NTGRC Events Update
March/April
Welcome to the March/April NTGRC Newsletter. Now I know what the sports editors of newspapers feel like these days (for those of you that still read newspapers). There’s not a lot of content to write about in these trying times when most events have been shut down! You may recall we did not hold our normal home meeting in February because we could not find a venue, and we had to cancel our scheduled home meeting in March due to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) restrictions. We’re announcing at this time that we are also cancelling our April 26
th home meeting at Jack and Joyce Huffman’s home, as well as the May 18
th-19
th train run at Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital in Dallas. Scottish Rite is doing no surgery or patient care at the hospital until after June 1
st. Thank you, Jack and Joyce, for volunteering to host the April meeting. I hope you’ll volunteer to host again and get on the Club’s calendar when things return to normal. I, and many others, were looking forward to seeing your layout! As of now, our next scheduled event is the Annual Home Meeting at Vard and Becky Moore’s home at
6175 Preston Creek Ct, Dallas, TX 72540, on Sunday, June 14
th at 2:00pm. This will be our annual State of the Club meeting, as well as Board Member elections for next year, so we’d like to get a good attendance at this meeting.
For those that have outdoor layouts, I hope our members are able to spend some productive time working on them since we’re limited on some of the other activities we can perform. I’m finding that due to our nice wet Spring (Lewisville Lake is over 5 feet above the “full” pool level), I’m having to spend more time working on the Garden side of things, trying to keep the weeds and grass under control, rather than the much more fun activity of keeping the trains running. We still have a few interesting items for your reading pleasure though, so read on to find out the latest news about the Club.
The President’s Car
By Thomas Lytle
Now, the end of March is past and it is time for articles for our newsletter. I just do not feel in the mood to do this. (I really never do, but Pete always beats me to the punch in submitting them to our Webmaster, Ron Trees, long before I even think it is time to write an article.) Ron does such a fantastic job, so I hope you all will think about all he does and thank him the next time you see him. It is a tedious and long job, and rarely does he get praise.
We are all shut in. I was hoping 6 April would be the reopening day, but I really think it will be much longer before we can resume some sense of being normal again. There are no sports to watch, but I meet a woman sitting on the couch next to me. She seems nice. We are watching many recorded TV series episodes together and having a good time. I hope she stays around.
Some places are still open to the public (just maintain spacing please). One of our two supported outdoor trains venues is open. The one in the east of the Metroplex (Discovery Gardens) is closed, but the one in the west of the Metroplex (Clark Gardens) is open as of this writing. A good excuse to get out on a sunny or even cloudy date and enjoy the outdoors.
When open, both Discovery Gardens and Clark Gardens are both in need of club members volunteers, so contact either Pete Dahlberg (Clark Gardens) or Ron Natinsky for Discovery Gardens to find out what and when you can help. Remember to tell the front desk at Discovery Gardens you are there to work on the trains and there will be no entry fee. Clark gardens is still dog friendly. (Just pick up any solids please).
The West side has also been busy. Crews working with Pete Dahlberg and JC Greenlee have been replacing 25 plus year old power controllers and remote controls with new full filtered power units and controller that are fully digital. Also, wiring and other essential components are being replaced. The four loops all have new digital controls installed and are up and operational. There might be a time in the near future where all four of the loops will have two trains operational at the same time - currently loop four is the only loop with two different trains operating on the same track. All locomotives have been serviced and needed parts have been ordered and/or installed. Two or three are still needing work (volunteers?). Some trestles and bridge supports have also been replaced. I know that three bridges still are awaiting installation at Clark Gardens. Also, replacement ballast is needed in various spots. Contact Pete at 817-478-4776 if you’d like to volunteer.
Now on the East side of town, I am sure Discovery Gardens needs some ballast replacement, but also (when open) operators are needed to sit and watch the trains for a block of time. Also, Discovery Gardens is needing buildings and some interior work on the new train building. If you are interested in helping in the above areas (electric, lighting and outlets; insulation, and a work bench) contact Ron Natinsky at 214-415-2400.
