The Carolina Piedmont Herald

Transcription

1 The Carolina Piedmont Herald Newsletter of the Carolina Piedmont Division, MER, NMRA March 2013 Next Division Meeting Tuesday, March 26, 2013 St. Michael Archangel Centre & Gallery 830 High House Road Cary, North Carolina 6:30 PM Board of Directors Meeting 7:00 PM Membership Meeting Popular Vote Contest - $10 Cash Prize Next up - April cars with loads 2013 Carolina Piedmont Division of the Mid-Eastern Region of the NMRA The Carolina Piedmont Herald is published monthly by the Carolina Piedmont Division, Mid-Eastern Region of the National Model Railroad Association Submissions: Please send news items, inquiries and comments to the Editor of The Herald by the 15 th of the month. All material should be electronic, preferably Microsoft Word or Powerpoint. Pictures should be in Jpeg format and in color. Jack Dziadul, Clerk and Editor dziadul@windstream.net cell Address, or telephone changed? Here is the link to keep your NMRA records up to date. The opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the author of each article or the Editor of the Carolina Piedmont Herald and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Carolina Piedmont Division. Membership Barometer March Program Coaling Tower Diorama Contest Our March special modeling contest requires using the Life-Like HO Scale Coaling Tower kit number Build your kit using a minimum of 50% of the parts and display it on a diorama/base (maximum size of 24 by 36 in HO scale and 24 by 18 in N scale). Identify the structure(s) with a sign or an index card explaining what it is. Prizes will be awarded for 1 st, 2 nd and 3 rd place popular vote and the Board of Directors will award 3 additional prizes. All prizes will be model railroading tools and/or supplies that can be used in any scale. Be sure to take notes and photograph your progress so that we can include a brief article in the April edition of The Herald. NMRA Membership 19,011 MER Membership 2,019 Division Membership Yahoo Group Members 92 Attendance 2/26/

2 Board of Directors Superintendent (term ending January 2014) Grif Bond, Wake Forest, Assistant Superintendent (term January 2014) Jim Murphy, Cary, Division Clerk (term ending January 2014) Jack Dziadul, Sanford, Division Paymaster (term ending January 2014) Jerry Mersch, Cary, Director (term ending in January 2014) Rob Rousseau, Holly Springs, Director (term ending in January 2015) Steve Milley, Garner, Director (term ending in January 2016) Will Seehorn, Cary, CPD Meeting Calendar Tuesday night s monthly :30 PM Board / 7:00 PM General Meeting March 26 April 23 May 28 June 25 July 23 August 27 September 24 October 22 November 12 December 10 Coming Events Tichy Train Group Tour Saturday, April 6, AM Pre-registration required as we are limited to 30 NMRA member attendees. Contact Jack Dziadul for details. National Train Day May 11, 2013 Cary, NC See Grif Bond for details. Norfolk Southern Historical Society Saturday, April 20, 2013 Walstonburg, NC See Rob Rousseau for details NMRA National Conventions /14-7/20 Atlanta, GA /13-7/20 Cleveland, OH /23 8/30 Portland, OR /3-7/10 Indianapolis, IN MER Convention Host Calendar /10 10/13 C&P Junction, Rockville, MD Editor s note - Before traveling any distance to an event listed, it is recommended you verify the event is still scheduled by checking the event s web site or calling the local contact. March April May June July Monthly Contests Coal Tower Diorama Cars with Loads, Revised Your $2 Makeover Any Diorama or Single Tree Diorama or Tree (from the June clinic) Program Topics March Coal tower contest April $2 Car Makeover Vic Bitleris May Trees (I) Steve Milley June Trees (II) Steve Milley July Styrene Scratch Building Luis Dominguez August Scenery Lou Sassi September Colorado & Southern Mason Cutchin March April May June Refreshment Hosts John Sokash Mason Cutchin Jamie Jordan your name goes here Page 2

