OZARK DIVISION WINTER NEWSLETTER 2012 Volume 1, Number 4

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1 OZARK DIVISION WINTER NEWSLETTER 2012 Volume 1, Number 4 Welcome to winter it s about 70 degrees outside as I start this edition of the Ozark Division Newsletter. It can stay like this until April - then turn warmer. I know that will probably not happen as we all know the weather can change in a heartbeat here in fly-over country. Another Great St. Louis Christmas Train Show has come and gone. I believe the 400 or so who attended had a good time. I spoke with a number of vendors some had good table sales and others not. Regardless I hope everyone who participated had a good time. I must thank the 8 th graders, the parent volunteers and the 8 th grade sponsors who made the show a success. They must have liked what occurred as they want to do another show next December; mark your calendars, put it in your BlackBerrys, write it in your Franklin Planners and iphones the date of December 1, 2012 for the next Great St. Louis Before Christmas Train Show & Food Drive. Don t forget about the Great St. Louis After Christmas Train Show & Food Drive scheduled for February 25, See the attached registration form for more information. My wife bought a complete train layout a couple weeks before Christmas and for the first time in a couple of years we had a train under the Christmas tree. My wife Katie, is a licensed Radon Professional and as part of her job she does Radon testing which requires her to place Radon testing equipment in a residential or commercial buildings. Radon testing has almost become a necessary part of the inspection for many of the property transactions in the St. Louis area. Also many property owners are doing it voluntarily out of concern as there is some antidotal evidence that radon is a major contributor of lung cancer in non-smokers. Radon is a radioactive gas with a short halflife. It comes from the natural decay of uranium that is found in nearly all soils. It is odorless and tasteless gas which typically moves up through the ground into the air above the ground. It moves into buildings through cracks in the foundation, construction joints, cracks in walls, gaps in suspended floors, gaps around service pipes, cavities inside walls and the water supply. All buildings trap radon inside where it builds up which can present a radon problem. This means new and old buildings, well-sealed or drafty buildings, and buildings with or without basements. Since most of us have our layouts and collections on the walls of our man caves you should consider having your home tested for Radon. We have tested our home on several occasions and I pleased to say that we are under the danger threshold of 4 pci/l (picocuries

2 per liter of air). For readings over that level it is recommended that a mitigation system is installed. There are many kinds of low-cost do-it-yourself radon test kits that you can order through the mail, purchase in hardware stores or other retail outlets. Most of those tests have to sent off to a laboratory for results which may take several weeks. The other option is to hire a qualified tester to do the testing for you. Results are generally available within 24 hour of testing. Qualified testers and mitigators can be found at radongas.org. Back to the story, Katie was in the basement with the client when she spotted what appeared to be a train layout under a sheet. When asked, the client said her father had bought a train set and set-up a layout for the grand kids. The sheet was lifted revealing a 4 x 8 layout. The client said no one was interested in it and though it probably would go to the trash however she asked Katie if she was interested. Without any hesitation she said yes and before she could ask who much she wanted for it the client said how does $25 sound. She made arrangements to pick it up. As it turned out she bought a ½ thick 4 x 8 plywood board with two 2 x 4 saw horses the wood is worth that. What came along with it was two circles of 027 track, 4 pairs of manual 027 switches, Lionel LW transformer and a complete Lionel Prairie Five Car Steam Freight Set with an extra flat car (6844) carrying guided missiles. The set is pulled by a 2029 Steam Locomotive with a 234W Tender Lionel Lines. The set is in excellent condition probably would rate a C7 or C8; however there is no set box. Postscript for the Riss & Co., Inc. story from the Fall Newsletter: Richard Riss moved his company headquarters from Colorado, probably Denver, to Kansas City, Missouri in the early 1930s. The building he moved into is located at 15 W. 10 th St., Kansas City, MO. At some time after the move the building became known as the Riss Building and was added to the National Register of Historical Places in January The Land Bank Building, as it was known then was designed by Keene and Simpson Architects with construction beginning in 1923 and finished in It was built for the Kansas City Joint Stock Bank and was one of five institutions nationwide that received a charter under the Federal Loan Act, passed in The 12 story, Italian Renaissance styled building was the project of Kansas City entrepreneur Walter S. Cravens, the bank s first president. Cravens rise to fame quickly came to a halt when he was indicted in 1927 for his phony loan activities. After that fiasco, the Phoenix Joint Stock Land Bank took over the property from Thereafter, the building was associated with several major financial institutions. Today the building is the Hanover Lofts and it has under gone major renovations including all systems. The name of Riss was spelled out on top of the building and from a 1953 picture it appears to be facing west. The sign was probably lighted at night probably red in color. I am sure that some of you in Kansas City may remember seeing that sign. I ran across some items that might be of interest to collectors of memorabilia. I saw several photos of hat badges of different styles; the first was probably that of a driver. It had the company logo with an area for the employee name which was engraved. The second hat badge was probably for security. I also saw an image of a 6 page company pamphlet titled Life Line USA