Thanks to all the above for helping with “THE TRAINS”
PLEASE, ALL OF YOU MARK YOUR CALENDARS AND COME TO A BOARD MEETING. We hold them at 6 PM (because we go through and get our dinner, and eat and discuss our Club) at
Spring Creek BBQ, 3514 W Airport Freeway, Irving 75062. Watch for BOGO coupons in a mailer in your mail box. There was no meeting for March and most likely will not be one in April either. Why? Well, I know you all think you are young. I do because I avoid mirrors. We have members like Wayne and Dick Meyer, Mike Pritchett, Ryan Reed, James Dolande, David Valdez, Edi and David St. John that can still bend over, kneel down, get up from a chair without grunting. My mind says I can do all that also. However, when I bend over, I can’t for long periods; I need a brace or helping hand to get up from kneeling (and my knees make really weird crackling noises) and everyone thinks I am younger (even me) than 73 until I get up from a chair and tell everyone around me that was my knees popping, I am not passing gas (though that sometimes happens also).
But anyway, we will resume board meetings and home meetings as soon as it is safe for our mature and more experienced club members to safely attend. See the event schedule below.
Pondering of the Month
The beach (any beach, but Maui in particular) …………… The only place where salt lowers your blood pressure.
What is your Club thinking about?
We have the second LED light fixture to install in the trailer and replace some tie down rings. Looking for a warm day and one where David and Tom will be off at the same time. New tires for the trailer.
Still have three bridges to install at Clark Gardens. Four people will be needed to accomplish this task.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
APRIL 26th - Jack and Joyce Huffman home meeting –
CANCELLED due to COVID-19.
MAY 18th-19th – Scottish Rite Train Run 2 Days, Set-up Sunday Afternoon 17 May 1 PM –
CANCELLED. Scottish Rite is doing no surgery or patient care at the hospital until after June 1
st.
MAY 30TH-JUNE 6TH NGRC, Nashville Tennessee. Their web site (
ngrc2020.com) says that at present, the Opryland Resort is still holding all events slated for May and beyond, and that all parties are accountable for room reservations, including NGRC 2020. As of this writing, they are hopeful the convention goes on.
JUNE 14th: 2:00 – 4:00 PM – ANNUAL HOME MEETING – Vard and Becky Moore’s,
6175 Preston Creek Ct, Dallas, TX 72540. (State of the Club and Board Member elections)
JULY DATE TBD, 2:00 PM - HOME MEETING Robby Greene…. Swear in of new Board Members
AUGUST 5th 8:30 AM to 4 PM,
— COOKS CHILDRENS Hospital Train Run One Day
SEPTEMBER 5TH AND 6th Clark Garden’s Labor Day Weekend Train show. Set up on September 4
th, with a No Host dinner to follow at the Mesquite Pit in Mineral Wells (not in Weatherford). Hosted dinner on September 5
th by Clark Gardens. Reservations @ Best Western Mineral Wells 940-325-2270
SEPTEMBER 27th—OCTOBER 20th, Texas State Fair... Ron Natinsky needs members for two blocks of time daily during the Fair to run trains. Free parking and if names turned in, in advance free Fair Admission for two. (two must run the trains)
OCTOBER 12th One Day Fall Council show Plano— (might be a 2-day event) Set up 11 Oct at 1 PM.
No Host Dinner @ Bavarian Grill: 221 W Parker Rd, Plano (20% off food and beverages) for ALL club members.
NOVEMBER Date TBD, Swap Shop at Discovery Gardens.
DECEMBER DATE & LOCATION TBD Annual Christmas Meeting.
May your tracks be true; your stay on passing’s be short; do not take any dead-end sidings and keep her between and out of the ditches.
The Combo Car
By Vard Moore
Alas the March meeting will not take place because of the pandemic. Please thank Ron and Peggy Trees for volunteering to host the March meeting. Past meetings at their house have been such a pleasure, and Ron has always had trains running on an interesting layout.
One of the good things about staying at home is looking at photos of past trips. This month I want to share with you a visit to the Gabis Arboretum at Purdue Northwest. It was still called Taltree Arboretum back when these pictures were taken. Of course, what is a garden if it doesn’t have a railway! They have one and it is magnificent. The layout is 2 ½ acres with 3000 feet of track.
The Arboretum itself is over 300 acres and is located west of Valparaiso, Indiana. Unlike the Dallas Arboretum, it is quite rural and uncrowded. The signage used to be very poor so watch your GPS map carefully. It is usually less than two hours from O’Hare Airport in Chicago, but driving time can increase dramatically at rush hour.
