The Passing Track

October, 2009

Newsletter of the Rogue Valley Model Railroad Club

PO Box 1362—Medford, OR 97501

Klamath RR Show And Last Public Run Day of the Year

It’s a dual event for the Rogue Valley Model Railroad Club—a show in Klamath Falls and the final run day of the year at the Medford Railroad Park. The call has gone out for all hands on deck!

The Club has committed to bringing a modular display for the 2^nd annual Klamath Rails Model Railroad Show and Sales. The show is Saturday and Sunday October 24-25. The club will load the modules on Thursday, October 22 beginning at 7:00 PM. Members are urged to come help. The crew will drive over on Friday and set up. They will return on Sunday evening probably between 7 and 8 PM. Please contact John Gerritsma at 664-1139 or jcgerritsma@charter.net if you are available to help unload on Sunday evening. If you wish to travel and help with the group going to Klamath, please contact Bruce McGarvey at iwcrr@charter.net or 890-8145. There is a special rate at the Cimmaron Hotel, which is directly across the street. For more information, contact Joe Brick at 541-883-3071.

The layout will feature only DC to give those the opportunity to run their non-DCC equipment and to make the setup easier without the DCC. The size of the layout has not yet been determined, but typically features about fifteen or so modules. The show will feature a number of operating layouts including the Klamath Rails, and also features vendors. Free parking is available and there will be food for sale. The event is being held at the Klamath County Fairgrounds Exhibit Hall A at 3531 S. 6^th Street in Klamath Falls. There will be raffles and door prizes.

The same weekend is the final public run day of the year at the Medford Railroad Park, so those available to help at the clubhouse are encouraged to do so.

Volunteers Sought for Ashland Historic Railroad Museum

The Ashland Historic Railroad Museum is looking for volunteers to help at the museum two hours per week. The Museum is also looking for help with our booth at the Railroad Show in Medford in November. Every 2nd Friday the Museum presents a railroad history event. On October 9th the Museum will be presenting a program on Tunnel 13. They will be showing a film produced by the Smithsonian on the train robbery. It is a wonderful production and the museum has permission to show it only one time per year. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Museum located at 258 A Street, Suite 7 (upstairs - there is also alley access into the upper story of the building. For more information please contact Mary Lou McAuley, Volunteer Coordinator, at 944-7544.

Mark Your Calendars for the next Mini-Meet

October 10, 2009

by Lee Temple

As President of the Willamette Cascade Model Railroad Club of the Eugene-Springfield area myself and our Board of Director's are inviting you to come to the Fall Mini-Meet that is scheduled for Eugene at the Eugene Water & Electric Board Corporate Offices on October 10, 2009. The address is 500 East 4th Avenue (near the Ferry Street Bridge).

The doors will open at 8:30 a.m. and clinics will start at 9:15 a.m. The meeting will take place upstairs in the cafeteria. You come in the double main doors and take the stairs or there is an elevator you can use if you go down the long hallway. It is almost at the end of the hallway on the left.

Myself and other members have a full day of activities planned for your enjoyment. Coffee and donuts will be available if you left before breakfast and are a little hungry. Lunch will be on your own as there are several places to choose from that are not too far away.

So far, we have the following clinics lined up:

Ø Charlie Lange will do an AV presentation on Milepost Memories-a real treat and professionally done by a talented photographer and presenter.

Ø Lee Temple will have an AV presentation on the Southern Pacific Eugene Yard in 1970 and a secondary feature done at the Eugene Yard titled "Coupler Safety".

Ø Len Soper will do a live clinic on the subject of acrylic painting of rock castings.

Other Activities will include a private museum tour of railroad artifacts, tour of 3 home layouts not seen before, bring a favorite model for popular vote of your own choosing-winner's will win a certificate to Eugene Toy & Hobby, possible drawbar pull will also be available to see just how strong your steam or diesel engine is so bring a locomotive.

There is no admission charge. No UofO Duck home game this day so plenty of parking in the lot adjacent to the EWEB building. If you have the time you are also invited to our regular club meeting that same night at EWEB in the Community Room downstairs beginning at 7:00 p.m.

Photo Shoot at Klamath Falls

Larry Tuttle and John Gerritsma spent a Friday in late September photographing the various Klamath Falls sites we are modeling. In particular, photos depicting the backdrop scenery were a key reason for the trip. Despite the smoke from nearby wildfires, Larry and John were able to capture the scenes necessary. At the October Board Meeting, John will be proposing that the entire wall between the back door and the library be painted with a backdrop scenery of looking west out of Klamath Falls toward the Cascades. That means a sky blue will completely surround the layout except from the library to the front door with the appropriate scenes and the base being dark green.

