T i e s a n d R a i l s Official newsletter of the Crossville Model Railroad Club and Div. 16, Southeast Region, NMRA April 2019 (931)210-5050 www.crossvilletrains.org The Prez sez: Spring is here and we know from experience that with spring break, attendance builds and as summer gets here and the tourists return, our visitor numbers will expand. That will, hopefully, also increase the jar donations. One thing, for sure is, engaging visitors, welcoming each and every one as they enter and also as they tour the suite, asking if they have questions, also is a huge help. What doesn t help is that if you spend your shift not talking to visitors or sitting at the table pre-occupied with other tasks, that doesn t encourage contributions to our funds. So please be motivated then greeting and soliciting questions. Please remind our guests to sign the visitor s log so we can track their state and country. Membership John Conor Well another month has passed and we are into Spring. What a year so far and our streak continues! Members, thank you so much for all your effort in visiting with each of the visitors. Because of your efforts, we have another new member applicant to take to the Board. So a big thank you to you all. We still have time to find other train folk/ hobbyists before the next BOD meeting. Please keep up the good work! Thanks to each and every one of our members for helping our Club grow. HO Scale News - Paul Falk Please note the April 1 st Operations session has been RESCHEDULED for April 15 th at 4 PM CDT. Hope to see you then. The pier 4 HOSU yard is nearly complete. The trackage has been performing well and is ready for final ballasting. Scenic details are being fleshed out and thanx to all those who have and are working so diligently to make this project come together. The next HO meeting is May 6 th at 4 PM CDT. If you have something you wish to put in the newsletter, contact Tom Shallcross at chipmonk4@comcast.net
Ties and Rails Page 2 N Scale News - Jan Novack Come on in and get comfortable. A short update, as a follow-up to last month s article on the ESU programmer from Art. Art has had considerable difficulty making verbal contact with the ESU offices here in the USA. After many messages being left, success was obtained in mid March with the necessary applications, supporting documents, pictures, etc. being submitted, and notice of receipt by ESU last Friday (Mar 22 nd ). Should not be long now for the approval process to be completed (No issues foreseen). In the meantime, Art was successful in obtaining an ESU Programmer from a private source, and has received it and successfully set it up, and connected it to the service laptop in the shop. A full set of documentation has been downloaded, printed and is available at Art s shop for reference. Now to learn how to utilize all the programmer s capabilities. We will keep you updated as experience is obtained. As for the CMRC DCC systems, HO & N Scales, no noted issues, problems have been reported, so all appears to be well. Happy railroading! Remember, one-on-one DCC training is always available, so let us know. We are here to help. If you experience and unexplained issues with the current DCC installations, HO or N, please document what you have encountered in an E-mail, or a note, to Paul and Art. We welcome your interest and comments and feel free to contact either Paul or Art with questions, comments or ideas. WE ve had two instances lately where an N scale engine was pulled off for poor performance. In each case when I checked it, cleaning the wheels fixed the problem. If this situation reoccurs, there is a portable wheel cleaner (Trix) in the box next to the main line power pack that can be used to clean the wheels. Try this as a last resort before writing up a repair request. Also, I have put a spare engine in the second drawer of the cabinet under the table to the right of the control center that can be substituted if an engine does completely quit. Important Dates in Railroad History From NMRA and South ern Railway Historical Society calendars. 4/14/1846 Pennsylvania RR chartered 4/18/1934 Burlington Zephyr dedicated 4/23/1866 Westinghouse patents first air brake 4/25/1925 Southern Crescent Limited, Trains 37 and 38, are inaugurated 4/29/1873 Eli H. Janney patents knuckle coupler 4/30/1900 Casey Jones rides into eternity
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Ties and Rails Calendar Page 8 Tennessee Central Railway Museum, 220 Willow Street, Nashville, TN has numerous excursions throughout the year as listed in the calendar. Contact them at 615-241-0436 for specific information regarding any trip. April 2019 Clean-up Club HO/N/Z Scales 4/4/19 Marketing Mtg. Club 4:00 PM 4/8/19 BOD Meeting Club 4:00 PM 4/8/19 Member Mtg. Suite 112, Crossville Outlet Center 6:00 PM 4/13/19 Train Show 210 Locust St., Gadsden, AL 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM; $5. Adm. 4/15/19 Ops Session Club 4:00 PM 4/20/19 Train Trip 220 Willow St., Nashville, TN Easter Bunny Trip 4/21/19 Holiday Club Easter CLOSED 4/27/19 Train Trip 220 Willow St., Nashville, TN DelMonaco Winery Trip 4/29/19 NMRA Meeting Suite 112, Crossville Outlet Center 10:00 am May 2019 Clean-up Club O/G Scales 5/4/19 Train Trip 220 Willow St., Nashville, TN DelMonaco Winery Trip 5/5/19 Coal Mining Fair 8095 Crossville Highway, Sparta. TN 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM; FREE 5/6/19 HO Meeting Suite 112, Crossville Outlet Center 4:00 PM 5/9/19 Marketing Mtg. Club 4:00 PM 5/13/19 BOD Meeting Club 4:00 PM 5/13/19 Member Mtg. Suite 112, Crossville Outlet Center 6:00 PM 5/30-6/2/19 SER Convention Chattanooga,TN See website www.choochoocityrails.org 5/31-6/1/19 Train Show 176 Ross Drive, Johnson City, TN 12:00 noon to 6:00 pm (Fri.) and 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM (Sat.); $6. Adm. June 2019 Clean-up Club HO/N/Z Scales 6/3/19 Ops Session Club 4:00 PM 6/6/19 Marketing Mtg. Club 4:00 PM 6/10/19 BOD Meeting Club 4:00 PM 6/10/19 Member Mtg. Suite 112, Crossville Outlet Center 6:00 PM 6/22/19 Train Trip 220 Willow St., Nashville, TN Murder Mystery Trip 6/27/19 Marketing Mtg. Club 4:00 PM for July 2019