THE ABTO GAZETTE ABTO August Membership Meeting Saturday, August 20, 2011 Banner Desert Medical Center Rosati Education Center Ocotillo Conference Room 1400 S. Dobson Road Mesa, AZ. 85202 480-412-3000 www:bannerhealth.com/desert Board Meeting 8am Membership Meeting 9:30am Coffee and Donuts will be served 10
FOR SALE FOR SALE by Dottie Mullen Bachmann 2-6-0 Mogul w/tender and Air Wire 250.00 Bachmann 2-6-0 Mogul w/tender 100.00 Bachmann Climax 400.00 Misc. RR Cars $15.00 Those e/w metal wheels $25.00 Misc. Passenger Cars 35 Misc. Freight Cars 4 Misc. Cabooses Please Contact Dottie Mullen at 623-825-1671 These ABTO items are being offered for sale Logo Patch $ 2.00 Tan Cap with Logo $12.00 Apron with pockets and Logo $13.00 Denim Shirt with pocket and Logo $20.00 Club Vest with Pockets and Logo-Appliqué $27.00 Polo Shirt with Pocket and Logo $26.00 (available in white, tan and light blue) Sizes larger than XL will be an extra charge To place an order, please contact Tony Vacek 623-566-9274 or avacek@cox.net 11
WHAT S NEW! The new Aristocraft 2-8-0 Consolidated in 1:29 scale is now out. List price is $891.00. $539.89 +s&h at *RLD Hobbies. Available in undecorated, B & O, Western Maryland, ATSF, Union Pacific, New York Central & US Army. I don t understand why it isn t made for the Pennsylvania RR on the first run. Maybe because Lewis Polk is a NYC fan. For us BNSF fans an Aristocraft Dash 9 in 1:29 scale in the newer BNSF Swoosh paint scheme is planed for this year. Only one road number though. American Mainline has finally released the Bethgon Coalporters after a couple of years of teasing us. Available in BNSF black, BNSF mineral brown, NS, UP, CSX, BN, CN, Conrail, Wisconsin Power & Light & undecorated. All but the undecorated version are available in 4 different road numbers. List price $149.00. $111.89+ s&h at *RLD Hobbies. I ordered all 4 of the black BNSF ones. American Mainline has also released a PS -4750 Covered Hopper in 1.29 scale. Available in Illinois Central, Illinois Terminal, Rock Island, C&NW green, BNSF Swoosh D&RGW. Santa Fe, Conrail, UP, BN, CN Wet Noodle, NW, CSX, S&NW yellow & Data only. List price $169.95. $127.89 + s&h ar RLD Hollies. USATrains released their new 60 ft boxcars in 1:29 scale. This car has their new cushioned coupler feature that simulates the real operation of the prototype boxcar. Kadee 830 compatible. Available in Santa Fe, UP, SP, Conrail, Great Northern, C & O, BN, CSX, Rio Grande, NYC, Burlington, PRR, EL, WM, CP, NS, Soo Line, Southern, Rock Island, BNSF, WP, NH & the Milwaukee Road. List Price $159.95. $89.89 + s&h at *RLD Hobbies. Coming soon from USA Trains is a Shorty tank car in 1:29 scale. Available in Undecorated both black & white), ULTX, GATX, SHPX, Hooker Chemicals, Sunoco, ADM, Wyandotte Chemicals, Dupont, Celanese Chemicals, Brea Chemicals, CPC International, Canadian General, Geigy Chemical, Tennessee Eastman Kodak, NS, Penn Salt, Quaker State, JM Huber, Shell Proctor, UP, BNSF & Christmas. List Price $149.95. $89.89 + s&h at *RLD Hobbies preorder. * I m not advertising for RLD Hobbies but they have the best prices I can find on this item. 12
OUR CHRISTMAS TOUR UPDATE Recently, we ve sent some CCMC pictures by Sandy R. into the Garden Railway magazine with a short criteria of our Open House Event. This is the first advertisement of the year, which won t be published until the October edition? With the progress of the CCMC digital electrical control and lighting that has been materializing lately, the layout can be one of our featured attractions for this year s Open House Tour. Ralph Cunningham, Roy Towne, Jim Snyder, Don Halver, Dan Stoecklin and the Rauperstrach s have many hours into the unique layout at the hospital. With the general meeting coming up in August at the hospital, everyone should be looking to seeing a culminating production of the early 1900 s reproduction of Sedona Railroading and surroundings. We have 14 layouts, plus the hospital for the tour in December. A group meeting will be called sometime during the 2nd week of October. The cut off date is September 15 for new people to join. With Ginny coordinating the advertisemen, we re looking for a big push of advertisement, DVD s, newspapers, fliers and etc. to promote model railroading in the valley and surroundings. Also, Michael T. and Ginny have been instrumental in finishing the nice TRIFOLDS for advertisement about the club and railroading, etc. They should be ready for the modules event next week at the Mesa Public Library. SIGS (Special Interest Groups) MODULES OPERATING SESSIONS Roger Crooks Ennis Thompson Brian Casull 480-964-6058 602-527-0402 480-563-8924 rpc7271@yahoo.com egtrailroading@aol.com bhc8924@earthlink.net PHOENIX CHILDREN S HOSPITAL CARDON CHILDREN S Jim Kangas Don Halver/Roy Towne 480-569-1756 480-786-4138/480-361-1969 jkangasat@cox.net gscaledon@q.com/zarf1@mac.com PAINTING/AIRBRUSHING GANDY DANCER Don Sorenson 480-684-4652 Needs a Coordinator don.sorenson@intel.com MTH 1/32 G-SCALE MENTOR Roy Towne Bill Nagle 480-361-1969 480-899-9054 zarf1@mac.com he111bill@aol.com 13
