April Upcoming Meets: Saturday April 10 Richard Abraham 322 Pebble Beach Goleta 11 AM (805)

Transcription

1 Upcoming Meets: Saturday April 10 Richard Abraham 322 Pebble Beach Goleta 11 AM (805) Please bring: A-G Appetizers H-O Salads P-Z Desserts Saturday April 24 Don and Linda Morgan 1905 View Dr. Santa Ynez 11 AM (805) Please bring: A-G Appetizers H-O Salads P-Z Desserts A-Z Pictures or stories of old GCGRS people or meets. See page 2. May 8 Eldridge May Raymond June Fraser June 26 Beaver July Hahn Richard Abraham's Meet Directions from the South: North 101 Off and Left Glen Annie Right at Hollister Left Pebble Beach Dr to 322 Directions from the West: South 101 Off and Right Winchester Cyn/Hollister Rd Continue past the golf course Continue past the park Right Pebble Beach Dr to 322 April 2010 Our first stop this month is at the home of Richard Abraham in Goleta. I went to visit this layout the other day, and words (almost) fail me. Richard has two separate railroads. The first, for our purposes, is his G scale layout. It is an L-shaped dog bone that runs along two sides of his back yard. The curves are tight, and the bridges have low clearances, so this is another bring-your-small-stuff day. The wall behind one side of the layout has been painted with outdoor scenes, but unlike mine they are all specific places that Richard has visited. This layout also shows off his collection of antique toy tractors and cars. In addition to his G-scale layout, Richard has the most amazing Lionel collection I have ever seen. He added a garage- sized room to his yard, and it is floor to ceiling and wall-to-wall with Lionel. It has three tracks, and what looks like hundreds of accessories; all hooked up, and all working. I have never been a particular fan of Lionel, but this collection is not to be missed. If you are coming from the south, Pebble Beach Dr is not well marked. Instead, look for a pair of white stone walls on either side of streets on the left side. The walls are marked Santa Barbara Shores, and you want the second street with these markers. If you get to the abandoned Art Deco gas station with Barnsdell Oil barely readable on the tower, you are too far.

2 You're Invited to Our 25th Anniversary Party!! On May 4, 1985, a group of smart, clever, artistic and handy-with-their-hands people got together in Hans Kahl's yard to talk about garden railroads. On April 24th, 2010, we are going to get together in Don and Linda Morgan's yard to celebrate the result of that first meeting. There will be cake and champagne and sparkling cider for the non-champagne fans among you. If you have been a member for awhile, bring some pictures or a story of the old days. For those who haven't been before, Don and Linda have one of the largest layouts in our group. And yet it is fully detailed, with trees, plants, buildings and water features galore. I have lost track of how many different loops of track there are. Five comes to mind, but I could be wrong. They vary from very compact, to ones with wide sweeping curves and no grade to speak of. Bring any locos and cars you have been itching to run, there will be a place to run it somewhere. Don stores his cars and engines in a building that looks like a caboose, except that no caboose ever looked this good. It also serves to display some of his extensive collection of railroad lanterns. There is even a bit of room left over to display some of Linda's teddy bear collection. If you haven't driven there before, you might want to check a real map, and not rely entirely on the one below. In particular, note the streets past the correct turns after San Marcos Rd. The turn for Baseline Rd is on a curve, and I always go past it. Also, View Rd is not especially well marked. Don always wants me to say that rain cancels, but most years have the kind of weather that makes the Chamber of Commerce weep with joy. Still, better call if it looks iffy. Don and Linda Morgan's Meet Directions for Everybody: North 101 Off at State St exit. Follow signs for Hwy 154 Continue on Calle Real Right San Marcos Pass Rd Continue 22 miles (past Lake Cachuma, and across Santa Ynez River bridge) to Right on Armour Ranch Rd 1.3 miles Right on Happy Canyon Rd 1.1 miles Left onto Baseline Rd 1.1 miles Right on View Rd to end 1905 is on the left side, way back from the road.

