Our cover is a nostalgic look at part of a diorama entered in a 2009 model contest by Steve Spear. This month’s contest topic is “Open,” which means anything goes, including dioramas, non-railroading models, etc., so let’s see some non-standard entries! Our speaker will be Rodney Black on “Wiring for Operations,” a clinic he presented for a national NMRA audience, so join us Thursday, September 19th at the Louisville (Tri-City) Elks Lodge, 525 Main Street in Louisville at 7:00 PM, or gather on-site at 5:45 PM for dinner (optional). Come and share in the fellowship! (Photo by Keith Bobo.) x

Newsletter of the Boulder Model Railroad Club

September 2013

Telltales

r 2

EDITORIAL The structure I completed last month turned out quite well and I'm thinking of

entering it into one of BMRC's monthly contests before I install it on my layout. To me, these model displays each month are one of the highlights of the meetings and I try to support them by entering something as often as I can. I

find that by viewing and learning from the works of others (and we have some excellent modelers in the BMRC), my own modeling efforts tend to improve. In turn, the Board offers incentives for members to enter the monthly contests in the form of ribbons and gift cards. A $10 gift card to Caboose Hobbies is given to the blue ribbon winner in each class and two gift cards - a $20 value - are awarded to the gold ribbon winner (Best of Show). The names of all entrants for the month are then put into a box and a name is drawn for a $10 gift card, thus allowing those who didn't win a blue or gold ribbon a chance to win a prize. All this is a tremendous show of support by the Board for the monthly contests, indicating that they, too, consider the contest to be a highlight of each meeting. I'd like to think that these incentives never influence my decision whether to

enter a model or not, but they probably do. After all, I wouldn't turn down an opportunity to shave a few shekels off of my next purchase at Caboose Hobbies and I doubt that I'm alone in that regard. Which brings me to the point that I had intended to focus on when I started writing this: Since the awards are being offered, what could a modeler do to enhance the chances of winning one?

Consider taking a clue from the restaurant industry. If "Joe's Diner" and "Restaurant Chez Josef" each turn out the same tasty meal, what influences the Michelin Guide to rank one above the other? Undoubtedly, there are many factors, but one certainly is presentation. If Joe plunks the food on the plate, allowing a bit of gravy to drip off the edge, while Josef carefully arranges the items on a bed of swirled sauce with curlicues of garnish strategically placed, which one will command the higher price?

Translating this to model building, imagine if two identical structures are entered, one sitting naked on the table and the other attached to a sculptured base and surrounded by trees, some tiny people and maybe a vehicle or two. Theoretically, the structures should be evaluated solely on how well each was crafted, but actually the presentation could end up influencing the voting. Creating a sculptured base is not difficult and once the structure is attached, with some advance planning it can be installed, base and all, directly into the layout. Yes, yes, I know, it's not whether you win or lose but how you play the game that counts. That's a good mantra, but I've encountered very few competitors who fail to get excited when they win. So why not try to improve your chances by improving your presentation? It will increase your pride of accomplishment as well. X

—Jack Rummel, Editor

Telltales Official publication of the Boulder Model Railroad Club, P.O. Box 1851, Boulder, CO 80306. The BMRC meets on the third Thursday of each month at 7:15 pm at the Tri-City (Louisville) Elks Club, 525 Main St., Louisville, CO.. We are on the Internet at:

<http://www.bouldermodelrailroadclub.org>.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

2013 Officers President - Joe Baldwin—

Vice-President - Erik Lindgren—

Secretary - Jeff MacDonald—

Treasurer - Chad Horner—

Past President - Bill Bradley—

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Submissions The TELLTALES welcomes articles, art, cartoons, puzzles, classifieds, workshop hints and other model railroading related materials. Mail or e-mail all contributions and/or changes of address to:

Jack Rummel, TELLTALES Editor 3827 Doral Drive, Longmont, CO 80503

e jtrummel@comcast.net

President’s Message:

On the Mainline

August Clinic

Mesmerizing, intimidating, intricate, interesting, and educational are all words that pop into my mind when I think of the clinic Gene Fusco presented at the August meeting. Whether you are a novice modeler or a senior modeler, Gene presented information that will serve you well in your modeling adventure. Thanks Gene!

