Newsletter June 2018

Prez Pic The Prez sez —

I don’t have a lot to say right now, but I’ll say something anyway, and I’ll try to do my best. Some of members have been doing just that lately. One section of the windows in the police radio room have been covered and are ready to paint at this time.There was help from Tom McC, Ron M, George F and others — which was very much appreciated. Work is progressing on the middle peninsula set up; Bob T. Is progressing with the Dexter wye project, scenery has being improved on the Dexter peninsula, and even the King trolley layout and the N-gauge layout has had some attention. As soon as we get better organized, the club projects will shrink in numbers. Summer will be here soon. — Thanks, Paul

Four down, six to go – The onset of warmer, drier weather some of the long-delayed outdoor work to begin, as this shot of the newly-installed covers over some of the disintegrating window frames in the Commerce Police radio room at the north end of the annex holding the club layouts. This part of the project fulfills one third of a commitment by the club more than a year ago to cover all the remaining windows. When the remaining six windows are covered, the cold winter winds that blew through our facility this past winter will be a past problem.

Hard at Work 1 — Numerous projects are underway the the Junction, and all will improve the appearance and reliability of the layouts. Here, in the left photo, Ron carefully nudges his narrow gauge Roundhouse Consolidation ahead after adjusting a turnout at the logging camp at east end of the middle peninsula. His locomotive is the largest steam locomotive to run on the narrow gauge line since Bob T built it. (Rob D photo)

Hard at Work 2 — Jared is assessing where the buildings he completed for the middle peninsula museum might fit while watching Bob A work on some more rocks. Jared and Bob have been finishing the long neglected museum scene for some months, and its installation on the layout is near. (Rob Dove photo)

THE ROAD AHEAD

The season of outdoor projects is on us again. A work crew headed by Paul assisted by Tom M, Ron, and George F and others covered and primed four of the windows in the police radio room. The remaining six will be attended to after the Memorial Day holiday.

Of course, all the new coverings must be primed and painted. The other outside projects include cleaning the roof and gutters, checking for leaks, and repairing any problems found. As shown in the photo above, the mass of ivy covering the walls of the annex is mostly extinct, and just needs to be pulled down and disposed of. Of course there are other outside jobs, but a big start has been made on the most important ones.

It’s gonna be big — George W takes a break from painting and trimming the supports of the platform ceiling for his model of the Greenville MK&T station. He claims to be anewcomer to modeling, but the quality and care he has lavished on his depot certainly exceeds a beginner level. He has accurately scaled his model, which shows why most buildings cannot be modeled to full scale without squeezing out everything else. The Katy depot is not a large building in real life, but the scale dimensions are bigger than both of the major depots on the club layout. (Rob Dove photo)

It (finally) works! — Bill LeR proudly displays the newly fixed Athearn Southern Pacific RS-3 that was tuned and DCCd by Rob D. The project entailed replacing a couple of cracked gears and building a new driveshaft after the original dematerialized during Rob’s work. Besides Rob’s participation in nearly every club function, he has also become renown as the proprietor of the Dove locomotive works. (Rob Dove photo)

MEETINGS

The official weekly club work sessions are 9:00 to noon on Saturdays. The business meeting is the first Saturday of the month at sort of the same time. Some members are often present for work sessions, or just plain lollygagging on Wednesday and Friday mornings, about the same time as the Saturday schedule. but lately this has become a bit uncertain. If you want to come on a weekday morning and don’t have a key, it is best to call someone. For those not yet retired, a group meets starting about 7:00 pm on Tuesday evenings for a couple of hours. Many meet at 8:00 Saturday mornings at McKay’s Restaurant on 1113 Main Street, Commerce for breakfast, and extend an invitation to any who care to join them.

NOTICE — The next scheduled business meeting is 9:00 am, Saturday, June 2, 2018.

May BUSINESS MEETING SUMMARY

COUNCIL MEETING REPORT: Submitted by Council Rep Paul F
No, this is not old news. We are officially out of the Council meeting business. But Paul wanted to know if members were interested in renting tables at the next Plano show. Several indicated interest. Bob T wanted to know if we would have an Open House. Paul said we could, but we might have a problem with manpower, because the tables must be staffed until everything is sold, which could mean both days of the show. But the open house would not be subject to the Council rules and could be run as long as we could get folks to be present. Paul plans maybe to go to the May Council meeting just for fun.

ETMRC BUSINESS:
Paul purchased a white board on which items for sale, items to be done etc can be posted.