3 Division 2012 Annual Division Report Carolina Piedmont Division (CPD13) Director Rob Rousseau, webmaster Director Steve Milley, Holiday Trains for Kids program coordinator Achievement program highlights Meeting Times and Dates 4 th Tuesday of every month Meetings in November and December held on 2 nd Tuesday St. Michael Archangel Centre & Gallery, Cary, NC 6:30 PM Board of Directors meeting 7:00 PM Division membership meeting All monthly meetings (except December) included an educational program on prototype railroads and/or railroad modeling. A monthly modeling contest was held and the popular vote winner received a $10 gift certificate donated by Kim A. Parker, Train Buddy Products, Wake Forest, NC. Each monthly contest had a theme. Average monthly meeting attendance was 24 members. Refreshments provided at each meeting. List of Officers (for 2012) plus AP coordinator with contact information Superintendent Grif Bond, grifbond@embarqmail.com Assistant Superintendent Jim Murphy, berkshireshort@yahoo.com Paymaster Jerry Mersch, jbmswow@nc.rr.com Clerk Jack Dziadul, dziadul@windstream.net, newsletter editor Director Vic Bitleris, vbitleris@nc.rr.com, Achievement Program (AP) coordinator Page 3 Eight achievement program certificates and two Golden Spike awards were earned: Jack Dziadul Chief Dispatcher Dan Fisher Model Railroad Author John Janosko Golden Spike John Janosko Association Volunteer Rob Rousseau Golden Spike Rob Rousseau Model Railroad Engineer - Electrical Stephen Wood Master Builder - Structures Stephen Wood Model Railroad Engineer - Electrical Stephen Wood Master Builder - Scenery Stephen Wood Association Volunteer Planned Activities from the past year Moved to a new monthly meeting location Monthly meetings held with educational programs and popular vote model contest Elected one new Director, Steve Milley, for a 3 year term ending January 2015 Announced the latest special modeling contest and offered Life-Like HO scale coaling tower kits to Division membership for $5.00 each. Contest ends with display and voting in March Produced 12 monthly issues of Division newsletter, The Carolina Piedmont Herald. Primary distribution was via the Division s Yahoo Group list with a few paper copies sent US Mail. Newsletter is also posted on the Division s web site Division booth/display with switching layouts at the Amtrak Station in Cary, NC for National Train Day 3 Division members attended the NMRA 2012 National Convention in Grand Rapids, Michigan

4 White elephant sale before/during membership meeting in October Division booth/display with switching layout at the annual Neuse River Valley (NRV) Train Show in November Special projects or working with other organizations Holiday Trains for Kids program Eight (8) HO scale electric train sets were provided to less fortunate children at Christmas time. Division members identified children through local contacts such as churches, civil clubs and schools. Any successful or new ideas that your division has tried that might be helpful to other divisions Holiday Trains for Kids program that provides HO scale electric train sets to less fortunate children at Christmas time. Train sets are purchased using Division funds, contributions and funds raised from the sale of raffle layouts. Where in your opinion could the MER provide support to your division? MER could provide increased membership dues rebates to fund Division activities. Subsidy of the Rail Pass program ($9.95 fee) by the MER has been positive for the Division. Superintendent s Name and Signature Grif Bond Grif Bond, Superintendent Carolina Piedmont Division February 15, 2013 NMRA InfoNet News Tom Draper, Director Support Services NMRA Organizational Changes The following NMRA organizational changes have been announced: 1. Eastern District Director John Roberts is unable to continue serving on the BOD due to health reasons. Joe Gelmini has been designated as John s replacement to serve out the remaining years of John s term as Eastern District Director. We all wish John well. The family requests that you not contact John at this time. 2. Gerry Leone has resigned as Communications Director for personal reasons including some unfortunate personal snipes from other officials and the organization s slow pace of modernization. 3. At Large Worldwide Director, Tony Koester is retiring from the BOD due to term limits. Tony has served as a Director for the past six years. This position will be filled via the upcoming elections. 4. Atlantic District Director, Nobby Clarke is retiring from the BOD due to term limits. Nobby has served as Director for the past six years. This position will be filled via the upcoming elections. 5. As a result of a disciplinary action the BOD declared the At Large North America Director position vacant. As a result, Miles Hale is no longer the ALNAD. A replacement will be named according to NMRA policy and procedures. Reference the NMRA web page for additional information. 6. Bill Kaufman, Vice President for Special Projects has resigned for personal reasons. 7. Tom Draper has been appointed Director of Support Services to fill any vacancies until a replacement can be found starting initially with the publication of the InfoNet News. 8. Rick Coble was confirmed by the BOD as Assistant National Secretary supporting National Secretary John Stevens. Page 4

