May June Vol To The Ark!! · Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club WFRM ‐3‐ May – June 2012 No Parking No Parking When visiting the Jordan Lot, please do not park in front of the

www.ECGRC.com ‐1‐ May – June 2012

May ‐ June 2012 www.ECGRC.com Vol 2012‐3

To The Ark!!

Pictures above from Google image search – staff photographer was too focused on wading thru water

Page Description 1 To the Ark!! 2 Dee Miller Visit, New Members

3 No Parking, Sprinkler, Water, President

4 Musings, Soggy Depot, Swap Meet

5 Train Days 6 Santa Rosa County Fair 7 Thomas Weekend 8 Big Bend Train Show 9 Revolution Base Station

10 Calendar, Health & Welfare, Birthdays & Anniversaries

Saturday, 9 June 2012, brought unexpected rain to the Pensacola and Milton areas. The RR Museum was inundated with lots and lots of rain. The Pensacola airport reported 13.13” with other weather reporting sites recording up to 18” of rain. Escambia Sheriff had almost 23” weekend total. Lots and lots of street flooding and many homes flooded.

The RR Museum did not have anything like the storm surge of Hurricane Ivan, but it was ankle deep or deeper in many areas of the RR Museum grounds. The Jordan Lot was awash in shin deep water at one point. Fortunately, all of the drainage work done by Orlando Gomez helped direct all of that excess water out of the Jordan Lot.

Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club WFRM


Water leaks popped up in many different areas, but nothing terrible was found. The water level got up to the ties on the CSX mainline which included deep water under the Diner, Business and Exhibit cars. And the track under the L&N Caboose was totally over flowing with water.

While the RR Museum had some visitors during the day, the rains kept Jordan Lot trains from running the whole day long. And that was a rarity. Fortunately, no lasting damage has been found. All garden trains were dry in the Train Room. No need to man the ark.

Staff Photographer: “I should have gotten some pictures. Did not think of it as I was wading through the water….. Water, Water”

Dee Miller Visit 5 & 6 May 2012

Dee Miller came down from South Carolina. She stayed with family in the Lillian area. Dee stopped by the RR Museum on Saturday, 5 May 2012. Dee was greatly impressed with the huge progress we all have made on the Jordan Lot Garden Railroad. Bill Miller would be pleased and impressed.

Dee and Bill Miller some time ago.

A gathering was held on Sunday, 6 May at Hall's Seafood restaurant in Pensacola. Dee Miller made her way after a few wrong turns and joined Lorene and Bob Fasnacht, Keith Rapley and Bobbie Dorner, Jerry and

Carol Stewart, John and Anne Kashynski, Stephanie and Bill Carrington, Mary Caraway, and Ed Dice. A good time was had by all. Nice food. Nice restaurant. Nice waitress. And we even got some pictures.

Dinner at Hall's Seafood Restaurant

: "I needed to see everyone and feel Dee reports

grounded. I had a great time and I got my feet in the sand at Johnson Beach. So I shall be back. ... I filed for a new loan about 2 months with the same mortgage Co. and I signed papers. It is costing me $2,000.00 for the new mortgage but this year alone I will save $5,000.00 toward principal.

It was great to see everyone. Thank you so much for the wonderful lunch [Saturday]. "

New Members Our latest new members are John and Anne Kashynski. They are rejoining. John and Anne were Club members in the formative years of the Club. John was very active with R.A. Caraway in various Club construction activities such as the flatcar extensions and the 20-foot diameter trestles used at many train shows.

Welcome back aboard, John and Anne.



No Parking

No Parking When visiting the Jordan Lot, please do not park in front of the house next door.

That is the white house between the Jordan Lot and the alley-way back to Mr. Jernigan’s house.

The guy parks his big white truck out there.

He may be away when folks arrive on a Friday or Saturday, and need someone to

move so he can park there when he returns home.

SOOOOOO, DON’T DO IT!!!

Much thanks.

Jordan Lot Garden Railroad Operations and Public Relations Department, L&N Division

Sprinkler Up The Jordan Lot sprinkler is up and running. A new battery was installed and Orlando reset the programming. It turns on at 6 AM and 6 PM for 10 minutes.

Check with Orlando for a temporary skip so the trains can keep running.

So, remember with any late afternoon or early evening operations, you can get a quick shower at 6 PM.

Water, Water Guys and gals, remember to hydrate at the Jordan Lot. The Train Shed frig is well stocked with water, Gatorade and sodas. Dehydration can be a sneaky and evil foe. Keep it at bay with plenty of fluids while running trains at the Jordan Lot. Remember that this year things seem much warmer out there. So drink up! And keep the trains running smoothly.

