Maybe Jay Gould would have taken over and driven the D&RGW into bankruptcy to build the Western Pacific. Oh, wait that's really did happen.

Transcription

1 Upcoming Meets: Saturday August 8 11AM John and Rita Albin 2510 Stern Ave Oxnard (805) Please bring: A-G Appetizers H-O Salads P-Z Desserts Saturday August AM Beaver and Mary DeBievre 4573 Atascadero Dr Santa Barbara (805) Please bring: A-G Salads H-O Desserts P-Z Appetizers September 12 Siegel September 26 Walker October 10 Paulazzo October 31 Mele August 2009 What if the Denver & Rio Grande Western had decided to build across Utah and the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the California gold mines and tall trees? Maybe Jay Gould would have taken over and driven the D&RGW into bankruptcy to build the Western Pacific. Oh, wait that's really did happen. On second thought, let's say that John and Rita Albin would build the Sierra & Rio Grande Railroad in their backyard. Only slightly less ambitious than Jay Gould, the S&RG is a dog bone with a figure-8 at one end to make the grades reasonable. The maximum grade is about 3.5% and the curves are all 10 foot diameter (5 foot radius). Most locomotives won't have any trouble with either grades or curves. Track power is available, but feel free to bring battery powered equipment. The layout is long enough to accommodate Albin Meet Directions and map omitted from on line edition. Call meet host for directions. two or three trains at once, if you promise to be good and keep an eye on them. The layout is a couple years old now, and has some buildings that John assembled from various kits. The waterfall, which was described as temporary last year, is still temporary. John says there isn't any landscaping unless you count weeds as landscaping. I suggested mowing them flat. He thought I was joking. I wasn't; it's surprisingly effective, especially at a distance. John sent a sketch of the layout, with several locations for towns labeled. All three towns are in Colorado. Where is he going to put Utah, Nevada, and California? Humm, maybe he is planning a major expansion into the front yard. Or his neighbor's yard. Stay tuned for the next exciting episode.

2 Beaver and Mary DeBievre's Atascadero Creek Railroad. Not Too Late to Make Plans for Goleta Railroad Days Our second meet this month will be at the home of Beaver and Mary DeBievre in Santa Barbara. GCGRS will have an exhibit at Goleta Railroad Days. The events are this weekend, August 1 and 2 at the Goleta Depot, 300 N. Los Carneros Rd, Goleta. This is another layout that has so much going on with plants, structures, figures and water features that sometimes you barely have time to notice the trains. Bring your camera, there are way too many excellent angles for fabulous pictures. Beaver says the layout is still a narrow gauge logging railroad, with two separate tracks. All curves and elevations remain the same, although Beaver is always working on the track to accommodate more engines. The upper part has mostly five foot diameter curves, tight clearances, and steep grades. Sounds great, doesn't it? If not, the lower loop has eight foot diameter or larger curves, and relatively gentle grades. The optional extension has a long, steep downgrade, followed by some swooping curves, and then a long steep ( about 3%) upgrade. But you can avoid that part completely if it's too challenging. Mary will have her fairy layout running, and all the structures and figures and buildings will be out. Beaver's Meet Directions and map omitted from on line edition. Call meet host for directions. Some of our members volunteered to set up a temporary layout, and run trains and generally get the word out about what a fine organization we are. If you would like to join them, for set up or the meet-and-greet, I'm sure they can keep you busy. The really dirty work (weeding and leveling the area) is already done, but they still need to set up a 20 foot loop of battery powered track and a wall-less tent to keep the sun off. And of course there is the meet-andgreet on Saturday and Sunday as well. The events are supposed to be 10 AM to 4 PM both days. I assume that everything has to be removed after 4 PM Sunday, so that will run over a bit. So far, the volunteers are Art Sylvester, Joe Heumphreus, John Ryan, Beaver, Gary Siegel, plus their friend Bruce Morden. In the best tradition of the GCGRS, they decided that it would be a good idea to show the flag, and took it upon themselves to do so. Call Art Sylvester at (805) to volunteer. Even if you can't help, come on up. There will be lots of activities for the whole family. Newsletter: Gary Olmstead (805) Lexington Dr. Ventura CA garyolmstead AT earthlink DOT net Membership: Bruce Kuebler pbkuebler AT sbcglobal DOT net Web site: Webmaster: De Eldridge de AT ie-formula DOT com Please put GCGRS in the subject line of any correspondence. Meets: Beaver (805) The Gold Coast Garden Railroad Newsletter is published monthly. Membership in our society is open to anyone at the pleasure or whim of the members at large.

