 |
The |
| Beltline | |
| December, 1999 | |
| (Internet Version) |
| Vol. VIII No. 10 | The Official Newsletter of the National Capital Trackers O Gauge Model RailRoad |
No December Meeting!
At our November meeting, the members voted not to hold a meeting in December. Our next meeting will be January 20, 2000.
New Member
In the last issue, we welcomed aboard three new members from Virginia. This month we want to welcome a new member from Washington, D.C. A big welcome goes out to Tony Duncanson. Tony was at the Rockville show and sent in his membership shortly afterwards.
Rockville Review
The Rockville Lions Club
show was another fun weekend. The layout went together smoothly and everything ran well all weekend. The highlight of the weekend was the Choo-Choo CAM brought there byJohn Harper. It turned out to be a big hit for the public all weekend. It is a vast improvement over the old Rail-Scope system. This one is in color and the quality is excellent.
John intends to have it set-up at the Festival of Trees in Easton, MD.
With the right hookup, maybe we could broadcast live and members could participate from their homes. Initial estimates are that it would cost 10 – 15 million for the broadcast license and equipment.
Upcoming Events
(New additions in bold print)
-------------------------- 1999 ------------------------
Dec. 4-5, Fairfax Station’s 10th Annual Holiday Train Show (NCT is scheduled to appear)
Dec. 11-12, B&O Railroad Museum, Baltimore (NCT is scheduled to appear)
Dec. 20-23, U.S. Geological Survey Exhibit
Dec. 8-31, National Christmas Tree Railroad
-------------------------- 2000 ------------------------
Jan. 22-23, Greenberg Show at Capital Expo Center in Chantilly, VA (NCT is scheduled to appear)
Feb. 12-13, Greenberg Show at The Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro (NCT is scheduled to appear)
Feb. 26-27, GATS Show, Montgomery County Agriculture Center, Gaithersburg (NCT is scheduled to appear)
July 15-15, Greenberg Show at Capital Expo Center in Chantilly, VA (NCT is scheduled to appear)
Apr. 14-15, York TCA Meet
Oct. 20-21, York TCA Meet
-------------------------- 2001 ------------------------
Apr. 27-28, York TCA Meet
Oct. 19-20, York TCA Meet
WWW.
On November 11, 1999, the National Capital Trackers launched their web site on the internet. The site is being hosted by an organization called TrainWeb in California. Our official address is:
http://www.trainweb.org/NationalCapitalTrackersTo access the site, enter it exactly as shown above. Make sure you capitalize the first letters in NationalCapitalTrackers.
The site contains all the information that previously was contained in our information brochure. In addition, our current schedule of events is maintained there along with information on each event and a module assignment layout for each event. The site also contains our module standards and a link to the entire Tinplate Trackers Standards Manual.
In addition to the above, there is a brief club history, a listing of the members and their e-mail addresses, the latest copy of the Beltline newsletter, and photos of club appearances.
There is also a page devoted to links to other local clubs and train related sites.
The Far-Side (Maryland) View
John Harper's backshop debuted the innovative "Choo Choo Cam" TV camera system in a baggage car. The corner of the layout with the TV monitor was a continually crowded location -- this looks like a popular setup which the club should consider supporting. Further research will checkout the feasibility of using an Lionel GP20 dummy unit to house the camera unobtrusively at the head-end of a train.
John Harper's Easton Festival of Trees "Celebration of Trains" exhibit was a tiring but outstanding success.
For December, Skip Scheetz again has us at the B&O Museum on December 11th and 12th. Setup is at 8:00 am on Saturday with operations until 5:00pm; on Sunday, the operations are 10:00am until 5:00pm. This exhibit has an innovative (we've never tried it before) wine bottle layout to fit in one of the engine stalls in the roundhouse. Yes, we will be cutting Gargraves track at the last minute to fit the special 29 inch adapter section which will be provided by Parks Schaefer. I will have the sections nearly pre-cut to speed the process.