3 Rex and Diane Davis' Rose Garden & Dog Gulch RR. Beaver brought his customized and a nice string of gondolas with loads, and a caboose with an unusual load of its own on the rear platform. If you are planning a layout, many of our members' railroads can be discouraging in that not many people have the time or space for a huge John Golnik ran a little European amount of track. The RG & DG proves style train that did very well on the tight that you don't need a ton of space to curves. have a ton of railroad. Gary Raymond brought the brand Rex has the most amazing buildings. new MTH Baldwin V1000. It looked They are fully detailed inside, so the great, and sounded even better. The bookstore has books on shelves, the only problem was that it can't handle grocery has groceries, etc. I asked if Rex's tight curves, so Gary just ran it the cows are pregnant, with tiny calves back and forth on the long straight inside. That had never occurred to track on one side of the layout.. Its Rex. The roofs come off so you can slow speed action is amazing. admire the details. All the buildings also have internal lights and solar Georges Arseneault ran his #5 cells, and light up at night. Diane is Goose. It fit right in on the tight curves angling for an evening meet next time and the small stations had plenty of to show them off properly. passengers for it to haul. John Lyans brought a that he thought wasn't going to make it around the curves, and the wide swing of the pilot truck certainly reinforced that idea. But it fooled everyone and ran just fine. John Power ran his three truck West Side Shay all by itself. All the better to admire the weathering and hints of rust on it. Rex wasn't about to leave all the fun to us. He ran his Aristocraft Li'l Critter and bobber caboose. Thanks to Art Sylvester for contributing some of today's pictures including that terrific portrait of Beaver. Thanks to Rex, Diane and daughter Kari for another terrific meet.

4

5

6 Gary and Marilyn Siegel's Meet We had perfect weather and almost too many trains. There were a couple of times when we had four or five trains in the same area and had to work carefully to avoid trouble. I have been sceptical, but I guess I owe Max an apology. John Lyans ran his C-16 Connie and a nice string of his cars. Andy Speidel ran a long train of D&RGW cars with his K-27 on the Beaver ran one of his many LGB point and his K-28 as helper. He also Moguls with just a reefer and caboose. ran a brand new, green boilered C-19, D&RGW #346, but I didn't get a picture Gary Raymond actually got to run his of it. MTH Baldwin V1000 this time (see Rex Davis write up on page 3). Or at John Power double headed his C-21 least I was told he ran it, by the time I Connies and a train that included a got there, it was spending the day scratch built gondola and a work sitting on a siding looking beautiful.. caboose. Nice work, John!! He also ran his K-27 with snowplow on tunnel Gary's grandson Max did a great job widening duty. I could only listen for a with his Thomas and Friends. Gary few seconds. It's sorta like fingernails has always insisted that this train is on a blackboard. Max's, even when Max doesn't come. Joe Heumphreus ran his USA Trains Southern Pacific Alco S4 in tiger stripes and an old time reefer and combine. It really is Radio Equipped, too, just like it says on the cab. John Golnik and his next door neighbor, Christopher, ran his/their CSX EMD SD-70 MAC. They demonstrated the very high quality of Gary's track work by running backwards around the entire layout without any problems. Wish I could say that about my trackwork. Thanks to Dennis Paulazzo for contributing some of today's pictures. The best ones, as usual. And thanks to Gary and Marilyn for another great meet.

