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The latest news about the NTGRC.
North Texas Garden Railroad Club

NTGRC News

2023 Club Calendar

Jan -
Dallas Area Train Show
Feb -
Home Meeting OPEN
Mar - Home Meeting: 
Thomas & M;Lou Lytle
Apr - Home Meeting TBD
May - Scottish Rite Train Run
Jun - Annual Meeting TBD
Jun - NGRC Kick Off
Jul - NGRC Convention
Jul - Home Meeting -
OPEN
Jul -
Cumbres Toltec Dinner Train
Aug - NMRA Convention
Aug - Cook Children's Hospital Train Run
Sep - Clark Garden's Trainfest
Oct - Fall Plano Train Show
Nov - Home Meeting -
OPEN
Dec - Annual Christmas Party


Details at www.ntgrc.org


NTGRC Events Update

November / December 2022

Seasons Greetings and welcome to the November / December edition of the NTGRC Newsletter!  I hope all our Members and readers had a very merry Christmas and are looking forward to a Happy New Year next Sunday.  It's been an eventful year for your Club as we've slowly emerged from the COVID cancellations of the past two years, and we've got some exciting events already scheduled for 2023.   In this edition, we’ll cover our November home meeting at Lawanda and Victor Jones, as well as our December Christmas party at Donna Orr's and Roger Shanks.  We'll also preview some of the events scheduled for 2023, starting with the the Dallas Area Train Show in Plano in less than a month. 
 



The President’s Car

By Thomas Lytle
 
The end of the year is approaching fast.  Christmas and Hanukkah are now behind us.  As a club, I think we have a lot to be grateful for this year.   We have added new members and we now literally have members from coast to coast.  Dallas, Oregon, through Oklahoma all the way to Miller Place, NY.
 
We had a wonderful but hot and water cleansing Labor Day weekend running trains under the big top until the heavens opened up on the last day.  Thanks to a wonderful crew all the equipment was eventually packed up and all departed for home albeit soaking wet.
 
Two good Plano Train Shows were profitable enough to help the treasury of the Council of Trains not have to sweat it out to make the deposits for future shows.  We all enjoyed the trains running with more trains running on the same loop than ever before.  Our battery operations are growing every day and every show.  The battery power conversation has led to more members running their trains than ever before.  We had a dare devil running 3 trains on the same loop, all controlled with only one controller.  AND right next door there were 4 trains running on the same loop.  The kids were thrilled and wide eyed and adults, well gawking and left wondering how.  Even with all of that, Thomas and Friends were still the big hit with the kids.
 
In early December we had our Christmas gathering.   Fun, comradery and good food was had by all.  The door prize was a 21-year-old rare LGB Christmas passenger car won by Jim Pipkin and coveted by our lovely hostess Donna Orr.  The attendance was lower than anticipated - it seemed that illness caused a multitude of cancellations.  Though members were missed, well, we just had to party on in their name and memory.
 
Your club purchased 34 Lillabo wooden train sets that were donated to Toys for Tots this year.  PLUS, 40 wooden Lillabo trains (loco, and two cars) from last year that were purchased too late to be donated to either Toys for Tots, or Channel 8’s Toy for Kids Program.   With this year’s inflation, job losses and high living costs for EVERYTHING. - we know that toy trains will be needed more than ever and will make a nice Christmas for some deserving child.


Three Car Train


Train Set With Track

This coming year holds exciting events, both home meetings at some new member’s homes and train runs at some hospitals, train shows, and the Labor Day Train Fest.

Don’t forget to support the Friends of the Cumbres Toltec Railroad.  The “Friends” are the volunteers who repair the cars, buildings and maintain the signage and clear brush along the right of way for the trains.  29 July is the “FRIENDS” moonlight wine and cheese train ride with a wonderful dinner at Osier.  The train leaves from Chama at 5PM and tickets are NOT sold by the Cumbres Toltec Railroad but by the “Friends”.   Mark your calendars and let’s see about getting a group to go together for the “Dinner Train” and then the full ride the next day.  The full train ride starts from Chama, stops at Osier for lunch and ends in Antonito.  A bus returns passengers to Chama.
 
Pondering of the Month

You all just need to assume I am right ... it’ll save time.

What is your Club thinking about?
 
Watch your next newsletter and find out.  But if you want to find out early and/or have a say into what we are going to do, come to a Board Meeting.  They are usually on the fourth Tuesday of the month at 6 PM at Spring Creek BBQ in Irving (SW corner of Beltline and Highway 183).  NOW, when we have events like train runs, hospital runs or train shows that are close to a board meeting date, we will delay the meeting and hold it during that event.  So the January Board meeting will be held at the Dallas Area Train Show.  BOARD MEETINGS ARE ALWAYS OPEN TO ALL MEMBERS.

