STAR. The Texas Western w w w. t w m r c. o r g. How I Spent My Summer Vacation. Most of us growing up likely spent our summer vacations

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1 STAR The Texas Western w w w. t w m r c. o r g August February Facebook Likes for our club Western Model Railroad Club How I Spent My Summer Vacation In This Issue Youth in the Hobby President s Bus. Car... 2 August Business Meeting... 3 Railway Express Car...4 CAO s Baggage Car...5 The Train Schedule...6 Social Media & Trains...8, 9 August Birthdays...10 Have a Suggestion Or a Story Idea? Contact: The STAR Editor at, galvinart@att.net LIKE US on Face Texas Western Model Railroad Club!!! #modeltrains #texaswesternmodelrrclub ( Clarence Zink s Grandson Jack spent several nights this summer putting in drops and uncoupling magnets in the steel mill yard where his Grandpa is working and laying trackwork. ) Most of us growing up likely spent our summer vacations from school playing baseball, going camping, fishing, maybe taking a family vacation to a amusement or a national park. A couple of articles have been penned by the NMRA Magazine and the Cowcatcher Magazine speaking about the drop in youth participation within our hobby. Our club has the Youth in Model Railroading group meetings here at the clubhouse on the First Saturday of each month and they are doing their part to promote and work with young modelers building a traveling modular layout and going on group railfanning trips to the GVVR and area train watching hotspots. Jack is going to have some model railroading tips to share with his classmates when school starts back up this fall. Chris Galvin

2 2 August 2017 The STAR From The Business Car The dog days of summer are upon us. It isn t as hot as in years past yet, but it will be soon. It is a great time to come down to the TWMRC and help get the railroad up and running. The wiring is moving along with some recent decisions on labeling and sorting the miles of wire that will be under this layout. This isn t your 4 x 8 Plywood Pacific to wire up. You cannot just hook up some wires and get it running. Not possible. We are modeling seven (7) Class 1 railroads and each needs a buss wire below to power the tracks. The track will also be broken into power districts so that a short on this section of track will not shut down all the tracks. We also have some common tracks (around Tower 55 for example) that need power also, but isn t directly a part of a particular main line. So, a LOT of buss wires under the layout is an understatement. Now, take into consideration that we are using the PM42 circuit breakers to manage the power districts for the main line; each PM42 has 4 terminal buss blocks which will control and provide power for the tracks. How do you indicate that Terminal 4 on THAT PM42 is controlling the ATSF block between the Ney Yard and the helix? If you have a short to clear, you need a way to identify the wiring for THAT particular section of track. Are you starting to see a bit more clearly the task of labeling and sorting of wires is the real issue? We already have most of the buss wires pulled under the current layout, that is 90% done; but how do we designate that THIS wire goes to THAT track? Working with Don and John recently, we came up with a colored tape method of marking wires for easy identification. Basically each railroad will have a two color identification using tape around the buss wires. The buss wire itself will have a color code that identifies which terminal on the PM42 it is attached to. The PM42 will then further have alpha numeric coding to identify it specifically. Can t wait for trains to be running? Then come down to the club and work on the LAYOUT electrical with us. Just moaning about We should already be running trains is not understanding the scope of the problem, nor helping with the solution. We need buss wires taped, several more drops made, and other tasks that you can do. I have scenery and structures that I would like to work on also, but until we have trains running it is on the back burner of my To Do list. The building is nice and comfortable, come down and work on the TWMRC layout if you want to see trains running. Darrell Cowles The STAR is published by The Texas Western Model Railroad Club & The Texas Western Railroad Association, A 501c Non- Profit Organization. Visit our web site: Executive Board Darrell Cowles Chief Executive Officer ceo@twmrc.org Clarence Zink Chief Operations Officer coo@twmrc.org Dick Mucker Chief Financial Officer cfo@twmrc.org Mike Mackey Chief Development Officer cdo@twmrc.org Jay Waters Chief Administration Officer cao@twmrc.org LIKE US on Facebook, Texas Western Model Railroad Club Follow Us on Instagram: #texaswesternmodelrrclub

3 3 August 2017 The STAR Images of Fort Worth August Business Meeting Thurs. August 7 PM at The Clubhouse Shop at AmazonSmile and Amazon will make a donation to: Texas Western Model Railroad Club Go to smile.amazon.com Then select Texas Western Model Railroad Club as the non-profit you d like to help. Amazon donates 0.5% of the price of your eligible purchases back to the club.

