 |
The |
| Beltline | |
| March, 2001 | |
| (Internet Version) |
| Vol. X No. 03 | The Official Newsletter of the National Capital Trackers O Gauge Model RailRoad |
March Meeting!
We meet again on Thursday, March 15, 2001 at 07:00 p.m.
We will still be at the JOHN C. WOOD Municipal Center, which is located at 3730 Old Lee Highway just behind the Fairfax City Police Station. We’ll be in Room #1 and the meeting will start at 07:00 p.m.
Train Depot Thanks
Thanks once again to the Train Depot for printing our newsletters and brochures. This means a substantial savings to our club. Stop by their Manassas store over the holidays for all your train needs and check out their very attractive and extensive Dept. 56 display. While you are there, say thanks to Dennis Driscoll.
The Far-Side (Maryland) View
Wonderful News at Upper Marlboro! Brian and Julie Turner announced that they are expecting another son at the end of April. We wish them a healthy, speedy delivery. Our joy to Joshua, Cloe, and Jeremiah as they look forward to having a new brother.
The Upper Marlboro exhibit on February 10-11 was a solid success with good crowds viewing the innovative "wine-bottle" layout using the new 120 inch diameter S-curves as planned by trackmaster Bill Buschmeier. Ed Beaver updated the S-curves from Rick Hamilton's construction. Carl Condon and Tony Duncanson successfully experimented with middle track operation through the S-curves. On top of this, John Zampino exhibited and operated a realistic 14 stall roundhouse module set that allowed storage and rapid switching of a large quantity of engines onto the inner loop. When all of the available storage tracks were full of smoking locomotives, quite a scene developed. Richard Myers debuted his new modules containing good-looking river and stream treatments. Rounding out the layout were Jack Schmidt, Jack Frost, Rich and Claire Eudy, Brendan Lynch, Skip Scheetz, Jeff Battles, and Bob Wilson. Dan Danielson had two busy days with Junior Junction. Sadly, we missed Tom Hunter's participation with his modules containing realistic village scenes and operating signals.
The next Maryland event is the B&O Musseum exhibit on April 28-29 which conflicts with the TCA York meet. We will be exhibiting jointly with the HiRail Club under Trackmaster Ted Rabusseau's direction.
February closed with the sad news that Carl Condon's father Jack Condon passed away at age 84. We know that Carl and his Mom will miss him and offer our sincere condolences.
Train Trivia
In the book, The Last Steam Railroad in America by O.W.Link & T.H.Garver, the sixth chapter reports "A Day on the Abington Branch" of the Norfolk and Western Railway. The Abington Branch feature has 1956 pictures of the operation of the Virginia Creeper mixed-train behind a pair of 1910 vintage M-Class 4-6-0 Mollies (Numbers 382 and 429). The Virginia Creeper climbed 3% grades to a maximum elevation of 3,577 feet. Eleven mile round trip fares ran as high 40 cents. Passenger service ended in 1963. The Abington Branch was abandoned in 1977 and turned over to the U.S. Forest Service which converted the line to a hiking trail. Strasburg Railroad rebuilt an N&W 4-6-0 in 1999.
Another new pair of interesting books is available from TLC Publishing (Dept.RF, 1387 Winding Creek Lane, Lynchburg, Va. 24503-3776) as advertised in the March issue of Trains magazine. The first book is World's Greatest Steam Locomotives _ A Comparison of the C&C 2-6-6-4, N&W 2-6-6-4, and UP 4-8-8-4 by Dr. E.L.Huddleston. The second book is N&W Class J _ The Finest Steam Passenger Locomotive by K.J.Milton.
Upcoming Events
(New additions in bold print)
-------------------------- 2001 ------------------------
Feb. 10-11, Greenberg Show at The Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro (NCT is scheduled to appear)
March 17-18, Woodbridge Scouts (NCT is scheduled to appear)
Apr. 27-28, York TCA Meet
Apr. 28-29, B&O Railroad Museum (NCT is scheduled to appear)
May 20, Beltsville Day, Beltsville, MD (NCT is scheduled to appear)
June 08-10 Fairfax County Fair in Fairfax, VA (NCT is scheduled to appear)
Aug. 3-4, LOTS convention at the Baltimore Civic Center (NCT is scheduled to appear)
Aug. 12, Montgomery County Fair, Fairgrounds (NCT is scheduled to appear)
Aug. 18-19, Greenberg Show at Capital Expo Center in Chantilly, VA (NCT is scheduled to appear)
Sept. 15-16, Culpeper Train Days (NCT is scheduled to appear)
Sept 23, Olde Towne Gaithersburg Day, Gaithersburg, MD (NCT is scheduled to appear)
Sept. 29, Fall for Fairfax at Fairfax Government Center, Fairfax, VA (NCT is scheduled to appear)
Oct. 6-7, Brunswick Railroad Days, Brunswick, MD (NCT is scheduled to appear)
Oct. 19-20, York TCA Meet
Dec. 22-31, B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore (NCT is scheduled to appear)
Dec. 29-30, Greenberg Show at Capital Expo Center in Chantilly, VA (NCT is scheduled to appear)
-------------------------- 2002 ------------------------
Apr. 19-20, York TCA Meet
Oct. 18-19, York TCA Meet
-------------------------- 2003 ------------------------
Apr. 11-12, York TCA Meet
Oct. 18-19, York TCA Meet
-------------------------- 2004 ------------------------
Apr. 16-17, York TCA Meet
Oct. 15-16, York TCA Meet
Upcoming Shows
Please review this list of upcoming shows. We need a few more modules for some of them. Please contact the
respective trackmaster if you can exhibit in these shows.
March. 17-18 Scouts Show in Woodbridge
Bill Creech is Trackmaster
A revised show layout is enclosed. Directions to the event are also included.
Greenberg at Upper Marlboro
The Greenberg show held at Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro marked another successful exhibit for the Trackers. Tracker Richard Myers exhibited his two new modules for the first time. The scenery is of the southwest although with a river and a stream running through them, they are not hurting for water.
The long awaited appearance of Tracker John Zampino's turntable was an event in itself. The entire layout had to be redesigned to accommodate this massive seven foot square yard display. The club utilized the wide radius curves built by Rick Hamilton to effect a wine bottle shape. This provided the interior room needed. Many Trackers took their turn at operating the turntable and one or two actually were certified as turntable proficient.
The entire weekend was relatively trouble free. We had a few glitches in the initial setup but these were quickly dealt with. We did however run out of track pins so a massive order for them is being placed before our next exhibit.
Sidetracks
-The WB&A Chapter of the TCA will hold an open/closed Train Meet on March 3, 2001 at Tall Cedars Hall #45 on 2501 Putty Hill Avenue in Baltimore. The meet will be open to TCA members only and closed to the public from 08:00 am until 09:30 AM. From 09:30 AM until closing at 01:30 PM the meet will be open to the public. Directions: Baltimore Beltway (I-695) to exit 30 South, then left on Putty Hill Ave. or exit 31 South, then right on Putty Hill Ave.
Beltline Submissions
The Beltline is published 10 times a year on a monthly basis excluding the months of July and August. Its purpose is to provide notices of timely events, and information to its members. All inquiries, questions, and submissions should be addressed to the editor at: National Capital Trackers c/o Bill Buschmeier 15145 Wetherburn Dr. Centreville, VA 20120-3925 or e-mail at bush9@erols.com