September Clinic

Rodney Black, former BMRC member and N Scale modeler is a member of the Independent N Scalers here in the Denver area. Well known for his expertise in JMRI programming and the author of CATS (Crandic Automated Traffic System), a computer based CTC system used by many well-known and advanced operations oriented modelers. Rod has presented clinics a number of times at the National Train shows and is a sought after speaker. He has agreed to present his NMRA clinic on “How To Wire Your Railroad For Operations.” This comprehensive presentation delves deeply into what many consider a simple subject: How do I wire my trains so I can run them prototypically? You will hear about basic detection schemes, how to plan your

wiring and many topics on this important subject. Looking back

As we approach the election season for the BMRC, I have looked back over the last couple of years and thought I would highlight a few of the challenges we met and the things we accomplished. 2012 Highlights

• Fred Maine stepped up and assumed the job of Treasurer following the untimely death of John O’Donnell.

• We held a successful meeting and tour in March of the Greeley Freight Station Museum.

• We lost our meeting place at the American Legion and thought the Blue Parrot would serve our needs, but after two meetings we found ourselves looking once again for a place to meet.

• Through the efforts of Bruce Dickerhofe, 2012 VP, the Tri Cities ELKS of Louisville became our new meeting home, starting in June.

• We established a permanent Club Email address via Google that will pass from president to president for continuity and at no cost to the club.

• Using Cloud computing, we began conducting routine board meetings over the Internet.

• The 2012 Train Show was a success, thanks to the efforts of over 50 volunteers.

• We implemented PayPal as a way to pay for dues, holiday dinner and now, vendors are choosing this as a convenient way to pay for their tables at the train show. Our 2012 Holiday Dinner, coordinated by Bruce Dickerhofe, was catered by Pinocchio’s Italian restaurant. Entertainment was by Jack Rummel's band, Colorado Country, featuring mostly railroading songs.

2013 Highlights

• Fred Maine, our terrific Treasurer, had to step down due to family responsibilities. Chad Horner volunteered to run and was elected in the February meeting.

• Chad is our fourth treasurer in five years. To facilitate the current change and in anticipation of future ones, the Executive Board chose to purchase a new laptop for the treasurer. We now have secure multiple copies of our electronic records in multiple locations with multiple access to ensure against data loss.

• Our Executive Board is now a blended mix of several scales: two O Scalers (Erik Lindgren VP and Jeff MacDonald Sec), two Z Scalers (Bill Bradley Past Pres. and Erik Lindgren VP), one N scaler (Chad Horner, Treasurer) and one HO scaler (Joe Baldwin, Pres.).

• Jim Froning volunteered to be 2013 Train Show manager and formed a committee of club members including Jon Bond (Layout Coordinator), Jeff Morrison (Vendor Coordinator) and Derek Walker (Setup and Tear down Coordinator). Marv Van Puersem returned as our Raffle Manager and Doug Wright is building the Raffle Layout. We now have a comprehensive Vendor database for the Train Show, a redesigned show flyer from professional graphics artist Erik Lindgren and have made progress in documenting the train show process for future shows, including a new Visio drawing of our table locations.

• Working together, the Executive Board, HO and N SIG leaders developed and ratified a set of SIG operational guidelines which clarifies how the club and the SIG relationship is to operate.

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• To encourage broader membership participation in the Monthly Modeling Contest, the Executive Board changed the reward system from a participation lottery to rewarding the best modelers with Caboose Hobbies gift cards. Contest chair Jerry Gilland and Past president Bill Bradley redesigned a modeler class system, designating members as either Modelers or Senior Modelers using a consistent methodology wherein Senior Modelers only compete against other Senior Modelers while Modelers compete only against other Modelers.

• We held our first Bicycling train-spotting tour of Denver’s South Platte River with seven hearty souls pedaling some 30 miles, ending at Union Station. A similar tour may take place in Colorado Springs next year.

• The BMRC now has three teenage boys who regularly attend our meetings. This trend of attracting young people is great for our hobby and we will be working to find ways to encourage and engage them in meaningful activities.

• Our attendance has been a healthy 50+ members every meeting and not everyone has a front row seat. I approached Mike Gleydura about assuming the role of our videographer and he quickly agreed. He plugs his small hand held camera into the club’s video projector, switching back and forth between the

speaker and what he’s demonstrating so those in the back seats can see what’s going on.

• We are negotiating a new two-year lease with the ELKS in Louisville. Exalted Ruler Jeff Jones addressed our meeting in July, expressing his desire that we feel at home in their house.

• Spen Kellogg (left) will sign on as Membership Coordinator in October, consolidating the efforts of many other persons and reducing the confusion and missed communications that have so easily happened with the current process.