Bob T noted that Ron LeFever's book is now on the web site. Bob T said he was able to download the book with Safari and saved it as a PDF file. He doesn't know how or if it can be done with Windows.

Concerning the Electrical Book. After the meeting he will demonstrate how the book can be used.

Bob T then presented the design drawing for the wye turn around. All switches are #6. Bob T has received the Fast Track ordered. He will make one turnout switch to be mounted on the panel. He would like to use a three ribbon cable. Possible problems have cropped up. He will make a single turnout to be mounted on foam to see if spikes will hold it in place. Rob asked why spikes? Bob’s response was they look better. A main consideration in the latest design is to preclude the need to get under the table. He thinks it both practical and possible. Bob T thinks the club will only have to buy flex track, switches etc. The design concept is open for discussion; a demo will take place next Saturday.

Tuesday night Paul and Bob T will replace lights on several signals and will try to continue the following Tuesday.

Tom M moved that the club get on the window repair ASAP. His motion was seconded by Ron. The motion passed. Rob asked if we had enough screws for the job. Paul said we did. Rob brought up the need for the club to approve Bob T’s design so work can begin. He then asked if Bob’s design should be approved next week or at the next meeting. Bob T said next meeting would be satisfactory. Tom M brought up the need to adjust the Tortoise switch machines. Discussion followed; no decision was reached.

Rob has been exploring Raspberry Pi and has learned that it provides the most opportunities. Raspberry Pi functions as a computer with a small footprint to link locomotive decoders to a wireless control system. Rob made a motion asking the club to allow him to purchase a kit. Bob E seconded. Motion passed.

INFORMATION:

The following web sites are excellent sources of supplies (1) and data (4). (3) Is Rob D’s blog on the Model Railroad Hobbyist website. It is updated almost daily. One of our members also has a personal web site (3). Site (3) is Bob T’s summary of northeast Texas railroads. Site (4) has some interesting photos of Commerce area railroading over the years.

COMING ATTRACTIONS:

June 13 – 17, 2018 — NMRA Lone Star Division annual convention, Round Rock (Austin) Tx

June 16, 2018 — LSR Div. 3 Meeting— Christ the Servant Lutheran Church, Allen

REGIONAL RAILROAD PROTOTYPE NEWS

This is just a sampling of that’s going on in our area, which is defined to be whatever I think interesting, so the area can be fairly large. Or not. But this month, we have another member profile – George F.

Trains and Me.
by George Francis

When I was a very small boy, I would sit beside the Ma and Pa railroad track (at least that was what I was told it was) in Paris, Texas. Our house was just north of the switch tracks that served the Paris feed mill. (the Ma and Pa, or Pa and Ma, was what most folks called the Paris and Mount Pleasant Railroad. (The P&MP was a short line with a bit more than 50 miles of of “mainline track” with 60 pound rail. It was completed in 1913 and abandoned in 1956. - editor)

Then, I rode the Texas and Pacific from Blossom to Dennison To see my Grandmother’s sister. I never thought about trains again until 1957. My wife was sick and I went into town for something and happened on a store that had some HO trains and I bought a Varney boxcar kit. I still have that car.

We had two boys and a girl. The boys got a train set along with HO slot cars for Christmas. The oldest boy lost interest after a while, but my younger son stayed with trains until he went to college. Before he left, we split the cars and trains. I took the old ones and he took the newer ones.

Sometime later, we moved to Farmersville. I started two layouts there. The first was to be the Virginia and Truckee. This was in a spare room. The second was to be a freelanced road in the attic. I wrote the Model Railroader magazine for some help. They sent me a letter back saying that they didn’t do such things.

I’d only gotten started when my wife died, and shortly later I moved to Garland. There I built a building with a train room above and started a new freelanced railroad. I joined the R&R Express Railroad club in Richardson. Some time later I met a woman who became my wife and we moved to Sulphur Springs, where we still live. I built a workshop and train room in 2000. I built another freelanced layout, but the layout was hard to reach and I had to crawl under it to get to some of the corners. This was a pain, so I tore it down, and this was about the time I joined the ETMRC. I found a double deck layout in a book that fit my 12 by 16 foot room with some slight modifications. The changes I made eliminated the need to duck and crawl under it to reach all the places. It is much more convenient.

I thank all the folks in the club. I enjoy the friendship of all. I’m finding things to do at the club, and am still working on my double decker at home and I’m still employed. Who could ask for more?