Pikes Peak "N" Gineers Model Railroad Club

THE RAILHEAD

SEEKING SERIOUS N-SCALE MODEL RAILROAD FUN SINCE OCTOBER 13, 1989

Important Dates
Layout Hours and Address
Just a reminder
Members notice
Notice to Affiliate members
Cigarettes causing us trouble!
The care & feeding of modules
Members are responsible!
Our rent is up, up, & away!
Welcome, Hobbs family!
Joe's box, a place to hide the bodies
The circus comes to Joeyton!
Street lights in Sweetgrass
Earthquake in Grizzly Gulch!
Practical paint stripping guide
Whistle Stop: Steam loco types

Pikes Peak "N" Gineers Model Railroad Club just finished one of its more successful activities March 28 and 29 in all respects. Not only did the members come out and help the club but they found a successful Great America Train Show which had many more N scale offerings at better prices. Literally thousands of people viewed our layout. This resulted in more money for the club and an invitation to participate in the prestigious regional National Model Railroad Association show in June. Last, but not least, our layout was voted fourth most popular out of eleven by the show visitors. Not bad.

As was mentioned last month, Joe organized a crew to pull our Traveling Layout out of figurative mothballs, clean it up and make sure that it could be run. Minor repairs were made. Then, on Friday night, March 27, Joe brought his trusty van and trailer to the club. We loaded the layout and all of its assorted equipment. Since GATS was a big deal, we also loaded a wooden easel which Larry donated to the club, another easel on loan from Ann, a very nice display board on loan from Penrose Hospital, stools, collector cars, hats, patches, our older TV and VCR, etc. Many thanks to all of those who donated and provided the extras that helped make our part in GATS very successful.

A number of members met Joe at the bagel shop in Monument on time, 6:30 Saturday morning. (Joe wanted some breakfast to eat on the way north. Unfortunately, the bagel place was closed. Sorry, Joe).

The PPNG group headed north, hungry. We arrived at the National Western Complex without incident and, at 8 o'clock, started hauling everything in. We were soon joined by other members. With Vicki, Jim, Jeff, Glenn, Rick, Joe, Paul and Charley pitching in, we were operational by 9:15. That gave us all plenty of time to scope out the other layouts and the vendors' merchandise.

Oops! We forgot the cables to connect the VCR to the TV. Several members volunteered for the onerous job of visiting some of the Denver hobby stores and picking up a cable on the way back to GATS so that we could view Mike Peck's video of our February open house. Our members were as impressed with the video as was the public. Showing a video proved to be a good idea.

The show started on time, 11:00 am. In the first hour, more people viewed our layout than we see during an open house weekend. It was great. People were impressed and said so. Shortly thereafter, Ann, Larry, Margaret, Craig, and Steve appeared and helped out. Crowds visited all day long. The show closed promptly at 5 o'clock.

Sunday show session started off promptly at 11:00 am. Craig, Joe, Rick, Larry, Ann, Paul, Charley, and Steve were ready to go. While some were running trains and greeting our visitors, others checked out the show to find what they had missed the day before.

GATS ended promptly at 5:00 PM. Forty minutes later, Joe, Rick, Ann, Paul, Larry, Craig, and Charley had everything smoothly disassembled, packed up, loaded and gone. It just goes to show how a lot of helping hands makes the work light and easy.

This group met again at the club and unloaded Joe's trailer and van. The money we had collected was reconciled and everybody went home pooped.

We had sold a number of club cars, hats, patches, and shirts. Sales were good. GATS donated some money to us as well. Details about all our financial successes will be reported at the April meetings.

The club owes a special thank you to Mike Peck for making the video of our February open house. It was a clear asset to our presentation.

Another special thank you is due to Rick Shumpert who took the time and his camera and created 20 digital pictures of our club layout for display at GATS.

Another special thank you is due Nancy Roberts, who patiently taught her husband, John, how to use his computer (again) so that he could take Ricks digital pictures, refine them, and reproduce them for our static display.

Of course, we owe John Roberts a special thank you for blowing the best part of a morning putting up with Charley, feeding him coffee while enhancing Rick's pictures. John donated the expensive paper and color toner required to produce the pictures.

And, a very special thank you is due to Craig Kleinman who took 16 club cars with him on his recent business trip and assembled all of them. Some of those cars might not have been sold had they remained kits.

Finally, a very, very, special thanks to Joe Morgan who was the dispatcher for this activity. Under Joe's adroit direction, everything-transportation, preparation, layout set up and tear down-went smoothly. Everybody got to run trains, spend money, and just have fun. You can't beat that.

