Inside This Month's Issue:
What's up, What's New and What's Going On
First off, all who participated in our December 16th, 2006 Christmas Friends and Family Run Session and Open House had a fun time. A special thanks is in order to those who provided the various snacks and treats for the event. More than likely we will repeat this event in 2007, and promote it more amongst our friends, including at the September Open House.
Our January Train Show and Open House had solid attendance, was even more successful than our September event, and a good time was had by all. No major problems occurred, and a thanks to all members who helped out at Minnreg Hall and at the clubhouse. Also, a special thanks is due to all of our dealers, and as well to those who attended the event.
We also have just completed our March 31, April 1 Spring Train Show an Open House. There was a heck of a lot going on in the Bay area that weekend, the air show at Mac Dill AFB, the Grand Prix in St. Petersburg and the Highland Games in Dunedin. In addition, many of our model railway fraternity were in Folkston, GA for a major rail fan gathering, and also at Port Wentworth ( Savannah), GA for a prototype modelers gathering. As a result of the “competition”, our attendance was on the low end of our normal range and in contrast to two back to back “great” shows. Still, those who attended had a good time, and as always, thanks to those who helped out and participated. We are in the process of setting our 2008 dates, and will be re-evaluating those dates.
Of note, relatively new members Richard Rochette, Chris Bowman and Angelo Giambra acquitted themselves quite well as engineers on the HO Gulf & Northern during this last show.
Club membership is now over 50 as we welcome several new members. All kinds of work are under way on both railways, and a lot of changes are in the wings.
We hope to have a visit from the SSR regional rep later this spring, the original February visit having been postponed. This will lead to closer cooperation between the club and the region, and future events.
In February a large contingent from the club visited Precision-Laser in Clearwater for a tour of their facilities, and a look at what they can do. Many thanks to Precision-Lasers Bob Barbara for the tour!
A couple of weeks ago I had a chat with D. Attig in Colorado. Not only has he and his wife survived this winter’s blizzards, he claimed they are really enjoying it. D’s new job is going well, and is challenging. Unfortunately it has left him with little time for modeling right now, though D. reports he has scratch built another structure or two, and is now hooked on scratch building. He sends his best to the Suncoast team.
So without further ado, here is our latest newsletter:
General Membership Meetings
As a reminder, our General Membership Meetings run from 8 to 9 PM on the second Thursday of each month. I would anticipate, as with prior years, they will be suspended in July and August.
As most of you know soon after our November elections, one of our directors passed away. Per club bylaws, the Board unanimously appointed Steve Kibort to serve the balance of his term. Here is your revised officer roster with primary scale affiliation:
Board Officers:
President: Jim Langston HO
Vice President: Warren Jamison, HO
Secretary: Mike Shirmer HO
Treasurer: Pat Berry N, some HO
Junior Director: Fred Guillermety HO
Director: Rey Feldt HO
Senior Director: Steve Kibort N (appointed by the Board per bylaws to replace Chris)
Elected non-officer Positions:
N Scale Superintendent: Bill Knapp
N Scale Asst. Superintendent: Ed Ronshausen
HO Scale Superintendent: John Addison
HO Scale Asst. Superintendent: Carl Marchand
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HO "Gulf & Northern" Layout Progress
For the January and March open houses and shows once again we had outstanding progress with the HO Gulf & Northern Railway in scenery detail, led by Dick Dorsey and Jon Addison. Major progress with "Alcoa Yard", our new northern terminus, is just around the corner. We should see major progress here by our September Open House. Tim Maslyn continues to make progress on revising the Franken wiring under the layout, clearing the way for new simplified panels and is clearing the way for progress in the signal system. The January open house went well, with no operating issues. For the Spring show we had a new operators sign up format which worked well. We will repeat this for our fall show which should allow for a public posting of trains “expected to run” with details about the trains. We will also plan on having copies of the new club fact sheet posted this month, which answers many of the FAQ’s we get.
Tim provided the following report on his work:
“I am in to process of cutting over the new panel for the junction (TS Tower, at the west end of Union station and Kaiser Yard). This will consolidate the need to use two badly outdated and now confusing panels to route trains through the junction and give a better indication as to the position of the turnouts. I am also installing DCC stationary decoders so that the more adventurous of us can use the ProCab to throw the turnouts (this will allow operators to avoid ducking to the out side when in walk around mode on the inside). This will also allow future CTC control using a computer to run the mainline during a prototypical operation session if we ever get that far. I have also installed relays for signaling and frog polarity in the junction by installing limit switches on turnout motors that do not have contacts.”