3 Transportation in the Nation s Service from the 1950s. GMC prepared a service manual specifically for Riss & Co. s Cannon Ball tractors. Company toys were always popular. In the 1950s Ulrich offered a diecast tractor/trailer kit in HO scale and in 2005 Central Metal Works offered another version of a tractor/trailer in HO scale. However, I think the neatest item was the HO scale TOFC offered by Gilbert in MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL: It s that time again to renew your annual membership to the Ozark Division. The annual membership is $10 and it can be paid in person at the next Train Show or complete the Ozark Division Order Blank and mail it with your check to Ozark Division, 810 Windmill Dr., Ballwin, MO If you are not sure about your membership status check the mailing label, if D-11 or it is blank it is time to renew or join the Ozark Division. GREAT ST. LOUIS AFTER CHRISTMAS TRAIN SHOW & FOOD DRIVE: You still have time to reserve your table(s) for the show scheduled for Saturday, February 25, 2012 at Zion Lutheran School, 3866 Harvester Rd., St. Charles, MO This is our first time there; the show will be in the Fellowship Hall under the church sanctuary. The fellowship hall area is similar in size to the Immanuel Lutheran School gym. The school is located roughly at the intersection of Harvester Rd and MO Hwy 94, very close to the Page Ave. (Hwy 364) extension. The Hwy 94 construction is finished at this end. Entrance to the fellowship hall is on the south side of the building off the main driveway with plenty of free parking. Please see the enclosed registration form for all show details. WELCOME ABOARD: Listed below are new members to the TCA and Ozark Division residing within the Division boundaries: Barrett J. Dolan Philip T. Hopkins 566 Treetop Village Dr. 75 Miller Ave. Ballwin, MO Atchison, KS barryaf@att.net formodelar@yahoo.com Don Johnston Roger J. Lepper E. 36 th St Reynolds Ave. Tulsa, OK Independence, MO teetowntinplater@aol.com Don McClain, Jr Norman C. Neeb 3712 Wood Ave Westminster Place Kansas City, KS St. Louis, MO norm108@gmail.com WELCOME BACK: Listed below are members who have reinstated their membership to the TCA and Ozark Division residing within the Division boundaries:

4 John V. Cookingham Timothy Racz 58 th TCA NATIONAL CONVENTION JUNE 23 to July 1, 2012: It s time to make plans to attend the TCA National Convention in Atlanta, GA. For more information about the convention including registration and tour descriptions you need to see the latest edition of the National Headquarters News, January 2012 edition, or you can go to the Convention website Word of caution all of the Premium tours will sell out early. CELEBRATING the MAGIC of TOY TRAINS 59 TH TCA National Convention Up-Date: We are just a year and a half out; mark your calendars, put it in your Franklin Planners, Blackberry s and iphones the dates of June 23-29, 2013 for the 59 TH TCA National Convention. Your convention committee is working feverishly getting all of the convention activities finalized. I can tell you that on Sunday, June 23 rd we will be offering an all day trip out to Columbia, MO for a Bruch and train ride on the COLT. Monday we will offer an all day excursion to Springfield, IL to the Abraham Lincoln Museum and Library with the potential of offering two travel methods: Amtrak or bus. On Tuesday and Wednesday there will be general tours around and about the area and on Wednesday the feature activity will be a dinner cruise on the river. The annual TCA Board of Directors meeting will begin on Wednesday morning. On Thursday and Friday more tours will be offered around the area. Also on Thursday evening the Ozark Division will host the opening night party. Member vendors will be able to unload and take their wares to their assigned tables. Friday morning at 9 am the Trading Pits will open and close at 5 pm. The Trading Pits will open at 9 am on Saturday morning and close at 2 pm. Following that the annual TCA membership meeting will be held. The annual member convention banquet and live auction will begin a 7pm. The premium tours will sell out fast. The Registration Station will be opened during the entire Convention to assist our visitors. We are going to need your help as Ambassadors ; you will be asked to accompany all tours, we will need Ambassadors to help at the Registration Station, at the front door of the hotel, assisting member vendors to their table(s), security and of course runners. Please drop me an jonlstrain@netscape.net or give me call at letting me know how you want to help. I am pleased to announce that we have sold out of all of the Frisco TOFC. If you want one you will probably have to search ebay (Lionel ). However we still have Convention attire available. You can go to the Ozark Division website to view the attire and place your order. For every VanHuessen shirt ordered a dollar will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Cancer Fund. FUTURE EVENTS: Listed below are the planned dates for future events for the Ozark Division. All dates are also in the TCA National Headquarters Newsletter and at several websites: Saturday, February 25, 2012 Sunday, March

5 Zion Lutheran School The Pointe 3866 Harvester Rd. 1 Ballwin Commons Dr. St. Charles, MO Ballwin, MO am to 3 pm 10 am to 2 pm Sunday, September 16, 2012* Saturday, December 1, 2012 The Pointe Immanuel Lutheran School 1 Ballwin Commons Dr Olive Blvd. Ballwin, MO Olivette, MO am to 2 pm 9 am to 3 pm We are looking for hosts if you would like to host an Ozark Division Train Show please contact me at jonlstrains@netscape.net or at We are looking for hosts from Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma and of course other Missouri locations. Hosting a show is a great way to expand and encourage new membership to the TCA and Ozark Division. *Annual Membership Meeting I received a note form Francis Smith ( ) with his membership renewal asking for some help. He has a Lionel 2441 passenger car and needs an end for the car. He went on to tell me that he is recovering from cancer and surgeries during He said he is doing OK but needs some projects to keep him busy if anyone can help him he can be contacted at his home 701 Deill St., Pittsburg, KS I am saddened to report that the Hobby Station of St. Louis was forced to close due to the planned remodeling of Crestwood Mall. No news of a new location. There is good news Train Town located in Rock Hill, Mo has moved to a new location, 9250 Manchester Rd., Rock Hill, MO. The new location is west of their old location on Manchester Road and is across the street from McDonalds. This is the World s Greatest Hobby and don t forget to Support Your Favorite Hobby Shop. Jon Lundvall, Editor Contact: jonlstrains@netscape.net TCA MISSION: To develop an appreciation of and to preserve an important segment of history Tinplate Toy Trains through research, education, community outreach, fellowship, establishment of collecting standards, and to promote the growth and enjoyment of collecting and operating toy, model, and scale trains.