CALENDAR OF EVENTS AUGUST 2011 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1Mesa Library SETUP 8am RUN TRAINS 11am-7pm 2 Mesa Library 10am-7pm 3Mesa Library 10am-7pm 4Mesa Library 10am-7pm 5Mesa Library 10am-5pm 6 Mesa Library 10am-5pm 7 Library Closed 8Mesa Library TEARDOWN 8am 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20Board Meeting @ 8am Membership Mtg. @9:30am 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 MARK YOUR CALENDARS! Monday, August 1 8am -SETUP Module @Mesa Library Mesa Library 64 East 1st Street. Mesa. AZ Monday, August 1 11am-7pm @ Mesa Library Tuesday, August 2 thru Thursday, August 4th 10am-7pm - @ Mesa Library Friday, August 5 thru Saturday, August 6th 10am-5pm - @ Mesa Library Monday, August 8-8am -TEARDOWN MODULE Saturday. August 20 8am -Board Meeting @ Banner Hospital (more information on Page 10) Saturday, August 20 9:30am Membership Meeting @ Banner Hospital (more information on Page 10) Saturday, Sept. 17-11:30am Verde Canyon Railroad Station departure at 1pm Saturday, Sept. 17 -Blazin M Ranch gates open @ 5pm, dinner bell rings @ 6:30pm 14
LIBRARY NEWS Backyard Railroads 2006 Eaglewings Garden Railroad Tour, Backyard Railroads 2007 Eaglewings Garden Tour & Backyard Railroads World s Longest Train. Owner ABTO. These are new to the library and were donated to the library by Dan Hoag of Eaglewings Ironcraft. Concrete in Railroad Construction: A Treatise on Concrete for Railroad Engineers and Contractors. Published by Atlas Portland Cement Co. Owner: Roger Crooks. This book was listed in the book review of the July/Aug issue of the Narrow Gauge & Short Line Gazette so I bought a copy. This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. The original was scanned and reproduced. This book was originally written as a marketing tool to promote the use of concrete instead of wood, steel or iron. There are over 120 black & white photos and illustrations of concrete structures related to railroad construction. The photos and illustrations are of bridges, bridge piers 7 abutments, retaining walls, depots, tunnels, coal and sand towers, signal towers, power stations, shops and fences. The use of this book in the model railroad world is to aid the modeler in improving accuracy when building models. This book was originally published when the use of concrete and especially reinforced concrete was not as substantial as it is now. I am amazed at the small amount of rebar in most of these structures. Coming Soon! Backyard Garden Railroads 2011 National Railway Convention Tour. The ABTO library should have this video by the August meeting. The ABTO Library is composed of two elements. 1) Books owned by the ABTO Library. 2) Books owned by individual ABTO members who make their personal collections available to other members. ABTO members are welcome to borrow any books on the library list. To borrow an ABTO book contact Roger Crooks. To borrow a members book contact that member. The library list is posted a Azbigtrains.org. An electronic copy of the library list is available from Roger Crooks on request. 15
RUNNING SESSIONS Brian Casull Ennis Thompson arrived early with the Board but it wasn t to attend the meeting. He cornered the Chief Cook and Bottle Washer of the Snort bear and Widget RR and Mining Company and headed straight for the Big City Yard to set up his consist for the railroad operations contest scheduled to begin three hours later. Ennis cleverly decided to use the caboose as the header in front of his two Little Critter Switchers assigned to his consist. Where the heck was E.T. Pack & Ship? Where should he position the Gon and Reefer that he had to set out there? Should the Ore Car, Hopper, and second Gondola be before or after? Has anyone ever heard of The Mines Of Moria? He then left to reconnoiter the Snort Bear & Widget RR and Mining Company to be ready when the rest of his crew arrived. Don Sorenson hurried in around one hour before the four PM meeting start