President's Message From the Club President, Jack Grill:

Nothing special to announce or emphasize. See the frequent Weekend Musings emails to catch up on what is happening at the Jordan Lot and the Garden Railroad operations. With Bill Carrington's retirement from the flight line, we are seeing more of Bill at the Friday Jordan Lot sessions.



Weekend Musings - 8-9 June 2012 From Jack Grill:

Friday: We saw no rain at the museum. It was nice and overcast all day which made for comfortable working/playing conditions. The visitor count was pretty normal for a school Friday.

Saturday: Ed's report pretty much covers the rained out day. We did have our monthly meeting. We affirmed the intent, when available, to purchase two new Revolution base station systems and install them on tracks 2 & 3. Keith talked about his attempts to find "chicken grit", which is that very fine crushed marble he has been spreading as ballast on the layout. He would like to acquire enough for the whole layout, but no one local seems to have any for sale. We can get a ton (and I do mean 2000 lbs) for a really good price from a supplier in North Carolina, but the shipping is killer. People are continuing to search for a source closer to home.

Next month's meeting will be on the normal third Saturday-that being July 21st.

Jack

Soggy Bottom Depot From Ed Dice on Saturday, 9 June 2012: Well, Mike

Stokes and Orlando toiled away on Mike’s K‐27 loco.

Mike got Revolution and Phoenix sound installed.

Sounds great. As in Great Big Sound.

All while they worked thru the afternoon, Bill Carrington

and I watched the rain fall and fall and the water come

up and up. Reports of rain fall are 13‐15”.

We saw the water rise as high as the ties on the

mainline RR. The entire courtyard was immersed in

water. The water under the Diner was over the rails and

the concrete footing for the fencing. Jordan Lot was

over ankle deep. The drains were working, although it

“looked like they were not working” just they were

overwhelmed. Eventually, when the rain eased off, the

water did start dropping down, rather rapidly. Bill

Carrington was smart to be wearing his crocs. Ed's

tennis shoes will be wet for days.

The Diner has several leaks. The kitchen A/C was leaking

around its case. The rear‐most track‐side window was

leaking at the base of the window pane. The ceiling was

leaking over that same corner table. Of course, lots of

leaks in the Train Shed.

We left right about 4:30 PM. No idea when we left how

bad it was in other areas around town in Milton or in

Pensacola. Hopefully, everyone is OK and dry. And not

flooded out.

Ed ‐ ‐ Row, Row, Row Your Boat….

Swap Meet - 21 April 2012

The Spring swap meet started early on Saturday, 21

April. The rain held off until the late afternoon. It was

great weather for the swap meet. Most of the 15 sellers

set up in the RR Depot courtyard.

Lots of buyers came to grab up some bargains. Some of

the buyers came all of the way from New Orleans area.

One local husband and wife couple were selling their

entire G railroad and another couple (husband and wife

from New Orleans) were just getting started. So a

perfect match was made and a G scale railroad got a

good new home.

Sellers included Mike Moore (RR Museum member) and

his friends with their O scale trains. Dan Sheppard did

not attend, nor did Dave Ramirez from Trains By

Johnson. Keith Rapley was selling some HO trains. Jack

Grill had his big set up of HO and related trains. Paul

Weston was selling some G scale trains, as was Andy

Sloan selling some of his G scale trains. And several



other folks selling different scales. Lots of choices and

lots of bargains. Mack Maginnis and his friend Harold

came over from New Orleans area to sell a few of

Mack's G scale trains (Harold did buy some of them,

too).

Mack Maginnis (right) and Harold, New Orleans

Mack donated a large front loader to the Club. Look for

it to pop up on the Jordan Lot Garden Railroad and at

the various train shows. Thanks, Mack.

Mack Maginnis Front Loader

Mack's front loader with Fasnacht excavator at

Train Days, Fort Walton Beach

Train Days - 28-29 April 2012

Train Days was a nice train show in the old Bealls Outlet

store at Uptown Station in Fort Walton Beach over the

weekend of 28‐29 April 2012. Ed Dice set up a G scale

railroad at the front of the space right in front of the big

display windows. Made for a great attraction to lure in

the shoppers walking by on the sidewalk. The train

show was hosted by the Miracle Strip Model Railroad

Club of Shalimar.

The vendors at the show included Terry Tucker, Trains

by Johnson, Bobe's Hobby Shop, and a few private

sellers. Club layouts besides the G railroad included

Miracle Strip Model Railroad Club (HO), Pensacola

Model Railroad Club (PMRC) in the HO, N, and Z scale

divisions. SWARM did not attend with their O scale

layout.

A unique thing was the Uptown Station riding train

parked and stored in the back of the store area. It

carefully maneuvered from the back, through the aisle

way by the layouts and out through the double doors.

All of the riding cars tracked very well right behind the

engine tire tracks thanks to their steering mechanisms.

Work very nicely.

