MINI-BUNCH NEWSLETTER The Mini-Bunch newsletter is usually published 4 times a year on an irregular schedule. Membership and a subscription to the Newsletter are $8.00 for 3 years or with Registration at a recent Mini-Bunch meeting. Website: http://www.narrowtracks.com/minibunch John Hansen & Ted Wiese Editors Volume 40 Number 4 (late) Dec 2011 1email: jvhansen@earthlink.net or ted.wiese@gmail.com Contents Revenge of the Snipe Fall 2011 Columbus Meet 2012 Midwest Narrow Gauge Meet Trip to South America Portland Locomotive Works Notes and Stuff Revenge of the Snipe Wow, here it is already January and a new year is beginning. The holidays are over and the Mini-Bunch meeting in November was a success. Most of all it was fun! Many thanks go out to those who put the meeting together. Jim Ruisinger, Michael Yoakam, and Butch Sage did a wonderful job of organizing it. The facilities were excellent and the meal was great! The Bear Creek group set up their diorama and for those who did not have a chance to see it at Hickory, this gave you a good chance to see some spectacular modeling. There were some great models in the contest room and we had some vendors to help you add to your collections. I came away with a set of On30 log cars and a DRGW book. Thanks also to Jim Foster, Bill Logan, and Jeff Schumaker for putting on some great clinics. I was so inspired by Jim s clinic on building small layouts that I dug out one I had started back in 2004, dusted it off, and cleaned it up enough to get a locomotive to run around it. Next I started planning on scenery. I was pumped! Well, that lasted about a week before I finally put it away again.. Snipe. I understand there is already activity going on to anoint a successor, Well, it s winter time and you all stay safe, keep warm, and do some modeling! Jim Kehn King Snipe prrfreak@aol.com Fall 2011 Columbus Meet Over 60 narrow gauge modelers met in Columbus in November 2011, to continue to discuss well, whatever we discuss. We had plenty of space at an excellent facility provided by Michael Yoakam. Jim Ruisinger, Butch Sage and Michael scheduled a model contest, raffle, three clinics and an excellent dinner. A number of members brought items for sale and there were the usual BS discussions all over the room. We reunited with old friends including a couple that had not been present for a number of years. Saturday was a long day and Sunday was a day to visit some fine layouts. I got to see Jerry Severson s and Tom Veigel s on the east side. Others open were Michael Yoakam s, Jim Ruisinger s, Dick Wagner s, and Chris Walsh s. So many thanks to all who made this a wonderful meet! Our next meeting will be held at the Greenford Narrow Gauge Meet in March. Remember, this is the year to elect a new King Former King Snipes (FKS) Pondering the Past
Jim Foster describing mini-layouts another former King Snipe. Contest Winners: Motive Power 1st Mike Yoakam On30 Forney Structures 1st Dan Kempf (FKS) Idaho Springs Machine Works 2nd Bill Logan Doodle Bug Rolling Stock 1st Michael York C&S Gondola 2nd Dan Kempf 3rd Dan Kempf Displays 1st Terry Hansley Georgetown Station Robert's Bros. Mercantile Log Skidder / Donkey Engine Clinics were presented by Jeff Schumacher (FKS), Bill Logan (FKS), and Jim Foster (FKS). Bill Logan used this box to demonstrate the differences in light sources. 2nd Jeff Schumaker Moxie Box Car 3rd Michael York Oahu Rwy Passenger Car
It looks like strip LEDs are the coming thing. After dinner and a business (?) meeting, the raffle was held. A good selection of items was available. Everyone took something home, and we had stuff left over. On Sunday we had layouts tours, but I did not manage to get to all of them. Here are three photos from Michael Yoakam s layout and also of an O scale structure on Dick Wagner s layout. (See the cover of the On30Annual for a similar shot.) And, finally Jim Ruisinger s trestle