*****************

Near the end of the show on Sunday, we were visited by a National Model Railroad Association representative, who said he had just flown in from London, England. He talked with our Superintendent Craig and invited Pikes Peak "N" Gineers to participate in NMRA's regional show in June. After briefly consulting with the six or so club members present, Craig accepted on behalf of the club.

Because this invitation will mean being in another big show with more sophisticated visitors, PPNG members started talking about improving the traveling layout. Nothing radical is contemplated. Just enhancing and improving the existing scenes. Joe was "volunteered" to make cases to hold the Plexiglas and back boards so that they remain clean and scratch-free during transit and storage-if he has the time. The regional NMRA show appearance will be a major agenda item at the upcoming board and business meetings. Come, learn, participate! Cooooolll things are happn'n!

This is just a reminder to all members that THE RAILHEAD presents the minutes of club meetings in an edited form for confidentiality and space considerations.

Please see our Stationmaster for an official and complete copy of the minutes of any meeting.

Webmaster's Note:  Meeting minutes will not be published on the website.
PPNG members may obtain minutes from the Stationmaster.

Because of confidentiality issues, The Railhead does not report every detail of every meeting because our newsletter is read by non-members.

So, if you are a member in good standing, please feel free to ask your stationmaster to look at the minutes (or to get copies of any minutes) of any Board or business meeting. Call Alan Rex (266-9165).

For financial information, call our Paymaster, Kirt Bailey (597-6760).

Also, the Board Meetings are held at Giuseppe's Restaurant on the second Monday evening of each month. The board generally gathers at 6:30 P.M. and has dinner. The dinner is at the individual's expense.

The actual meeting begins usually about 7:30.

All members are welcome to eat dinner with the board and/or attend any and all board meetings.

Affiliate Members!

If you have not paid your 1999 dues yet, this is the last issue of The Railhead that you will receive.

Affiliate member dues are $16.00 per year. If you want to continue to maintain contact with the club, get your dues in the mail right away. Send 'em to Kirt Bailey, 5732 Hermit Pass Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80917 ASAP!

The club has had a written "no smoking" policy for years. It's in the club's Policy and Procedures. Club officers have enforced this policy. Unfortunately, the club was formally notified in writing of complaints against the club about smoking in the building.

The building is a 'no smoking' building by city ordinance. Smokers may smoke outside of the doors, only. No one can smoke inside the entry way.

Our landlord has received complaints about our members smoking. Our Superintendent Craig has spread oil on the troubled waters and the matter has been resolved, at least for the present.

Let's respect other people's property.

Our present Policies and Procedures says:

B. Member-Owned Modules and Sections.

Changes and improvements to member-owned modules will be the sole responsibility of the module owner or owners.

1. Any changes or improvements of Club-owned modules or sections affecting member-owned modules MUST have the consent and support of the member-owner.

2. Any fixes of member-owned modules MUST have the consent and support of the member-owner. Whenever possible, fixes should be performed by the member-owner or his/her designated representative. When this is not possible and through train operation is affected, the following guidelines shall be observed:

1). Sincere attempts should be made to contact the member-owner and get permission for the fix.

2). If the member-owner cannot be contacted, the absolute minimum to allow through train operation should be done.

3). After the fix has been accomplished, the member-owner should be contacted as soon as possible and informed of the problem and fix by the person performing the fix.

This is intended to be a reminder to members who pay their dues on a monthly basis.

Each member should take personal responsibility and pay his/her monthly dues on time. If there's personal trouble, tell an officer or the board. The club wants to work with you. We don't want to loose any members, but we do need to know our financial situation at all times. Tardy dues payments unnecessarily complicate our financial picture. [Please read the next article for one financial example].

Technically, and officially, you cannot play if you aren't in good standing. Our Constitution says, simply, that members in good standing have the right to operate equipment on the club trackage and to use club materials and facilities. It further states, "A member loses his good standing status when he owes one (1) month's dues." (See Article IV, paragraphs I and J).

So, please make an effort to be responsible and be a good member. We need you. Again, if you encounter some problems, tell a club officer. The club has always tried to work with its members.

We have been notified by our landlord that our rent is going up. While the increased amount is certainly reasonable given today's real estate market, our budget for 1999 already has red ink in it. A rent increase will certainly exacerbate our sorry financial situation.

Superintendent Kleinman contacted our landlord. Somehow, Craig managed to convince the landlord to reduce the rent increase a little. There are strings attached, however.