The empty store‐front was 120' wide by 125' deep of

clear space. Lots of room for everyone. And the air‐

conditioning was working very well. Great facility. And

great weather, too.

Train Day up and running



Set up on Friday, 27 April, went smoothly. Ed Dice and

Paul Weston put down two large ovals and a cloverleaf.

Two back‐n‐forth tracks were added Saturday morning.

Mary Caraway helped with scenery on Friday afternoon,

including arranging a car show with about a dozen

classic cars.

The Saturday operations went smoothly. Frank Paine

stopped by and helped staff the G railroad. Ed ran

different trains during the day with no problems

encountered. The eggliners on the cloverleaf got lots of

attention. Mary's car show got extra attention as a

result of the full‐size car show out in the Uptown

Station parking lot.

Caraway Car Show

Sunday operations also went smoothly. And take down

started at 4 PM with help from Paul Weston and Frank

Paine. With the extra vehicles, all of the G railroad

materials and tables got loaded up and hauled away.

Van all loaded to the brim

The G scale railroad was the last one running at take

down Sunday afternoon, and we were the last ones out

of the building late Sunday afternoon at 6 PM.

SRCF - 6-14 April 2012

The 21st annual Santa Rosa County Fair was held 6‐14

April 2012. They ran the Fair on a little different

schedule stretched over two weekends and allowing

Monday and Tuesday off time for the volunteers.

Paul Weston's panoramic view

Fair folks enjoying the running trains

We set up 21 running train tracks. Nineteen G scale

trains plus two N scale trains.

This year the Fair folks allowed us a huge 83' x 21' area

and the 12'x22' stage area. Lots of train running space

and we filled it up with 21 running tracks on five levels.

The SkyTrack was set up at about the 7' level with its

two back‐n‐forth tracks. The suspension bridge rigging

was added again. No trains fell off of the SkyTrack this

year thankfully.

A primary theme this year was the circus area. It used

several of the R.A. Caraway circus things including the

Big Top tent, ferris wheel and merry‐go‐round. This

included Jack Grill's 20‐inch circle on its elevated

platform. The circus scene got lots of attention with



even the Exhibit Hall managers commenting how they

appreciated the circus setup.

Circus area including Jack Grill's elevated tight circle

The second theme area was the cloverleaf. The

eggliners ran well and did get lots of attention.

Cloverleaf with a long string of eggliners

The 7‐1/2" gauge riding train cars, caboose and reefer,

were there to help give the RR Museum some exposure.

A new addition this year was the N scale layout used by

the RR Museum as a demonstration layout. One N scale

locomotive did die on the layout.

Gnomes tending some of the Easter Eggs

The elusive Gnomes were seen tending the Easter Eggs.

Large and small. Many different colors. The gnomes

could be seen all over the railroad empire. Deliveries of

eggs were rolling on the rails all over the place. Lots of

Easter Egg hoppers piled full of Easter Eggs. Just a hop,

hop, hopping along....

Thomas Weekend Wales West Thomas Weekend Report by Paul

Weston.

On the weekends of May 5 and 12, Thomas the Tank Engine visited Wales West Light Railway in Silver Hill Alabama.

Thomas The Tank Engine at the station

I was able to be part of the train crew and operated the 4 wheel diesel switcher. Needless to say I was in "TRAIN HEAVEN" as about 80% of the train operation is controlled by the little switcher.



Thomas entering the station

We ran 10 trains a day with most of them sold out to happy little faces. The live steam club at Wales West was very busy running back to back train rides on the 1-1/2 scale railroad. They reported over 712 passengers rode the train each weekend.

1-1/2 scale train with a train load of folks entering station

This is one of the 4 big Wales West events they hold every year - Ghost Train, Christmas train, Easter train and Thomas. The next event will be the Ghost Train in October for big kids at night and the Pumpkin Patch Express during the day for little kids. Both trains are a lot of fun and I plan to attend this coming fall. Keep on Track'n – Paul

Big Bend Train Show

Saturday, 16 June is the one-day train show at the Tallahassee fair grounds. This is hosted by the Big Bend Model Railroad Association (www.bbmra.org). Several club members are traveling over there. Terry Tucker is setting up and selling things there. And possibly Jim Gaul and John Gilbert, too.

This is a nice, compact train show. We will not be setting up any G scale train tracks. But they usually have a small G scale layout or two set up and running. One may be live steam with former member Will Davis and his live steamers. Chellie Davis may be there with her jewelry items.

Remember, the show's time is 9 AM to 4 PM EDT. So, that is 8 AM to 3 PM our old CDT. These time zones are a pain to figure and refigure. Now was it Mickey's little hand or his big toe?

Parking is free. Admission is $5 a person. It is at North Florida Fairgrounds, Buildings 2 and 4, at the corner of Paul Russell Road and South Monroe Street. Travel safe and see you there.