• We have worked with the Estes Park and Northern Colorado Model Railroad Club to facilitate a multi-club swap meet to be held in Windsor, CO on October 26. The Executive Board voted unanimously to fund the event, meaning you will be able to participate in the

event with no entry fee as either a seller or buyer. Greg Pinkham is our Swap Meet representative. Elections are coming

It has been an honor to serve as your Club President over the past 21 months and as we look to the November election period, we as a club need to be determining who will rise up and take the helm for the next year or two. The By Laws specify our secretary Jeff MacDonald as the election chairman responsible for outlining the slate of candidates for the next year. Erik Lindgren VP and Chad Horner Treasurer have said they are willing to run again in 2014, while Joe Baldwin Pres and Jeff MacDonald intend to step down. Joe will move to Past President allowing Mr. Stability himself, Bill Bradley, a respite after four straight years of club leadership. If you are interested in running for office for 2014, please contact Jeff and he’ll be glad to talk with you and get you on the ballot.

Business or Pleasure?

When I took office, my intent was to focus on having fun and chill out on the business stuff. After all,

we are just a club with a purpose of playing with toy trains, right? The events of 2012 forced me to

study the By Laws and I came to the quick realization that the BMRC was already a complex animal when I assumed office and I’ve added to that complexity, driven in part by the events and by the

expectations of our members. The president hears the critique and the praise; only a fool ignores the critique. The job of president of our club carries with it powerful responsibilities and with 110 members

and over 30 volunteer and elected positions, it is a real management job. We have many members who have extensive management profiles and we look forward to seeing who steps forward to ask for the

helm of the Boulder Model Railroad Club as President for 2014.

Since we have been looking back, I have included some extras for those who are data-driven. On page 13, you will find a graph of our attendance trends over the past few years and a look at the club

programming during the past two years. X

————Joe BaldwinJoe BaldwinJoe BaldwinJoe Baldwin

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Library NewsLibrary NewsLibrary NewsLibrary News

Visual Library Report While serial number 725 may look like yet another DVD, it's actually something quite different. It's a DVD-ROM called "Denver and Rio Grande Multimedia Adventure Kit" that must be run on a Windows computer. It's like having an encyclopedia with film clips and Internet search capability. The jacket claims that it's the largest collection of Rio Grande information ever assembled into one product. There are descriptions of over 200 towns along the routes with photos, history, USGS maps, and yard drawings. There are over 3000 images of rolling stock, bridges, buildings, and mines. There are drawings that you can view and print at any scale, hours of high quality videos, slide shows, walk-throughs, sound clips, clip art, and track profiles. There are complete e-books: 1922 USGS Summary, 1930s Travel Book, 1925 employee magazines, 1930s Rule Book, 1950s Maintenance of Way

Standard Drawings, a Locomotive Catalog, Time Tables, Equipment Rosters, etc. Using the search capability, I was able to find the answer to a question that came up recently with the HO-SIG: What's the arrangement of the lights in a D&RG D-type block signal? The DVD-ROM provided an animated drawing that cycled red, yellow and green in the order of a street light, with red on top. (This conflicts with other sources that state that green is on top.) Also included is a demo version of the producer's computer aided design program, Sandia Software's Cadrail (version 8.02, copyright 2003). This lets you layout track plans, view them from any angle in 3D, and even run trains on them. (A more recent demo version can be downloaded from cadrail.com.) —Loren Blaney, Visual Librarian

Book Review Extra Narrow Gauge Junction by Dick Andrews. From Benchmark Publications (NG&SLG), hardcover, 8 ½ x 11, 226 pages. Most of us would agree that no magazine portrays the hobby of model railroading better than the Narrow Gauge and Short Line Gazette. This bi-monthly magazine is dedicated to all things narrow gauge, but appeals to everyone in the hobby because of its high quality photographs that accompany featured model railroad layouts and articles from some of the best columnists around. One of those was Dick Andrews, who was a regular contributor from 1979 to 1998. Dick’s passion was “extra” narrow gauge, referring to the widths less than the “standard” narrow gauge of thirty-six inches, with emphasis on Maine 2-foot railroads. Extra Narrow Gauge Junction is a collection of all 60 columns reprinted from the magazine, and it is a wonderful read. With hundreds of spectacular photographs, drawings (Dick was an accomplished artist) and interesting stories, this book is a must read for anyone in our hobby. You don’t have to be into narrow gauge modeling to be inspired by Dick’s encyclopedic knowledge of this fascinating subject. Enjoy the ride!

—Doug Wright

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MORE THAN ‘MEAT’S” THE EYE!