4 4 February August The STAR The Railway Express Car We had the opportunity of visiting the Baltimore and Ohio railroad museum while babysitting the grandkids in Virginia a few weeks ago. It s about an hour s drive from the D.C. area and we thought the kids, young and old, would enjoy the visit. The museum website is at: In the late 19th century a publicity agent developed a trade show exhibit for a major American railroad headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. This exhibit survived the railroad that sponsored it and grew to become a national treasure of railroad artifacts. Today, it comprises the collection of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum, the oldest, most comprehensive American railroad collection in the world. Located among Baltimore City s historic southwest neighborhoods, at the original site of the historic Mt. Clare Shops, the B&O Railroad Museum is recognized universally as the birthplace of American railroading. It was here within the Museum s 40-acre campus that Baltimore businessmen, surveyors, and engineers set about building the B&O Railroad in 1829, laying the first commercial long-distance track, building the first passenger station, and inventing America s unique railroad. Railroad work has been conducted at Mt. Clare for over 130 years. And it continues today. A National Historic Landmark, Affiliate of the Smithsonian Museum, and independent educational resource, the B&O Railroad Museum collects, preserves and interprets artifacts related to early American railroading, particularly the Baltimore & Ohio, Chesapeake & Ohio, Western Maryland, and other mid-atlantic railroads. Nearly 200 pieces of locomotives and rolling stock provide a continuum of railroad technology history from 1830 through the present day, and hundreds of thousands of small artifacts provide a unique glimpse of railroading through tools, exquisite time-pieces, fine art, presentation silver, uniforms, furniture, and personal memorabilia. The main display room is a refurbished round house with a functional turntable which is used for demonstrations on Special occasions. I got a kick out of having the kids stand alongside the drive wheels of the streamlined Hudson #490 or the #1604 Allegheny and seeing the looks on their faces when they realized the enormity of those fabulous locos. I was a bit disappointed because they have a GG1 but it is in very poor condition and not on public display. Anyway, if you get a chance to visit the Baltimore / D.C. area be sure to visit this great museum. Dick Mucker

5 5 August 2017 The STAR The CAO s Baggage Car Summer time!! It s hot in Texas, or so I hear. It rarely gets above 80 degrees here in San Diego. That s the only plus about commuting 1,350 miles to work each week. I dearly miss my time at the Club. I look forward to Saturday evenings to get together with my TWMCR Family to visit, laugh, and work on the layout. It s too hot to do anything outside so come on down to the Club on Saturday and do a little work. The A/C is on and the comradery is flowing. The layout is progressing very well. Thanks to our own Mike Mackey and his Division meetings at the Club we are gaining notoriety. Our website was searched by 865 people in June according to Google. We can thank Kim Hays for her valiant efforts to put our name out there on the internet to get us noticed. Chris Galvin does a stellar job with the newsletter each month. All of these efforts are bringing visitors to the TWMRC. We are getting noticed, and I believe that it will bring us new members. We definitely need more members to help fund our layout. The last cog in the new member gear is to have a functioning layout. They have to see trains running. This is why we need all of our current members to get to the Club and help. I know I keep saying it, but we are almost over the hump and will be able to run trains VERY soon. There are very few final wires to hook up and track sections to readjust. The remaining work is not difficult to do, it just needs to be done. Our dedicated electrical committee leaders will point you in the right direction. As will Jerry or Clarence regarding track work. Believe me, if I can perform the tasks that I ve been given, anyone can. I hope to see you at the Club very soon so we can run some trains together. Jay H20s

6 6 August 2017 The STAR THE TRAIN SCHEDULE Upcoming Meetings, Events, Shows & Clinics AUGUST rd - August Business 7p, Thursday. 5th- YMR Meeting, 10a - 1p, Held at the TWMRC, Saturday 10th - Work Night, 7p - 9:30p, Thursday 11th- HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRIS GALVIN 12th - NMRA Lone Star Region Cowatcher Division 1 Meeting, 10a - 12 p, held at the Texas Western Model RR Clubhouse, Saturday 12th - Work Day, 3p - 9p, Saturday 17th - Work Night, 7p - 9:30p, Thursday 19th- Work Day, 3p - 9p, Saturday 24th - Work Night, 7p - 9:30p, Thursday 26th - Work Day 3p - 9p, Saturday 28TH- HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHANA ZAMARRON 30TH- HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATHY GALVIN 31st - Work Night, 7p - 9:30p, Thursday SEPTEMBER th - July Business Meeting, 7p, will he The clubhouse, Thursday 9th - NMRA Lone Star Region Cowatcher Division 1 Meeting, 10a - 12 p, held at the Texas Western Model RR Clubhouse, Saturday TWMRC CLUB TRIP to Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad September 14-17, 2017 Amarillo RR Museum visit Cumbres & Toltec train ride Contact: Jay Waters if interested in attending 2017 Texas Western Train Show Sat. November 11th 10 AM - 5 PM & Sun. November 12th 11 AM - 4 PM Forest Hill Civic Center 6901 Wichita Street Forest Hill, TX NMRA LSR Cowcatcher Division 1 July Meeting Saturday, July 8, am - 12 Texas Western MRC Clubhouse 6801 Forest Hill Drive Program: Building Structures presented by Leo & Lorrie Palitti

