Our presentation will be provided by Susan Gonzales on “Making your own flatcar loads”. This presentation will cover a variety of interesting flat car loads that can be made from products easily obtained at the dollar store, or your favorite online or boxstore retailer. As the price of purchased flat car loads has increased steadily over the past few years, I began researching what could be made at home. In doing the research I found some highly interesting and entertaining flat car loads. In particular, the Army and NASA seemed to have the same philosophy as the Priority Mail in that “if it fits, it ships”. Included in the presentation will be instructions on how to make your very own UFO which I built for a flat car load contest within our club.
Hope to see you all on Zoom!
Link:
4dpnrOrganizer SkagitValleyWhidbey is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: SV&W April Clinic
Time: Apr 14, 2021 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
The March 2021 SV&W Clinic will be “The Railway that Ran by the Tides” a history of the narrow gauge Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Co. presented by Oysterville resident and railroad enthusiast/modeler Mark Clemmens. The IR&N was a 36” gauge railroad that ran along what is now called the Long Beach Peninsula from the mouth of the Columbia River to the northern terminus at Nahcotta from 1888 to 1930. It was the longest lasting narrow gauge railroad in Washington and one of the most unique lines in the nation at the time. Join us on Zoom for this special presentation.
6:30 meeting open for chit chat
7:00 presentation followed by question/answer period
8:00 (or whenever done with presentation) Show and Tell if you have something
Topic: Whidbey Clinic March 2021
Time: Mar 10, 2021 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Rich Thom will be presenting our February clinic on the use of rubber rocks (not molds) which is very different that traditional scenery methods. (This is a re-do from last month where we needed to cancel due to wind storm induced power outages on wonderful Whidbey Island)
Rich Thom will be presenting our February clinic on the use of rubber rocks (not molds) which is very different that traditional scenery methods. (This is a re-do from last month where we needed to cancel due to wind storm induced power outages on wonderful Whidbey Island) Here is his newsletter description of the clinic:
Five years ago I presented a mini-clinic to the Skagit Valley & Whidbey clinic group about my initial trials of rubber rocks for scenicking my HO-scale Coldwater Creek & Cascade Railroad. I had purchased enough of the “rocks” to complete about one-third of my terrain. Compared with my past experience with conventional plaster castings, the rubber rocks were entirely different and presented a steep learning curve.
I was pleased with the first results (see photo) and decided to use the product—from Cripplebush Valley Models (www.cripplebush.net) –to complete the layout. In this updated clinic I will cover how I trimmed the rocks to size; attached them to my hardshell (itself different from what most modelers use); and most critically, colored them. I found coloring to be the biggest challenge and departure from staining plaster castings. I’ll conclude with a comparison of advantages and disadvantages, and if you tune in, you can decide for yourself whether rubber rocks are a better alternative—or not!
ZOOM LINK BELOW:
4dpnrOrganizer SkagitValleyWhidbey is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: NMRA PNR 4D Whidbey Clinic
Time: Feb 10, 2021 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Alan Murray will present a clinic on constructing the Viaduct for Jon Bentz’ Rio Como layout at the December 9th 7PM virtual meeting of the Skagit Valley & Whidbey NMRA Clinic. Construction of trestles often begins by constructing the girders, ties and installation of rails on a level base. After placing the assembly on the layout, trestle bents can be framed and trimmed to fit the topographic conditions that will exist below the trestle.
In the case of the Rio Como Viaduct, a single-lane vehicle crossing over the Rio Como main line needed to climb from the level of the mainline to a height sufficient to provide clearance for the largest Bachmann ON30, 4-6-0 locomotive. The viaduct contains a King Post span with tension rod, a 90-degree horizontal curve, vertical curves and short tangents with grades up to 15 percent. The presentation will concentrate on techniques in the construction of the viaduct. Material choices, cutting and drilling techniques, use of jigs and installation of NBW’s will be discussed.
