Editors: John Hansen & Ted Wiese 
email: jvhansen@earthlink.net or mononbell@ncweb.com

October Sandusky/Marblehead, Ohio Meeting
Kudos' to Peter and Ann Stroth for arranging a great fall Mini-Bunch meeting in Sandusky and Marblehead, Ohio. In addition to making all arrangements for the weekend - no small feat in itself - Peter published a "Drive Yourself Tour Guide" defining all railroads narrow and standard gauge with maps, photos, and de-scriptions - 110 pages plus! Saturday was packed with more options than time allowed. I hope others got to visit the Bellevue Railroad Museum and Semon's Mem-orabilia. Over 60 were in attendance at the meeting. Saint Paul Lutheran Church functioned as our meeting site. The gym housed dealer displays, operating modules, the model contest, and the evening banquet. 

During the afternoon informative clinics were presented on Marblehead and Kelley's Island railroads by Peter Stroth and Lee Rainey. Nat Howard and John Ritt pro-vided a tree clinic, and Bill Logan updated everyone on model room lighting. . My compliments to the church for providing a delicious evening homemade meal complimented with Ohio wines for those so inclined. Dale Brown capped Saturday evening with his beautiful color slides of South American narrow gauge railroads.

Sunday brought us to Cedar Point before the Halloween crowd arrived for a visit to the rail shops and equipment of the narrow gauge Cedar Point and Lake Erie Railroad. They were in the process of steaming up two engines for the daily run and provided a fact sheet handout to all describing a brief history of the railroad and all engines past and present. Many photos were taken and a discussion held with the shop foreman. We escaped as the crowds were let in for the day.

I spent the rest of Sunday rail-fanning the Marblehead Peninsula with Peter's Tour Guide. If you were unable to attend the fall meeting, I highly recommend con-tacting Peter for a copy. Alas, the old Lakeside and Marblehead train station and combined standard and narrow gauge stone engine house at Marblehead are gone along with almost all vestiges of rail. On the bright side, the Lakeside Community is refurbishing the L&M standard gauge station at Lakeside. I cannot say enough for the effort Peter went to - thanks again.

Views Along the OR&W - The Lewisville Cut

Gn3 Tracks
This is the time of year when the weather turns first chilly then cold and drives us garden railroaders (and other modelers) inside. I look forward to the track under the Christmas tree, but large sale railroading does not have to end there. It is a great time of year to build structure kits and the like; perform equipment mainten-ance; and plan for spring. With the introduction of large scale field railway equipment and porter style 0-4-0's by LGB and Bachmann and small industrial diesel engines from Accucraft and MDC, a credible indoor shelf switching railroad or two foot radius table-top layout can be constructed yet not consume the house. This could be the origin of your large-scale experience. And who knows may result in a garden railroad come next spring.

Membership and Meetings
Our fall meeting at Sandusky, Ohio provided the op-portunity for a number of members to be accompanied by their wives or significant others. I found this to be refreshing and encourage the members to continue this practice.

At the business portion of the meeting we confirmed our intent to attend the Midwest 2 foot meet this coming April in Greenford, Ohio. The following Fall 2003 meet remains more in question. Fritz Prosh by proxy noted the proposed Cass trip was not working out as planned - no room at the Inn - too many tourists. He suggested the Western Maryland at Cumberland or even the East Broad Top at Orbisonia as an alternative. The Michigan contingent was pushed to propose the Huckleberry Railroad. Ed Cass with my concurrence volunteered the OR&W. All agreed we want to see op-erating model railroads as a major part of any future Mini-Bunch meeting - it has been a while. After the meeting I was contacted by Doc Sage suggesting Columbus, Ohio as the solution. A final decision will be made at the April meeting by those in attendance and by those who contact me beforehand to state their preference. (I guess we will have to avoid an OSU home game.)

I want to take this opportunity to personally wish all of the Mini-Bunch members a truly joyous holiday season and enjoyable beginning to the New Year.

WRLogan

Miscellaneous notes from the Editor

Pete Stroth did a wonderful job of putting on the fall meet in Sandusky, Ohio on October 19 and 20, 2002.  He found an excellent facility, so that we had plenty of space to sit around and talk, attend clinics or look at models or tables covered with great stuff to buy.

There were four prize winners and photos are shown below:
Doc Sage won for the K-36 and the flanger in the locomotive and car classes. Russ Haigh won for the structure category. The photo category was won with a photo taken on Mount Washington last fall. (Sorry - no photo of the photo.)

Other business of interest:
Our King Snipe put on an excellent clinic on lighting.  It was long, but well worth the time to understand why certain types of lights do a better job than others.  The world of lights is certainly changing!

Then Nat Howard and John Ritt showed us how to make trees in 2 minutes or less and at a cost of 10 cents or less.  They brought material so we could try to do it ourselves. (I flunked that course.)

Finally, Lee Rainey showed a number of slides about the Kelly Island Lime and Transit company.  I learned a lot about the railroads in the Kellys Island and Marblehead areas. We are glad to have Lee back in our area! (And the Friends of the EBT like it too, I'm sure.)

Spring 2003 Mini-Bunch Meeting

We will be returning to Greenford, OH for the spring meeting. The dates will be April 4 and 5th - Friday and Saturday.  Bob Richardson will speak on Friday evening.  It will end on Saturday evening with a banquet at Timberlanes as last year.

If you are interested, you can join the Yahoo Group discussion for the meeting;  Gary has just set this up.
to subscribe send an email to:
aprilnarrowgaugeshow-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
When you subscribe, Gary will send you an application form for the meeting.