We'll learn more about the situation at the April board and business meetings.

We are very pleased to report that we have a new family membership, the Hobbs family.

The father is Glenn Hobbs. He has two sons, Jeff and Luke. All of them have been at the club running trains lately. If you haven't met them, you haven't been around much. Introduce yourself as soon as you get the chance.

Mark up your rosters once more:
Glenn E. Hobbs
Please contact the Stationmaster for this information.

Once again, Joe took the bull by the horns. (And that bull is pretty sorry, too).

Seriously, the experience of packing up all of the back boards, Plexiglas, power supplies, extension cords, burlap, tool box, legs, etc. and hauling them up to the GATS show, hauling all of that stuff in the National Western Complex and then, after the show, packing up all that stuff and hauling it back home was a drag, even with the many helping hands we had. However, fortune smiled in the form of the NMRA invitation to the Regional Convention in June. It provided the kick in the pants that we sometimes need to become more efficient.

A number of club members recognized that the Convention's attendees will be more sophisticated. As one member said, "You won't find toy trains at the NMRA."

The members decided to continue to improve our traveling outfit. The back boards should be spruced up. New Plexiglas panels are needed. But, we need some means to protect these things.

Joe volunteered to build some form of protection. He decided to built a box.

It took Joe about a day to build the box. It isn't just an empty shell. There are compartments specially built to hold and protect items. And, as he said later, the design of the box just kept growing and growing as he considered all of our needs.

Now, that box holds just about everything we need, except the lights, and we may be able to fit them in, too, if we try real hard.

The box is big-4 feet wide, 2 feet deep, and 2 feet high. It has handles so that it is easier to lift. Loaded, it is a hernia maker. So, Joe mounted the box on wheels. After all, why strain ourselves?

Now, we have a place to both store and carry just about everything we need to operate the traveling layout. It makes one wonder how we did without it for so long.

Thanks, Joe, for your time and hard work.

And thanks, too, Joe, for pulling out our good, unmarred Plexiglas supply and cutting new panels for the traveling layout. Our traveling layout improvement project is well on the way, thanks to you!

Well, the deal announced in the January Board minutes between Joe and Lois fell through.

So, Joe has swept away the intermodal yard at Joeyton and is in the process of installing his circus. He's got rides and shows in place with more on the way. Joe plans to motorize many of the rides. Some will even be lighted!

No doubt as soon as the good citizens of Joeyton see the bright lights and movement, they'll come in droves to have a good time.

After a period, the Dark Ages are lifting. Creative(?) action is once again taking place at Sweetgrass. The little town can now boast that it can see at night. Four working street lamps were installed-all at no increase in taxes to the citizenry.

This civic improvement will no doubt lead to the mayor's reelection.

A marvelous thing happened. The club room shook and land, in the form of blue foam board, miraculously appeared in Grizzly Gulch.

Fantastic!

3645 Jeannine Drive, Suite 108

Tuesday: 7:00 - 9:00 PM

Fridays: 7:00 - 9:00 PM

Saturday: 1:00 - 4:00 PM

The following is a quick synopsis of products available for stripping various paints and ink pad printing off plastic/brass engines/cars. This information is based upon prior experience and techniques. I am sure other individuals within the club may also have preferred techniques and this information would be appreciated by club members.

Products are listed in order with 1 having the highest probability of affecting plastic to 7 which I consider the safest to use on plastic and still strip most paint or ink-pad printing.

STRIPPING AGENT and COMMENTS:

1. Lacquer Thinner: Will cut through all paints currently available for model railroading, but affects or crazes plastics. Be extremely careful when using lacquer thinner as you may remove paint but can easily damage a shell. Additionally, take proper safety precautions and use rubber gloves and proper ventilation.

2. Scalecoat: A good paint remover. However, use caution as it will affect the plastic in Kato engines. Allow the desired shell to soak in this stripper for approximately 30 minutes, then use a toothbrush to gently remove paint as you wash the paint residue away under water. This stripper will remove Scalecoat and Floquil paints.

3. Denatured Alcohol: A commercially available product which can be used to remove ink pad lettering and paint from Micro-Train cars, Life-Like and Atlas products. I have not used it on Kato engines. Apply alcohol to individual lettering with Q-Tip and allowing the alcohol to sit in the lettering for approximately 5 minutes. Rub gently with the Q-Tip until the paint or lettering is completely removed. Some discoloration of the paint or plastic may occur as the alcohol dries out the surface. You can use mineral spirits to stop the alcohol's drying effect and soap and water to stop the "stripping action" of the alcohol.