For those of you going to Klamath Falls for the show there, it is an opportunity to visit scenes that are being modeled on the P&E. There is an added appreciation for the way the layout was designed when you see the scenes in real life and understand their relationship to one another as they are expressed on the layout.

Annual Espee in Oregon Convention

ESPEE-N-OREGON 2009 to be held in Corvallis, Oregon - November 5, 6, & 7

Calvin Presbyterian Church
1736 NW Dixon Street (off NW 9th Ave)
Corvallis, Oregon.

Thursday Nov. 5^th events include:

· 9:30 AM....Tour of Hull-Oakes steam powered sawmill

· 12:00 PM...Lunch at Bellfountain Park. Lunch served on an 85 foot slab of wood cut at Hull-Oakes!

· 2:00 PM...Tour of the Old Valley & Siletz Roundhouse in Independence. See work in progress on a steam locomotive being completely rebuilt and also an SD-9 painted in Black Widow with a brown cupola caboose both lettered Southern Pacific

Friday Nov 6^th events include:

9:00 AM to 3:00 PM.....Self Guided Layout Tours around the Camp Adair Area - 4 Home Layouts and the Camp Adair RR Club Layout - a map will be provided, all within in 2 miles of each other
3:00 PM to 9:00 PM....Clinic's and Slide Shows at the Church along with Vendor Tables, Swap Meet, and Model Displays plus model contest held in three categories (1) Engine, (2) Freight or Passenger, (3) Structure - Based on popular vote, cash & merchandise prize's
5:00 PM to 6:30 PM..... on your own for dinner - 20 food establishments within a mile

Saturday Nov 7^th events include: Lots of BS going on, clinics, swap meet, and More BS.

For more information: http://espee-n-oregon.com/convention.html

Proposed Standards and Practices

for Operations in General and Sundays in Particular

by Larry Tuttle

Larry has proposed the following standards for adoption by the Club. He would like to discuss these proposals at the October Board Meeting. There are three levels of standards from which the Club can choose to adopt.

Overarching Standard: All trains will operate dependably throughout the day. On Sunday Run Days, we’re here to put on a Show for the Public.

Gold Standard:

Locomotives to be consisted together must run well with each other and have been tested. One locomotive, preferably the lead unit, will have sound. The lead unit will have headlight(s) and ditch lights as appropriate. Locomotive glazing, handrails and other details must be complete. Models and paint schemes will be those seen in Southern Oregon circa 1989 and will be weathered appropriately for that era
All cars will have Intermountain wheel sets (metal wheels and axles), with at least one (preferably both) end axle(s) fitted with a 20K ohm resistor to activate the signals. All wheels will be in gauge and wheels and axles will be painted brown or weathered black.
Kadee couplers will be body-mounted with the height and trip pin checked on a Kadee coupler gauge. Couplers will be mounted firmly so as not to droop or sag, yet not so tight as to be unable to center themselves.
Cars will weigh in at NMRA specs of 1 oz. per car plus ½ oz. per inch of length. (A few exceptions may be made for hoppers, log cars and chip cars carrying live loads.) All weights will be concealed or mounted so that they are not obvious.
Cars will roll freely, without obstruction, around all curves; car body is to be mounted squarely on the trucks and trucks secured without excessive play. Trucks will swivel freely.
Cars will be weathered appropriately. Insides of open cars will be painted appropriately.
Passenger cars will have diaphragms.

Silver Standard:

Gold Standards pertaining to dependable locomotive operation, metal wheel sets on cars, wheel gauge, couple/trip pin heights and weights will be maintained. Resistors are optional.
Locomotive models and paint schemes from other areas are acceptable if consistent with their consist…or a good tale can be told as to what they’re doing on the railroad.
Quality couplers compatible with Kadees, which operate reliably, are acceptable. Truck mounted couplers may be used for passenger cars if they are reliable. Other Gold Standards for couplers apply.
Rolling qualities and truck mounting standards (above) will be maintained. Interiors of open cars, including unobtrusive weights, will be painted appropriately.
Some weathering is preferred, but not absolutely required. Unusually brightly painted cars of older eras should be toned down with weathering (exception: rare or expensive collector’s items)

Bronze Standard: (For Sunday show trains only; not to be left on the railroad)

Locomotives of any era, model and paint scheme are acceptable if they operate dependably.
Wheels must be checked for proper gauge.
Couplers may be of any reliable type if used in a dedicated consist. Cars must not uncouple and trip pins must clear all diverging rails and grade crossings.
Car weights must be consistent to the extent that any train may be pulled and pushed through main line track work without derailing.

Operator Standards:

Put on a Show for the public and not just amuse ourselves!

Most problems which occur on Sunday Run Days happen while adding and removing a train to and from the parade. Consider:

The public is impressed by several trains running over the road which can be viewed from several locations
The public is not impressed when trains stop running and members run around looking for the problem…and worse yet, get upset.