7 7 August 2017 The STAR Just In Case You Missed this photo Posted on Facebook... Don Hays & Jay Waters got a Locomotive running Last Saturday Night from the North End of the Ney Yard to the South Helix. The ATSF Mainline has power! ( the locomotive carried a styrofoam cargo )

8 8 May August The The STAR STAR The CDO s Parlor Car social media & trains Social Media - Model Railroad/Prototype Railroad Facebook Pages Here are some Facebook pages I follow that you might find resourceful and a way to learn That more about the 7 railroads we are modeling on our Texas Western Layout Version 2.0 And some that you might just find interesting from a history or rail fanning standpoint. If you re on Facebook you simply write the following titles in the search box at the top of your facebook page to find these pages. For Public Groups, simply click the liked button to follow the newsfeeds and posts. For the Closed Groups, you have to click the join request button and in most cases you will be added. Public Groups - North Texas & Texas Area Pages Texas Western Model Railroad Club NMRA Lone Star Region Division 1 Lone Star Region of the NMRA Texas Railroad History North Texas Chapter, NRHS Cotton Belt Regional Railroad Symposium Fans of the Rock Island Railroad Frisco Railroad Memories Santa Fe Railway Historical & Modelers Society Southern Pacific and Cotton Belt and Small Texas & New Orleans Fans Texas & Pacific Railroad Railfans Black Bear and Bayou Railroad Backyard Railroading Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex Railfanning Dallas History Remember in Fort Worth when... BNSF railroad Fort Worth and Western Railroad Railfans of the DFW Metroplex (North Central Texas) Tarrant County Modular Model Railroad Association Railspot on Facebook Railroad Caboose Photos ( Continued on Page 9... ) Images of Texas History St. Louis Southwestern/Cotton Belt Railway Mike s Roundhouse Museum of the American Railroad Texas State Railroad Texas Street and Interurbans North Texas Traction History Group The Texas Bankhead Highway History Group Texas Bridges & Crossings - History Museum - Quality Model Railroads ( Social Media & Trains Continued on Page 9...)

9 9 August 2017 The STAR ( Social Media & Trains Continued from Page 8...) Closed Groups - North Texas Area Pages Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railway BNSF The Dallas Garland & Northeastern / Texas Northeastern Historical Society DFW Model Railroading KATY Railroad Historical Society KATY Railroad Memories North Texas Model Railroad North Texas Railfans Rock Island Railroad Modelers Six Flags Over Texas Railroad Public Groups - National/Regional Pages National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) NMRA Achievement Program American Steam Railroad Preservation Association, Inc Cen - Tex Division, LSR, NMRA Modelers Guild Fort Worth & Denver Railway Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Black Stone Models Galveston Railroad Museum Save The Madam Queen, Amarillo, Texas Fine Scale Miniatures-fsm FOS Scale Models - Unique Structure Kits Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago Smithsonian Model Railroad Clubs HookedOnTrains Closed Groups - National/Regional Pages Freelance Model Railroads South Texas Model Railroad 1-87 HO Scale Modeling Club Fans of Union Pacific 4014 and Big Boys Rio Grande Railroad Fans EMD GP20 and variants HOn3 Narrow Gauge Modelers Freelance Model Railroads Burlington Northern Railroad Modelers Southern Pacific Railroad Chris Galvin

10 10 August January The STAR The STAR AUGUST 2017 BIRTHDAYS Chris Galvin 8/11 Shana Zamarron 8/28 Kathy Galvin 8/30 THE TEXAS WESTERN THE TEXAS WESTERN STAR STAR Clean Clean UP UP Crew Crew AUGUST 2017 JANUARY 2015 Jay DARRELL WatersCOWLES William David BrownHall John Callesen Bob Hunt Mike Corley Ken Roose Texas Western Railroad Association 6808 Forest Hill Drive, Forest Hill, TX