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Editors: John Hansen & Ted Wiese *
* * * SHIRTS AVAILABLE * * * * As Jim Ruisinger promised at the spring meeting, he has arranged to have black golf style shirts embroidered with the Mini-Bunch logo in gold. (Not real gold.) Your first name can be added for an additional fee. IF you want your shirt for the October meeting, then you should send in your order by the first of September. A few shirts will be available at the meeting, but to make sure you get one, please order it in advance. For an additional fee, your shirt will be mailed to you. Hit
this link to get to an excel spread sheet for the Mini-Bunch
golf shirts *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * RAILINGS
from the KING SNIPE Bill
Logan The Passage of Time I
find it hard to believe that two years have passed since I was
railroaded into the King Snipe position. I want to thank Ted Wiese and
John Hansen, the editors of this newsletter, for all their deadline
reminders and continuing fine work. This newsletter is much of the glue
that binds the Mini-Bunch together. Now the time has arrived to seek out
our next King Snipe. The qualifications are arduous – a warm body with
a modicum of newsletter penmanship willing
stand up at meetings and ask what the heck is going on will do
nicely. Be afraid be very afraid at the next meeting. The best defense
is a good offense – if you nominate someone else quickly – odds are
it will not be you. Come prepared! Introduction
- I had a fellow modeler
ask - why model the
OR&W? My answer all though intended to be specific to the OR&W
also points out universal truths about narrow guage modeling. See what
you think. 1. Narrow Gauge of Course: Three feet between the rails – light rail,
small equipment, hilly terrain, countless curves, steep grades, wood
trestles, steel bridges, narrow tunnels, unique stations, numerous
industries – a modelers delight. 2. Four Eras: The longest lasting narrow gauge in Ohio - February 1875 to May 30, 1931. This provides four eras to
select and letter equipment – The Bellaire and Southwestern (B&SW)
1875-1882; Bellaire, Zanesville, and Cincinnati (BZ&C) 1882-1902;
Ohio River and Western (OR&W) 1902-1912; and Pennsylvania Railroad
ownership 1912-1931. 3. Hilly Terrain – From Bellaire, Ohio on the Ohio River, through the most rugged
terrain of southeastern Ohio accessing Woodsfield, Caldwell, Cumberland,
to Zanesville. All required 262 trestles and bridges, three tunnels, and
grades up to 3.67%. Trains were by necessity short or double headed.
Curves and grades were the order of the day with only short stretches of
straight track. 4. Tunnels – the same rugged terrain that required numerous trestles,
bridges, and steep grades also required three tunnels – Standing Stone
( a 13 degree curved bore of 201 feet), Perryopolis (a straight bore of
469 feet), and Sheppard’s Ridge ( a straight bore of 506 feet). Each
had distinctive portals when compared end to end or between tunnels. 5. Numerous Stations: Primarily a passenger hauling railway, 82 station and flag stops
were located along its 112 miles of mainline. Not much selective
compression required. Three passenger trains daily were common requiring
numerous passing sidings. Typical consist = 4-4-0 engine hauling a mail
express or combine, passenger gentlemen’s smoker, and ladies coach.
Mixed trains carried passengers either in a trailing combine or coach.
And the freights permitted passengers in the caboose. 6. Numerous Industries for Switching: Farm products – tobacco, grain, ground
flour, milk, butcher animals; Coal mines – coal for burning and
transport, Well equipment - oil and gas; Fertilizer production -
limestone, Brick production – road and building brick; Sand pits -
molding sand; Slag hauling for roads. 7. Small Equipment: Engines =
4-4-0 for passenger trains; 2-6-0, 4-6-0, 2-8-0 for freight and mixed
trains. Passenger cars = express, combine, and coach 1st, 2nd,
& 3rd class - new and used. Freight = boxcars, flatcars,
gondolas, few cattle cars, few tank cars, few iced reefers – many
bought, some home built. 8. Distinctive Features: Flag Stop Shelters: The majority of the passenger stops were wooden shelter sheds with
most built after 1916. Simple
in looks, but distinctive having a saw-tooth decoration and black framed
location sign with large white letters. Home Grown Cabooses: Cabooses were built not bought. At first boxes on wheels having no
cupolas. Then converted from spare are worn out baggage coaches. Only
one was built outside the local rail shops. Unique Stations and Names:
Eighty two odd station stops existed. The railroad owned just few
of the larger stations. Each had a different floor plan and exterior
details. They were of locale carpenter style and some were unique with
diamond windows, bay windows, and trim detail. The majority of station
stops were privately owned. Each had a general store, and sometimes a
post office, telegraph, and living quarters for the owner. Each one was
distinctly different in plan and details. Finally, there were the many
Flag stops. All were similar but each had a local flavor in trim, detail
or size. Countless Wooden Trestles: Wooden
trestles were cheaper than earth fill, so at every valley or stream
there was a wooden trestle constructed and re-built about every ten
years. Straight trestles you expect, but many were curved and some were
‘S’ curved. Many had steep grades built in. The longest was 730 plus
feet; the tallest over 50 feet high; and some were combined with
bridges. There were 262 trestles in all of 112 miles. Many were favorite
photo opportunities. I
encourage your to consider modeling the OR&W. I trust this
information helps. The OR&W has been a well-kept “secret” for
too long. Gn3 Tracks For
the sixth consecutive year the Columbus Garden Railway Society in
cooperation with the City of Columbus, Parks and Recreation Department
will present an open to the public viewing of over twenty four garden
railroads in and around the Columbus, Ohio area. The date is September
7, 2003 (Sunday) from 12 noon to 6:00 pm. Directions and addresses will
be posted in the Columbus Dispatch the previous Sunday and the day of
the open railroads. You can also access information on the CGRS website
at
. Again this year, my OR&W will be open Come join us. Membership and Meetings - Next Meeting - Columbus, Ohio The
fall meet is scheduled for Columbus,
Ohio. Jim Ruisinger and
Harry Sage have been hard at work with the arrangements. Sunday should
see quite a few railroads opened for viewing. See details further back
in this newsletter. WRLogan - email: wrlogan@msn.com Jim Ruisinger, Doc Sage and Butch Sage are setting up
our meeting for October 4 and 5 in Columbus, OH. Page five has complete
information. A highlight this time will be a BBQ set up by the
organizers. There will be burgers and bratwurst, baked beans, potato
salad and dessert. Of course, there will be coffee, soda pop and donuts
during in the day. So far, there are three clinics scheduled, and Doc is
looking for one more for the afternoon. It really looks like a great
meeting. There will be 8 layouts on the tour for the following day. REMEMBER - we will elect our new King Snipe. (the
editors will certainly miss Bill since he has helped us fill the 8 pages
by furnishing interesting information for our newsletter.