The garden railway is found behind the train station building, which is the main building for the Gabis Arboretum. There is a large basement providing a workshop and storage for trains. Please note that the trains usually run only on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 9 to 5 in reasonable weather.
The largest contiguous portion of the railroad includes a mountain section, a prairie section, and a waterfront section. These are pictured below. That’s me with the mountain section behind me. I am pretty big so you can get an idea of the scale of things, and the picture doesn’t show it all.
The prairie section is pretty spread out with a fine selection of plants as you can see. The different parts of the layout have signs providing historical information.
There are operating water features such as rivers and streams throughout the main section of the layout. The waterfront is shown below.
Have I pictured everything? No way. I have pictures of some parts of the main part in the center, which is surrounded by a concrete walkway. However, there are several smaller operating sections placed around the outside of the sidewalk. You haven’t seen it all. I hope you get a chance to visit someday. I certainly want to return someday. If you do visit northwest Indiana, I can recommend a restaurant in Valparaiso called the “Industrial Revolution.” As the picture shows they have a pretty G scale railroad themselves.
As noted earlier, the corona virus has caused cancellation of our March and April meetings. The Discovery Gardens at Fair Park are also closed. Be sure to watch your e-mail for notices of schedule changes and stay healthy. Take care.
The Mail Car
By Pete Dahlberg
Q: Why is it so difficult to connect pieces of track from different manufacturers?
What are recommended ways of joining different manufacturers’ track?
A: These questions are related.
A rail consists of 3 parts: the head; the web and the foot. The head is the rounded part at the top, the foot is flat bottom piece and the web is the vertical part separating the head and the foot. Although the standard rail in large scale is code 332 (or .332 mm high) the dimensions of the head, web and foot are not standardized. Therefore when you compare the profile of 2 manufacturers’ rail you will see differences. For example, Aristocraft track has a thicker web and wider foot than LGB track. It should also be noted that the height of the rail for different manufacturers varies. I believe Garden Railways did a comparison about 10 years ago.
Similarly, there is no standardization of rail joiners between manufacturers. For example, a LGB joiner is made of a relatively heavy gauge brass which uses friction on the web and foot to hold the joiner in place. On the other hand, Aristocraft joiners use a lighter gauge brass which is held in place by small screws into the web.
Therefore when connecting LGB to Aristocraft track if you are using the LGB joiners, the joiners will be pushed open because of the wider web and foot. Conversely, if you are using the Aristocraft joiners you will need to drill a hole into the LGB web and tap the hole so that the joiner can be screwed in place.
The optimal solution of how you connect track from different manufacturers’ will be effected by the type of layout you are building.
If it is going to be a permanent layout, then you have several options besides the joiners. For example you can use the joiners but then solder the joints. Alternatively you can use the joiners and solder jumper wires around the joint. The down side of soldering the track is that if you ever need to replace a piece of track you will have to unsolder the joints. Another alternative is to replace the joiners with rail clamps. If you use the clamps which have one side which can independently grip each rail (“split jaw”) then you will have good mechanical connections which are relatively easy to remove when necessary.
If the layout is going to be temporary, then you are pretty much limited to using joiners. There are several options which can make the connections more secure. The approach NTGRC will be using is as follows:
- LGB joiners will be used on all track
- The joiners will be soldered to the “original” rail to keep them from sliding
- The ends (web and feet) of Aristocraft rail will be slightly ground down so that the contour more closely resembles the contour of LGB track.
- Initially when joiners become loose they will be crimped back into shape.
- If a joiner does not respond to crimping, an over the joiner clamp will be used during a show. Subsequent to the show the joiner will be replaced.
In summary for permanent layouts
- Rail clamps are recommended but the offset is additional cost.
- Joiners can be used but some sort of fix is necessary in order to preserve electrical connectivity. It is difficult to solder to rails because they are very good heat sinks.
For temporary layouts
- All solutions have downsides with varying degrees of cost and effort.
- Rail clamps could be used but there is additional cost and set up and tear down times will be increased
- All one style joiner can be used but a conversion effort is needed and some cost is involved
- Original joiners can be used but some means of assuring good mechanical and electrical connection is needed.
That wraps up our combined March/April Newsletter. Please, everyone stay as safe as possible during this unprecedented time. We want to see everyone healthy and ready to socialize at Vard and Becky Moore’s home in June.
As always, thanks for reading.