ZOOM Link, waiting room will be open after 6:30pm for chit chat
Topic: SV&W NMRA December Clinic Time: Dec 9, 2020 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join the Skagit Valley and Whidbey online clinic this Veterans Day 11 NOV 2020 at 7:00. Rich Blake will be our presenter with the topic: “A Brief History of US Army Spruce Production in Washington”.
During World War I the allied aircraft industry was in critical need of the finely grained and light weight spruce lumber to support production of aircraft needed defend the skies above the Western Front. To overcome organizational difficulties with local logging companies in Washington and Oregon, the US Army formed the Spruce Production Division in order to coordinate logging interests and greatly bolster lumber production. Their efforts can arguably be credited with winning the air war in Europe. Rich will review some of the locally interesting logging sites, equipment, railroad grades and history in and around the Olympic mountain range related to this massive effort.
This meeting will be on Zoom and is open to anyone reading the Grab Iron. We also encourage any short “Show and Tell” segments for anyone who would like share their modeling or stories related to Veterans and Railroading.
Below is the information for the Zoom meeting. The lobby will open at 6:45pm and the meeting will start at 7:00pm.
4dpnrOrganizer SkagitValleyWhidbey is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Whidbey Monthly Clinic Time: Nov 11, 2020 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Adding to the library of 4D online clinics, SV&W will be kicking off monthly virtual clinics starting this Wednesday at 7:00pm. Rich Blake will be describing some of his techniques modifying and detailing some of his steam locomotives to enhance their appearance as well as better operation. Disassembling and modifying a brand new locomotive can sometimes seem like a daunting task. Emulating a prototype and super detailing a locomotive can however be one of the more interesting and rewarding parts of your modeling.
This will be a Zoom clinic with link details below. For most people on a computer you just need to click the link below and run Zoom from a browser like Chrome or Explorer. After the presentation portion we will also allow time for short show and tell segments if you want to share anything. All you need is webcam and microphone enabled on your computer or device for sharing.
4dpnrOrganizer SkagitValleyWhidbey is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: SV&W Clinic
Time: Oct 14, 2020 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Readers who have crewed on my HO-scale Coldwater Creek & Cascade RR during the past eight years have been greeted when entering the layout room by the scene in Figure 1—a granite defile spanned not by proper bridges but two pieces of ½” plywood subroadbed. When I started my layout in 2008 (having been away from the hobby since 1962) I sought the advice of local experts about the construction sequence for a layout designed for operations, which was entirely new to me. All advised laying track and beginning op sessions as soon as possible, leaving scenery and time-intensive structures such as bridges until later, so that the operation scheme and track plan were debugged first. It was good advice, but I didn’t quite follow it. Unhappy with my bare plywood empire I charged ahead and completed the scenery next, leaving the plywood spans in place where bridges would be, well, “someday.” That left the conundrum shown in Fig 1: scenery 90-percent finished—but no bridges. I had two choices here. I could cut away the temporary spans, removing the track, cork roadbed and subroadbed entirely, then build the bridges the usual way, from the ground up. However, I had seen an article in Railroad Model Craftsman (“Building Trestle at North Crags” by John Olson, Dec 1978) in which the author described cutting the subroadbed away, but keeping the rails in place, then building the bridge and abutments underneath them. More or less bass-ackwards! The advantage, especially for a bridge or trestle on a curve, is the preservation of smooth curvature as well as precise level across the span. That seemed appealing so I have built most of my bridges in this manner.
Fig 1 – Project Start
I’ll use the example of my Silver Falls Bridge, the upper span in Fig 1, to describe the construction sequence. The 1:87 pile driver crew came out to the site to have a look at the sheer granite walls on each side and, after a few unkind words about the railroad’s surveyor, announced that no piles could be driven there. Some sort of single span was needed rather than a pile trestle. My modeled year is 1928 so I could have prototypically selected a steel girder span—I have them elsewhere on the layout and it would have been far easier—but since this was a foreground model I chose a timber deck truss bridge, with its fussy tension rods and nbw’s. I used a Kalmbach publication plan, shortened by one panel to fit my 50-foot span.