4. Chameleon: This expensive paint stripper will remove all brands of paint, even factory paint from Kato engine shells. WARNING: I have found this stripper will affect the plastic of Kato engines even though it claims to be "100% plastic safe". Soaking the shell in this stripper for approximately 30 minutes and longer will effectively loosen the using a toothbrush while rinsing the shell under soap and water. Available in the Walther's Catalog.

5. Mineral Spirits: A commercially available product which works on some ink pad printing and some paints.

6. Pine-Sol: A household cleaning solvent, inexpensive, and readily available at the supermarket. This product works well to remove lettering and some paints from Kato engines. I have found it to be 100% safe on Kato shells. (I have soaked Kato shells in solvent 2-3 days with no affect to plastic). It usually takes 30 minutes of soaking the shell in this solvent before light scrubbing with a toothbrush will start removing lettering and some Kato paints. Some of Kato's paint colors actually bond themselves into the plastic. Another technique is to use a Q-Tip saturated with Pine-Sol to selectively remove individual lettering or numbers on an engine shell or car. Gently rub with the Q-Tip until removal of lettering meets your requirements.

7. E Safe: 100% plastic safe. Excellent results when striping Floquil paint and Atlas/Con-Cor/LifeLike/Bachman engines and cars. Paint washes away with water and some light scrubbing with a toothbrush. I have also had good results removing paint from brass engines with this product even though the individual who sells the product says not to use it on brass. Available at Caboose Hobbies.

If you intend to use any of these products, start with the least potent first and proceed to the next, watching to see if there is any affect on the plastic. Remember, in all cases, water will stop the solvents' effect. But the damage, if there is any, may have already occurred to the plastic shell.

Editor: Charles J. Bay

THE RAILHEAD is published monthly by the Pikes Peak 'N' Gineers Model Railroad Club, P.O. Box 594, Monument, CO 80132; Telephone 719-488-9318. Subscription is covered through membership in Pikes Peak 'N' Gineers, a nonprofit corporation. ©1999. All rights reserved. We assume letters, questions, news releases, and club items are contributed gratis.

A request has poured in. As a result, we reprinting an updated version of two 1996 articles by Charles Bay. "The first successful steam locomotive to be built in America, Best Friend of Charleston, was built for the South Carolina Railroad in 1830 and was first tested with passengers on 14th December. It entered service on Christmas Day, 1830. It had a vertical boiler, weighed under 4 tons and developed about 6 horsepower. The South Carolina Railroad thus became the first regular steam railroad in America, beginning regular operations on January 15, 1831 along a six mile stretch of track. Since then, much has happened.

You may be staggered by the variety of North American steam locomotives which have actually been used in the search for more power since the South Carolina Railroad started. Based on many sources, the list that follows is complete and accurate. It covers conventional rod engines, plus the 6-8-6 turbine. Geared engines, real goofy experiments, etc. have been omitted.

If you visit Europe, you will find that the European countries use an axle system of distinguishing the types of steam locomotives. Americans have always classified their steam locomotives by the number of wheels. So, it is no surprise that the United States and Canada use the Whyte System, which was the idea of Fredric M. Whyte, an employee of Mike Peck's favorite, the New York Central Railroad. Whyte's system was first publicized in 1900 and was adopted by the American Locomotive Company in 1903. Shortly thereafter, the Whyte System was universally accepted.

In Whyte's system, the first number refers to the locomotive's leading truck, if any, the second refers to the driving wheels and the last number refers to the trailing truck, if any. Whyte's system therefore eliminates the confusion railroaders created when discussing a eight-wheeled locomotive, for example. Was it a 0-4-4, a 2-6-0, a 4-4-0, or a 0-8-0?

So, this list shows the steam locomotives by the Whyte system of wheel arrangement. where a European 231 becomes the famous American 4-6-2.

Many of the locomotive types were named, sometimes several times over. These are listed. I have listed what seems to be the most popular name first, although in some instances several names were equally popular.

While some of these names are universally known, others reflect just a region's and/or particular road's usage. In most instances, the railroad(s) are listed.

The leading, pilot truck on steam locomotives was important because it literally lead the engine. It was not needed in yard service with the slow speeds such work required.

Generally speaking, four wheel pilot trucks were used on locomotives which were designed for high speed passenger service. As the engines got older and were replaced by newer models, they would be used on high speed freight service.

Two wheel leading trucks were used on freight locomotives which operated at slower speeds.

WHISTLE STOP SUPPLEMENT:
Steam Locomotive Wheel Arrangements