UP AND COMING EVENTS
 
JANUARY 21st-22nd, Dallas Area Train Show in Plano.  Set up Friday, January 19th.  No Host Dinner 5:30 PM at TBD Friday.  Hotels:  Home2Suites $99 per night, 469 367 4900: Fairfield Inn, $99 per night, 972 423 9944:  Hampton Inn & Suites, $95 per night, 972-905-5786.  Call the hotels directly at the above numbers and mention "Dallas Area Train Show". 

FEBRUARY TBD, HOME MEETING - OPEN
 
MARCH 19th, Home Meeting: M’Lou and Tom Lytle, 2524 Willowdale Drive, Carrollton, TX 75006
 

APRIL TBD Home Meeting. - OPEN
 
MAY TBD, 7:00 AM, Scottish Rite Train Run 2 Days, Set-up Sunday Afternoon 1 PM.
 
JUNE TBD, ANNUAL MEETING - OPEN
 
JUNE 20th - JULY 2nd, 2023, NGRC North Bay Convention Kick-Off, Sonoma & Marin Counties (wine country), https://ngrc2023.org/north-bay-convention-kick-off/
 
JULY 1-8, 2023, NATIONAL GARDEN RAILROAD CONVENTION, Hyatt Regency, Santa Clara, CA, https://ngrc2023.org/
 
JULY 29th Friends of the Cumbres Toltec Dinner Train. Departs Chama at 5 PM, Wine and Cheese enroute to Osier, Dinner at Osier, and an almost full moon on the return trip to Chama.
 
JULY TBD, HOME MEETING - OPEN
 
AUGUST 20th – 26th, NMRA (National Model Railroad Association) International Convention “2023 Texas Express”, Gaylord Texan, 1501 Gaylord Trail, Grapevine, TX 76051 https://www.2023texasexpress.com/
 
SEPTEMBER 2-3, Clark Gardens Trainfest
 
OCTOBER Plano Train Show.  Dates still being finalized.  Set up on Friday afternoon with No Host Dinner at 5:30 PM.  Hotels:  Home2Suites $99 per night, 469 367 4900: Fairfield Inn, $99 per night, 972 423 9944:  Hampton Inn & Suites, $95 per night, 972-905-5786.  Call the hotels directly at the above numbers and mention "Dallas Area Train Show".

NOVEMBER, Home Meeting - OPEN

DECEMBER, Christmas Gathering Dinner

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

I am more than a little pleased with the progress in getting back to normal that our club has made during 2022.  As a club we have great prospects for 2023!
 
Wrapping up 2022, we had a fine November home meeting at the home of Lawanda and Victor Jones and a jolly Christmas party at the home of Donna Orr and Roger Shanks.
 
If you missed the November meeting, the Jones have a very nice layout with plenty of room for expansion. Despite the serious storms on the Friday before, everything was go for the Sunday meeting. You can see in the picture below that the weather was perfect, absolutely amazing for November. Victor is one of the members going to battery and remote. You can see him running some pretty nice trains in the picture. Pete Dahlberg and Patrick Miller are hurrying to join the fun while several other members have sought out the cool shade of the fence (this is November?).
 

Victor Controlling the Trains

Our final meeting of 2022, in December, was the annual December party hosted by Donna Orr and Roger Shanks. Walking up to their house, you know that you are in a good place looking at G-scale layouts to either side of the front walk. Once inside there was food and drink, lots of very good food – lasagna and spaghetti from the hosts and all sorts of delights brought by the guests. Their home offered lots of other delights, including an indoor layout with HO, S, and O gauges and Christmas decorations galore. All those packages were for the Chinese white elephant gift exchange. Several of us quickly figured out the optimum strategy was to claim a gift previously opened by the Pollards, Tina and John. They seemed to have X-ray vision when picking a wrapped package.


The happy attendees!

2023 is already looking fantastic. Get your trains ready for the January train show at the Plano Center the weekend of January 21 & 22. Setup will be Friday, January 20 followed by a no host dinner. Don’t be shy about signing up to run your trains – all members are welcome to run. If you forget to sign up, members are pretty good about sharing track time. We are spread out in North Texas, so some members may want to avail themselves of special rates for the train show arranged at the nearby Home2 Suites (469-367-4900) and Fairfield Inn (972-423-9944). Rumors are that the January show will have even better turnout from club members, vendors, and the viewing public than the Fall train show.
 