“We had a very productive work night with Jerry Bock and Carl getting the industrial area in the east corner (Deeville) rewired and working again. The area in the west corner (Sugar Creek) was worked on but Rusty, his son and someone else that escapes my mind at the moment. Bruce K. was cleaning the tracks in the yard and found some spots that need attention. Angelo and Rich Rochette did help with the wiring of the new DCC panels that are being installed around the layout.”
The new panel for TS Tower was cut in for the March show, and works very well. After a quick orientation on how it works, the average operator no longer has to scamper to TS tower to make sure he has a correct routing through the double slip, and adjoining turnouts.
As a part of our on-going maintenance and operations, Supt. Jon Addison proposed an “adopt a section” program, whereby two or three members will “adopt” an area and be responsible for cleaning and minor repairs, and getting help for repairs beyond their ability. We will be working on that list, using the “schematic” of the G&N as an assignment basis.
Of note, once again, no major FRA reportable accidents occurred on the Gulf & Northern during the both the January and March open house. Good running!
Special Work Curfew Notice – As a reminder, the first Thursday of each month is designated a work night for both railways. This can include signal and track work that will shut down part or all of each railway at the discretion of the superintendents. In particular, signal installation and testing on the HO Gulf & Northern requires a complete shut down of operations, so please cooperate with Tim Maslyn on these work curfews so we can get the signal system up an running sooner rather than later. Tim will also on occasion be working on other days, in particular Saturday afternoon, and has my approval, and that of the HO superintendents, to impose a work curfew when needed, so please be patient while this work is going on.
N "Suncoast Lines" Layout Progress
First, thanks to Dan “the bridge man” Lewis for completing his first “N” scale bridge for the Suncoast Lines; it looks great! Second, congratulations to the “N” scale team on getting through the January open house without a major disaster such as the one that befell them during the September open house. Unfortunately, disaster once again befell the Suncoast Lines during our March 31, April 1 open house. This time, it occurred “in the open”. An FEC rock train stalled upon entering the tunnel near Alton. Due to operator distraction, a CB&Q California Zephyr rear-ended the FEC rock train, sending Ortner rock hoppers every which way. The Cal Zephyr was then it self rear-ended by an Amtrak Superliner equipped Southwest Chief (yes, both of these trains were involved in the September disaster). Ah yes, the realism of DCC! Fortunately, the passenger trains did not derail, and no permanent damage was done. A load of gravel did turn up the next day. Photos of this “Disaster at Alton” are posted. Better luck next time guys!
In our last report we noted that electrical issues had been resolved. That proved optimistic, as significant operating performance issues were uncovered during the January open house. As a result, the Board approved a complete re-wiring in February (see report below). The City, once again, is being re-done (it has seen more re-modeling than a Toho Pictures Godzilla movie set!). This time there will even be a streetcar line!
Supt. Bill Knapp reports he is scratch building new abutments and pier supports for the new Dan Lewis steel deck trestle using a product from one of our regular show vendors “Hunter’s Scenery Co.”. Using their scale stone blocks, he is building block by block a scale 85’ X 50’ X 50’ abutment. Bill reports that the scenery is in disarray due to the rewiring project, and while the N scale “Suncoast Lines” will be operating for our March 31/ April 1 Open House it may not be in the best appearance. Bill added that Vern Squire is installing the trolley in the City. It will have an auto reversing circuit and “station stops”. Pierre Ratte is scratch building a working replica of the Tampa TECO trolley to run on the railway (we have a sound sample of the real TECO trolleys, perhaps we can add that in one of the nearby buildings?).
Our new “senior Director” Steve Kibort has provided the following thorough update on the re-wiring work in progress on the “N” scale Suncoast Lines:
Progress
All track bus wiring, new feeders (over 400 have been dropped), power supply
and boosters have been completed. Layout is operating at about 11.6
volts with no area of the layout dropping more than about .3 volts at the
rails.
The loconet has also been upgraded with addition power supplies to the UP3
and 5 connectors. During the rewire we discovered that our loconet system
was operating at less than 6 volts at multiple points on the network.
At 5 volts it will not power a throttle. A little research by Ed and we discovered
that we should have been running at least 9 volts and that the older UP3's
had significant voltage consumption (Digitrax recommended upgrading to UP5's) We
had only 1 power supply feeding the network and no power buss. We added
a power buss, 2 additional power supplies and are upgrading to UP5's.
We are keeping the original power buss network that Warren installed years
ago to distribute track voltage from the multiple cab block system. It was
done so well and professionally that by keeping it as a layout accessory system
we can now have a DC and AC accessory buss for the entire layout with multiple
DC voltage taps from the same buss network.