3 Gary and Marilyn Siegel's SP Santa Cruz Division Meet: The weather was great, and we had a good crowd, considering many people are on vacation. Gary has finished ballasting the main line since last time. There is now so much track at Boulder Creek that we had a four train meet (second picture down on this page). Speaking of John Ryan, he brought two of his GP38s and loads of cars, but I only got a good picture of one. Hartland cars and engine, and Gary Raymond running his MTH 1:32 UP C40W Dash 8 diesels. John Golnik brought his USA Trains CSX GP-30 and a few cars. This is the very first engine he ever bought, and he still likes it. Art Sylvester ran his GP-70MAC. Even though this engine won the diesel division in Beaver's train pull last month, Art only brought two cars this time. Bob Woodward ran his Aristo D&RGW Connie in Bee colors. It's John Lyans ran his Connie and a long very smooth, especially at slow string of freight cars. He spent quite a speeds. bit of time working the spur line to Boulder Creek. Getting down was Joe Heumphreus brought his Sierra easy. Getting back up was almost as Railroad Connie and some cars. Joe easy. Turning around on the wye was scratchbuilt the open excursion car in the challenge. Ultimately, he needed the middle. a deus ex machina in the form of John Ryan (bottom left corner, this page). When Worlds Collide: Bill Fincher running a train made entirely of There are lots more pictures on the web site: onlineedition.pdf Thanks to Dennis Paulazzo and Bill Fincher for contributing pictures. And thanks to Gary and Marilyn for hosting another great meet.

4

5 Joe and Mary Heumphreus' A&G RR Tommy Rollins made an unexpected appearance. Tommy bears an We had a good crowd, and just uncanny resemblance to Gary enough trains. This turned into Bring Raymond, except for his inexplicable Your Grandkids to The Train Meet liking for Thomas the Tank Engine. Day. They were all on their very best Tommy says that Gary can't be seen behavior, so we all had a good time. with Thomas, as it would ruin his reputation. So, Tommy fills in on Joe is a terrific model builder, but he those days when a rugged, reliable focuses on buildings, and scenes train is required, such as when the rather than rolling stock. Nothing grandkids are along. wrong with that, of course, but it does mean you have to look past what's on Even more surprising was when Wile the tracks. Among his extensive E. Coyote was spotted trying to leave collection are models a of coaling the premises at a high rate of speed. I tower, a mining scene, a small town, said trying... because it turned out and a house and barn that are models the way it always does with him. of some his grandfather built in South Dakota in the 1890's. For those who didn't get enough of Bill Fincher's all Hartland train at Gary Siegel's, he ran them again for an encore. Art Sylvester brought an engine I don't recall seeing before: his SP NW2. He also brought three shorty passenger cars. He also borrowed some freight cars and ran a mixed train. John Ryan brought his old reliable GP38. John Golnik and John Chaudier brought nearly identical USA Trains CSX GP30s They were so identical that their controllers were even running on the same frequency, or trying to. Not very successfully, either. There were some pretty mysterious goings-on until they got that sorted out.

6

7 Paul and Christine Jennings Coates Central RR Peterborough, England Our first international meet went well; the rain held off until evening. Some of the visitors came from as far as 45 miles, so I guess train nuts are the same all over the world. Roy Crofton-Mann brought the red RhB Crocodile locomotive and train. RhB refers to the meter gauge Rhaetian Railway, the largest nonstate owned railroad in Switzerland. The green engine is an LGB RhB Heidi G3/4 class switcher. The gray and maroon engine is a DB V200. Terry Pell brought the Amtrak Train, and a streetcar that didn't get a picture. Old Speckled Hen is a beer named after an MG automobile. Paul also ran his own F7 and other locos. I love Paul's Bubblefication Factory, and Paul must also, as four of the ten pictures he sent feature it. He says it was built from odds and ends in the week before the meet. There are more pictures on the web site. Thanks to Paul and Christine for sharing their meet with us.

8

9 These pictures were all taken by Dennis Paulazzo From top left, they are John Lyans, Gary Raymond, Lyans meets Raymond, John Golnik, John Lyans, John Ryan, and John Ryan himself.

10

11

12

13 GCGRS Membership Application Form Membership in the Gold Coast Garden Railway Society is open to anyone who is interested in outdoor model railroading. Dues are $20 per year. New members, please add $6 for each name tag that you want to have. Membership runs from January to December. Make checks payable to Bruce Kuebler for GCGRS. Bring this application and payment to any meet, or mail it to: Bruce Kuebler Encino Dr Oak View CA First Name Spouse/Partner/Other(SPO): Last Name: SPO Last Name, if different: Street Address City State Zip Home Phone: ( ) address: Status of your layout (check one): Someday, Serious planning stage, Construction, Barely operational, Marginally OK Not good enough for a meet, Pretty good, if you don't look too closely Would you like some advice/help from someone in the club? Yes No If Yes, what would you like help with first? If you have an operating layout, tell us a bit about it. The name of your railroad: The sharpest curve is feet radius. The steepest grade is % Gold Coast Garden Railway Society 2444 Lexington Dr Ventura CA