We are looking forward to home meetings during the year. M’Lou and Tom Lytle have signed up for March 19th. Jack Huffman will host in April – date is TBD. We do need volunteers for February and other months. Please email or call me, Vard Moore, 972-333-0491 (leave voice mail if I don’t answer).  One of my emails is vard@alumni.rice.edu, but I have several others that are just as good. You don’t need a layout to volunteer, but if you have one, no matter how complete, that’s great!
 
Because RSV has taken the place of COVID as a serious problem for children’s hospitals, we may have another year of absence from our regular visits to Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth and Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital in Dallas. That may increase our need for more home meeting hosts. Stay posted, these are traditionally important events for our club, and we will get back on their schedules when possible.
 
Don’t stop reading, there is a lot more to look forward for model railroaders in 2023. You might want to consider attending the National Garden Railroad Convention, July 1-8, (https://ngrc2023.org/ ). Headquarters will be the Hyatt Regency in Santa Clara. There are often things happening prior to the core days of the convention. In particular, there is a NGRC North Bay Convention Kick-Off, Sonoma & Marin Counties (wine country), https://ngrc2023.org/north-bay-convention-kick-off/ , starting June 30th.
 
You don’t have to travel far, however, to go to the NMRA (National Model Railroad Association) International Convention “2023 Texas Express”, Gaylord Texan, 1501 Gaylord Trail, Grapevine, TX 76051 https://www.2023texasexpress.com/. That’s right the national meeting of the all scales model railroading organization will be here in North Texas. Dates are August 20-26th. You may know that the Gaylord Texan has a permanent installation of G-scale trains in the atrium. Our member, Pete Dahlberg, is their G-scale expert. I do hope that all the smaller, more common, scales will be jealous.
 
Right on the heels of the NMRA convention, expect to attend our meeting at Clark Garden’s annual TrainFest, September 2nd and 3rd. That is the Labor Day weekend, but not Labor Day itself. Our set up should be Friday, September 1st. If you aren’t familiar with this event, we (and hopefully a smaller gauge or two) set up under a huge tent. Several of our members maintain an extensive permanent layout for Clark Gardens. Clark Gardens is west of Weatherford, almost to Mineral Wells. It would be cool if some NMRA visitors carried over to see this.
 
You won’t have time to catch your breath (and lubricate your wheels) before the Fall Plano Train Show. I don’t have details yet.
 
However, I do know that the 2023 State Fair of Texas will be September 29 to October 22, 2023. We support the permanent outdoor layout at the Texas Discovery Gardens. Our member Ron Natinsky is a good point of contact for this. We would like to supply up to two volunteers for each of two shifts each day of the fair, but we have been falling short. It’s great fun and not much work to volunteer. You get very good free parking and free fair entry on the days you volunteer! Try it! The layout runs on weekends outside of fair time, weather permitting.
 
November will be another home meeting. December will see another Christmas Dinner party. 2023 is going to be an exciting year for our club.
 

The Mail Car

By Pete Dahlberg
 
Q:  How about laying track?
  • Clearances or distances between track in both straight, and various size curves.
  • Drawstringing.
  • When to use joiner and when to use rail clamps.In using rail clamps use one or two per joint?When to use one and when to use two per joint.
  • Grades and descents.Max rise and max descent grades.
A: These are somewhat related questions.

Clearance is determined by how much your rolling stock (engines and cars) overhang the track. On a straight this will not be too much of an issue, however on curves this becomes more of an issue because the overhang will change depending on the length of the car and the size (radius or diameter) of the curve. This can be calculated through geometry but unfortunately I took geometry over 50 years ago and only remember that this can be calculated. It should be noted that if you are setting up a siding using LGB 12xxx switches (4ft dia) with LGB 11xxx curves (4ft dia)  to create the parallel track then the closest rails of the parallel tracks will be approximately 4” apart.

Draw stringing is the condition where a train on a curve attempts to go in a straight line and derails. Items which effect this are: the sharpness of the curve; the length of the cars; the swing of the couplers; and the weight at the end of the train. With sharper curves, longer cars will have more overhang. This is the start of the draw string. If the couplers on the cars are body mounted, they will have less swing than if the couplers are mounted on the trucks. This means there is more force to the inside of the curve. If the rear of the train is heavy, then there will be force holding the cars back from the direction of travel.