5 9. Most of the functions of the Member Services and Map Departments have been folded into the Marketing Department. Those functions that were not moved to the Marketing Department were assigned to other existing departments. 10.President Charlie Getz hastens to add there is no village coup in all of these changes but rather a combination of events that has led to a dynamic turnover. The NMRA is in good shape! 2016 National Convention Bid An excellent presentation was made by the host committee for the 2016 National Convention in Indianapolis, IN ( Highball to Indianapolis ) to the BOD which strongly approved the bid. The convention will be held July 3-10, 2016 in downtown Indianapolis at the Westin hotel and the Indiana Convention Center. The National Train Show will also be in the Indiana Convention Center which is located directly across from the hotel. Future National Convention Dates The BOD approved a motion to allow more flexibility in scheduling the dates and areas of the country for our conventions starting with the 2017 convention. Donations to the NMRA The BOD approved a motion to provide NMRA members a first opportunity to purchase items donated to the NMRA Museum or Library or which were undesignated but were deemed surplus. Any unsold items may be offered for sale to the general public. Data Sheets and Calendar have been made the responsibility of the Publications Department. NMRA Museum It was announced that the NMRA Museum has reached over $300,000 in pledges for the California State Railroad Museum Gallery Exhibit ( The Magic if Scale Model Railroading ). This pledge amount has triggered a matching pledge amount of an additional $250,000 which puts the Museum closer to its goal of reaching the estimated cost Page 5 of up to $750,000. So fundraising will still be needed as we are not at our ultimate goal yet. The Museum is now in a position to ask for construction bids. It is estimated the gallery exhibit will probably be completed within 14 months of awarding a construction contract. It is estimated that the California State Railway Museum is visited by over 600,000 attendees each year. The BOD offered its sincere appreciation for the recent donations to the fund raising program of $10,000 by Model Railroader Magazine and $50,000 by The World s Greatest Hobby. There were also four pledges of $25,000 or more and 12 pledges of $10,000 or more. Financial Reporting It was reported that the Summary of Financials for 2012 and the 2011 Auditors report will be published on the NMRA web site. Both the 2012 NMRA Convention and the 2012 National Train Show made a profit from their operations. HASEA Agreement Extended Indefinitely The BOD approved extending indefinitely the one year working agreement with HASEA, an association of 100,000 Chinese Model Railroaders and railfans, to share the NMRA s standards and organizational knowledge. This agreement can be cancelled for no cause upon a 30 day written notice by either party. Marketing Plan Marketing Director Page Martin reported on a new ambitious marketing plan for the NMRA including in-package membership inserts with Walthers products as well as on-line and hard building hobby establishments, museums, special attractions and national and regional model railroad shows and conventions. An active program is being created for November which is National Model Railroad Month. Also the Constant Contact system has been set up and is ready for use by Regions and Divisions as a tool for them.

6 Awards President Charlie Getz presented the President s Award to outgoing At Large Worldwide Director Tony Koester and outgoing Atlantic District Director Nobby Clarke for their years of service to the NMRA. The BOD adjourned in Honor of John Roberts, HLM, MMR (MER), former President and Eastern District Director and in memory of Lt. Cdr. John M. Baker (USN) (MER), John Baker (AR), and Jim Long (PCR). modifications and track movement, the layout was modified from a square design that just went around a room to one that went point to point to better facilitate operations. If you have any questions or comments about any of the above, please send them directly to a Director or Officer. You ll find those addresses at or in the NMRA Magazine. CONSTRUCTING AND RECONSTRUCTING THE CLSC&W RAILROAD Stephen C. Wood, MMR Part Three Once completed this led me to come up with a design for the yard, which would occupy the entire end of the layout. After some initial designs and reviews Commercial turnouts still in their package. I decided that I wanted at least 12 classification sidings, a 5-stall roundhouse with a turntable, of those sidings I wanted to use 2 for cabooses, and at least 3 engine houses in the big yard (and at least one on the upper level). With some design Page 6 The yard being laid out before the extension. I now had four main lines, a very large yard with a crossing in it, a double crossover on the freight tracks and a single crossover on the upper level. It was time for some more changes. The track concept became rather simple. I added a siding for a meat processing plant, I extended the siding for an ice house and on that siding there was a large lumber yard with working flashing cross bucks, coal bridge was built and another siding was added for the coal cars to deliver to the power plant. Traffic moved both clock wise and counter clockwise. In the years, I created a masterpiece (even though very hard to reach). Everything in the yard was run independent of the four main lines and all the tracks in the yard are controlled with red and green dwarf signals along with all the sidings, and crossovers. There were two different tracks leading from the yard to the main lines.

7 Once the yard was designed, it needed its own controls and power outside of the four main lines. The four control boxes were all bought from Radio Shack but the toggle switches and turnout switches were all hand drilled and placed. One thing I learned right away was that the toggle switches were metal and so was the top of the box, which created a short. I took plastic, cut them into small pieces, removed every switch, and placed a barrier between them and the top of the control box. The same thing was done with the main line as well Yard controls for all the turnouts, dwarf signals and five stall roundhouse. The main layout over looking the yard. I knew there was a problem as I did not create a way for the trains on the upper level to come down so I had to create a small upper level yard with a 2 stall engine house and storage track which runs next to the main line. The upper level was built to bring people to work and take home. There were two different passenger stations, and the tracks are on different levels as the outside track has a grade, which is exact. When the passenger train stops, people can get off and go down the back stairs or around front where there is a scratch built passenger bridge (over 400 pieces). In the town, there was a scratch built police station, town hall, lumber mill, bank, one room schoolhouse, church, hardware store, firehouse, icehouse, lumber company and much more. The four main line controls. Soon to be changed and added onto! Page 7

