Author: Gordon Garnhart

Gordon Garnhart

There were 35 people gathered at the Summer Hill Retirement Facility on Wednesday, November 14th. The program for the evening was a very thorough and interesting digital slide presentation by Al Carter entitled “The Tabooma County Railway: Choosing a Private Roadname – Developing a Plausible History.” He showed many progress pictures of the three model railroads he has built over the years, all called “The Tabooma County Railway.” The railroad has a history – more than just three incarnations in basements/bonus rooms over the past 24 years. It has grown, from a desire way back in the mid-1970’s to create his own model railroad empire with a unique identity, to an evolving, but “complete” idea in the form of a layout with a purpose and life of its own. He explored the concept of creating your own railroad, including:

• Why a mythical railroad?
• Geographical setting
• Time period
• Choosing a name for the railroad
• Relationship to real railroads
• Freight customers
• Passenger service

He also showed a series of photos of other layouts in the area, and talked about their themes and histories. The presentation included some anecdotes, how-to’s, and some lessons learned. He then showed some highlights of this September’s very successful National Narrow Gauge Convention in Seattle.

Please note that we will not meet in December. Our next meeting will be on January 9th at 7:00 PM in the conference room at the Summer Hill Retirement Facility in Oak Harbor. John Mann and Tom Hawkins will conduct a joint presentation “Locomotive Tune-ups – both Steam and Diesel.” We hope to see you there.

Gordon Garnhart

There were 30 people gathered at the Summer Hill Retirement Facility on Wednesday, October 10th. The program for the evening consisted of a series of mini-clinics on a variety of topics pertinent to model railroading. All of the presentations were enhanced by the use of a small television camera focused on the model being discussed and the hands of the presenter. The signal from the camera was fed into a laptop computer and from there to a digital slide projector which projected the action onto the wall. This arrangement enabled people in the back of the room to see the activity as well as those in the front row. Rich got the ball rolling with a demonstration on how to simulate a rusty surface on a model. The prototype surface would be iron or steel, of course. But the technique can be applied to any kind of surface on a model, such as the plastic body of an automobile.

Steve Jaffray explained how to apply special texture details to a model by using MicroMark’s rivet decals. Then Phil Gonzales covered several aspects of fine tuning freight car trucks. Rich Blake showed and discussed several kinds of switch stands.

by Gordon Garnhart

34 people gathered at the Summer Hill Retirement Facility on Wednesday, September 19th for our first meeting of the season. Rich Blake opened the meeting by congratulating Tom Hawkins, long time participant in Skagit Valley and Whidbey Clinic activities, on winning third prize in Model Railroader magazine’s 2012 nationwide layout design contest for the best that would fit in a 200 sq ft space. The write-up appears on pages 64 – 66 of the October issue.

Rich also gave a report on the death of Gordon Jones, a member of the group who died Saturday, August 25th after an unsuccessful battle with a malignant brain tumor. Jack Tingstad offered his fine layout to be included on the tour circuit on the first day of the 32nd National Narrow Gauge Convention held in Bellevue, September 12-15. He only expected 4 or 5 individuals because Coupeville is so far away, so he declined offers for assistance. But to his surprise, he had an estimated 50 people come through at various times throughout the day.

Our featured speaker for the evening was Eric Erickson, a retired engineering manager for the Seattle Water Department since 1988. He has spent years doing research about Logging and Sawmilling in Washington State leading to a number of books about the subject as well as transportation histories. He has provided numerous interactive slide show histories on both subjects throughout Western Washington. His latest book, Mile Post: A History of the Arlington-Darrington Branch of The Northern Pacific Railway. 1899 to 2009, was available for sale at $40.00 each at the clinic.

Eric presented an interactive slide show about logging and sawmilling including logging railroads. He is Vice-President of the Anacortes Antique Machinery Show, which held its free annual show on Saturday, September 8th in Anacortes. Featured were antique fire apparatus, old tractors, engines and more. His other activities have included:

• Life member and past Board member of the Issaquah Historical Society
• Past Board member of the Association of King County Historical Organizations
• Past Board member Black Mountain Forestry Center
• Member of the International Order of Hoo-Hoo’s
• Past Historian for the Pacific Northwest Section American Water Works Association (States of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho).