(Ideas for stock car loads, sent by Russ Boehm)

For over a century, all kinds of animals rode the rails aboard specially built stock cars, but they weren't the only loads those cars carried! The majority of livestock traveling by train were coming from western ranges and feedlots to the population centers in the east. On arrival, the cars were unloaded, cleaned and hustled back to the owners to avoid paying daily usage charges. The problem was that there were no returning livestock shipments. Railroads knew that empty cars didn't make any money, prompting them to find suitable loads for the return trip. The wide-open sides limited what could be carried to cargo that wasn't impacted by weather. Bulk materials such as coal and coke fell under that heading, and some roads built dual-purpose stock cars with short sidewalls, roof hatches and drop-bottom floors for loading and unloading. Other durable but heavy loads that could be moved in and out through the standard side doors were tried with success. Items such as bricks, which were loaded loosely in the car, and ceramic tiles in crates or boxes could be found in transit aboard stock cars, and large clay sewer pipes were also handled this way. Probably some of the strangest loads to move in stock cars were actually food products that needed air circulation in transit. Ripe tomatoes were loaded in baskets and carried on special racks on some lines. In Texas and Oklahoma where plenty of stock cars were readily available, watermelons rolled eastward on beds of straw, stacked three-high. Stock cars were also pressed into service during seasonal harvest times when car supplies became critical. Lined with paper or wood, they could be found moving grain when boxcars were in short supply, and also filled in for gondolas in sugar beet service. As livestock traffic declined after WWII, many older stock cars were rebuilt for other work, including handling rough-cut timber and pulpwood. Many were also bumped into maintenance service, used for such loads as ties, or for open-air storage buildings along the tracks. X

“Text reproduced from Walthers E-Update newsletter. Courtesy of Wm. K.

Walthers, Inc.” Walthers Newsletter dated 8-7-2013.

the Conductor’s the Conductor’s the Conductor’s the Conductor’s

Corner…Corner…Corner…Corner…

Modeling tips, tricks and methods for our membersModeling tips, tricks and methods for our membersModeling tips, tricks and methods for our membersModeling tips, tricks and methods for our members

LAYOUT TOUR INVITATION (From our friends in the Northern Colorado Club)

Tour Date: 28 September 2013

Tour Time: 9:00AM to 12:00PM (Noon)

We really have a great treat in store coming out of our summer break by visiting David Stewart’s Appalachian and Ohio Railroad. If you haven’t been keeping up with David’s progress on his layout via his website (and even if you have) you will not want to miss this tour. David has a LOT of trackwork done and is now pushing into the areas where people tunnels are everywhere. Make sure you take time on September 28th to visit this layout. NOTE the MORNING time for this tour.

Layout Name: Appalachian & Ohio Railroad

Layout Tour Time: 9:00AM to Noon (12:00PM) Scale: Standard 2-rail O Scale

Size of Layout: 2,500 sq' RR in a 3,000 sq' basement Era Modeled: late 60's (hot summer, '69) Bench Construction: plywood and spline construction with Micore as subroadbed, free form (very free) Approx length of mainline track: when finished, main-line will be 525' for complete loop thru staging. Isolated 150' branch line. Type of track: Handlaid track, code 125 main and branch, code 100 secondary trackage

Brief Description of Layout: ........ah, big. Modeled portion is of southeastern Ohio River indus-trial city with mainline extending into central WV and the coal fields. Coal and bridge traffic plus a three sizable industrial switching areas will keep up to 20 operators and a dispatcher happily occupied. -Scale choice- see MR 2006 article for full explanation (I like the visual appeal and easily seen detail of 1:48 that shrinks the viewer within BIG scenery creating a close-up railfan experience) What made you choose to model this scale and era: I like first and second generation diesels and also the last remnants of iced reefers. And the rolling stock was still well maintained (and graffiti free) in the 60's. (and did I mention I was young and strong then, too?) Special Instructions: 3120 Branding Iron Circle

Milliken, CO 80543 (970) 587-7855

Parking in rear parking lot or in rear cul-de-sac on Brand-ing Iron Court. Enter thru rear patio door. Website address: <www.aorailroad.com>

Other Clubs ARE Invited to this layout tour!

Link to Tour: <http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=

215628368938850377091.0004e583fa5b8a5af1604>.

By Joe Baldwin

Our website continues to get tremendous traffic with one of the most frequented areas being our

repository of clinic presentations. I find it interesting that certain editions of the TELLTALES

also get way more action than what is normal for TELLTALES in general. Loren Blaney’s clinics have been published for only a short period of time and have already received a lot of downloads.