Problems
Power is now being fed to the rails from many more points than in the past.
In some cases the power is now feeding back through non-DCC friendly turnout
frogs creating some shorts (depending on how the points are set). We are in
the process of identifying these short and gapping accordingly. We have also
identified numerous places where gaps where cut for the old block system where
the gaps are no longer needed and are closing these gaps.
The process of pulling the new bus wires and removing the old multiple cab
block wafer system was hard on the turnout wiring that had numerous weak points
(twisted wire connections not soldered, loose wires at terminal strips, etc)
that has resulted in the loss of several power turnouts. We also had
the turnout power supply short creating high voltage to the buss that burned
out at least 1 twin coil.
The DC occupancy signaling for the single track tunnel was lost when we added
feeders and effectively lost the isolated block for the occupancy detector's
Plans
A new AC and DC turnout buss will be run with new switch machine
wiring (hopefully done before the show March 31). We "discovered" numerous
switch machines (twin coil and Tortoise) that were not connected to turnouts
(in most cases the turnouts had been removed by changes to track work but
the switch motors left in place). These will be utilized so it is likely
no new switch machines are needed.
The new bus system divides the layout into 4 power districts (4 boosters)
but with 9 separate track buses. The tunnels are now isolated onto separate
track buses allowing for occupancy detection and eventually reflective photo
occupancy for signaling. A new DCC occupancy detector will be installed replacing
the old DC detector for the tunnel to restore limited occupancy detection and
signals for the tunnel. (Again, hopefully before the show)
Budget
Since we are able to utilize the original buss system installed by Warren
it saved us buying wire resulting in savings on the wire budget. We purchased
components from Tim Maslyn for a lower price than budgeted so Pat tells me
that we are under budget.
The rewiring was completed for the March 31, April 1 Open House. While
there was some improvement, a new problem arose which appears to have been
traced to the railways main circuit breaker or an excess loading situation.
Hopefully this will be tracked down soon. Of note, the new streetcar line
worked well during the open house, with a PCC car providing service both
days.
Special Work Curfew Notice – As a reminder, the first Thursday of each month is designated a work night for both railways. This can include signal and track work that will shut down part or all of each railway at the discretion of the superintendents.
The DCC revolution continues. With the reinvigorated interest in running we now have the problem of members, on occasion, competing for space to run! On the HO Gulf & Northern we may also see the activation of certain select chip controlled turnouts. The signal system will also soon advance, including an impressive and functional array ay TS Tower. As the Suncoast Lines disasters In March and September show, DCC has added operational flexibility and realism that reinforces the necessity of members to be diligent operators, following general rules of the road, planning their movements and keeping an eye out for the unexpected! Remember, for the next open house, if you want to run please sign up early!
Since November we have welcomed the following new members: Bruce Kaczmarek, Bill Brundage (welcome back!) Chris Bowman, Mike Timpe and Thomas Robinson ; several others are in the 90 day probationary period
Clinics – New Clinics, Schedule though early 2007 - Open to Public! Also Prototype Data
Here is the revised schedule for the balance of the first half of 2007; all clinics are on Thursdays and are at 9PM except as noted:
- April 12 th – Steam locomotive clinic – how they work, history and types; available models and sounds – Warren Jamison
- May 10 th - Car era’s, correct and incorrect mixing – Mike Shirmer, re-scheduled from January
- June 14 th - Railway signals, how they work and what they mean, prototype and HO Gulf & Northern – Tim Maslyn, rescheduled form March 8 th.
- Summer Break
Special note on clinics: As we all have other lives, please be aware that a particular clinic may be cancelled or postponed with little or no notice. Any postponements will be posted with adequate lead-time for the new date.
n the near future we hope to post on the site some additional prototype data, including an updated version of the clinic on passenger operations, and run down on Amtrak paint schemes, Amtrak HEP Heritage equipment, and Auto-Train Corp auto carriers. Check the web site and you will fond a new “Club Fact Sheet”, providing key statistics on the clubs two railways.
To those who wish to visit the Suncoast Model Railroad Club, please check our "Meeting Times" tab to find the best time to visit. Visitors are always welcome, but please note we may not be able to host you well during our scheduled business meetings. Visitors may approach our members for permission to test run some equipment on a limited basis, and if it is compatible. We reserve the right to withhold permission. Those who are seriously interested in our clinics are invited to attend.
In closing, thanks to everyone who provided input for this newsletter.
Lastly, remember, model train tracks always lead to fun!
Sincerely,
W. James Langston, III
President
That's it for Now, See You Again, Right Here Next Month!
Carl
Marchand
Editor and Webmaster
