We have two meets this month. John and Rita Albin are first up on the 13th.

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1 Upcoming Meets: Sept AM John and Rita Albin 2510 Stern Ave Oxnard (805) Please bring: A-G Salads H-O Desserts P-Z Appetizers Sept AM Gary and Marilyn Siegel 1143 Camino Viejo Santa Barbara (805) Please bring: A-G Desserts H-O Appetizers P-Z Salads Upcoming Meets: October 25 Arseneault November - Ford Dec 13 - Chaudier September 2008 We have two meets this month. John and Rita Albin are first up on the 13th. I haven't seen this layout in person, but John wrote to say that it is a dog bone with a figure eight 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 curves or grades. There is one yard siding to enter and exit the main line. Power is one 10A Bridgeworks supply. John says it is possible to run additional trains at the same time, but you will have to bring remote control battery powered locomotives. The layout will easily accommodate two to three trains on the single main line but engineers are responsible to maintain train spacing. That might seem obvious, but you will see why I brought it up after you read about the Golnik's meet on page 3. Directions: From the South: North 101 Off and Left Victoria exit then 4 miles Left on Wooley Rd 0.8 miles to Left on Cutter Rd Right on Stern Ln to 2510 From the North: S 101 Off at Victoria Ave exit Left at the end of the offramp Right on Victoria Ave then 4 miles to Left on Wooley Rd 0.8 miles to Left on Cutter St Right on Stern Ln to 2510 The layout is only about one year old, and landscaping is only just beginning. There aren't any buildings yet, but there is a pond with a temporary waterfall. Sounds like they are farther along than I was at my first meet. I am looking forward to seeing how John and Rita develop their space. I said I haven't seen this layout, but John has posted some pictures on our web site, under the Members section. By the way, if you haven't visited our web site lately, De Eldridge has done a great job of reworking it, and getting rid of the more atrophied bits. Future Meets: Details of Gary and Marilyn Siegel's meet are on page 2. If you are marking your calendar for future meets, John Lyans had to postpone his October meet. We still have openings for next January and February.

2 Gary and Marilyn Siegel Meet OR, For Some People, Too Much of a Good Thing is Wonderful. No, you aren't imagining things; Gary and Marilyn did have a meet just last June. Gary says he needs the pressure of an upcoming meet to work on the layout. Gary's SP Santa Cruz Division layout is modeled after the Southern Pacific's line from San Jose to Santa Cruz, which was originally built as the South Pacific Coast narrow gauge line. Gary has set the era to the late 60's. The layout is a point-to-point design with a main line that is 750 feet long. Its five passing sidings are designed to encourage operating trains in addition to watching them run. Gary says that mainline and industrial spurs are in, but the yard tracks at San Jose and Santa Cruz aren't in. The minimum radius is 8 feet 6 inches, and the grades are no more than 1.5%. The layout favors first and second generation diesels. Tunnel clearances prevent any Kxx locomotives and the longer 1:20 cars from running. The layout does not have track power, so it's battery powered, radio controlled equipment only. And be sure to wear comfortable shoes so that you can follow your train around. You'll need to follow them around to keep an eye on them. You'll want to follow them around, too, so that you can get the full benefit of running past the steep cliffs and several hundred dwarf Alberta spruce trees. Yes, I verified their address this time. No, I don't expect you to believe that. All Aboard!! Please join me in welcoming our newest member, Jim Hillebrecht of Ventura. He has done some N scale modeling, where he learned a lot about what not to do, and the good stuff, too. Recently, Jim realized that he has a spot in his backyard that has been calling out for a garden railroad for some time. Now that he is retired, he is answering that call. He tore out several truckloads of ferns and stuff, and wants to replace it with a mountain logging layout. He plans to run some Shays. Jim could use some help on designing a layout, so you can call him at (805) Congratulations, and Thanks!! I would like to extend a special thank you to all the members who are hosting their first meets. Please show your appreciation and support by coming out to their meets. Which is not to suggest you skip the meets of our more experienced members. Make it easy on yourself: come to every meet!! Newsletter: Gary Olmstead (805) Lexington Dr. Ventura CA garyolmstead AT earthlink DOT net 1:32 News: Bruce Kuebler Membership: Bruce Kuebler pbkuebler AT sbcglobal DOT net Ads: Gary Olmstead 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. Directions from the East/South: North 101 Off and Right at Olive Mill Rd Left onto Hot Springs Rd Right onto Sycamore Cyn Rd Left at Camino Viejo to 1143 Directions from the North/West: South 101 Exit on the LEFT side at Cabrillo Left onto Hot Springs Rd Left onto Sycamore Cy Rd Left onto Camino Viejo to 1143