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BMRC

On The WEB

Author Topic Published Downloads Type

Russ Boehm Static Grass Applicator Clinic 2010 1,079 Clinic

Jay Mills Clinic on Molds and Casting 2010 916 Clinic

Doug Wright Clinic Making Deciduous Trees 2008 873 Clinic

Joe Baldwin Lessons Learned on Track 2009 765 Clinic

Jerry Gilland Clinic on Weathered Wood 2009 724 Clinic

Bob Rothe Modeling Mindset 2009 721 Clinic

Russ Boehm Clinic on Tools 2008 695 Clinic

Joe Baldwin MRR Overpasses 2010 625 Clinic

Ron Keiser Large Scale Clinic - 2012 556 Clinic

Jerry Gilland Clinic on Photo Etching 2012 539 Clinic

Doug Wright Clinic on Super Trees 2012 529 Clinic

Joe Baldwin Windows 7 Com Ports 2011 528 Clinic

Joe Baldwin Clinic Kit-Bash with a Bandsaw 2012 488 Clinic

Jim Eaman Clinic on Red Rosin Paper 2012 474 Clinic

Jerry Wilson on Tarpaper Roofing 2009 416 Clinic

John Parker Model Railroading for Operations 2013 414 Clinic

Bill White Clutter Clinic 2009 396 Clinic

BMRC bylaws ByLaws Ammended July 2012 2012 383 BMRC Biz

Jay Mills Circus Wagons 2009 381 Clinic

Eric Lindgren O Scale Model Railroading - 2013 371 Clinic

BMRC BMRC Operating Handbook 2012-

0816 2012 337 BMRC Biz

BMRC New Member Application (BMRCBiz) 2012 316 BMRC Biz

Bill Botkin Bill Botkin's Clinic on Passenger car LED 2013 312 Clinic

Jack Rummel Telltales May 2003 2003 214 Telltales

Joe Baldwin DCC A-Z Clinic 2013 207 Clinic

Loren Blaney Library Excel Format (BMRCBiz) 2013 147 Clinic

Loren Blaney Clinic on Block Signaling 2013 132 Clinic

Loren Blaney Clinic on Soldering 2013 126 Clinic

Loren Blaney Clinic Crossing Gate System 2010 110 Clinic

Jack Rummel Telltales April 2007 2007 71 Telltales

Gene Fusco Clinic Casting Precision Resin Parts 2013 67 Clinic

ACTUAL SIGNS SEEN IN THE USA! In a Pennsylvania cemetery: “Persons are prohibited from picking flowers

from any but their own graves.”

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Website User Database

As you may not know, our website has private and public sides. The private side requires an ID for access. Our private data, including email and phone numbers, are protected from public view. We keep our software updated to the latest security and capability levels. Available on our website in the private area:

• TELLTALES – more than 10 years of them

• Club Organizational information – Club By Laws and the operational handbook

• Member and officer biographies

• Roster with the pictures of most members

• Some club historical data

A collection of obituary information about members who have passed away

Available on our website in the public area

• Our collection of Clinic presentations

• Pictures of members and friends layouts

• Information about our Club SIG (Special Interest Groups)

• Information about our annual Train Show, past and present

• Historical pictures taken by club Photog Keith Bobo, hundreds of them filed by date taken

• Listings of our video library including a copy in Microsoft Excel you can download

• Listings of our book library

Links to dozens of hobby related websites

Registering for an ID

To get an ID to our website, simply type bmrc.info in your browser, or if you like to type you can enter <http://www.bouldermodelrailroadclub.org>. You should now be looking at our website. On the lower left column of the page you will find a section called BMRC Login. At the bottom of that section is a link called Register. Click on that link and complete the form that pops up. A valid email address is required. The approval process validates your email address to protect us from spammers who attempt to register and then harvest our email addresses. An email will automatically be sent to the webmaster who checks with the treasurer to

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7

CONTINUED ON PAGE 9

Contributor author Downloads

Joe Baldwin 2613

Russ Boehm 1774

Doug Wright 1402

Jay Mills 1297

Jerry Gilland 1263

Bob Rothe 721

BMRC 653

Ron Keiser 556

Loren Blaney 515

Jim Eaman 474

Jerry Wilson 416

John Parker 414

Bill White 396

BMRC bylaws 383

Eric Lindgren 371

Bill Botkin 312

Jack Rummel 285

Gene Fusco 67

Grand Total 13912

Type Docu-

ment Downloads

Clinic 12591 BMRC Biz 1036

Telltales 285

Grand Total 13912

DOCUMENT TYPE DOWNLOADS

Published Downloads

2012 3622

2009 3403

2010 2730

2013 1776

2008 1568

2011 528

2003 214

2007 71

Grand Total 13912

PUBLISHED DATE DOWNLOADS

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BMRC ELECTED AND VOLUNTEER POSITIONS