We will  have maps and complete information in the next issue.  Expect it in mid-February.  (If you want more information now, go to the website at http://www.narrowtracks.com and click on the Ohio 2 foot meet even though it still refers to 2002.)

I guess we have lost Mike's Narrow Gauge as a dealer since he has sold his business to someone in Texas.

As The King Snipe noted above, we will be deciding on the fall meet arrangements at that time, so be sure to attend.  (And if I recall correctly, the fall meet will be time to railroad - I mean - elect a new King Snipe.) 

Dan Kempf's Colorado and Southern

This Sn3 layout is based on the Colorado and Southern's narrow gauge Clear Creek Branch. I used Harry Brunk's articles in the Narrow Gauge and Short Line Gazette "Up Clear Creek Canyon" as a modeling guide. The operation is point to point but with a helix which permits continuous operation....For the complete story click here!  To return to the newsletter use your "Back Button"

Why 56.5"? - Not really narrow gauge content!

Most railroads were built to a scale of 56.5." For years, we have heard about this two horse chariot stuff.  Is that really true?  Well, here is another explanation:

"In the first instance Jessop proposed to place the guiding wheels outside the bearing wheels, and the Nanpantan line was laid on this plan with a width of 5 ft. between the guide wheels; but before it was opened he decided not only to cast the guiding wheels and bearing wheels in one piece but also to put the former inside the rails, arguing that with this arrangement the edge-rails themselves would keep the wheels in position on the axles, whereas with that first contemplated fas-tenings would have been required for them. Jessop thus produced what was virtually the flanged wheel of today, having the flanges inside the rails, and further, it is said, established what has become the standard gauge of the world, 4 ft. 8.5 in., or 5 ft. minus the width of two of his rails."

This is from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannia

From around the Narrow Gauge World

There are problems at the Cumbres and Toltec RR that may or may not be overcome in the near future.  The group that ran the railroad lasts summer lost sufficient funds that they have given up operation of the line.  So the two states, Colorado and New Mexico, are advertising for new vendors to operate the line.  The Friends group will still be putting on the summer work sessions and will support the railroad, but the summer lay off due to fires and operational problems really took their toll on the group.

Thomas the Tank Engine took over the Colorado RR Museum for two weekends in October.  The museum realized over $20,000.  The 20,000 plus visitors were bussed in from a parking area in Golden.

A Mini-Bunch Layout Directory

Al Askerberg volunteered to put together a layout guide for Mini-Bunch members. Al will assemble the information and forward to the editors for publishing with the newsletter. Now Al cannot visit each of you to take photos and write the history of your layout, so you will need to take your favorite photo plus a paragraph description and send it to Al. If you can email the photo and information, Al's job will be that much easier. 

Next Mini-Bunch Meetings

We are planning on a OR&W right of way trip in the fall of 2003.  Bill Logan will be in charge. There will be details later.  Vote at the spring meeting.

Name Badges available

Some members have never received a name badge since they were not available for a number of years. Others have lost theirs. Jim Eakin has found a new vendor who can make badges that are nearly the same as the previous design.

So send $10 to Ted, and we will send a new badge for you by the next meeting. (Tell us how to spell the name too - nickname - or whatever.)

Mini-Bunch Newsletter on Internet

Thanks to David Keith, our webmaster, we have the chance to see the photos in color. We will send each newsletter to David for posting. Generally, there will be additional photos that we do not have room for in the newsletter.

If you send your email address to Ted, it will be added to the address book, and you will be notified when the newsletter is available on the Internet.

Rio Grande Modeling and Historical Society

This Society publishes six newsletters plus two mag-azines per year. Although it includes standard gauge, several of the founders are historians interested in the narrow gauge. If you are interested, go to the website - http://rgmhs.drgw.org, or write to the Society at PO Box 25114, Colorado Springs, CO 80936-5114.

Notes from the Editors

John and Ted thank Jim Eakin for the help in getting these newsletters printed. Jim has been in the railroad printing business for a number of years. So we get better copying for a really reasonable price.

HELP NEEDED!!!!
We plan to send out 4 newsletters per year. We are looking for articles on modelbuilding and prototype that will be of interest for the members. John and I have a special interest in Western narrow gauge. Would anyone like to try their hand at preparing a column on logging or Eastern narrow gauge?

LAST COPY                 ?????????????
If your label has "last copy" written on it, then we would appreciate your sending  $8.00 to Ted for the next 2 years.

Parties Responsible for this Newsletter
Bill Logan, King Snipe
1421 Norma Road
Columbus, Ohio 43229
614-846-1089
wrlogan@email.msn.com

Editors:
John Hansen
17826 Clifton Blvd
Lakewood, OH 44107
216-521-1779
jvhansen@earthlink.net

Ted Wiese
9099 Regency Woods Drive
Kirtland, OH 44094-9380
440-256-5212
mononbell@ncweb.com

Narrow Gauge Websites

To find more narrow gauge links, go to the Mini-Bunch Links page

Narrow Gauge Timetable

National Narrow Gauge Conventions
23rd - 2003 September 3 - 6, Denver CO
24th - 2004 September 1 - 4, Santa Clara, CA
25th - 2005 August 31 - September 3 - Dearborn, MI
26th - 2006 last week in August - Durango, CO
27th - 2007 Sept Portland, ME

Sn3 Symposium
Feb 14-16, 2003 - St Louis, MO
Feb 2004 - Pasadena, CA

2003 Spring Mini-Bunch Meeting
April 4 & 5, 2002
Greenford, OH

2003 Fall Mini-Bunch Meeting
????            Columbus, OH?

The new yard on the San Juan Southern

There is a prototype for everything!!

"Start them young!!"

Need a Helix??? Here's one