THE HOCKING VALLEY FLYER Hi All, THE TRIP TO FLORIDA In late August, I had the pleasure to fly to Ponte Vedra, Florida to see Hank Falken. I was merrily joined by my two high school classmates Andy Falken and Dave Pohlod. I really do enjoy my friends. The drive from the Jacksonville Airport was not long and our arrival to Hank's house ended with sunny warm weather, smiles and hugs. Hank looks good and is sharp as a tack. The house is a stone's throw from the beach, it just off of route A1A, and sits at the end of a cul-de-sac. The garage has Hank's enclosed workshop (for air conditioning) with two projects at hand: an "F" scale NYC caboose and the Norwegian naval cadet training ship the "Falken". I had no idea what F scale was when I first saw the caboose. It is basically G scale from the trucks up. My understanding is that the G scale trucks and track are not G scale, but smaller. F scale replaces the trucks and track with the correct G scale parts. The caboose is based on a typical eastern center cupola wooden frame. The frame is laser cut wood with other scratch parts. After several great meals and catching-up conversations over the following days, we made several excursions. A visit to the restored Mayport Depot. A second trip took us to Hank s friend, Austin Rasco, a retired architect, who has a plethora of model wooden sailing ships throughout the house. The most amazing example of his work was the British first-rate top of the line, 104 gun ship, HMS Victory. Then it was off to Cape Canaveral. I can not say enough about the Kennedy Space Center s magnificent attractions. The Rocket Garden sits at the center of a new visitors center. A complete horizontal Saturn V rockets, separated in all of its stages, dwarfs anything in your imagination. A bus tour around the Vehicle Assembly Building, launch pads 39A and 39B, the launch control building, and the space shuttle Atlantis exhibition hall covers all the territory.
The most interesting story involved the city water towers located very near the launch pads. Most people think they are there to provide water to cool the launch pad from the rocket heat at takeoff. The real reason is to reduce the vibration. Without the water covering the pad at takeoff the rockets would shake apart. Even with the reduction, a human standing near the launch pad would die from the decibels traveling through the air and impacting the body. God help the rabbit wandering near a launch pad at takeoff. How could I leave Florida without a visit to Hank s southern model railroad club, The First Coast Model Railroad Society. After several moves and the loss of the Mayport Depot digs, the FCMRS landed (NASA reference) in a imaginative location. The group rents an industrial sized (15 x 50 foot) storage unit. The complete table work is independent of the steel walls. It is a freelance track design that hosts several different railroads from around the country. The layout features two levels with helix, car ferry, turntable, and paper mill. Austin Rasco, a friend of Hanks, graciously took us on a tour of his house (a Deck House design) and his magnificent ship models. The majority of rooms had ships displayed in one form or the other. The pictures speak for themselves. DOG AND PONY SHOW (Bernie and George run their layouts) Bernie and George opened their homes to a group of adventurous modelers. At Bernie s house the Honey Brown Brewery was fully swing. I always liked switching the granary, and this time I was paying perfect attention to what was going on. Cliff made an appearance since his rotator-cuff surgery with his arm in a sling. It is great to see that the B&O is alive and well in George s basement. Cincinnati s Union Station was spectacular with all its well lit platforms. NEW LAYOUT IDEAS We have been very generously given a minimum space in the the store that covers 15 x 30 feet. We now need to come up with a table and track design for a new Hocking Valley/C&O Railroad. From conversations we seen to be constructing an L girder main table with a homosoate spline in areas on a grade. Some of the possible table layouts include: a completely flat surface, multi-deck with gradual incline, multi-deck with helix, peninsulas, mushroom elevated walkways, wall mounted, and /or free standing. Three foot aisle ways for human traffic. Track design could have a point-topoint and/or looping pattern. A mushroom profile can be seen below for those of you how have not seen it. We meet to go over any track design ideas tomorrow at George s, 6:30 pm., Oct. 11.
The Mushroom Design
Exterior of the renovated building on Lincoln Ave. HVMR space in the new store.
The Norwegian H.M.S. Falken. The NYC caboose in F scale.
Hank s workshop in the garage. Hank s HO train room.
The double track drawbridge from two Walther s kits. More of Hank s layout.
Hank s roundhouse
The restored Mayport Depot. Austin Rasco s (center) Deck House and model ships.
More ships H.M.S. Victory
The Rocket Garden at the Kennedy Space Center. Shuttle Discovery
A humongous Saturn V rocket. The last stage.
The First Coast is located at Falkenville! The arches keep the benchwork at the top stable (no screws in the walls).
Some scenery is completed. The junk yard.
Constructing the car ferry. Bernie s rules.
Caught in the act!! Make sure you are going clockwise!!
With these guys a passenger has to worry. See what I mean. N scale crashes are always the worst.
George thinks he has everything under control. It is not nice to point at the little people. B&O humans are nice to the little people.