The Flimsy. Three of Jack Child s models

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1 Volume 5, Issue 4 April 2014 The Flimsy The Newsletter of Division 2 of the NMRA AR Today at Viv and Sylvie Brice s place we were joined by an old friend. Nice to catch up once again with the large yellow and studious looking duck who, being a keen railroad enthusiast, had attended at least two Division 2 meetings at different venues about three years ago. The enthusiastic duck was welcomed back. Membership dues paid yet? Also present were 15 humans, not all of them as intellectually inclined as the duck. At sharp, with everyone happily chatting away, our Valiant Leader made a valiant attempt to open the meeting. Eventually his courteous pleas attracted the attention of John Bullen who, ignoring our Imperious Leader s subtle sarcasm, graciously granted permission for the meeting to be opened. Not very sincerely, John was thanked. In addition to our bespectacled duck, our new faces today also included two humans. Jack Child, our newest member, was introduced. So too was Dion Koch s brother Dallas, who is just visiting. Announcements After several tense years on eggshells while trying to avoid mentioning forbidden subjects, at last we can now once again safely mention the R Class! Rob Anderson, absent today, has sent word that after nearly 8 years, he is happy. At last! Rob has just received his precious HO scale VR R Class loco back from Eureka Models where it has been repaired under warranty. Rob reports that the loco s problems have been fixed and that it is now running well. Looking on the bright side, the repairs and adjustments took less time than the average time of 105 days in the VR workshops that were necessary to prepare each prototype R Class loco for service after delivery to Australia in Rob, are we allowed to see it now? Or, after all that has happened in the last 8 years, are you reluctant to extract it from the bank vault? Our Esteemed Leader informed us that our former Division 2 member David O Hearn is the only NMRA member standing for the position of Australasian Region President at this year s NMRA election and is therefore almost certain to be elected unopposed. Gosh! Does this mean that if he makes an official visit to Canberra, will we have to call him Sir? Yes, that s right, of course you do. No we darn well won t he s ex-air Force! With tribal warfare threatening to break out, our Prudent Leader prudently changed the subject. Show & Tell Jack Child does not currently have a model layout, but he is interested in model railway rolling stock repair, maintenance, modification and rebuilding. Jack had brought along several nice examples of his work for us to see. Jack also displayed one quite remarkable and indeed Three of Jack Child s models unique item of HO scale rolling stock the official state coach Alaska of The Prez who, accompanied by his wife Monica, is currently engaged in a fact finding tour of Australia. The Prez normally lives in Alaska but often tours extensively in his state coach as he is doing right now today visiting the layout of the Superintendent of Division Two of the NMRA Australasian Region. The home railway of The Prez is the CSWRR (Consolidated South Western Railroad) based in Palmer, Alaska. Now we all know where Palmer is, don t we. Do we? All right then, it s on the Matanuska River, upstream from Anchorage. Anchorage? That s near Sarah Palin s home in Wasilla and not far from Eastern Siberia. Got it now? To read more about The Prez and his state coach, see where you can read all about his extensive travels and adventures. The Prez Continued on page 2)

2 scale Atlantic Coast Line. This set consists of an A (cab unit) and B (booster unit) of the EMD FT class. The prototype FT locos were built between 1939 and 1945 and were very successful. They have come to be regarded as one of the more significant diesel-electric locos in US railroad history. Jess Brisbane showed us the substrate, sleepers and ballast for the final section of track for her Innsmouth Hon30 scale layout. Jess has changed over from using MDF substrate, in favour of foamcore. The big advantage of foamcore over MDF is that foamcore saves the modeller from having to drill holes in the substrate. Rob Nesbitt s Model of the Month was an On30 scale Mighty Midget 5-ton critter built from a Boulder Valley Models kit. For other and similar models in this series, see tinyurl.com/ mkmwdky Rob also showed us his huge and impressive Bible for has already been all over USA and through Europe. He has also visited England where he discovered the pleasures(?) of warm beer and travelled on the GWR. Different model scales are no obstacle to The Prez whose state coach has already been secured to a flat top wagon to run on a G Scale layout,. Currently touring Australia, The Prez arrived just in time to travel on several well known railroads at the recent exhibition at Kaleen. See pc9mw4k and note especially The Prez in his state coach being hauled through Durilgai station on the Yendys layout by a NSWGR 30 Class loco built by Jack Child. Other models by Jack Child also appear in several photos on this webpage. Despite (or perhaps because of) having already become involved in scandal as a result of the nocturnal visit of a certain Sheila Rainheart to the state coach Alaska, The Prez is staying in Australia for several more months. After running on various layouts at Malkara on 2-3 August, no doubt including live steam at scale 1:10 (though the 1:900 scale layout of Diane Hesse may present some difficulty), The Prez and his state coach will then return to Alaska. For full details on the CSWRR in Palmer, Alaska, see Ross Pratt displayed his motive power set for his HO scratchbuilding American wagons. This is The American Freight Car by John H White Jr. This mighty book of 644 pages was published in 1995 by John Hopkins University Press and it does not come cheap unless you are very lucky indeed. Full of excellent diagrams, it is immensely helpful to the freight wagon scratchbuilder. For some sample pages (including contents page and book index), see tinyurl.com/lqt8x3b Tony Payne displayed the freshly painted double track bridge he has built for the Div 2 club model layout. Our appetites have now been whetted and we look forward to seeing trains simultaneously crossing in both directions on this bridge. Viv Brice displayed a couple of recent book acquisitions. Backtracking around Friary, Laira and the Plym by Bernard Mills is an intriguing then and now photographic record of the Plymouth region railways in 154 pages, published 2