Our next meeting will be October 10th at 7:00 PM in the conference room at the Summer Hill Retirement Facility in Oak Harbor, which will return us to the second Wednesday of the month. It will feature a series of mini-clinics on a variety of subjects pertinent to model railroading. We hope to see you there.

Gordon Garnhart

There were 25 people gathered at the Summer Hill Retirement Facility on Wednesday, June 13th. Rick Blake opened the meeting with a word of appreciation to John White for his able leadership of the clinic these past twelve years. He also gave a report on the health of Gordon Jones, a member of the group who is currently receiving radiation treatments.

The main program of the evening was a series of mini-clinics. Al Carter showed slides of layouts that will be featured at theNnarrow Gauge Convention in Bellevue in September. Rich Thom showed and discussed a “Model of a Model.” It was a small mock-up about 18 inches long of his entire HO layout. He made it after he designed his track plan, but before he began construction of his layout, to help him visualize how the layout would appear when finished. He said that it was very helpful and prompted several adjustments to his track plan that proved to be beneficial. Rick Blake demonstrated a technique for weathering a flatcar wooden deck.

Sue Gonzales showed an example and described her method for weathering a cattle car. Steve Jaffray was intrigued with a unique 50 foot long, combination baggage car and caboose. He looked for a kit, but nothing was available. So he scratchbuilt the car from plans. And while he was at it, he did an excellent job of detailing the interior. Incidentally, Rick brought a video camera, which was linked to a computer, which in turn was linked to a projector, so the image of what each of the exhibitors was showing was projected large on the wall enabling everyone to see easily. Alan Murray described his method for building portable benchwork for modules.

Tom Hawkins showed and described the use of many examples of jigs and fixtures which he has made and used over the years. Dick Haines demonstrated a method for duplicating parts from an original using a rubber-like plastic molding process. John White showed examples and discussed the uses of Gatorfoam in scratchbuilding structures. Gatorfoam is an extruded polystyrene foam board bonded between two layers of Luxcell wood-fiber veneer. It is easy to work with and is very resistant to warping. And lastly, Alan Murray showed a method he uses for weathering timber construction. Our group is truly fortunate to include so many talented and accomplished individuals who are willing to share their experiences.

We will not meet during July and August, and our September meeting will be a week later than usual because of the convention. So our next clinic will be on Wednesday, September 19th at 7:00 PM in Summer Hill Retirement Facility. It will feature Eric Erikkson, who will talk about “Logging and Live Steam.” See you there!

Gordon Garnhart

There were 28 people gathered in the conference room at the Summer Hill Retirement Facility on Wednesday, April 11th for a very interesting and enjoyable meeting. The session was opened, for the first time, by Rich Blake, who presented John White with a beautifully decorated sheet cake, commemorating his 12 years of very capable leadership.

A feature of the evening was the judging, by Didrik Voss, of the entrants in the Rolling Stock Competition. This contest, shepherded by Jack Tingstad, which was first announced last September, attracted enthusiastic participation, and some very impressive entries. In the category of Craftsman Kit, first prize went to Tom Hawkins, and second prize was won by Doug Greenfield. In the category of Kit or Kit Bashed, Gordon Jones took first prize, with Susan Gonzales and Jim Tartas taking second and third respectively. The lead prize in Ready to Run was won by Rich Blake, with Thurlow Powell taking second.

In the Scratchbuilt category, Steve Jaffray’s entry took first prize and Rich Blake won second. The People’s Choice Award went to Steve Jaffray. And finally, the prize for best entry in the Built Prior to 2011 category went to Terry Kandzor. And the Honorable Mention Award was won by Al Frasch. All winners received a certificate and a small monetary award.

A scene from Di Voss' layout.