Position Name Began ELECTED POSITIONS

President Joe Baldwin 2012

Vice-President Erik Lindgren 2013

Secretary Jeff MacDonald 2012

Treasurer Chad Horner 2013

Past-President Bill Bradley 2012

VOLUNTEER POSITIONS

TELLTALES Editor Jack Rummel 1997

Webmaster Joe Baldwin 2010

Membership Chair Spen Kellogg 2013

HO-SIG Leader Frank Smucker 2004

N-SIG Leader Warren Hester 2011

Club Auditor 2013 Appt. pending

Contest Coordinator Jerry Gilland 2011

Video Librarian Loren Blaney 2001

Book Librarian Mike Mead 2011

Club Historian Bob Uhr ???

Layout Tour Coord. OPEN

Layout Manager Jon Bond 2009

Photographer Keith Bobo 2008

Video Cameraman Mike Gleydura 2013

Club Store Manager Jeff Morrison 2012

Multi-Club Swap Meet Greg Pinkham 2013

coordinator Lgmt. Library Layout Jerry Bengtson 2012

Jerry Gilland* 2007

WOW Museum Layout Bob Rothe 2008

Train Show Manager Jim Froning 2013

TS Layout Coord. Jon Bond 2013

TS Raffle Manager Marv Van Puersem 2010

TS Advert. Coord. OPEN

TS Vendor Coord. Jeff Morrison 2013

TS Setup/Teardown Coord. Derek Walker 2013

TS Door Prize Coord. OPEN

(*provides electronic tech support)

ensure the person is a current member. Only current members are allowed access to our private area. Updating your own information

Use your ID to log into the website and in the User menu that appears after logging on, select Your Profile. Your user information should now be displayed in the center of the screen. At the top put your mouse over the Edit tab and select update your profile, update your image (picture) or remove your picture. Pictures do not automatically appear but are sent to the webmaster for approval. This is to ensure content is appropriate. Visit our website often! The traffic you build helps keep our website active in the usage areas and makes us easier for others to find us through search engines like Google and Yahoo. We appreciate

feedback both positive and negative about our website. It helps us to keep it relevant, accurate and useful. Most of our new members find our club via the internet, so the website is a critical component

to the health of our club. X

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THE LOST SPIKE

James J. Hill, the railroad builder, was known to be exceedingly thrifty. One day he was outraged to discover a new rail spike lying on a roadbed. With fire in his eye and the spike in his hand, he went looking for the section foreman. The quick-

thinking foreman spotted his boss with the spike and hurried to meet him. “Thank goodness you found that spike, Mr. Hill. I’ve had three men looking for it for nearly a week!”

—From Singing Rails by Wayne Erbsen

Monthly Groaner:

If a Newfoundland mated with a

Basset Hound, would the offspring be a

Newfound Asset Hound?

Would it be a perfect companion for

financial sorts??

e

10

AUGUST CONTEST

We had a quite light turnout for our August “Rolling Stock” contest; two Modeler entries and four Senior Modeler Entries. I hope that this is just the normal summer slump. The Blue ribbon for the Modeler class went to Ethan Eilertsen for his St. Johnsbury & Landille County boxcar. This model shown in photo 1 started as an Accurail kit. Ethan painted it, and applied decals, then did an excellent weathering job. As you can see in the photo, if it had some ties and rail under it, it could easily be mistaken for the prototype! There was no red ribbon awarded in the Modeler class, as per the new rules, the number of awards must be one less than the number of entries. The blue ribbon for the Senior Modeler class was won by Roy Johnson for his On3 box car. This was a San Juan Car Co. kit of a D&RGW narrow gauge 3000 series car. As shown in photo 2, it was nicely presented on a realistic roadbed, and was enhanced by the hobo who was riding the rails. The red ribbon in this class was won by Pete Opila. According to Pete, this model, shown in photo 3 was a wood & paper kit, which he finished into a very realistic model. The Best of Event award was easily won by John Nahodyl for his impressive model of a large Westinghouse transformer on a pair of flats. This highly detailed model, shown in photo 4, was modified significantly by John. I was impressed by the quality and realism of the packing crates holding the various transformer components. Another nice piece of work, John! This month, you all get a chance to show off your skills in categories not covered in the regular contests, or just to enter a model which maybe wasn’t ready when its category came up this year. The contest is totally “open,” and can include non-railroad models. Feedback desired. As you know, we are experimenting with a new

contest format. The major change being Modeler/Senior Modeler classes vs. Kit Built/Scratch-Bash classes. I would appreciate your feedback regarding this new approach. I would especially like to hear from those of you who are just getting started, to learn if you find this new format less intimidating. We will keep the current format through November, but need to be planning for next year. So, to help our planning, we would welcome your thoughts regarding any changes

that would make our contest more fun for you, as “fun” should be what it is all about! The revised categories for the coming months are listed below.

