The RailLink. Mississippi Valley Associated Railroaders M.V.A.R. Carleton Place, Ontario Canada Our 25th Year November 2012

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1 The RailLink Mississippi Valley Associated Railroaders M.V.A.R. Carleton Place, Ontario Canada Our 25th Year November 2012 Mountain scene from the Carp Fair display (See Cover Story starting on page 5) Check out the M.V.A.R. web site for the latest club updates: and mvar

2 2012 MVAR Celebrates 25 Years! 2

The President s Message for October 2012 Sharing our enthusiasm for model railroading - among one another and with the wider community - that is what we are up to at MVAR.

In recent meetings we've learned about war gaming with miniature figures, rail photography - across North America and on now extinct local lines - and we've discovered from the voice of early-life

3 The President s Message for October 2012 Sharing our enthusiasm for model railroading - among one another and with the wider community - that is what we are up to at MVAR. And, that is what I'm committed to encouraging as our new president. As our meetings so well illustrate, we define model railroading very broadly. In recent meetings we've learned about war gaming with miniature figures, rail photography - across North America and on now extinct local lines - and we've discovered from the voice of early-life experience what it was like to be a fireman on a steam driven locomotive. Then there are the ways we share with the wider world, the visible excitement among kids visiting our large layout at the Carp Fair being the most recent example. We do these things through a variety of gauges and sizes of layout, sharing among us a huge diversity of finely honed skills. What links us is our commitment to share our hobby. All aboard! Brian Hull Larry Skinner Public Relations and Program Each Saturday morning members, friends, and guests come out to the Gourmet Restaurant for breakfast and railroad social time. This is a great place to get and share ideas for building your railroad. We start arriving about 07:00h and we eat at 08:00h. We socialize until 09:00h. On Wednesday mornings 6 to 8 members come out to Tim Horton s in Almonte for café and our Railroad Social hour. We start arriving about 09:30h and we meet until about 10:30h. Call another club member this week and get together for a house visit and see what they are doing with their layout or maybe make some suggestions. MVAR MEETI GS MVAR T-Trak Sub meets 2 nd Tuesday each summer month in Carleton Place Arena 7 to 9 PM (reverting to the 4 th Thursday in Sept.) MVAR meets 4 th Thursday in Oct, Nov, Dec, Feb, Mar, and Apr in Carleton Place Arena 7 to 9 PM MVAR Dinner Meetings are in Christ Church (Anglican), Ashton 6:30 to 9:00 ($20.00 charge) the 4 th Thursday of Sep, Jan and May. Visitors are always welcome Come and join us! 3

4 MVAR Executive Brian Hull, President Ben Sanders, Treasurer Membership This position is currently vacant. Rod Goodwin, Webmaster To all members who have web pages; you can have your link posted on our website. TO ALL MEMBERS CHECKOUT THE WEB SITE FOR ACTIVITIES THAT THE MEMBERS WILL BE HOSTING. Ron Legge, Secretary/Archivist David Reis, MVAR Librarian David s working on a listing that Rod can publish on the MVAR Website. That way, if you are researching some aspect of railroading and you see something listed in the library that you think might help, you can get in touch with David, either by phone or by , tell him what you are looking for, and he can arrange to meet you at the next breakfast session, MVAR meeting, etc. and you can get the magazine, book, or video that you were looking for. gumbyreis@gmail.com Programs This position is currently vacant Larry Skinner, Public Relations Please remember that this is YOUR club and if YOU want to make it exciting and active it is up to YOU to do so. lskinner@storm.ca Bob Carswell, RailLink Editor Bob.Carswell@xplornet.ca 4

5 The Model Railroad at Carp Fair a world in action in miniature Currently a work in progress, Brian Hull is in the process of writing a history of the Carp Fair model railroad display. At this time it is Brian s intent to have the article ready for the December issue of the newsletter; but in the mean time, in addition to the cover picture he has offered up the following images of the Carp Fair layout: 5

Brian has been busy interviewing many of our members, gathering background for this article which should provide an insight into our club and be piece of our clubs history.

6 Brian has been busy interviewing many of our members, gathering background for this article which should provide an insight into our club and be piece of our clubs history. Along the T-Trak Sub John Soehner brought a surprise guest to the October T-Trak Sub meeting. Hugh Strobel of Burlington Vermont was in the Bolingbroke area to do some train spotting with John Soehner for a few days. Hugh was kind enough to bring some slides from the '70s to the '90s and show them to a receptive audience of the T-Trak group at Carleton Place October 11, His slides were mainly of the Delaware & Hudson (D&H) as well the Erie Lackawanna (EL) from New York State, and some CPR action from Montreal, Smiths Falls and Eastern Ontario. Here is a photo of Hugh walking the CP lines east of Parham around the Eagle Lake Road. Hugh thanks the T-Trakers for the Timmy card! 6