2012 Midwest Narrow Gauge Meet Gary Kohler is sponsoring the 20 th annual narrow gauge meet in Greenford, OH at the old South Range School. (The same place as last year.) The registration form in this newsletter may answer other questions, but here is the basic information: The hours are different this year: Thursday setup 4 PM to 9 PM Friday setup 9 AM to 10 AM Friday open at 10 AM and close at 8 PM Saturday open at 9 AM and close at 5 PM Admission is $10 for one day and $15 for two days. Tables are available if you reserve one soon. The school has excellent space for the vendors and the modular layouts. Clinics: Bill Logan: Ohio River & Western Jim Amato: Alternative Materials for Texture Jon Scofield: Michigan Logging Roger Malinowski: a Hands On clinic "A different approach to layout scenery" How I built my layout with metal studs, fiberglass hard shell, foam and resin rock castings from silicon molds. Starting with an 18 x 24 module with the fiberglass hard shell installed, I ll demo, the molding and casting process. Followed by blending the castings together with Sculptamold. If possible, after letting that all dry, on the second day, I'd like to demonstrate painting the rocks with airbrushed acrylics. Finally, we could in some way, give the module to someone to take home with them. These are some photos of the facilities for Gary s meet:
Trip to South America (Many of you know that Dale Brown one of this newsletters prior editors operates a travel business that specializes in international train travel. ) Fellow Mini-Bunchers, you are invited to be part of a narrow gauge tour to Colombia. This is the first tour in nearly dozen years to ride the narrow gauge railroads of Colombia. Security and stability are now in great conditions. If you want to reserve with us, be part of unique experience and ride over 200 km behind three foot gauge US built Baldwin Mikes and other surprises. Dale Brown Wings and Rails International Expeditions For more information or to make reservations contact: www.wingsandrails.com tourdesk@wingsandrails.com 1-877-535-5813 Steam in Colombia May 20-25, 2012 Wings & Rails International Expeditions invites you to ride the rails of the scenic and mountainous Colombian National narrow gauge railroads. Several former Ferrocarriles Nacional de Colombia lines out of Bogota hosts a three foot narrow gauge steam train. Wings and Rails has an exciting rail and sightseeing tour planned that samples some of Colombia's culture and trains The 6 day tour includes all ground transportation, hotels, some meals and train tickets in Colombia. Passengers must arrange independent International air transport to Bogota, Colombia and return. Tour Includes 5 nights lodging 10 meals All ground transfers 3 Steam Train Charters Sightseeing tour, Salt Cathedral and Gold Museum Tour conductor Tour Prices Double twin bed room $2890.00 per person Single Supplement $ 370.00 If you have an interest in the trip, visit the website for complete information. Portland Locomotive Works (As a preface to this item, you might already know that one of the largest train shows in the country is January 28-29 in Springfield MA. This comment helps in the understanding of his article.) Portland Locomotive Works is reorganizing and expanding their business to help the narrow gauge modeler. The release by Darryl Sleszynski says: I will be drafting a more detailed announcement in the next few days, but for now I'll just say that Portland Locomotive Works is coming out of hibernation in a totally different incarnation. Even the corporate details have yet to be finalized, but PLW will be closely allied with M2FQ Publications and LitCo. and will have a number of people involved in addition to Gary Kohler and me. Our intent is to utilize the considerable collective expertise the group possesses in a number of areas to produce innovative products in the publishing and model manufacturing arenas. To that end, we have made significant investments in software and equipment, including a state-ofthe-art laser. While we've only been in shake-down mode learning about the laser for a month or so, many projects have progressed to the point that we will have test results ready to display at Springfield. That list includes but may not be limited to the following: SR&RL grade crossing finial, and possibly the entire grade crossing sign in 7/8n2, 1/2"n2, O scale, S scale, and HO scale. Carrabasset covered station in S scale Monson combine in O scale F&M flatcar in O scale White Birch Tank in O scale Strong Toothpick Clearinghouse in HO scale Laser-cut, pre-weathered shingles Test cuts of brick-work, preliminary to starting the buildings in the Phillips complex As soon as we can assemble a brief bio of everyone involved and iron out a few details, I will post a more detailed announcement. We look forward to the opportunity to earn your support by offering the best products in the industry. So, we can assume they will have a large presence at Gary s show in March. Notes and Stuff A note was received from Butch Sage the other day. His Dad s railroad has been moved to Butch s basement, and a crew will be working to get it running again. As many of you know, Lee Rainey coordinates work sessions on the East Broad Top RR. There will not be a winter spectacular this year, so Lee has scheduled a work session for February 18 th and 19 th in Rockhill Furnace. His email address is: LeeRainey@aol.com