time. His consist was scheduled first to leave the Big City Yard and he knew that he was behind in preparation and only a miracle would save him. He studied the savvy Captain Thompson s consist. Two can play this game and he muttered under his breath. His crew soon arrived and together they plotted and planned. How to use the Alco Switcher assigned for their motive power? Roy Towne brought in a ringer MTH switcher. After consultation with the Contest Chair and Judge-it was allowed into the competition at Patience of Hoag Yard. His tag team assigned there including John Meyers and Bob Clark could get a leg up on the timer by quietly working that yard consist and positioning the pick ups to their advantage. Now what order should the setouts to WorldCo be in? Where did you say Snowhite Company was located anyway? Now if Ed Fishencord can only master the nuances of Fezziwig Yard Set in a desert landscape complete with awnings, misters and lots of food and drink the game was afoot. As other ABTO club members arrived and the Board ended it s meeting, Ennis huddled with his crew. Definitely the better organized (if smaller) tag teams included Bob Rauperstrauch and Jim Gardner. This conspiracy continued as Captain Sorenson went on the clock. The onlookers waited, and waited, and.waited Don had hit a small operational glitch. Seems that all of the boots on the ground led to boulders on the track. But Don & Crew were undaunted and quickly took their assigned posts and trains were rolling... Since that initial toe in the water episode of club member s hands on operations, the germ of an idea has matured to the concept of why not have on going operating sessions? Borrowing an idea from Nascar-serial events with different operating challenges and a running point total. Kick off meeting at the The Snort bear & Widget Saturday, September 24th at 9:00am to see who is interested. 1. Spend an hour or so playing on the RR to get the hang of the layout and some hands on experience. 2. Have breakfast. 3. Those interested will decide the actual structure of the competition ba sed on points for number of cars success fully spotted or picked up and total time. 4.. The first break the ice competition would happen after breakfast. 5. There will be a subsequent racing season consisting of a tour stop in October (also at the SB&W but a different set of operating puzzles) and ending at my house for the November Club Meeting (The final race of the season would occur during the regular meeting) 6. Points totaled, prizes issued specially painted railroad cars by Jim Gardner which could be rotated amongst the point leaders until the final tally and actual presentation to the winner(s) at the December Christmas Party. 7. We will start simple with the level of difficulty and skill level needed escalated throughout the season (or seasons to follow if this idea works out) Brian Casull Photos on page 5 of past running session 16
Arizona Big Train Operators 1633 E. Lakeside Drive Unit 1 Gilbert, AZ 85234 ARIZONA BIG TRAIN OPERATORS OBJECTIVES Membership in Arizona Big Train Operators (ABTO) is open to anyone with an interest in gardening and the creation & operation of large scale model railways. At our meetings, items of mutual interest associated with the hobby are discussed and demonstrated. Meetings are typically held at member s homes, where they have the opportunity to showcase their railway creations. General meetings are usually held on the third Saturday of the month. ABTO BOARD MEETINGS ABTO MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION The renewal fee is $30.00 per year and the new membership fee of $35 per year entitles you to attend all meetings and events, to receive the monthly newsletter, and to have one name badge created for you. Additional badges may be purchased for $7 each. ABTO CONTRIBUTIONS Members are encouraged to contribute articles, letters, illustrations and/or photographs related to garden railroading for inclusion in the newsletter and/or posting on the club web site. Board meetings will be held on the morning of the general meeting of each month. Board meetings are open to members who are current on their dues and have an item for the agenda. If you plan to attend, call a Board member to confirm location, time and date Members who have hobby-related items for sale or trade may submit an advertisement for publication and/or posting at no charge. Please limit each ad to a maximum of four lines. Accompanying photos will be considered for publication as space allows. 17