The public is impressed with several trains with different consists running reliably.
The public is not impressed with trains moving in and out of staging/yard tracks while other trains are stopped on the railroad.

The public is impressed with members who position themselves in the public’s area and talk to our visitors.
The public is not impressed with members who stay in the “Members Only” area, chat among themselves and fiddle with equipment.

Thought for the day: If you’re bored watching the same trains go around in the same loop, chat up the public for a change.
Any equipment to be run on the railroad must be inspected by the Road Master or his designated assistant.
Any locomotive, car or consist must be test run on the P&E prior to a Sunday Run.

Locomotives and cars which have not been inspected and test-run prior to a Sunday run, shall not be run on that day.

Trains are to be set up and test run well in advance of 11:00 AM on Sundays.

Operators who show up with boxes of power and cars after the layout has opened to the public will run other trains which are already on the layout.

If any locomotive or car derails or uncouples more than once, except at a known trouble spot, it shall be removed immediately and repaired after the run session.
Operators shall keep track of their trains while maintaining their presence in the main layout areas. On Sundays, this means staying close to the public.
Operators are encouraged to make contact with the public, while keeping track of their train(s).

Given a sufficient number of operators, it’s more important to engage more of the public than to try to run more of your own trains.

Operators will limit the number of trains under their control to the number (usually just one or two) they can reliably keep track of. They will also be considerate of other operators wishing to run trains.
On Sunday Run Days, trains are not to be left unattended on main line trackage.
If you need to take a break, turn your train(s) over to another operator or park them out of the way and not on a main line siding.
In general, on Sunday Run Days, trains are not be made up from freight cars in the yards.

Special trains in the staging yards may be run
Operators may make up their own trains with club or other cars which are not part of the current card order system.

Operators will conduct switching operations taking into account the location of through trains and minimize the delay of through trains.

Operators bringing a train out of staging will:

Notify the dispatcher or other operators of their intention and ask for clearance.
Take care to throw the proper switch(es) to allow their train onto the main line
Make absolutely certain that switches are aligned to the proper main track(s) when their train is on the main.

On Sundays, food and beverages are to be consumed away from the railroad and preferably away from the public.
Giving interested visitors a “tour” inside the “Members Only” section is encouraged.
Members who are not operating trains and not giving tours are discouraged from holding court (talking in small groups) in and immediately around the layout so that the operators and the public can move about freely.
In extenuating cases, exceptions to the above standards may be made by the Road Master, Dispatcher (if any) or Club Officer.
Finally, if you’re having a bad day, consider taking the day off.

Technical Issues and Expertise

A DCC technician will be on hand at each op session to assist with problems.
Operators with DCC issues will contact the DCC tech asap.
Sunday Run is not the time to seek help programming a new unit or learning new DCC skills.

November Calendar of Events

RAILROAD TIME CARDS 2009

Oct 10-11 - Eastern Cascades Model RR Club open house. Sat & Sun 10 – 4. Bend, Ore. Info: http://www.ecmrr.org/

Oct 10 - NMRA/PNR 1^st Div. Fall Mini-Meet, hosted by the Willamette Cascade Model RR Club, at the Eugene Water & Electric Board Community room located at 500 East 4th Avenue, Eugene, Ore. Doors open 8:30am, clinics start at 9am.

Oct 24-25 – Klamath Rails 2^nd Annual Model Railroad Show and Sales, Klamath County Fairgrounds Exhibit Hall A, Klamath Falls, Ore. Info: Steve Hart 541-892-2550 or Joe Brick 541-883-3071.

Nov 5-7 – ESPEE in Oregon 2009, Calvin Presbyterian Church, 1736 NW Dixon Street (off NW 9th Ave), Corvallis, Ore. More information coming. Check Info at: http://espee-n-oregon.com/convention.html

Nov 14-15 – The Great Train Expo, Portland Metropolitan Exposition Center, Portland, Ore. 10am – 4pm. A national traveling show that caters to the model railroad enthusiast. Info: http://greattrainexpo.com or 630-608-4988

Nov 28-29 – 32^nd Rogue Valley Railroad Show, Medford Armory, Medford, Ore. Show time: Sat. 10am – 5pm, Sun. 11am – 4 pm. Model railroad displays, exhibits, swap meet, door prizes, raffle and more. Info: Bill 541-821-5547 or Brad 541-535-7952 bfawcett@mind.net Job signup sheet is in the clubhouse!

Dec 5 – Rickreal Railroad Show & Swap Meet, Poke County Fairgrounds, Show time 10am – 3pm. Info: Judy MacInnes 503-581-6071 or macinnej@msn.com

10/02/09bhm The roundest knight at King Arthur's table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.