Didrik Voss also entertained the group with a very interesting and informative slide presentation entitled, “The Reality and the Model of the Everett & Monte Cristo Railway.” Di discussed his prototype modeling of the Everett & Monte Cristo Railway. The Everett & Monte Cristo Railway in Di’s basement is a prototype of a short line constructed in 1893 from the City of Everett 55 miles east to Monte Cristo for the purpose of removing gold from the Cascade Mountains. This short line was underwritten by John D. Rockefeller. It was standard gauge and connected to the Northern Pacific in Hartford, Washington. The line also provided a route to transport the large trees in the Cascade Mountains for the construction of buildings and other structures along the west coast. Most of the buildings on the layout are scratchbuilt or extensively kitbashed — from the 10-hammer stamp mill in Monte Cristo to the smelter in Everett.

Didrik is a Master Model Railroader and is currently serving as the Manager, Standards & Conformance Dept. for the NMRA. In the past he has been a Director and also Editor of the Grab Iron in the 4th Division. He lives in Mill Creek, with his wife Mary Kay. His layout has been featured in the Gazette (2001) and Model Railroad Craftsman (June 2004).

The next meeting, at 7:00 PM on Wednesday, May 9th, will feature Barry Anderson whose topic will be “How to Drive a Steam Engine.” We hope to see you there.

Gordon Garnhart

A 2-foot gauge "Baby Garratt" at the coaling dock in Umzinto, in Natal Province

There were 32 people gathered at the Summer Hill Retirement Facility on Wednesday, March 15th. John White opened the meeting with an introduction of Susan Gonzales as the new program organizer. She distributed a sheet of ideas for future programs and led a lively discussion about them.

The main program of the evening was a showing of a series of still photographs and videos of steam railroading taken by Rich Thom. By the 1980s, steam had disappeared from most of the world’s railways, and large numbers of steam locomotives remained in service in only three places: China, India, and South Africa. South African steam was some of the most unique anywhere, with designs tailored to the region’s railway lines, laid mostly with light rail, steep grades, and sharp curves. South Africa was the first to use the 4-8-2 “Mountain” wheel arrangement, years before the USA, and also famous for its Garratt locomotives, an articulated design widely used in Africa, Australia, and many other parts of the world, but never adopted in America. Steam development culminated with 4-8-4 locos, including the famous condensing locos that hauled both freight and passenger trains on the double track main crossing the waterless Great Karoo. And all this was narrow gauge–South Africa’s rails are laid to a gauge of only 3’6”.

One of the magnificent Class 25NC 4-8-4's running at 55 mph on the double tracked De Aar to Kimberly mainline

This program was based on two visits to the region: one in 1980, to both the Republic of South Africa and its northern neighbor Zimbabwe, where together well over 1,000 steam engines were still in service. The steam fleet of the National Railways of Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia Railways) was 100% Garratts at that time. A second visit was made in 2000, when only “museum” steam remained in South Africa. The program included both still photos and video.

Along the way, Rich included the story of the Garratt design; visited the “Big Hole” in Kimberley (which produced over 14 million carats of diamonds); the Victoria Falls on the Zambezi River; the engineering features of the great 4-8-4 condensers; and of course (since this is Africa!) some four-legged critters, too. He also showed a ride behind the “Baby Garratts” on South Africa’s “narrow-narrow” gauge–2-foot gauge miniatures of their larger 3’6” gauge counterparts. His travels covered several rail lines from Capetown in South Africa to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. As always, he provided a running commentary filled with historical facts, statistics, and humorous remarks that held everyone’s attention for over 90 minutes.

Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, April 9th at 7:00 PM in Summer Hill Retirement Facility and will feature Mr. Di Voss, who will talk about “The Reality and Model of the Everett & Monte Cristo” and will also judge the entries in our weathered rolling stock competition. This promises to be a very interesting program. See you there.

Gordon Garnhart

There were 27 people gathered at the Summer Hill Retirement Facility on Wednesday, October 12th to participate in our first “Panel of Experts.” John White opened the meeting with an introduction of the panel moderator, Rich Thom. Rich, in turn, introduced the panel members, and invited each of them to say a few words about what their emphasis has been in the hobby. The panel consisted of Al Frasch, Dick Haines, Bill Harper, Tom Hawkins and Jack Tingstad, all very accomplished model railroaders.