7 C R 6400 Conversion DC to DCC By John Soehner Early in my HO career I modelled one of CNR's semi-streamlined engines, 6400 in particular. I had purchased a Bachmann Norfolk & Western Northern (4-8-4), a Northern Pacific Northern and also a NYC Niagara (4-8-4). The semi-streamlined shell from the N & W was modified with styrene around the front pilot area, an all-weather Canadian cab fashioned from styrene as well. Some work on the Fireman's side with a water pump and large hoses for water transfer added, the shell painted CNR passenger green and decals added. Number boards were added to the corner of the nose, marker lights applied as well. The Vanderbilt tender from the Northern Pacific was modified from oil to a coal bunker with styrene, painted CNR green, decals added. The wheels on the Norfolk & Western were too small for this engine, so the NYC chassis was used to complete the bash! This engine loved to run with a decent passenger consist. But that was the downfall of the train. It blew a side rod on the engineer's side early in its career on the WW&P Railway! As such the engine became a static display either in a Roundhouse bay or beside the Roundhouse getting washed, but never again run! Around 2008 when Eric Halpin was starting his Algoma and Rideau Railway, the CNR 6400 was loaned to the A&R during a period of steam power shortage on his line. It was a favourite scene in the Engine Servicing area, the Roundhouse in particular where workers spent time trying to fix the main rod. Now while the CNR 6400 was undergoing extensive repairs on the A&R under the watchful eyes of a shop foreman, I was looking for a DCC that could be used to repair the Northern and get it back into passenger service again. In early 2012 I noticed that Bachmann had reworked the NYC Niagara and had DCC on board. As such I ordered one of the engines and tested it on Larry Skinner's ONE. It was somewhat disappointing in terms of the number of cars the train could pull, but other than that seemed like a great deal for the $99.99 offer from Train World of New York City. The CNR 6400 was returned to the BiG Shops in the Annex at my cottage and work began on the repowering. Now the DCC chassis is much lighter than the DC chassis due to the amount of metal that has been machined from the frame. As such 105 grams of masses were fixed to the chassis in three areas. 7

Scotty's VW Auto supplied the used tire balancing masses that were

8 This photo shows how the profile of the DCC chassis is machined out more than the DC chassis in the background. Scotty's VW Auto supplied the used tire balancing masses that were added; hopefully this will increase the number of cars this engine will be able to pull on a reasonable grade. 8

A Bachmann Hicken Vanderbilt tender (DCC Ready) is on order.

9 Now the Vanderbilt tender will have to be replaced. The tender above has plastic wheels, no pick-up as such. A Bachmann Hicken Vanderbilt tender (DCC Ready) is on order. This tender will require some "Canadian Nationalizing", a conversion from oil to coal as well the card from the Niagara DCC tender will have to be transferred over to the modified Hicken Vanderbilt tender. More on that when the next mail arrives! 9

As it turns out the motherboard of the NYC tender looks exactly the same as the Hicken motherboard.

10 The wire to the DC post in the photo above was cut off to remove the motherboard from the tender. I unfortunately pulled this wire loose from the rear wheel pick-up! As it turns out the motherboard of the NYC tender looks exactly the same as the Hicken motherboard. To be sure I replaced the Hicken motherboard with the one from the NYC one. The job was simple enough to solder the severed wire to the R labelled post that then must be attached to rear wheel pick-up of the Hicken tender, and solder the wire to the front pick-up. The dummy 8 pint connector was lifted and the decoder with its 8 point connection installed in the vacated spot. 10

Now to complete the conversion of an oil tender to coal, by building up the bunker walls, paint the tender CN green and add decals.

11 From there it is a matter of sliding the motherboard and weight into the slots of the Hicken tender, and away we go. The engine was tested out on Eric Halpin's Algoma and Rideau and it worked like a charm, running with a baggage and 5 passenger cars. Now to complete the conversion of an oil tender to coal, by building up the bunker walls, paint the tender CN green and add decals. One more shot of the re-chassied CNR 6400 in my train shed, with the old Vanderbilt tender as a prop for the next phase, conversion of Southern Pacific Hicken tender to CNR tender. John Members Logo s I have been advised that some of our brethren may no longer wish to have their logo displayed on the last page of our newsletter. That being the case, if those who no longer want their logo displayed could send me an , I will then remove them. 11

12 Coming Events Nov Whitby Model Railroad Show Father Leo J Austin School 1020 Dryden Blvd 10: Thurs, Nov 21, 2012 at 7pm MVAR Executive Meeting at the Gourmet Restaurant Thurs, Nov 22, 2012 MVAR Meeting Carleton Place Arena MVAR T-Trak Sub night The Sub will conduct a normal program to show other MVAR members what happens on MVAR T-Track Sub nights 6:30 to 9:00 Dec Quinte Region 17 th Annual Christmas Model Railroad Show 45 College St West Bellville, ON Adults $5, Seniors/Students $4, Children $2 Thurs, Jan 24, 2013 MVAR Dinner Meeting Christ Church (Anglican), Ashton 6:30 to 9:00 Program TBA 12

13 Some of the M.V.A.R. members Railway Patches M.V.A.R. David McCurdy Dennis MacTavish Jim Davis David Biggs Bob Summers John Soehner Larry Skinner ARIZONA RESOURCE RAILWAY John Morin T-TRAK Sub W.G.H. Cathy & John Delroy Bob Carswell You re Logo Here Check out the M.V.A.R. web site for the latest club updates: and mvar 13

The RailLink. Mississippi Valley Associated Railroaders M.V.A.R. Carleton Place, Ontario Canada Our 24th Year April 2011

The RailLink. Mississippi Valley Associated Railroaders M.V.A.R. Carleton Place, Ontario Canada Our 24th Year April 2011 The RailLink Mississippi Valley Associated Railroaders M.V.A.R. Carleton Place, Ontario Canada Our 24th Year 1987-2011 April 2011 Adding a bit of colour... (Photo courtesy of John Soehner, jol*) Check