REVISED CONTEST CATEGORIES

2013 Schedule

Month Category

Sept Open

Oct No Contest – Caboose Hobbies night Nov Structures

Dec Model of the Year contest (1st place and Best of Event models of the year)

“Advertising is the science of arresting the human intelligence long

enough to get money from it.” —Stephen Leacock

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SEPTEMBER 1993

Neal Miller’s photos of C&S #’s 807 & 900 parked in Loveland graced the cover of the September newsletter The monthly program was presented by RMR AP Chairman Chuck Hagemeister. His subject was “what you need to know about creating award-winning NMRA quality models”. Jerry Bengtson, project coordinator for the Longmont Library Layout construction, solicited volunteers to help build the 5’ x 9’ HO layout. He also was soliciting material donations for the layout - track, rolling stock, simple building kits, Hydrocal, ground foam, ballast, trees, bridges, tunnel portals, signals, power packs, lumber, wire, paint, and hardware. The five fall classes (Styrene Structures, Scenery with Styrofoam, Air Brushing, Turnout Controls/Plastering, and Scratch-building Rolling Stock) were rescheduled for January, 1994, due to the large number of other club activities this fall. As always, the BMRC Fall Show was booked for November 27 & 28. Jim Ferenc, the 1993 layout tour coordinator, reported the layout tours will be held either October 23 or November 6, with the tours scheduled with members of the BMRC and the Northern Colorado Division. The September Model Contest was “Unit Trains” - a minimum of five cars of any one type, not including engines or cabooses. Aaaaand the winners were ------ Tier I: First place, Brian Kistner, CSDPU Coal Train

Second place, Darel Leedy, South Park Ice Train

20 years ago, more

or less

Contributed by Bob Uhr

Third place, Kameron Price, Coal Train

Tier II: First place, Don Peterson, DSP&P Coal Train

Second place, Tom Madden, PFE Reefers

Third place, Larry Price, Logging Train

The club balance as of September 20th was $3,385.14. X

IN MEMORIUM

A memorial service for long-time BMRC member Earl Hancock will be held Sunday, September 15th at Spice of Life Center, 5706 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder. Earl passed away on July 10, 2013 following a lengthy illness.

Well, the kids are back to school signaling that the

summer has almost completely passed us by and it's time to really get busy and work on our trains. The NSIG was rather sporadic these past few months because of our members going on family vacations and yours truly doing all of his doctor visits, but it's crunch time now and we need to start meeting in earnest to finish the repairs and modifications on our modules as it is going to start getting cold out and working in the cold doesn't work to well as we have learned from the past. Our plan, if we finish, should give our module layout some new changes and we will need some more space for the December Show. By the end of September I would like to see all of the modules set up and working. We also need to get the engines and rolling stock out, do the maintenance on them , clean them and lube them to make sure that we will have a trouble-free time displaying our efforts for all to see at the Show. If we can get this work done on time we should have a great layout to display. If there are any members of the club that have some spare time and want to help or just come by and maybe learn something new, we meet weekly on Tuesdays in the shop behind my house from about 12:30 to 3:30-4:00 PM at the latest. Let me know and I will put you on our mailing reminder list. Until then, have a good one and hope to see you at the meeting.