With regard to the use of joiners or rail clamps, it depends on balancing the cost (clamps are extra cost and now $$$) vs the reliability (joiners will more readily come apart) vs the degree of permanence required (clamps are more permanent).  As discussed in a prior article, the type of joiner will also have an effect. For a permanent layout, I would opt for rail clamps over joiners due to the degree of permanence. If the cost of clamps were excessive then I would next look at putting clamps on curves / switches and using joiners on the straights. This would be a good solution if LGB joiners were in use. If this is still too expensive then I would use the joiners but obtain a supply of clamps for replacement when the joiners loosen. If I am using clamps, I will opt for using two clamps per joint. If there are not enough clamps available to use 2 per joint, then I will place the clamps on the outside rail of a curve since the force of the train will be on the outside rail. If you have sufficient clamps to put at least one clamp on every joint, then I would try to make sure clamps were on the same rail to assure electrical conductivity.

Like full size trains, our trains are susceptible to grades. Full size trains will normally operate on less than a 2% grade. I’ve heard that our trains pretty much follow the full size. A consideration for grades is that the greater the grade the more difficult the transition from level to grade will be. If this is too abrupt, your engine may bottom out. Another factor to consider on grades is that you will have some wheel slip by the engine. If this is too great you will run the chance of grinding divots into your rail.
 



 
The Passenger Car

By Patrick Miller

Hello to all and a late Christmas Greeting for this 2022 Holiday Season!
So there has been lots going on with our club since our last newsletter. The State Fair has ended and those who were able to volunteer and help Ron Natinsky at Texas Discovery Gardens enjoyed running trains and talking with the public about our hobby. Ron can always use help during the Fair. If you can find time next year to come help, he would be very grateful. You also get free Fair tickets for volunteering which is a bonus.


Ron Natinsky joins Cindy Roerig, her friend Michael, and her Mom constructing a new building for the layout at TDG. This entertained Fair visitors.


Donna and I take advantage of the free Fair tickets.

We had a great meeting at Victor and Lawanda Jones home in Cross Roads in early November. A beautiful day and a nice group enjoyed watching Victor’s SD70’s pulling a large consist while Jack Huffman ran his colorful LGB D&RGW mogul. Both are using RailPro radio control and could run both trains at the same time. Lunch was served. Roasted chicken with yummy mac n’ cheese and tasty potato salad. Thanks to the Jones family for a wonderful get together!


Victor Jones layout with water feature.


Lawanda Jones presents the feast.


Lane Haviland, Julie Spencer, and Paul Gramza dig in.


Tina and John Pollock enjoy lunch.


Pete Dahlberg talking trains with new member Tim Hunt.


Jack Huffman enjoying the shade with Cindy Roerig and Michael as the trains run by.


Victor Jones hooks up his transition car.


Owen Jones helping dad get rolling stock ready.


Our hosts Victor and Lawanda Jones.


The Tuesday crew were busy as well. Pete Dahlberg, Jack Huffman, Charlie Greenlee, Julie Spencer, Paul Gramza, and myself reported for duty at Clark Gardens on Tuesdays (after a great breakfast) to maintain, clean, and repair their permanent four loop layout. There is always something to fix or adjust at the Clark Station depot.    


Charlie Greenlee cuts off eroding rail clamp.


Pete Dahlberg and Jack Huffman start work on a warped bridge.


Pete and Jack adjust the road bed over the water feature.


An SD70 pulls it’s consist over the fixed and newly leveled bridge.


The author does surgery on a worn USA SD30 motor block.


Julie Spencer and Paul Gramza cleaning buildings for storage during the winter.

We are always looking for an extra hand for maintenance. So, if you have some time and want a good breakfast and put your model skills to work, please come join us on Tuesdays.

Finally, we had a wonderful Christmas get together at Donna Orr's and Roger Shank's beautifully decorated home on December 4th. Donna and Roger once again hosted the party and arranged for some great Italian eats of salad, spaghetti, ravioli, and lasagna complimented with hors d’oeuvres brought by  several members. What’s dinner without dessert? There were plenty of cookies and pies and cake to enjoy!

After a great meal, we did the White Elephant gift exchange. The members had a great time and collected treasures to bring home with very little stealing. Tina Pollock was the one who picked the best items, obviously, as she had two things taken by other members who wanted them more than her.
A great night was had by all. Thank You Donna and Roger!


Thomas Lytle and “friend”.


Donna Orr entertains the early party guests.


Jim Pipkin having a laugh with Lane and Brenda Haviland.


Gary and Glenda Vigen with host Roger Shank.


Ron and Peggy Trees enjoying tasty appetizers.

That wraps up the year for the NTGRC. It was busy and went very fast. Looking forward to all the train runs and get togethers in 2023!

Now, from my seat in the dome, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
 

That's a wrap for our November / December 2022 Newsletter.  I hope to see many of our members at the Dallas Area Train Show in Plano - setup on January 20th, and the show itself on January 21 - 22.  

As always, thanks for reading.
 
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