8 Industry News - JMD John DeBeck, JMD Plastics Dad and two of my three girls. They are in the upper Coach Yard learning what it takes to detail the rocks. Most of the buildings had lights. In the yard, there were three engine houses (one scratch built), a scratch built yard office and interlocking tower. All the buildings and layout setting dated from the 1950 s to the early 1960 s. That provides a ton of switching work as well as an opportunity to model a small New England town where everyone works. Now, I would design a new track plan and include in some of the great things I have learned over the years. As many of you may know, it has been impossible to get the highly popular TENAX 7R plastic welder for use in gluing together styrene models, sheets, etc. Ironically, this product was distributed by Hebco, just down the road from us near LaCrosse, Wisconsin. At one point, they even asked us for 10,000 pieces of styrene so they could demonstrate their product at shows they attended. Well, their , phone, etc., is no longer in service. And good luck finding a back stock of TENAX at any hobby shop or even on E-Bay! (I know--we tried---and bought up as many bottles as we could find!) That being said, we have been working with the same folks who helped us to bring our Instant Track-Tack-It and Grass-Tack-It products to you to design a replacement product. In mid-december, we finalized the product after much testing and then made our initial marketing test at a recent train show in Kansas City with RESOUNDING SUCCESS, with hundreds of individual jars and cases sold! The new product, STYRENE TACK-IT, works exactly the same as Tenax, in the fact that it dries quickly (5-10 seconds), will evaporate if you forget and leave the cap off for a few days, and in truth, acts as a bonder should---"activating" or "melting" the styrene to achieve a solid bond instead of "gluing." If you mess up a joint, simply apply an additional bead of the STYRENE TACK-IT, pull the bond apart, sand it lightly, and re-bond the joint properly! Yard with the scratch built one stall engine house Page 8

9 ACHIEVEMENT PROGRAM Model Railroad Engineer - Electrical (Tenth in a series) Jack Burgess, MMR Pacific Coast Region AP Chairman Continuing our discussion on various AP certificates, this month we will talk about the requirements for Model Railroad Engineer - Electrical. Like the other certificates, the full requirements for this category are available on the Internet at the NMRA website. ( Ed.) The essence of this AP certificate is to demonstrate knowledge of wiring a model railroad. The required work can be done on your own layout, a club layout, or even some on a friend s layout. I will talk about the first two requirements this month and the rest of the requirements in the next issue. The first requirement is that you construct and demonstrate the satisfactory operation of an electrical control system on a model railroad capable of simultaneous and independent control of two mainline trains in either direction and containing at least a) five electrical blocks if running DC or, for DCC, sufficient gaps and switches to maintain polarity, phase if needed, and troubleshooting; and b) one mainline passing siding; and c) one reversing loop, wye, or turntable; d) one yard with a minimum of three tracks and a switching lead independent of the mainline; and e) facilities for the storing of at least two unused motive power units; and f) one power supply with protective devices. Note that you do not need to build a power supply as long as it includes the required protective device. While this might seem like a long list, note that even a small DCC layout could qualify if there is a way to turn motive power and it includes a small yard, a passing track, and circuit breakers. Page 9 The next requirement is that you wire and demonstrate the electrical operation of at least three of the following items: turnout crossing crossover double crossover slip switch gauge separation turnout double gauge separation turnout three-way turnout gauntlet turnout spring switch, or an operating switch in an overhead wire. You do not need to scratchbuild any of these track components, just show that you can make them work electrically. For example, wiring up the simplest powered turnout from the hobby shop will satisfy one of the three required electrical track components. Likewise, most commercial crossings come pre-wired. All you need to do it set one up so that you can run trains through both tracks. The whole point of these requirements is for you to demonstrate a variety of skills and understand the need for track gaps, etc. The guidelines continually stress to not read more into the requirements than need be or make them harder than they have to be. I ll talk about the rest of the requirements in the next issue. In The News Stephen Wood, MMR was recognized in the April 2013 issue of the NMRA magazine. See the Jim Zinser, MMR s Division Business Car.

10 Industry News - Campbell Combining the Best Practices of 'New' and 'Old' Technology Tom Miller Most of you are aware from a few brief hints in past newsletters or notes on our Facebook page that we have been investigating using laser technology to improve the accuracy and ease of building our kits. Well this year we have started an ambitious project to update all our kits...last count we have 132 in production...so it will take a while to complete. Some have asked, 'What is involved to convert a kit from a traditional-cut to a laser-cut kit?' First, in my mind, the best time to introduce a new version of a kit is when quantities of that kit are low so we don't have two types being shipped at the same time. It would be very confusing to a modeler expecting the latest laser-cut kit but receiving a traditional-cut kit. Mind you, there is nothing wrong with a traditional-cut kit, and I can say that since I'm one of the guys that personally cut and measures each piece, but a modeler should receive what he/her ordered. Second, old drawings must be updated and verified, and after a number of drafts, a perfect laser-cut drawing is the result. Then we must determine what type of material to use; it could be the standard cardstock or maybe a 3-ply plywood from Finland, or a long strip of our sugar pine that has been milled with ship-lap or board 'n batten. And finally, this new version must be hand built to confirm that all dimensions are correct, all pieces fit, and the instructions address the use of new laser-cut parts. Finally, the kit's drawings and isotropic images must be updated. So as you can see, we've got a lot of work ahead of us. Last year we introduced our Post Office (our first laser-cut kit) and then the Abandoned House. This month I'm working on the Community Church and after that the Passenger Shelter. As kits are fully converted and stocks are back up the normal, you'll see an announcement in future CSM newsletters. FROM THE BUSINESS CAR Grif Bond, Superintendent March 2013 CPD13 special modeling contest Hopefully we will have a number of entries for the model/diorama using the Life- Like HO scale coaling tower. The contest will reveal at the March 2013 Division meeting. Prizes will be awarded by popular vote to the top 3 entries and the BOD will also award 3 prizes. Tichy Train Group open house and tour Don Tichy has graciously opened up his shop on April 6 th for a tour of his operation. The tour starts promptly at 10:00 AM, so plan to arrive a little before. Carpooling will also help. Final details and logistics will be reviewed at the Division meeting. Magic of Model Railroading Walthers is sponsoring a contest to have your layout featured in the 2014 HO scale or N&Z reference books. The HO scale deadline is April 15 th. The N&Z scale deadline is May 15 th. Prizes are 1st place - $250; 2nd place - $100; 3rd place - $75 Visit walthers.com for the entry rules and details. This is your chance to have your layout featured in next year's HO or N&Z Reference Book. Join your fellow railroad modelers at the next Division meeting on March 26th Train Word Puzzles Dr. Charles Wood Fourteenth installment in a series Solutions can be found elsewhere in this Herald. L Y I A L B W L M O I P T E S O O R E A S V I B N T I F H E T R G T T E E L R S Page 10