—Warren Hester

N-SIG News

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Secretary’s Secretary’s Secretary’s Secretary’s Report Report Report Report

The August 2013 BMRC meeting at the Louis-ville Elks Club was opened at 7:08 PM by Presi-dent Joe Baldwin. There were 44 members pre-sent. Several members took advantage of the pre-

meeting refreshments and meal. Guests were Rex Beistle from the Estes Valley Club and Phil West from Berthoud, who is exploring the potential for model railroading. There are 106 paid members and 3 promised. Member Greg Pinkham volunteered as our representative for the fall multi-club swap meet. It is planned to be held in Windsor for the Estes, Northern and BMRC clubs. By show of hands, the members present preferred that the sellers be limited to club members but otherwise open to the public for purchasing. The evening program was given by professional modeler Gene Fusco and titled, "Making Precision Parts with Resin". He currently works for Inter-mountain and his previous experience was oper-ating Rail Yard Models. Making your own resin parts are valuable when you need a number of hard-to-make items. Remember, good masters make good castings. Molds are made from vary-ing hardness RTV [room temperature vulcaniza-tion] rubber. He mentioned choosing the correct material for the job and following the directions for making the mold material and resin. The profes-sionals use a vacuum chamber to remove bubbles from the mold. The urethane resin is chosen for viscosity, pot life, cure time and hardness. The other professional trick is cover plates, weights, and a pressure tank for curing resin parts. De-

2013 Timetable Sept. 19—BMRC Meeting, Tri-City Elks Lodge, 525 Main St., Louisville, 7:00PM. Optional dinner 5:30 PM at the Elks. Sept. 21—Swap Meet, at Green Mtn. Presbyterian Church, 12900 W. Alameda Pkwy. at Mississippi, Lakewood - 9AM to Noon. Sept. 28—NCMRC Layout Tour, See page 6. Oct. 17—BMRC Meeting, Tri-City Elks Lodge, 525 Main St., Louisville, 7:00PM. Optional dinner 5:30 PM at the Elks. Oct. 26—Multi-Club Swap Meet. Details TBA. Oct. 26-27—Trick or Treat Train, Colorado Railroad Museum, Golden, 10AM-4PM.

pending on detail, you get 30-40 shots from each mold before it degrades. His last thoughts were that there are many variables and experimentation is needed in casting. Members were encouraged to visit the 600+ item video library and also the extensive book col-lection. The club needs a layout tour coordinator, and the train show needs door prize and advertis-ing coordinators. The train show raffle layout is over 90% done and 70% of the tables have been sold. The floor plan layout for the show is nearly complete and a new flyer is ready for printing. There are some expensive door prizes this year and a plan is being developed to distribute them to the public. During Show & Tell, Bill Bradley passed around pictures from his recent visit to an Irish railroad museum. Bob Rothe had plastic sheets to give away and Doug Wright had BLI catalogs to take home. Roy Johnson offered a pile of railroad cal-endars. Ken Ziebarth showed how the realistic street scenes from the" Elgin Park" book are done (see book review in last month’s TELLTALES —Ed.). Joe Baldwin noted that hundreds of people view our monthly clinics on the net. The contest was administered by Jerry Gil-land. The meeting closed at 8:52 PM.

—Jeff MacDonald, Secretary

Next TELLTALES Deadline

Submissions for the SeptemberTELLTALES should be sent no later than October 3, 2013.

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On Thursday, September 12th the group will meet again

at Frank Smucker's home to continue working on some of the new Block Signals and work on getting the oil storage and other modules ready. It should be an interesting evening at Frank's, beginning at 7:00 PM, Thursday, September 12th. You are encouraged to join the HO SIG there. If you have any questions, give me a call. —Frank Smucker

HO-SIG NEWS

“Modeling and Operating with Track Scales” Jim Ferenc Jan-12

Tools, Tools, Tools Doug Geiger Feb-12

Greeley Freight Station Museum Dave Trussell Mar-12

Building Deciduous Trees Doug Wright Apr-12

Considering the Louisville ELKS Joe Baldwin May-12

Mini Clinics Gilland, Ziebarth, MacDonald, Lindgren Jun-12

Large Scale Ron Keiser & Terl Robin-son Jul-12

"Water World From the Bottom Up" Alain Rigaud Aug-12

SIG Month Smucker & Hester Sep-12

Caboose Hobbies Month Oct-12

Red Rosin Paper scenery Jim Eaman Nov-12

The Colorado Country Band Jack Rummel Dec-12

Operations Based Model Railroading John Parker Jan-13

O Scale Modeling Erik Lindgren Feb-13

Scratch Building Tips and Tricks Mike Flauding Mar-13

DCC A-Z Joe Baldwin Apr-13

Lionel Heritage Steve Klett May-13

Passenger Car Lighting Bill Botkin Jun-13

Large Scale Sam Kent & Team Jul-13

Precision Parts Casting Gene Fusco Aug-13

Wiring a Layout for Operations Rodney Black Sep-13

Caboose Hobbies Month Oct-13

Elections and Mini Clinics Nov-13

Holiday Party Dec-13

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BMRC PROGRAMS FOR 2012-2013