|
||||
Editors: John Hansen & Ted Wiese RAILINGS from the KING SNIPE Bill Logan wrlogan@msn.com Wintertime Modeling Its cold outside! Time for indoor railroading. Build something. Operate, Read up. Clean up and tweak your rolling stock. Light or re-light your railroad. Bring what you build to the spring meet in Greenford, Ohio (see meeting info below). Views Along the OR&W – Passenger Coach #9 - see Bill's latest article about Ohio River & Western Coach #9 by clicking here!
Gn3 Tracks As I mentioned above, its cold outside, but outdoor railroading need not cease. One of the standard questions for outdoor railroaders is "What do you do in the winter when it snows?". The answer – operate. Given decent temperatures nothing is more fun then to plow real snow. This winter has afforded many opportunities to run in the snow. Normally, I fire up my battery powered engine. This eliminates the need to clean track. Housed in a trailing reefer is a self-contained rechargeable battery and receiver. I hold the transmitter. Move the throttle and away we go. With dry powdery snow, my mogul can plow through about 2" of the stuff - wet and heavy about 1" max.
Membership and Meetings - Next Meeting - Greenford, Ohio and the Midwest Narrow Gauge Meet The Mini-Bunch will join up again this April in Greenford, Ohio at the Midwest Narrow Gauge Meet. See details further back in this newsletter. Previously known as the Ohio 2-Foot Meet with the continued support of the Mini-Bunch, Three Rivers Narrow Gauge Society, and the Cleveland Narrow Gauge Society – the name change better reflects all those who contribute and attend from around this part of the country. Speaking of contributing – space remains for clinics. I would like to see a number of fine clinics by Mini-Bunch members – contact Gary Kohler directly. All the necessary audio-visual aids are available. In addition, this year the model room has been expanded and cash awards await the winners. Last year many fine models in all scales were present. This year the categories will include Motive power, Cabooses, Passenger cars, Freight cars, Maintenance-of-Way, Structures, Dioramas. Bring yourself, bring a friend, and definitely bring a model. The Mini-Bunch will have a short business meeting Saturday afternoon at 1:00 PM primarily to decide finally on our Fall 2003 Mini-Bunch Meet and later meets. Locations proposed include Columbus, Ohio; the Huckleberry Railroad; the East Broad Top; and the OR&W. Bring your ideas and come to vote. Last year the Mini-Bunch had over 55 members in attendance, I look forward to seeing even more of you this year. WRLogan Spring 2003 Mini-Bunch Meeting Gary Kohler has published a schedule for the 2003 Greenford, Ohio, Spring Narrow Gauge Meet which will be held on April 4th and 5th, 2003. This is a "three-way" meet with the Three Rivers Narrow Gauge, the Cleveland Narrow Gauge Society and the Mini-Bunch. (And those don’t include the On30 group that has always appeared. But, since they are, by definition, a non-organization, they don’t have a name to list on the masthead!) The registration form, meeting times, clinic schedule, manufacturer listing, display listing, and hotel listing can all be found at the Spring Meet Web Page. If you want to attend the banquet you must register before hand. Note, the Minibunch Members have an added bonus this year. Cleveland Layouts will be own for tour on Sunday Morning (this info is not included on the meeting site). Maps provided at the meet. Saturday - 1:30 - Mini-Bunch meeting. Sunday - 9:00 to 1:00 - Cleveland layout tour John Chlebowski - Sn3 Stuff from Bob Bob Richardson sent us three short articles and the first one follows. Can anyone in Indiana follow up on his question? Why Did They Change? - Follow the link to read Bobs question and comments about EBT 2-8-0 #7 (later OR&W #14 then OR&W (PRR) #6996). Don Smith’s On3 conversion of the new Bachmann On30 Shay Follow the link to learn how Don converted theOn30 shay to On3. From around the Narrow Gauge World There are problems at the Cumbres and Toltec RR that, hopefully, will be resolved this year. Between delayed funding by the states, and problems with choosing a new operator, 2003’s operation is far from certain. The subsidiary of the Friends of the CATS will operate the group again, but under a revised contract. There are problems getting the locomotives back into operation for 2003, and the drought situation does not appear to be much better than 2002. The Galloping Goose Society of Dolores, CO, reports that they are continuning plans to lay 20 miles of rail from Dolores down to Mancos. Their Goose 5 would run through the Lost Canyon area when it is conpleted. One bottleneck is crossing the Dolores River. They have the old truss bridge, but the EPA has ruled that the lead paint used on the bridge will prevent them from using it. Concern is that kids will chew on the bridge and will ingest the lead paint and be poisoned by it. The business communities in the area are supporting this initiative and the National Guard will be doing much of the work to lay the track. You can support the effort by joining the Society. Send $20 for a year’s membership to P.O. Box 297, Dolores, CO 81323. They also have a new video about rebuilding the RGS that is available for $22.95 (S&H included.) New Books Recent new books include Bob Richardson’s "Rio Grande - Chasing Colorado Narrow Gauge" - There are many photographs that have not been published before, and Bob relates many stories about his journeys along the railroad. There are other photographs taken during the 20’s and 30’s showing Alamosa yard facilities and construction yards. Many of the later photos are in color. An enjoyable book that includes many personal reminisces that make the whole story seem so real. Another book is "In Quest of Colorado Narrow Gauge 1950-1951" written by Robert MacDonald. This is the personal story of the author and relates his travels from Boston to the wild west After serving in W.W.II and finishing his education with the GI Bill in 1949, he headed west in 1950. This latter book is published by Gary Kohler, so I assume it will be available at the meeting in April. Next Mini-Bunch Meetings Vote at the spring meeting in Greenford for the fall meet. Meeting will be at 1:30 PM on Saturday April 5th. 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? We have the lost the address of Gary Adams. Please forward it if you know of it. Email to John or me will be fine. 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. Narrow Gauge Websites Mini-Bunch Mini-Bunch http://www.narrowtracks.com/minibunch Spring meet 2003 http://www.narrowtracks.com/ohio2ft Colorado RR Museum Ohio Rail Schedule NMRA Div 5 Railfest 2003 NMRA Mid Central Regional Convention
Parties Responsible for this Newsletter Mini-Bunch Mini-Bunch http://www.narrowtracks.com/minibunch Spring meet 2003 http://www.narrowtracks.com/ohio2ft Colorado RR Museum Ohio Rail Schedule NMRA Div 5 Railfest 2003 NMRA Mid Central Regional Convention
Parties Responsible for this Newsletter [ NarrowTracks
-> mini-bunch -> newsletters
-> Feb 2003] Mini-Bunch Mini-Bunch http://www.narrowtracks.com/minibunch Spring meet 2003 http://www.narrowtracks.com/ohio2ft Colorado RR Museum Ohio Rail Schedule NMRA Div 5 Railfest 2003 NMRA Mid Central Regional Convention
Parties Responsible for this Newsletter [ NarrowTracks
-> mini-bunch -> newsletters
-> Feb 2003] |