Revolution Base Station We added a new Revolution Base Station Power system at the Jordan Lot for the Garden Railroad in the January timeframe. It replaced the old Train Engineer Loop #1 and provided the traditional variable DC power to the track for the normal G scale train. That would be locos without the Revolution decoder receiver onboard. Train operations have proceeded well over the months. Now the Club decided at the 9 June meeting to go ahead with at least two more loops set up with Revolution Base Stations.

Revolution Base Station - 15 Amp

Hopefully, in July Aristo-Craft will succeed in delivery of the new Revolution units to the distributors. We have heard that the container is on the water. Wouldn't it be better in a boat? So with some luck, we may have the two new Revolution Base Station sets in late July.

Then they will be installed on to Loops #2 and Loops #3. There will be a dedicated Revolution Handheld controller for each Loop track Base Station, with its cab selection locked in so it cannot jump to another track. So a Revolution hand-held device will be dedicated to a specific loop of track.

Revolution Handheld Controller

Along with the new Revolution Base Stations, PWC to Linear converters will be added to preclude possible problems with LGB and USA Train locomotives which sometimes do not like PWC type power.

A project still to be arranged is a protective fuse/circuit-breaker stage at the control panel inside the Train Room. Thus, you will be able to set the protection you need for normal operations and provide maximum protection to your locomotive. Hopefully, this will result in the protective fuse blowing before a loco lets out its magic smoke. Do not let the magic smoke out!!! More on that later.

Charlie Sighting

On occasion you can catch Club member Charlie Retherford waving enthusiastically from the locomotive engine cab as his CSX train goes by on the mainline. Charlie is a CSX conductor. Check out the engine cab as the trains go by.



Calendar Events 19 May ‐ Club meeting Monthly meeting at Noon in Dining Car

29 May ‐ Memorial Day

9 June ‐ Club meeting Monthly meeting at Noon in Dining Car

16 June ‐ RR Museum Board meeting Monthly meeting at 9:30 AM in Dining Car

16 June ‐ Big Bend Train Show Tallahassee, 9‐4 EDT

17 June ‐ Father’s Day

21 July ‐ RR Museum Board meeting Monthly meeting at 9:30 AM in Dining Car

21 July ‐ Club meeting Monthly meeting at Noon

14‐19 Aug ‐ National Garden RR Convention Chicago, www.2012ngrc.com

15‐16 Sept ‐ Wiregrass Train Show, Dothan AL Set up a large G scale RR in Peanut Fairground Hall POC: Ed Dice

Health & Welfare

Jim Niedermayer - "Getting slower and slower, but other than that I'm OK. I get bored with too much time and nothing to do." - Jim

Lawrence Ramstad - "I am doing fine, just got back from a trip to California. I went out for my Niece's wedding. I keep adding to my G gauge. I got an RDC-3 and a couple of Evans box cars." - Lawrence

Dee Miller - Dee got back to SC after her visit here. Got her house mortgage reworked which was a huge relief. She had a great time visiting here.

Mary Caraway - Just made a trip up to Iowa. It was a good trip with no problems. Working hard to get house in shape.

Paul Karczewski - Got final inspections for his shop and soon will have 7-1/2" equipment and machine shop.

Bob & Susan Cope – Susan got part-time employment at an apartment complex office, and 2nd day became full-time as apartment manager. Bob working through all of the motor vehicle repairs.

Tim & Bunty Cantwell - Bunty has new full-time job as Land Consultant, where she was part-time. Happy with it. Tim is doing fine.

Jim & Carolyn Rush - Jim is fine. Carolyn is having some minor issues. Jim had a calamity with his workshop G trains that ran around the ceiling. Think it involved a cat.

Birthdays ‐ Anniversaries

OK, Folks, below is the list of Club members’ birthdays

and anniversaries that we know about. If you have not

gotten your info into our Secretary, Ed Dice, please do

so. Even if you don’t want to tell specifics, let Ed know

so we don’t keep bugging you for it.

May 13 ‐ Lorene Fasnacht birthday

22 ‐ Andy Sloan birthday

26 ‐ Angie Riera‐Gomez birthday

June 15 ‐ Stephanie & Bill Carrington anniversary

23 ‐ Ethel Couturie birthday

23 ‐ Bobbie Dorner & Keith Rapley anniversary

July 6 ‐ Stephanie Carrington birthday

11 ‐ Orlando Gomez birthday

12 ‐ Bobbie Dorner birthday

14 ‐ Bob Fasnacht birthday

15 ‐ Bill Carrington birthday

24 ‐ Bob Cope birthday

August 7 ‐ Dee Miller birthday

24 ‐ Bob Berghage birthday

Documents

May June Vol To The Ark!! · Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club WFRM ‐3‐ May – June 2012 No Parking No Parking When visiting the Jordan Lot, please do not park in front of the