Although Rich had come prepared with a series of questions in advance, he did not need to use them. There was immediate and enthusiastic participation from the group, and thoughtful, good natured and informative responses from the panelists. Questions varied from how to keep trackage clean, how best to apply ballast, and how to select and install remote turnout controls, to safe reliable power distribution for room and layout lighting.

John closed the meeting with the announcement of a rolling stock modeling contest. Rules will be printed and distributed at the November meeting, and judging will take place next spring, probably in May.

Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, November 9th at 7:00 PM in Summer Hill Retirement Facility and will feature Mr. Martin Burwash, a local historian, who will talk about the avalanche disaster at Wellington on March 1, 1910. This promises to be a very interesting program. See you there.

By the way, the Anacortes & Fidalgo Model Railroad Club will hold their 16th Annual Open House on November 5th and 6th from 10 AM to 4 PM. They are located at 419 Q Avenue in Anacortes. Enter the basement at the north end of the building. Check it out.

Gordon Garnhart

There were 20 people gathered on Wednesday, September 14th for a visit to Dr. Nick Muff’s fabulous layout. Most folks start a layout by working toward operating as soon as they can. Then they fill in the scenery and details as time permits. Nick has taken the opposite approach. He has, in HO scale, reproduced in exquisite detail, the main passenger depot in Kansas City, Missouri, of the Kansas City Southern Ry. and the surrounding infrastructure.

General view of passenger station and adjacent trackwork. Viewers include Steve Jaffray, Susan Gonzales (taking a photo), John White (back to camera), Dan Gould and Harvey Abrams. Dr. Muff is in green shirt just beyond roof of station. A portion of the real F-7 cab is visible at right.

In his own words Nick says, “This is a landmark year for my model Kansas City Southern/Kansas City Terminal Railway layout. Long past are the days of cement, plumbing, house electrical, insulation and wallboard. Also past are the bench work, control panels, wiring and track work. This month marks the completion of structures, scenery and detailing on the existing portion of the railroad. Last to be completed were the structures and detailing of the roundhouse, coach yard and locomotive servicing facilities. I have long admired the purposeful ‘clutter’ of the roundhouse area on John Allen’s G&D. Detailing around the

Front view of station

roundhouse area was done with his work in mind, a tribute to the ‘Wizard of Monterey.’”

To this, Al Frasch adds, “And this month also marks the transition to the mainline portion of the layout, yet to be constructed. It will take a little while to regroup, and prepare the construction site. Then work will begin on a two level section of

One of the two lower levels below the station

the layout passing from Grandview, Missouri through western Arkansas to the return loop and Union Station at Shreveport, Louisiana.”

These photographs, taken by Al Frasch, clearly show the meticulous detail that abounds on Nick’s layout. The city streets have lighted streetlights and traffic signals, and the many vehicles have illuminated headlights and

One of the throats to the passenger station trackage

taillights. And not only has he done an impressive job on treating the exteriors of buildings, but many of the structures are beautifully fitted with lighted interiors showing store fronts, office workers and other details. The huge passenger terminal is lighted by elaborate chandeliers, and people can be seen hurrying across the marble floors. It is awesome and inspiring to any model railroader.

Locomotive service area

Nick’s Kansas City Southern/Kansas City Terminal Railway layout is featured in the August 2011 edition of the Model Railroad Hobbyist online magazine which is available at: http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/. This is a FREE magazine that you can either download and view on your favorite PDF view program or read online in your favorite browser. The article finishes a trilogy of layouts by members of the Skagit Valley & Whidbey Clinic. If you haven’t taken a look yet, check out the May 2011 issue for Jack Tingstad’s Cloud City & Western, and the July 2011 issue for Al Frasch’s Pilchuck Division of the BNSF. You can also view videos concerning the layouts.

Next month, on Wednesday, October 12th at 7:00 PM we will return to the Summer Hill Retirement Center for an unusual program that promises to be interesting, entertaining and informative. A panel of “experts” will be assembled, and will try to answer any and all of your model railroading questions.

Gordon Garnhart

There were 29 people gathered at the Summer Hill Retirement Community conference room on Wednesday, June 8^th.

