Category: Skagit Valley and Whidbey Island Clinic

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.

Gordon Garnhart

There were 27 people gathered at the Summer Hill Retirement Community conference room on Wednesday, April 13^th. The mini swap meet brought some HO locomotives, some rolling stock, both freight and passenger, and a few buildings.

The meeting was opened by John White leading a discussion on recent progress in the project to furnish modeling kits to hospitalized veterans. We may even be able to provide coaching to help a veteran get started in his project.

An informal survey was conducted to determine what programs for next year might be of greatest interest to the group. A lively discussion followed.

For the main event of the evening, Dick Haines offered a very interesting, comprehensive and thought provoking presentation on modeling water on a model railroad layout. He talked about the various forms that water takes in a landscape, such as streams, rivers, lakes, ponds, rapids, falls and surf. He suggested gathering photographs or taking your own photographs of examples of the kind of water situation one intends to model. We should try to make our water look as realistic as we can and yet, the water should not be a focal point in itself but should point to some aspect of the layout related to operations such as a bridge, a pier or a sawmill. And don’t just think about the water, but also consider the adjacent land features, so that the surrounding landscape looks logical. Make the water surface appropriate to its circumstances; should it be smooth rippled or wavy. Ripples and waves are in motion in real life, but are static in a model and only suggest motion. But there are some ways to create the illusion of motion. He then showed a sketch of a revolving screen covering ceiling lights that cause rippled or wavy water to sparkle. He followed that with a demonstration of a waterfall made of a silica or acrylic sheet with an irregularly shaped surface and back lighted with a small light bulb mounted within a revolving motor driven perforated drum that gave the illusion of falling water. He talked about, and showed examples of various materials applied to glass, showing different smooth and rough surfaces  He distributed copies of a very comprehensive list of products that are available, together with cost information and comments on effectiveness and ease of use. The program was well received.

We look forward to Wednesday, May 11^th, when Craig Williams will talk about “The South Whidbey Logging Railroad”, a real narrow gauge railroad that existed on Whidbey Island at one time.

Gordon Garnhart / photo by Rich Thom

There were 29 people gathered at the Summer Hill Retirement Community conference room on Wednesday, March 9th. The mini swap meet brought some diesel engines, a variety of rolling stock, both freight and passenger, and a few buildings.

For the main event of the evening, Rich Thom showed some excellent slides and a fine video of Narrow Gauge Steam! In this program, Rich took us on a video tour of two of America’s favorite–and arguably finest–surviving narrow gauge steam railroads, central Pennsylvania’s East Broad Top Railroad and, in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico, the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, which is the longest surviving remnant of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad’s once vast 36” narrow gauge system. Although the same gauge, the two railroads are worlds apart in character. We were shown these railroads as they were 14 years ago and, although both survive, they offer today nothing like the activity captured in this program. On the EBT, all four of their then-operable 2-8-2 Mikados were in action for one of their last Fall Spectaculars. (Today only one EBT steam loco is serviceable.)

Opening the line in May 1997 for the summer operating season

On the C&TS, we rode the Cumbres Pass for the very last run of the last surviving D&RGW steam driven rotary snowplow, ALCO-built (1923) plow OY, as it cleared the winter’s snow on the 4-percent grade out of Chama east to Cumbres and beyond. Three of the railroad’s hefty Class K-36 Mikes were needed to push the plow slowly up the hill. We had an inside look at plow OY, as well as a ride in the cab of the lead K-36 as it cleared deep snow around Tanglefoot Curve. All during the slides and the video, Rich provided a running commentary on what we were seeing, including dates, places, and fascinating historical details. The video was complete with stereo sound for the steam enthusiast, and showed many details to inspire modelers. Most of the video and a great majority of the photographs were taken by Rich.

We look forward to Wednesday, April 13th, when Dick Haines will discuss various water effects that will enhance the scenery aspects of our layouts.

by Gordon Garnhart

There were 27 people gathered at the Summer Hill Retirement Community conference room on January 12^th. Our mini swap meet brought a variety of items and some lively shopping ensued.

John White opened the meeting, calling our attention to a very worthwhile program called “Heartbeat, Serving Wounded Warriors”. It was started a few years ago by Janice Buckley of Snohomish, Washington, to provide support for the spouses and families of our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The scope of the effort was recently expanded to help wounded veterans cope with their long recovery periods in veterans’ hospitals. Plans are beginning to come together to furnish kits of railroad cars or structures and/or supplying them with simple tool kits to give them something interesting to do. The thought was also expressed that the kits do not necessarily need to be railroad oriented.  Performance R/C Hobbies, located on Fairhaven Avenue in Burlington, will be actively participating in this program by furnishing some of the kits and tools.

John also called attention to the excellent job that Al Frasch does with his monthly “Skagit Valley & Whidbey NMRA Clinic” newsletter. It is a fine communications tool and serves as a bonding agent for the group.

Steve Jaffrey presented a very good program explaining how to scratch build a dilapidated building. He talked about various kinds of foundations used for barns, sheds and houses 100 years ago. He described methods of framing, and ways to distort the structural components to represent sagging and deteriorating conditions. He showed various kinds of roofing materials and passed around many examples of all of these aspects of construction. Steve talked about various kinds of paints, stains and thinners, and demonstrated techniques to achieve a weathered or neglected appearance. His program was well received.

We will next meet on Wednesday, February 9^h for a program presented by Max Maginness, MMR, entitled “New Zealand Railways”.