11 Realistic Cedar Shingle Roofs Dave Barron, MMR Sierra Scale Models Many model railroaders want their scale structures to have the most realistic roof covering that they can. Because of the high visibility of roofs on layouts they are a primary focal point. Many early structures had roofs covered with wooden shingles because they were inexpensive, easy to apply, and did a fairly good job. The two biggest enemies of wooden shingles were rot and fire. In our scale structures, we really donï ½t have to worry about either. In about 99% of the available commercial kits, that range in price from almost nothing to several hundred dollars, the manufacturer supplies an old and, if installed without some special treatments, very unrealistic, roll of brown paper shingles. In other aspects, kit builders have made great strides in ultra-realism, from the quality of metal, plastic, and plaster castings, to finishes and laser cut woods. Yet, modelers are expected to allow the roofs on structures (that we spend weeks and sometimes months to build) to retain the color and texture of a brown paper grocery bag. Is that what you really want? If you are willing to put the time into a difficult and expensive kit, then you probably want the best looking roof available. After all, your roofs are perhaps the largest area that you and your friends see of your buildings after they are installed on your layout. Let's make some adjustments. First let's look at a prototype-shingled roof. If the shingles are made of cedar wood, they are probably redwood, although that is pretty expensive these days. These shingles vary in color, width, length, and thickness. Above all, they have a wood grain texture. This is what we are trying to simulate. So what do we do to simulate all of this? Richard H. Christ wrote an article in the 1969 Model Railroader Magazine, which addressed the idea of using individual cedar shingles for roofs. In this article, Mr. Christ pointed out the source of these thin cedar sheets as wraps used around a 15-cent cigar. Well, the cigar has gone up in price and the wrap has pretty much disappeared from the market since then. Sierra Scale Models is one of a very few companies that can now provide you with the thin,.012 thick cedar sheets (Figure 1). Figure 1. Cedar shingles from Sierra Scale Models #110. Now, let's talk about using this product. The first step is to cut the sheets, with the grain direction, into widths ranging from a scale six to twelve inches wide. Once you get all the strips cut, either on a paper cutter or with a straight edge and model knife, it's time to cut the shingles to length. Look at a scale rule and see what sixteen to eighteen inches, in your scale, looks like. Next, pick up a group of the strips and, with a pair of scissors, just start cutting off shingles, across the grain, to length. Don t worry if all the cuts are not perfectly square. That only adds to the realism during the application process. This job really isn t as hard as it sounds. Once you have a pile of these scale minishingles it's time to prepare the roof for them. Most of us have already used the lined cardstock to put our paper shingles on. If not, these lines can be drawn on the brown card stock that comes on the back of most tablets of paper. The pencil lines are drawn horizontally across the roof about nine scale inches apart; this allows the proper overlap of the shingles Page 11