The Fifth Annual Hoosier On30 meet will be held on Saturday April 28 th, in Edinburgh, Indiana. We will have more information and a registration form in the next newsletter. Al Askerberg in Columbus, IN, has details if you need them sooner: alberg@comcast.net National Narrow Gauge Convention They have just announced that the Mt Rainier RR tour is sold out. From what I ve read on the internet, it looks to be a large convention with the available rooms being reserved quickly. for further information, visit the website: http://www.seattle2012.com/ Sounds like it will be a great convention (unless one tries to travel between layouts during rush hour.) Although Seattle is known for its rainy climate, the weather during September is usually nice and sunny. If you have not been to Seattle before, you have missed seeing a great city and beautiful scenic area. Mini-Bunch Fall 2012 meeting: Dan Kempf from Ann Arbor, Michigan, is planning the fall meeting to be held in Chelsea, Michigan. The meet will be in the old train station. On Sunday we will visit the Huckleberry RR to ride behind 464. The meeting will be October 6 th and 7 th, which is the last weekend the Huckleberry RR will be running. More information will be available later. Notes from the Editors HELP NEEDED!!!! We plan to send out 4 newsletters per year. We are looking for articles on modelbuilding and prototype that will be of interest for the members. Mini-Bunch http://www.narrowtracks.com/minibunch Yahoo! Groups Mini-Bunch http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mini-bunch Name Badges Available Soon, we hope - Unfortunately, we have lost our nametag vendor again. Hopefully, we will be able to make nametags available again at some future date. Mini-Bunch Newsletter on Internet Thanks to David Keith, our Webmaster, you have the chance to see these and additional photos in color. And thanks to Jim Eakin of Railhead Publicatioins for helping us with the copying. 216-521-1779 jvhansen@earthlink.net Ted Wiese 9099 Regency Woods Drive Kirtland, OH 44094-9380 440-256-5212 email: ted.wiese@gmail.com Narrow Gauge Timetable National Narrow Gauge Conventions 32nd 2012 September 12-15, Bellevue, WA 33rd 2013 August 28-31, Pasadena, CA 34 th 2014 September 3-6, Kansas City, MO 35 th 2015 September 2-5, Houston, TX 36 th 2016 September 7 10, Augusta ME Future Mini-Bunch Meets Fall 2012 Ann Arbor, MI Spring 2013 Greenford, OH Parties Responsible for this Newsletter Our Leader: Jim Kehn 735 West Columbus St Pickerington, OH 43147 614-837-0724 prrfreak@aol.com Editors: John Hansen 17826 Clifton Blvd Lakewood, OH 44107
The 20th Annual Midwest Narrow Gauge Show 2012 and CANFIELD (Greenford), OHIO TRAIN SHOW March 22-24, 2012 SHOW HOURS Thursday setup from 4-9 Friday setup 9:00-10:00 Friday Show opens at 10:00 and closes at 8:00 Saturday setup 8:30 to 9:00 Saturday Show opens at 9:00 and closes at 5:00 * Dealers, clinics, operating modules and layouts. Operating Layouts Tentative for 2012: HOn30, Sn2, S/Sn3, On30 and 7/8n2. This event is cosponsored by the Cleveland Narrow Gauge Society and the Mini Bunch. Dealers $35.00 plus $25.00 per additional table. All scales welcome: HOn30, HOn3, Sn2, Sn3, On2, On30, On3 and large scale.. Host Hotel: Hampton Inn (Canfield): (330) 330-702-1900 (rooms reserved under Midwest NG Show) PO Box 133, Washingtonville, OH 44490-0133 (330) 702-0117 or m2fq@aol.com www.lightirondigest.com http://www.maine2footquarterly.com/midwest.htm Please send SASE for more information. Name: Address: City/St/Zip: Phone/email: One day registration $10.00 Two day registration $15.00 (no charge for spouse) Dealer $35.00 (one table) (Includes registration for two) Additional tables x $25.00 ea. Total amount enclosed Make checks payable to Gary Kohler. Do you want to do a clinic yes no Subject If you use PowerPoint, you will need to bring your own Power Point Projector. Do you plan to enter a model in the Model Contest yes no Would you like to host a roundtable discussion yes no Subject