Building the deck truss bridge used standard methods at the workbench (Fig 2). Stripwood and bridge ties are from Mt. Albert Scale Lumber (now distributed by Fast Tracks), pre-stained with Micromark Bridge and Tie Stain. Having tried several glues, I use Aleene’s Tacky Glue, either standard or fast-grab variants depending on whether the workpiece is held tightly in a jig, or needs the fast-grab action. Nbw’s are from Tichy Train Group. Tension rods are 0.028” brass wire or 2.4” in HO, just slightly oversize but easier to see.
Fig 2 – Silver Falls Span Built at the Bench
Now for the fun part! First the plywood subroadbed and cork roadbed were cut away (Fig 3) using a Zona 5” saber saw blade. The granite rock faces by the way are Cripplebush rubber rocks, which though more time-consuming to paint than plaster or resin alternatives, I am very pleased with. I presented a Skagit Valley & Whidbey NMRA clinic on their use in 2016. Next the flextrack plastic ties were removed. The blue painter’s tape marks ties that are to remain in place; these will be set in ballast on the concrete abutments.
Fig 3 – Subroadbed and Cork Cut Away and Flextrack Ties Removed
The next step, Fig 4, was to carefully clamp the pre-fabricated span to the rails. None of the clamps in my toolbox was quite right for the job, so I jury-rigged the pair seen here. Alignment is important; to get it right I drew pencil lines on the bridge ties for locating the rails.
Fig 4 – Span Clamped to Rails
The next step was to build the abutments below the suspended bridge span. I used basswood and artist’s mat board to simulate concrete abutments, sealing the mat board well so that it didn’t warp with subsequent applications of acrylic paint. This is the most tedious step in the sequence, requiring a number of height measurements from tie level to the pre-existing terrain. In Fig 5, the abutments are completed and ready for painting. They were blended into the existing rock terrain with Sculptamold, which was then carved with striations to match the features of the rubber rocks. All was then given a coat of white acrylic gesso. I used gesso liberally in my scenery coloring as an undercoat, to even everything out over varying materials and increase reflectance and brightness, a trick I learned from my artist son. The white stream below the span is a coat of gloss mod podge which will dry clear; this was unrelated to the bridge work and just done at the same time.
Fig 5 – Abutments Ready for Painting
The bridge span was repositioned into place and rails spiked to the bridge ties. Guard timbers and their nbw’s were added as a final step. The completed Silver Falls Bridge is shown in Fig 6, with the CC&CRR’s heaviest loco—a 2-4-4-2—giving the bridge an axle-load test; it passed. I sized timbers and other features for an E-55 rating, or slightly lower. The abutments were weathered with India ink washes and Bragdon powders, and some simulated foliage and moss added.
Fig 6 – Bridge Installation Complete
I’m not recommending that you build your bridges this way, but having boxed myself in by largely completing my scenery before tackling the bridges, it worked satisfactorily for me. There are several better ways, only one of which is illustrated in Fig 7. The idea here is, when you build your basic layout framework—stringers, risers, subroadbed—instead of keeping the subroadbed continuous across your future bridge locations as I did, construct a removable “bridge frame,” highlighted in yellow in the figure. It’s built of 1 x 3’s or 1 x 4’s or whatever your chosen lumber size is, and includes abutment and pier supports as shown. Lay your track and begin op sessions and run for years this way if you want to—but don’t complete the scenery around the bridge frame. When you’re ready to build your bridge or trestle, remove the frame, the top piece of subroadbed, and build the bridge on the frame at the bench. Reinstall the bridge frame with its completed bridge and fill in the scenery around it. Maybe on my next layout!