3 (Continued from page 2) by Pen & Ink Publishing in 2013 and covering the area where Viv grew up. Comparing then and now photos quickly reveals that modern railways fail to keep the trackside vegetation down as the steam railways used to. Read all about this book and its author in the 11 Jan 2014 edition of the Plymouth Herald at mep2kzt Viv s other book was the Book of Rules another Bible from USA. This one contains the rules for Penn Central but is typical of most American railroads of that era. Like Rob Nesbitt s American Freight Car tome, though substantially lighter and a lot cheaper, this comprehensive Book of Rules is vital for realistic model railroading, by all who wish to follow the USA prototype in the 1950s. You name it it s in there. For example Dogs and Other Animals Rule 4161-E. Train service employees whose duties involve them in handling dogs and other animals in passenger trains, must provide themselves with a current copy of General Notice No. 220-A and supplements thereto and be governed thereby. OK now, got that? (Editor s Note: In case anyone is concerned that Viv has changed his allegiance from the Pennsy to Penn Central, he hasn t. His set of Pennsy Rule Books were considered to be too fragile and valuable to be handled by this mob!) The Main Show Viv used the Brice family TV screen to excellent effect in showing us some of his photos taken on his recent visit to Europe and Britain. Unfortunately it appeared that family priorities had decreed that Viv was only allowed limited time to take all the railway photos that today s audience expected (having not paid for his trip). However he had clearly done his best. (A small selection are included on pages 4 & 5). And without much help from the midwinter weather either. Today s photo show started in Europe where Viv did well in making the point that despite being a renegade Pom devoted to the Pennsylvania Railroad, he actually does know a bit about railways in continental Europe as well. He had an awkward moment when he couldn t explain an unusual feature of modern tracklaying visible in one of his photos, but his face was saved when neither of the two European railway enthusiasts in today s audience could explain it either. (See article at top of page 4) Moving northwest through Europe, Viv s photos finished up in Britain where we feasted on some very nice images of British Rail today and of the Great Western Railway of yesteryear. For additional pictures plus information on the Great Western Society at Didcot Railway Centre, see After a most enjoyable afternoon tea, thanks to Sylvie s fine hospitality, we adjourned to the Railway Building where Viv s PRR HO scale layout is proceeding nicely. Hopefully it met the approval of The Prez. z Viv s layout looking towards the engine service area, always being monitored by the Duck! Latest member (unpaid) of the NMRA AR. Recruited in England, this is Amy, 4 months old. 3 Grass The YouTube link below is an excellent tutorial on how to make grass for your layout. British in origin, it nevertheless has just as much applicability here.

4 What is it? by Viv Brice During our recent bus tour in Europe, at one point we travelled down to the West Bank of the Rhine near Boppard and I noticed this strange addition to the railway track (see small picture at right). The larger picture shows that this track addition carries on through the town. If anyone knows what it is, I d be very grateful if they would share their knowledge with me. z Seen in Lauterbrunnen what is it? Woohoo! It s a ski carrier. Interlaken Ost on Boxing Day 2013, while waiting for a train to the Jungfraujoch 4

5 From the Editor: Last month, we suffered a blocked drain and to get at the tie to the outside sewer, a good part of my deck had to be removed (read destroyed!). Luckily I had an out-of-work carpenter son in Brisbane and so we got him down to fix it, with Dad (me) as his trade assistant. A week later, after fixing the deck, the cockydamaged pergola and my front drive, he departed for home. A week using hand tools has left me with pins and needles in my hands whenever I use them for more than a few minutes. And that is why this issue of the Flimsy was a. late getting started and b. slow to complete! Now to find out if my hands will let me model. Viv div2sup@nmra.org.au National Model Railroaders Association Australasian Region Division 2 ACT Bringing model railroading to you News Next meeting will be at the home of Steve Walker at his home at 5 Pasmore Close, Kaleen on Saturday 10 May at 2:00 pm where he will give a talk on The evolution of an operations focused layout. Disclaimer: Any resemblance between characters in this newsletter and real model railroaders is purely intentional but no offence whatever is intended. Only the facts may have been altered to protect the guilty. Every reader has the right of reply and we look forward to publishing them! 18.4 x 13.6 This is why we travelled to Europe over Christmas! Snow on Boxing Day 2013 at Kleine Scheidegg on the way up the Jungfraujoch from Interlaken. Photographer: Viv Brice 2 Tbfpmox # 5 #