytunnel. covered the coaches. Cascade winters were known toOn the western side of the tunnel, this would occur at produce exceptional snowfalls but the winter of 1910 wasWellington and on the eastern side - at the town of ‘Cas- to prove exceptionally exceptional.   June 2017 - ROUNDHOUSE 27

From an article published in the Bearwood Local #57You may have noticed that the people on the Freemolayout in March were “fiddlin’ about” with little packs ofcards. So what wasthat all about?What they were doing was testing a card-order systemto manage the car movements on the layout. This isn’tanything new to the hobby. This sort of system has beenin use in the USA for decades. Articles on this usuallymention the need to “tune” the number of cards to matchthe traffic on the layout. This is fine for a permanentlayout but not suitable for the situation at Bearwood. OurFreemo layouts only exists for a few hours, so there’s notime to do any tuning.Our Freemo layouts are comparatively simple though, so type. Strictly, only the “FROM” and “TO” sections need beI thought that maybe I could come up with a simple set of completed but adding imaginary load and shipper infor-rules that would enable us to use a card system without mation adds a bit more realism.the need to any “tuning”. The system is only suitable for So, the back of the waybill indicates we need a boxcar.our simple layouts that just have a yard feeding one or The second stack of cards at the yard are the beige carmore branches. For more complex layouts a different cards and there is one of these describing each car at thescheme, such as “JMRI Operations” would be needed. I yard. We work down the pack and take the fist “boxcar”came up with a possible scheme and Peter Bowen card. This turns out to be for Southern boxcar 527724.produced a set of cards for people to use so we could The card has a pocket where we insert the waybill so thegive it a try. Thanks, Peter. Southern car is now assigned to the job specified inThe attraction of the system is that there would be a the waybill.set of cards and associated cars for each module. This We repeat the process for successive waybills until wemeans that an individual would bring everything associ- have enough waybill/car pairs allocated to our train. Weated with that module to a meet - the module itself, the marshal the Southern boxcar and the rest of the cars intonecessary freight cars and its “operating scheme” in the a train and head out of the yard to switch the layout. Theform of the cards. So, if somebody finds at the last bundle of car cars and their inserted waybills forms theminute they can’t come, it doesn’t matter. We will have paperwork for our train as shown in photo 2.all the cards for the modules that do turn up, so we canuse these (with no further work) to operate the re-jiggedlayout in a realistic manner.Rather than describe all the detail of why the schemeworks, I will just describe it from the viewpoint of anoperator. I imagine we are the conductor on a train thatwill run out of the yard, switch the industries on the layoutand return.The first thing to do is identify the cars to be in our trainand the work that they are to do. At the yard there aretwo sets of cards that we will use to build our train. Thefirst we will use are the green waybills. These give detailsof a load (or empty car) that is to be moved between theyard and an industry. They do not say which specific caris to be used - only the job it is to do. Suppose we pickthe card shown in photo 1. This specifies the work to bedone… a load of bagged fertiliser is to be moved from theyard to the Con Agra Ramp at the town of Brownville.Note that if the card is turned end-for-end it specifies anempty car returning from the Con Agra Ramp to the yard.In our Bearwood card scheme, the rear of the waybill . . . continued on page 30shows the type of car to be used, in this case it is a box-car. The specific car to be used isn’t defined - only the car28  ROUNDHOUSE - June 2017

Brian Moore’s excellent Freemo modules – Quisling – are featured on this year’s Members Annual Directory cover.Brian writes:For American outline modellers in the UK, modular model railroading is increasingly popular, offering the ability for anindividual to construct a small, affordable, and relatively simple layout at home which is then easily carried to a venueand joined to others to create a much bigger and operationally satisfying set-up. And there is no need for masses ofstock either – all each participant needs to bring is a relatively small number of cars and a single locomotive.Crucially, Freemo overcomes the historic ‘lack of space at home to build a decent sized layout’. Just build a moduleinstead, and then with others you can play on a much bigger layout. We are happy to say that we have seen the futureof model railroading and, for us at least, it is modular. Why not find out more, and join the fun?   June 2017 - ROUNDHOUSE 29

. . . continued from page 25At each town, the cards in our bundle show if we haveany work to do there. When we get to Brownville the way-bill in the Southern boxcar’s car card will show we needto deliver the car to the Con Agra ramp.Whenever we set out a car, the rules for our system saywe should pick up a car from that location. We take alook at the Con Agra ramp and see that there is a flat carwith a bulldozer load there and its car card/ waybill is ina box there that holds car cards for the cars that are tobe picked up. Photo 3 shows the situation. Note that thewaybill has been turned end-for-end to show the flatcarinvolved is to transport a bulldozer back to the yard.We set out the Southern Boxcar and pick up the flat. We they felt like doing and there was no real purpose to theadd the flat’s car-card/waybill to our bundle and place the activity. With this new scheme we have to deliver specificone for the Southern boxcar in the “pick-up” box, having cars to specific locations. We only had one problem whenfirst reversed its waybill in the pocket so it now shows the a car was set out to the wrong industry track but this be-“2” end and will be picked up and returned to the yard by came obvious very quickly and recovery was easy.a later train. Having said all that, to me, the scheme doesn’t feel asWe repeat this process at the other locations on the lay- real as the JMRI-generated switch lists we use at ourout and finally arrive back at the yard with all the cars we “Formal Freemo” meetings. For the future, the idea ishave picked up, plus their car-cards/waybills. We set out to have a card system most months with JMRI “Formalthe cars in the yard. Then we separate the car cards and Freemo” every few months, particularly when we havewaybills and put them on the bottom of their respective more complex layouts.card stacks at the yard. Time for coffee!This system is the one we tested at the March meeting. Itworked well. It is a big improvement over our earlier “in-formal Freemo” operations where operators did whatever Call for Nominations for all BOD Posts President Vice-President Secretary Treasurer Membership Director Nominations are being sought now for the 2017-2018 term. This is the usual annual call for nominations, mandated by our Constitution, irrespective of whether the incumbents intend to continue in their posts or not. However, at the AGM in 2016, Robin Swan our President will be stepping down at the end of his one-year term and David McLaughlin, our Vice President, is expected to take over this vacated post. Therefore a new Vice President is required. Nominations should indicate the name of the nominee and the position nominated for, and should be signed by the nominee, the proposer and seconder. All three persons should be current members of the NMRA resident in the British Region. Nominations should be received by the Ballot Chairman: Rai Fenton, 43 Essex Road, Chingford, London E4 6DG, by August 1st 2017. If more than one nomination is received for a post then a ballot will be held in October of all Region members. Any queries, or to obtain nomination forms, please contact Rai on 020 8529 7307 or via email at [email protected]  ROUNDHOUSE - June 2017

. . . continued from page 7Niall Smith Giving his clinic on Weathering Freight CarsThe Scotland Division held its first meet of 2017 in Cuparon the 6th May. A grand total of 25 people attended theevent which was very encouraging, with four layoutsrunning on the day and two clinics taking place on theday. Special thanks must go to the members of the CuparMRC without whose help the event could not have takenplace, also to the members who brought layouts, helpedon the day or ran clinics. The Scotland Division NMRABRstand will be at the Perth Show on the 24,25th June2017.   June 2017 - ROUNDHOUSE 31

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