The election will be held after the dinner. Important Now,
here
is what we would like you to
do: Call Jim Ruisinger (or send email or snail mail) to let him know if
you are coming. You need not send money now, but it will help the
planning greatly if they have a count of expected participants for the
meeting and for dinner. (Hey, how would you like to plan a dinner for
hungry model railroaders if you could have some number between 20 and
80? Help them out!) Jim
Ruisinger: 614-451-2698 From around the
Narrow Gauge World Eastern Narrow Gauge Phil Raynes of Canton, OH, sent a nice note (with his
renewal) with some photos he took down in West Virginia. He is working
with the rebuilding of the ET&WNC RR through the Doe Gorge. Phil
owns an ex-EBT Fairmont Speeder that he runs on the line. Maybe we will
have some photos for the next issue. “Far”
Eastern Narrow Gauge John Hansen sent in this late report on the WW&F: Dateline: Sheepscot Maine, August 9th, 2003 the Annual Picnic of the Wiscasset, Waterville, and
Farmington Railway Museum took place today, with cool weather,
intermittent showers, and a good turnout. Jeff Schumacher and Moe
Mechling were observed. (A check of the visitors book revealed that
Wally Schmunk and Butch Sage had visited earlier in the summer.) It was announced that the boiler of #9 is to be
reworked this winter. #10 is in “kit form” in the machine shop and
Jason Farnoutaigne took time out from milling out the drive axle bearing
boxes to demonstrate just how the equalization works. We were also given
an explanation on the underbody rebuilding of the box car including why
only two of the truss rods have turnbuckles. About 1.4 miles of track have been laid. They plan to
get to Alma Station by next October. A passing siding with be
constructed to allow the engine to run around the train. They have a three way stub in the yard, with what
seems to me an original stand. At least, I have never seen one like it. The WW&F seems to be doing well. I look forward
to visiting again next year. Colorado Railroad Museum DRG&W C-19 #346 has been moved to Strasburg, PA
for new boiler tubes and mechanism work. Here is an email from the
NarrowGauge Discussion Group: Posted
By: Tom Armstrong <ncory@stargate.net> Date: Wednesday, 6 August 2003, at 12:01 p.m. “About noon today I saw a steam loco going east
down the highway on the bed of a truck. I was going west on Interstate
70 in St. Clairsville, Ohio (just west of Wheeling, West Virginia).” “From a distance it looked like a big tank. Then as
I got closer it looked like an industrial/stationary boiler. Then, just
as we were about to pass each other at about 65 miles per hour each
(combined, that's 130 MPH!!) I realized it was a steam locomotive! It
was a 2-8-0, with wheels, frame, and boiler. No cab or tender. I did not
have much time to look at the details. It looked standard gauge, but I
am not on a standard gauge discussion group, so I thought I would try
you guys.” Tom went on to speculate about the source of the
locomotive, but it turned out to be 346! And here are three photos of
the locomotive after it arrived at Strasburg:
New Books Recent new books include “The South Park Line” by
Mallory Hope Ferrell and Vol X of “The RGS Story” (Over the
Bridges...Ridgway to Durango) by Dell McCoy and Russ Collman. The South Park Line” is, of course, about the DSP&P
and the DL&G from 1874 to 1899. This is not a complete history of
the line, but there are lots of excellent photographs both of the period
being discussed and photographs showing the current status of many
structures and features. The book is published by Hundman Publishing in
Mukilteo, WA and lists for $90. Vol X of the RGS may be the final volume of what was
to be about a three volume series. It includes lots of “previously
unknown” information of the entire line. As in the previous volumes, there are bridge
sketches, copies of the engineering drawings of the line with curves,
grades, etc all spelled out in case you have a football field room that
will permit you to build the entire line, and some architectural
sketches by Mike Blazek. I’ve not really totaled up the pages, but there
must be about 4,000 pages so far in the series. One might think that was
about enough, but they have not really covered Durango yet!! There is one chapter on the trestles at Ophir,
another on specific Rico train registers and a chapter speculating on
the reasons for Victor Miller’s resignation in 1938. (Late note - an August 14th email from one of the
co-authors indicates that work is progressing on Vol XI.) Modeling News 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 a 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. Generally,
there will be additional photos that are not 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. 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. If you register at a meeting, then you will receive
the newsletter for the next 8 issues (2 years).
Parties Responsible for this Newsletter
To find more narrow gauge links, go to the Mini-Bunch
Links page Chama Steam II in 2003
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