12 when applied. After these lines are drawn, and the roof is installed on our structure, spread a thin film of white glue along the lowest two parallel lines. Using a sharp modeling knife, stick a mini-shingle, and place it so the grain runs vertical to the roof, starting at a corner of the roof with about a 30% overhang off of the roof. It helps if you have a dull pencil in your other hand to hold the shingle down as you retract the blade point from the shingle. Finish this row across the bottom of the roof by putting each shingle in place next to the previous one. Keep the top edge even, and donï ½t worry about the unevenness of the bottom edge, as this will only add realism to the roof. Next, smear another film line of glue across and do the next row, only with the top edge about nine to twelve scale inches higher and overlapping the previous row. Keep your rows parallel, using the previously drawn lines, and finish all rows all the way to the top. Finish all sides the same. When you get to the top you can do several things to top out the shingle roof. Three ideas include: 1. A cap of stripwood shingles glued, overlapping along the peak set 90% to the shingled roof. 2. Build a fire walk out of stripwood to hide the peak; be sure to add fir barrels. 3. To simulate a lead cap peak, use tin foil cut a scale 12 inches wide, the length of the roof, and glued in place. If you want to get fancy, you can add a piece of mechanical pencil lead glued along the peak on top of the thin foil. Once this all dries you can paint the simulated lead cap with a color like Floquil Gun Metal. As far as the finishing on the shingles, you have several choices. You can hurry up the aging process with A- West Weather-It, which gives a soft weathered appearance associated with sun bleached shingles (see Figure 2). Figure 2. Model building with cedar shingles. If you desire a more northeastern look where the shingles pick up a little darkness from the mold, you can try the India ink and alcohol process. Mix it thin and allow it to dry between coats. Stop when it looks appealing to your eye. You can stain the shingles darker around the smoke stacks with shades of paint or chalks. You can even add small specks of white bird droppings to them near the peaks or where birds would congregate overhead. Be sure to weather some of the dropping with thinner, and dry brush others using small streaks of weathered white down the roof. After all they didn't get there all at once unless elephants learned to fly! If you're putting shingles on cone type roofs, then you will start out with a normal size shingle and work progressively to the peak with smaller shingles. If you are puzzled about a particular application either go out and look at the real thing or get some of those expensive books and magazines you have been accumulating and check out old pictures of roofs. Cedar shingles have been used on numerous prize-winning models at NMRA contests for years. Richard H. Christ, in 1968, won a Best of Show at the fall Sunshine Regional meet using them. I have done the same at similar contests. Remember nothing looks more like wood than wood itself. Now you have the knowledge on how to make contest winning roofs of wooden shingles. Page 12

13 A Different Layout Operating Club Don Jennings This different layout operating club has been around for 27 years. The name of the club is the DELMARVA MODEL RAILROAD CLUB and is located in DelMar, Delaware. I say different layout operating club because there are not many model railroad clubs that can boast having every size and gauge of model train layouts up and running permanently all year long. Also there are so many different layouts to operate on. This is truly an operator s heaven. Now if you go looking for the Delmarva Club on a map, it is the last town in the State of Delaware. When I say the last town in Delaware, I mean just that. The town is on the state line. The town buildings on the north side of the street are in DELAWARE. The town street has a double yellow line down the middle of the roadway and the buildings on the south side of the street are in the state of MARYLAND. On Saturday January 19, 2013, I drove to attend a NMRA MER Board of Director s meeting in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. From there I drove to a motel and the following morning traveled to the Delmarva MRR Club. I was invited to see (and operate) on this club s layout by friend Jeff Shockley. Jeff is also a member of THE FIRST STATE MODEL RAILROAD CLUB in Dover, Delaware and is editor of The Delmarva Timetable, the club s publication. children to see and enjoy. A Thomas the Train layout is also set up to view. The Lionel O-Scale 3-rail layout goes through a room wall into the main train room. There is plenty there to see and to bring back memories of your childhood trains. They have in this main train room a huge N scale layout you would die for to have. This is shared with an HO Scale layout that needs about 20 people to really justify operating it. A large MRR Library room and a break room being upgraded and modeled to look like a dining car. This will have tables and chairs for coffee and snacks. It doubles as a business meeting room for the club members. A couple of the layouts have some work to be done, but every one of the layouts is operational. The club uses a car card and way bill operations system and is powered by DIGITRAX. I was in awe to see such model railroading by one club. I spent three plus hours observing and photographing the layouts. I believe I saw most of the entire club and all of its layouts through the viewfinder of my camera. WOW! The Delmarva club finished a two weekend open house on January 5 th & 6 th and January 12 th & 13 th. The weekend before I arrived there. I was told that some 3900 people attended this yearly open house event. The club is open for membership to help operate and enjoy all the model railroading they have to offer. There were about six members present that gave me a warm welcome to see their club in operation. I was given a tour of their 6,200 square feet layout room which is located on the second floor of a church building. The club is complete and has every model railroad size and gauge there is. This includes: a small Z gauge layout, a portable N scale layout, a G gauge train riding on track near the ceiling of one of the train rooms. The there is an 027 Lionel gauge and O scale layout sharing a large table in the middle of the room. An S gauge or American Flier layout is located in this same room as the 027 and O scale layouts. Most, if not all of these, are at a height for small Page 13

14 Lionel 3-rail Staging Area Front side of Lionel 027 with Back side of same layouts 0 scale & G gauge on upper level. S Gauge or American Flyer A Thomas the Train Layout Page 14