During this interesting time of following the “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” directive from the state, I am finding things a bit more challenging to avoid “honey-dos” since I’m in the house all the time. Sure this may be a great time to work on house projects but what fun is that.
So in order to get away from the world and especially chores for a while, I imagined a setup for my modules that could be used for testing and motivation to work on the real important home projects – model railroad stuff!
I am part of the Pacific Northwest On30 Modular Group and have six modules in my shop. Most of the time however the modules are stored in their transportation configuration and are only set up if I need to fix track or plant a structure. They share the shop with other vehicles and projects that usually get more attention and I normally don’t have a lot of time to work on them let alone set them up and run stuff on them.
Well the last few weeks have been a different story. Being in quarantine and working all day from my kitchen table “office” on the phone and on the computer, I am pretty much toast at the end of the work day and need to get out of the house. The only place I can go is the yard or the shop. While out organizing some stuff in the shop while I was bored, I found some birch plywood that could be possibly be used make a couple 22 inch radius curves. I thought, hey I’ve got four straight five foot modules that I could connect together and have an oval for continuous running. And so was born the idea for the “Isolation Circle Central”.
Normally a storage area, this is now the domain of the “Isolation Circle Central”.
A few evenings of chopping wood and laying track resulted in
a seemingly basic circle to run trains around on my finished and work-in-progress
modules. There is no way my ol’ lady is
going to negotiate that duckunder – so the “social distancing” part of the
setup was an extreme success.
Nemah Valley No 8, a 2-4-4-2 passing the water tank at Willapa Cranberry Farms module.
The layout is powered by a Digitrax Zephyr with a Digitrax PR3 to interface with a computer and run JMRI WiThrottles. This way I can run two (or six) locos at once on the cellphone Engine Driver app. I also modified one of my modules to provide a programming track for use with the PR3. Normally we program locos “off layout” on a test track but since I’m using the PR3 for the computer anyway, may as well upgrade capability and use the direct programming feature also. It is certainly much more convenient to program and test on the same track.
JMRI “Engine Driver” app is used as a WiFi throttle with up to six locos that can be controlled at a time. One or two is plenty for normal use.This engine house track has been modified to also serve as a programming track using a Digitrax PR3 interface.The Digitrax PR3 can be seen temporarily screwed to the module support leg structure. Hidden switch provides selection between “Run” and “Program”.
For our PNWOn30 Group we use JMRI Operations Pro to provide switchlists for our operations under TT&TO rules. My modules are already built up as locations with the appropriate spurs in the JMRI program for operations. All I had to do was create a modified route to only include my four modules and select cars from my inventory to be used for operations.
Dedicated computer for JMRI is clamped to a plank that is also clamped to the module legs.
So, with little effort I had JMRI setup to run switchlists specifically for my setup. I designated one of the corners as a staging yard and run a route from staging to staging traversing all the modules and performing set outs and pick ups according to the JMRI generated switchlists. Between each module “location” I do a complete lap around the layout to get some distance before the next module stop. All told the “Circle Job” takes a little over an hour to complete. That’s the time for at least one cup of a refreshing beverage and certainly supports the “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” directive.
Remember when black and white photos were all the rage. This is a Mount Blue kit On30 caboose.The No. 8 heading through the Bay Lumber Company – Camp 4 modules. Setting up the modules and running trains allows for practicing some photography that I normally never have time to do at train shows.
In communication with our gracious venue host – Summerhill Assisted Living Facility – we have cancelled our March 12th clinic due to risk to residents and visitors during this time of the COVID-19 Coronavirus outbreak. In accordance with the Washington State Department of Health guidelines related to the outbreak emergency, Summerhill will be enforcing a “no-visitor” policy until further notice. SV&W respects and understands this decision.
We are still planning to have our regular clinic on the 8th of April at the Summerhill venue provided we have better news in a few weeks on this epidemic. In mean-time we are advising all model railroaders to be safe and observe good preventative measures.