3 John and Joani Golnik's Meet John and Joani had near perfect weather, and a great crowd. You know, a 20A Bridgewerks power supply is a good thing to have, unless you also have Crazy Charlie and five locomotives available. Crazy had the inspiration to run everything, or almost everything, at the same time. The power supply was fine; it barely warmed up. The problem was that some of the engineers (who shall all remain nameless to protect the guilty) weren't paying as much attention as they should have been, and several trains went bump in the afternoon. You may recall that I have been teasing Jim and Sylvia Eldridge over which of them owns the Chessie 44 tonners and cars. The question was settled once and for all when the train was rear ended in one of those bumps I mentioned above. There wasn't any damage, but the caboose fell over, and Sylvia flew over to oversee its rescue and chastise everyone responsible. Crazy Charlie brought his SP Daylight, and our host ran his USA Trains GP-30 CSX John Power brought his Shay and skeleton log cars, and also the RGS Goose #2. That's John getting the next generation hooked on trains. Beaver's little was particularly fond of running up to the train ahead of it, coupling.on, and helping to push the consist around. This is a remarkably fine running engine, even considering the powered tender. Byron McCracken was concerned about whether his Acela would make it through the bridges and reverse curves, but it was fine. Ed Davis brought his magnificent scratch built D&RGW RPO to show off. I don't know how Ed manages it, but this car looks better every time I see it. The roof lifts off so that you can see the mail in the boxes, the safe and mailbags waiting to be sorted. It does not have Jesse James holding it up; but that's probably only because Jesse James didn't get that far west. The car drew a well deserved crowd of admirers. And a well deserved thank you to John and Joani for a terrific meet.

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5 Beaver and Mary DeBievre's Meet Certain things would appear to be impossible. Perpetual motion. Reducing the national debt. Beaver and Mary improving their layout. Well, I don't know about the first two, but Beaver and Mary have done the near impossible by adding even more wonderful details to their set up. They have added a logging camp scene, several buildings, a dragon locomotive, and greatly expanded the town inside the lower loop. Chris Walas ran a Fairley and some custom cars. This one is loosely based on South American practice, and yes, the wood piled on the boiler and the extra crew riding on top of the wood pile was prototypical. Mary had built the dragon locomotive, but she bought it at a show. Richard Abraham brought an array of equipment for his sound clinic. There seemed to be quite a bit of interest, and he was pleased with the response.. Bill Fincher ran his Forney and cars. John Lyans' Connie looked great, even without any cars. Jim Eldridge brought a Bachmann Shay for its first run after getting new trucks installed. It ran very well. Joe Heumphreus ran his 44 ton diesel and log cars. Mary had her circus train and fairy train running. Everyone assumed that Beaver decided he really should take advantage, and run his Mogul and two of his articulateds. Normally he spends so much time working on the layout that he doesn't get much time to sit back and enjoy it. Thanks to Bill Fincher and Dennis Paulazzo for contributing some of these pictures. And thanks to Beaver and Mary for another great meet.