15 Garden Railway train is the near ceiling. The O Scale 3-rail layout is in big train room. The N Scale layout is behind the yellow sign. The HO Scale layout is to the right of the picture on the entire half of the room. The N Scale layout and the HO Scale layout were all filmed as videos on my camera. They are not transferable to here. But, hopefully this will give you an idea of the GREATNESS of the Delmarva Model RR Club and all it has to offer visitors and members alike. The club works on the layouts usually on Fridays (Friday nights). The third Sunday of the month is operating day for the club and with its members. If you want to see this club in person, the dates for the Open House season are November 30-December 1, and December 7-8, 2013 and January 4-5 and 11-12, The Name Game Please wear your name tag to each meeting. See Grif Bond if you need to order one. Holiday Trains for Kids Dear Carolina Piedmont Division, Thank you for your generous gift of a beginner model train set that was given to the church as a gift for a child who otherwise would not have had a gift for Christmas. We appreciate your thoughtfulness in thinking of needy families during this season of the year. It was given to a 14 year old boy who was in the Family Promise of Lee County Program. Gratefully, Cindy Hall Minister of Outreach and Activities First Baptist Church Page 15

16 From The Caboose Jack Dziadul, Clerk Here are some miscellaneous notes from the clerk and editor. The Michiana Division of the NWR under the leadership of Jim Six is creating a series of clinics that will eventually find their way to the NMRA for use by all members. Courses will be complete with Power Point and instructor lesson plans. We seem to have ever more photo content in The Herald. Since some of our members like to print out The Herald we have moved the more photo intensive content to the back pages. This will cut down on the printer ink if you elect to limit the hard copy pages. Some articles and industry news is authored by non-division members. The Editor secures written consent of the authors and provides proper attribution. Let the Editor know if you find this helpful. We have provided member layout photo tours occasionally in the past. This year we have created a more formal approach and intend to have a Featured Layout in each issue. Please contact the editor if you would like your layout, in any stage of construction or completion, featured in The Herald. Is your contact information up to date? You will note that The Herald last month began including a link to the NMRA web site for updating your contact information. Please see any Board member if you have any questions. With both the Presidential election and the CPD election behind us, we can now focus on the upcoming MER election. See the latest issue of MER s The Local for details of the three Director positions. Statements of Qualification are due April 15 th. Did you know that MER is NMRA s largest Region with 2,019 members? The hands-on February clinic drew 28 member participants. Be sure to let Kim Parker, John Janosko and Grif Bond know how much you appreciated their effort. Yahoo protocol: Please limit the use of the CPD Yahoo Groups forum for messages of model railroading interest and prototype train information that would reasonably be of interest to our membership. We want to encourage the use of our yahoo group s forum and some folks want to avoid what they perceive as not relevant content. We have had overwhelming support for and participation in the monthly contests this year. This is very encouraging to the Board and the AP coordinator. A summary of the year to date participation is below. We look forward to adding some coaling towers to the participation log. Total Winner Dick Buchan 4 Jack Dziadul 4 Jim Murphy 4 1 Steve Milley 4 Vic Bitleris 4 Dan Fisher 3 Dave Derway 3 1 Grif Bond 3 Rob Rousseau 3 Bill Hanley 2 Jim Babcock 2 Luis Dominguez 2 Mason Cutchin 2 John Janosko 1 John Sokash 1 Kim Parker 1 Total entries 43 Page 16

17 Meeting Minutes Jack Dziadul, Clerk Carolina Piedmont Division 13 February 26, 2013 Board of Directors Attendance: Grif Bond, Jim Murphy, Robert Rousseau, Steve Milley, Jerry Mersch, Jack Dziadul, Will Seehorn. Call to order 6:30pm 1. Review and approval of minutes one spelling correction was noted. Motion to approach as corrected by Jim Murphy, second by Will Seehorn. Approved. 2. Paymaster's report and Year-to-date budget were reviewed. Approved on motion of Jim Murphy and Jack Dziadul second. 3. The preliminary 2013 budget was reviewed and the following items were recommended. a. Need popular vote budget $100 b. Member of year $25 c. Total awards to be $150 d. Newsletter and Achievement Program expense to be combined with office supplies. e. Jerry Mersch to revise the budget for presentation at the March meeting. Bylaws amendments Jack Dziadul to review the By-Laws and include the recently approved quorum change. The Board discussed the John Wallis on membership criteria. No action taken as the Division level lacks jurisdiction over membership. Prizes for March contest - $175. Grif Bond to the suggested prizes to the Board of Directors for review. NMRA standard banner for the Division (see December issue of NMRA Magazine). Grif Bond presented a proposal to purchase a Division banner for display at division events. Jack Dziadul motioned approval of $235 plus shipping and handling. Steve Milley second. Approved. Designation of Holiday Trains for Kids revenue into a separate line item for tracking. The discussion will be reviewed in March as a part of the budget approval process. Donation to NMRA for the California State Railroad Museum Grif Bond opened discussion of a donation to the Magic of Model Railroading exhibit in the amount of $500. Will Seehorn motion with Jack Dziadul second. 2 yes, 4 no votes. The motion was not passed Donation to NMRA for the archives project $500. Grif Bond opened discussion. Will Seehorn motion with Jack Dziadul second. 6 yes, 1 no. The motion was approved. Adjourned 7 PM 4. The MER Annual Report was completed and will be sent to the Region by Grif Bond. 5. Other business list of items from recent s & follow-up Page 17