The meeting was opened by John White leading a brief discussion to finalize the line-up of programs for the coming year.

Al Frasch's N scale barn was awarded Best Entry Runner-up

The guest speaker for the evening was Jack Hamilton MMR, who spoke about many different tools, fixtures, clamping and lighting devices that a model railroader might find useful. He also took a few jabs at some tools which Micro-Mark and other catalog sales operations tout as essential but which, in Jack’s estimation, are not very effective. He distributed a very comprehensive list of 159 different tools, what each is called, where it can be purchased, its item number in a catalog, its price and, in many cases, a commentary on its practicality and usefulness. He cited a number of examples where a fancy high-priced catalog item is not as effective as a similar tool from a hardware, sporting goods or kitchen supply store. He had examples of most of the items, discussed each one briefly, and passed it around for everyone’s inspection. His lively presentation prompted many questions and sparked many thoughts on how each of us might improve our methods, skills and techniques.

The main purpose for Jack’s visit, however, was to judge, with the assistance of Di Voss, the entries in our Scratchbuilt Dilapidated Building Contest. There were only eight entries in the competition, but what the field lacked in quantity, it more than made up for in quality. Steve Jaffray, the Competition Shepherd, announced the winners: Best Entry was awarded for the work of Jack Tingstad; Best Entry Runner-up was won by Al Frasch; Most Humorous was taken by David Laws; People’s Choice went to Iver Johnson; and Honorable Mention awards went to Al Frasch, Steve Jaffray and Curt Johnson.

The clinic does not convene in July or August, but we are looking forward to Wednesday, September 14^th and a visit to the very elaborate HO layout of Nick Muff in Sedro Woolley.

Steve Jaffray's HO scale barn

This HO scale barn was a joint effort by Iver Johnson and his son Curt

Jack Tingstad's HO scale mine structure will be used on his layout.

by Gordon Garnhart

There were 31 people gathered at the Summer Hill Retirement Community conference room on Wednesday, May 11^th. The mini swap meet brought some interesting HO freight cars.

The meeting was opened by John White distributing copies of a tentative line-up of programs for the coming year. The proposed plan was well received.

The guest speaker for the evening was Glendale historian Craig Williams of the community organization Friends of Glendale and also the South Whidbey Historical Society. Glendale is a very small community on the eastern shore of Whidbey Island, near the south end below Clinton. His topic, “The Glendale Logging Railroad and other Whidbey Island Shortlines” was well received. Craig illustrated his presentation with many interesting slides, and described fascinating historical details of equipment, structures, operations and the careers of logging entrepreneurs.

Craig has been researching the history of shortline railroad operations on Whidbey Island for over ten years. He talked about the early logging operations on South Whidbey Island, how these activities shaped the community of Glendale and the logging railroad that once ran through the Glendale area. Most of his material covered the Glendale Logging Railroad which followed the ravine of Glendale Creek northwest and then north into what was, in the nineteenth century, a densely wooded area. He also discussed a less extensive logging railroad that operated in the Keystone vicinity. Very little evidence of these operations exists today  At the conclusion of his slide presentation, Craig passed around examples of old growth wood, a fish plate, a rail bolt and a length of chain used to link rail cars.

Craig is a founding partner of West Street Associates, and is a veteran of over 30 years of International Event planning and operations. He has held top management roles for Local Organizing Committees (LOC) of several International Sporting Events, including the Olympic Games, and currently provides specialist advice to Olympic Organizing and Bid Committees. Craig has a BA degree in History from UCLA and is a Board Member of both Friends of Glendale (FOG) and the South Whidbey Historical Society. His interest in local history and in the Glendale watershed combined when he discovered remnants of an old logging railroad grade on his property and on several local trails in the Glendale watershed. He has been researching the history of the area for over 10 years and has given presentations to the South Whidbey Historical Society and to history classes at South Whidbey High School. For additional info on FOG please visit the website at www.friendsofglendale.org.

We look forward to Wednesday, June 8^th, when Jack Hamilton MMR will visit our clinic and act as chief judge of our scratch built “Dilapidated Building Competition”. This contest was originally announced in September of last year, and promises some very interesting and unusual entries.