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7 NMRA 2008 National Train Show Gary Raymond writes to tell us about the NMRA National Train Show this past July. Gary says: The #1 Scale Group was one of 25 modular groups that participated in the 3 day event at the Anaheim Convention Center... July The show is the largest model train show in the U.S. and is held in a different state each year. Attendance was over 23,000 and featured portable layouts in Z, N, HO, S, O, and #1. Representing the #1 Scale Group (the only Large Scale club in attendance) were Bob Keller, Bruce Kuebler, Byron McCracken, Gary Raymond, and Bob Uniack. Additionally James Catlin and his family drove from Utah with their #1n3 modules. These modules were connected via the modules yard, doubling the size of the layout to 65' by 13'. James is working on a 1:32 three foot narrow gauge Baldwin engine and car set to be available which runs on 1 1/8" gauge track. Gary Raymond ran a sampling of injection molded railroad equipment from Lionel and MDC representing the "early" period of the hobby. He also brought some MTH and Accucraft products which are currently available "off the shelf". Bob Uniack ran an assortment of his amazing "museum quality" resin car kits that filled three yard tracks. The show included many manufacturers and dealers including MTH, Bachmann, and Goldcoast Station. Friday morning Gary Raymond was interviewed by KTLA Channel 5 and for the cable program "You Ought To Know". Tony Koester and Terry Thompson from Model Railroader came by, and there was much interaction with the public who were impressed with the size and realism of the models. In the July bulletin, Paul Jennings was telling us about taking his steamroller to a show. Afterwards, I started wondering how he moved it to the shows. Turns out, it's the hard way. Paul says: In reply to your question of transporting the steamroller, we nearly always steam to shows by road.. [It] takes a little while to get there with a top speed of 5 miles an hour. We try to average 3 to 4 as 5 isn't fair on the old girl. Occasionally it may travel by truck, but it's expensive and used as a last resort. The odd show sometimes present a cup for the best engine in the show. What happens at a show is you can be in a working demonstration. With us it's the road making section. Or you can be in a line of engines and in turn you get to drive around the arena while the commentator describes your engine and its history. At the moment the roller is down Nene Vally Railway and has been used on a couple of corporate days which I gather from the feedback from the participants they enjoyed it more than the railway locomotive. It also took part in the Vintage weekend at Nene Valley Railway. It also helped repair a private road down to Yarwell Station that had been damaged by trucks while the station was being built. We are back on the road on the 10th of August steaming to another show, Ramsey's Forties Weekend which takes place at Upwood Airfield which is about a 25 mile run for us. Thanks Paul, it's great to hear that you've got the old girl earning her keep, as well as looking better than new. Ramsey's Forties Weekend features 1940's style bands, dancing, vintage vehicles, fashion shows, etc. Hummm miles at 3-5 mph is 5 to 8 hours of steady travel, each way to the show. Of course, the advantage to that speed is that you don't have to stop for lunch. Just have the junior member of the team jump off and run over to the nearest store, then run back, and jump back aboard. And no worries about cold food, either; not with that boiler right there. Additionally the #1 Scale Group was asked to help design a large public railroad display demonstrating the history of rail transportation and it's infrastructure in Southern California History. Well, be that as it may, I don't want to hear any more excuses from anybody about not bringing something to run. Not unless you are traveling at least 9 hours. The #1 Scale Group meets every 3rd Saturday of the month. For further information contact Gary Raymond at or by at glraymond@earthlink.net Great Train Expo Thanks, Gary, that was very interesting. Creating a layout to show the history of transportation in Southern California sounds like a great project. I am looking forward to following the story of this layout. All right, no more excuses Coming on December 6 and 7 to Ventura Seaside Park. Watch this space for a bigger article in the near future. Fish Paul Salverson writes to say that Mike McClain's koi have a new home in Utah. I hear that the pond is 20X15, so they should be quite comfortable. Thanks for the update, Paul.

8 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. You can put GCGRS on the memo line. Bring this application 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