7

8

9 All Aboard!! Please join me in welcoming our newest members, Mel Cummings and Susan Bollinger of Oxnard and Santa Paula. Mel is a bit different from our usual members, in that he did not go through the usual HO or Lionel route, he is starting in trains with G scale. They found out about our club at Gold Coast Station, and came to Gary Siegel's meet. They are building a new house, and will add a garden railroad to it when it is done. They would like some help in the planning stage. You can call them at (805) th Anniversary Retrospective I had a brainstorm to put together some of the more interesting events in our club's history. Good idea, the problem is that nobody back then thought that anybody would be interested two decades later. So they did not take very good notes and memories have faded. For one thing, the prevailing view was that the club got started in That may be related to the Est 1987 on the logo on our name tags, but I don't know how it got there in the first place. A couple of years ago, we were celebrating what we thought was the 20th anniversary, and I got Steve Vendt to chat about the beginnings of the club. At the time, I said that memories of the early days varied somewhat, but Steve responded, so I dubbed him the Official Historian. Either his memory was pretty good, or else being the Official Historian scared everyone else off, because nobody called to offer an opposing viewpoint. Since then, I was given a copy of an article about the first Fair layout that appeared in the September-October 1989 Garden Railways. I added some details from the article to Steve's story, so even if you memorized what I wrote back then, there is new information this time. Here is what I wrote in February, 2007, with additions: Steve recalls getting together in Hahns Kahl's front yard with Bob Cage, Randy Walker, and Bob Orluske. They put a circle of track down and started a train club. Don Scott, Ron Gibson and Peter Dwan were early members. Bill Orluske was the first newsletter editor. Some people started layouts, but some members also belonged to the Del Oro Modular Railroad Club, and so didn't build layouts of their own. Some time in the early months of 1988, Randy Walker suggested building a layout for the Ventura County Fair. He also did the design work, but most of the club helped one way or another. Displays for the Fair have some rigorous requirements. They have to be built in three weeks, and they have to be torn down and removed the day after the Fair ends. At least two people had to be present at all times during the Fair hours. Club members who weren't retired rearranged their vacations to keep the exhibit properly staffed. The original plan called for a central mountain range dividing the railway into a green, forested, European side, and a dry western desert side. There were two loops of track, one upper and one lower, both covering both sides of the layout. Unfortunately, when they started construction, they found that their allotment of space had been reduced by three feet, so quite a lot of the center had to go. The mountains became a ridge, and the wide valley became a narrow canyon. But they adjusted, and it came out OK in the end. Peter Dwan made some of his famous cast viaducts. Gerry Reynolds built a tunnel, Charlie Schlosser and Bob Cage built a trestle. They worked out deals with some local nurseries to provide plants, and return the ones that survived, paying only for those that didn't. LGB Moguls with sound were brand new, but we had some running. There was also a Crocodile, an T, all pulling freight trains, and a modern Amtrak train as well. The layout was so popular that the Fair had to supply extra security and benches in front for all the visitors who wanted to stay and stay. It was a lot of work, but it was all worthwhile when the club won prizes including Best in Category, Best in Construction, Best in Division, and Best Fair Theme which was Summer Magic. There was also a cash award that more than covered the club's expenses. What really made it worthwhile was that the club attracted a lot of new members after each Fair. People from as far away as Orange County joined. Steve remembers 130 members while Bob Cage remembered 200. I don't have any rosters from that time, so I can't vouch for either of these figures. The second Fair layout was more ambitious, and by the third Fair, the club was building two waterfalls, and four separate loops of track. But as rewarding as it was, it was just too much work, and the third layout was the last. I thought I had the ribbons here, but I can't seem to locate them right now. Jane recalls my giving them to other members, but neither of us can recall who that would have been. Next month: Profiles of some of our past, and maybe not so past, members.

10 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 if you need a printed copy of the newsletter mailed to you; or $10 if you can take the newsletter via . 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 Last Name: Spouse/Partner/Other(SPO) First Name: SPO Last Name, if different: Street Address Newsletter: Gary Olmstead (805) garyolmstead AT earthlink DOT net Membership: Bruce Kuebler (805) pbkuebler AT sbcglobal DOT net Meets: Beaver (805) ybeaver AT verizon DOT net NOTE NEW web site: City State Zip Home Phone: ( ) I enclose $20 because I love to receive a printed newsletter in the mail I enclose $10 because I want to get the newsletter two days earlier by I also need name tags, so I have added $6 each For new members: Would you like some help designing and/or building your layout? (Yes/No) If yes, what would you like help with? Gold Coast Garden Railway Society Encino Dr Oak View, CA Webmaster: John Albin jtalbin AT aol DOT com Please put GCGRS in the subject line of any correspondence.