18 Business meeting items: The meeting was called to order at 7:04 PM with28 members present. Grif Bond reviewed Board of Directors meeting. Achievement Program Jack Dziadul was awarded the Chief Dispatcher certificate. Stephen Wood submitted the statement of qualification and exhibits for Master Builder Cars. This was Stephen s seventh AP certificate and he will soon be recognized as a Master Model Railroader (MMR). The upcoming program and contests are as posted on the web site and in The Herald. Refreshment host volunteers are John Sokash (March); Mason Cutchin (April) and Jamie Jordan (May). Jack Dziadul reviewed the upcoming Tichy Train Group tour and a sign-up sheet was circulated. Holiday Trains for Kids - Steve Milley purchased turnouts as donated them to the program. Dave Derway showed a kit that he constructed, and Dan Fisher showed his kit that he assembled for the program. NMRA ballot - Grif Bond encouraged members to send in their ballot for the NMRA national election. Popular vote Vic reviewed contest rules for the end of year participation awards. The winner of the February contest was Dave Derway. Welcome New Members Harold Clayburn Raleigh George Diatkis Apex Bill Jackson Hope Mills Eric McKinney Fayetteville Sherry McKinney Fayetteville Thomas Sears Roxboro Carlos Tilman Spring Lake FINANCIAL REPORT Jerry Mersch, Paymaster February 2013 Balance In Check Book 1/31/31 $7, Income Total $ Expenses Bank Fee $ 2.00 Meeting refreshments (donation) $ 0.00 Popular vote award $ Domain name renewal $ Total $ Balance In Check Book 2/28/13 $7, Classifieds ATTENTION CPD MEMBERS: Do you have a wanted or an item for sale? Are you looking for carpool options to our meetings, a train show event or options for sharing a hotel room? The Herald will publish a FREE classified section for all CPD members. Send your classified ad to the Editor at dziadul@windstream.net. The ad must include your full name and contact information and will be limited to one item per issue. Kim Parker, John Janosko and Grif Bond presented a hands-on open-loads clinic. Page 18

19 Achievement Program Model Railroad Engineer - Civil Jack Dziadul Vic Bitleris and others questioned the closing statement of Jack Burgess, MMR s AP article in the February Herald. The correspondence below is the communication between Vic Bitleris and MER AP Chairman Charlie Fleishman. Jack s article stated in part: The last general requirement is to be awarded a Merit Award for the scratchbuilt track feature items listed under the last item. To win a Merit Award, you need only to demonstrate that the track features work satisfactorily and that workmanship is done neatly. The above was written by Jack Burgess MMR. Reading the Judging Forms for Civil, I read a bit more than just neatness and operation counts. If all you need to do is to make it neat and workable to get 87 1/2 points, then the rest of the stuff, like detail, plates, spikes, etc. are just frosting on the cake? Do you agree, or do you feel like maybe Jack Burgess is a bit oversimplifying the actual requirement and that actually, detail, paint, and the other stuff also counts. Not meaning to be pestering, but I think you can understand my concern with the possibility of mixed signals here. Thanks and regards, Vic Bitleris Rob Says Jack Dziadul Have you presented a clinic and would like to disseminate the presentation to the Division library? Rob Rousseau tells us how below. Yahoo Groups File Upload Directions to upload a clinic or program handout. 1. Go here: 2. You may be required to log in with your Yahoo ID and password. If you need assistance, please contact Rob Rousseau. 3. Once you are logged in, look on the left-hand navigation column and click on "Files". 4. When you are in the Files section, click on the folder called "Clinics & Programs". 5. Now you can click on the link called "Add File". 6. This will prompt you to browse to the location on your computer for your clinic or program. 7. Please also add a description, such as Title of the clinic, the date and your name or initials like this: "Scratchbuilding open loads Feb Grif Bond" That's it! -Rob Hello, That is what the requirements say, BUT there is a Civil Engineering Judging Form (attached) that states a whole lot more. Reading this form I think will answer any questions about it only needing to work and is neat. Let me know if you need more explanation. Thanks and take care. Charlie Flichman (Here is the link for the evaluation forms page. Ed.) pforms.html Page 19

20 Luis Dominquez with his scratch-built B&M freight house. Puzzle Solutions The Name Game Please wear your name tag to each meeting. See Grif Bond if you need to order one. waybill, milepost, observation, freight, trestle February Meeting Clinician John Janosko Mike Humble (l) and Tom Cook Page 20

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22 Dave Derway s winner above two photos. Page 22

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24 Jim Babcock Featured Layout Article and photos by Jack Dziadul John Porter and I had the opportunity to visit Jerry Davis highly detailed and almost complete O-scale. Page 24

25 Jerry Davis (l) and John Porter Page 25

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