At the October Brunswick setup, we finally identified the elusive outer-loop short that appeared at the B&O Museum in September. It was a manufacturing defect in a Lionel O72 switch that configured the brass vertical movement pin too-high on the switch motor-arm and allowed it to touch the center rail under some conditions. We used a piece of electrical tape to cover the movement pin to eliminate the problem temporarily. Also at the Brunswick show, Carl Condon debuted the MTH AEM-7 AMTRAK "Toaster" Electric Locomotive which has super detail, interesting sound, and great pulling power. (We even let Carl pull long freights with it!) Hopefully, we will see it at the B&O Museum show also.
A little known part of the Trackers History has to do with the corner modules which are so essential to our layouts. Until December of 1994, we were limited to O72 curves on the outside loop and O54 curves on the inside loop. This changed with Jim Stapleton's January 1995 donation of O89 outside / O72 inside curve Gargraves corners to the club. Carl Condon rewired these corners and improved the landscaping on two modules. We now identify these club modules as set NCT_1. Carl and Ed Beaver began handling these corners and dealing with the tedious tubular-to-Gargraves transition tracks. In 1996, John Zampino lead a team of Mike Baggily and Jack Frost who built a new set of durable tubular track O89 corners (labeled set NCT_2) with two innovations: smaller 45 degree curve modules and the infamous "quick-release legs". These are a great success and have allowed S-curve layouts to be executed.
The club, however, has revoked John's patent on the "quick-release legs". In parallel in early 1997, Jack Schmidt donated a complete circle of "open-frame" 45 degree corners to the club. Ed Beaver did the tubular track work and 3D landscaping on two 90 degree corners to provide the club with enough 45 degree modules to regularly operate all-tubular S-curve layouts. These are identified as set NCT_3. In the summer of 1999, Brian & Julie Turner consulted with Ed Beaver to update Jack's remaining modules to a 90 degree cross-over set of corners which can also be adapted to normal curve module operation. This gives the Trackers a total of three full circles of corners.
Finally, as we close 1999, a Special Tracker Thank-you to Brent Horned of Columbia, Maryland who donated a collection of layout accessories (tunnels and bridges) to the Trackers this year! Ed Beaver has turned over to the club $55 from the sale of the Pre-War brass tunnels and Post-War plastic bridge piers at York. Two of the donated bridges are in use on Brandon Seyfried's Award Winning, innovative two level double module which is so appealing to the kids at our exhibits. Anyone in need of a Lionel Post-War Trestle Sets is welcome to other accessories in the donation.
TRAIN TRIVIA: In 1953 at the post-war peak, Lionel employed 2,500 people. It is estimated that more than 25,000 miles of Lionel track have been laid worldwide. (R.Sassman, Invention & Technology Magazine, Winter 1995)
U.S. Geological Survey
Jim & JoAnn Stapleton make it happen
The annual train exhibit produced by Jim & JoAnn Stapleton at the U.S. Geological Survey in Reston will take place on Monday, December 20th through Thursday December 23rd. The hours are 10:00 a.m. until 05:00 p.m. each day except for Community Night on Tuesday, December 21st when the exhibit will stay open until 09:00 p.m. The operating exhibit includes modular layouts in HO, O/S, G, N, and Z scales. The exhibit is held in the main auditorium at the USGS headquarters building located at 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive in Reston. Sunrise Valley Drive is one block south of the Dulles Access Road; the USGS is midway between Reston Parkway and the Fairfax County Parkway.
All Trackers are invited to bring friends and family to the show. They are also encouraged to lend their assistance in the shows setup which is scheduled for the weekend prior to the show (Dec. 18-19) and to bring trains to run or just be operators during the show. Please call Jim Stapleton at (xxx) xxx-xxxx (work) or (xxx) xxx-xxxx (home) or email him at
jim.stapleton@mindspring.com to volunteer your assistance or for additional information.December/January/ February Exhibits
December finds us back at Fairfax Station. This is a small setup due to space. Tom McKinney will be acting Trackmaster for this event.
January we will be at the Greenberg show in the Capital Expo Center in Chantilly while February finds us at another Greenberg show in Upper Marlboro. We should be back in the "Tack Room" again. Also in February, we will be at a GATS show in Gaithersburg. Layouts for all these events are enclosed.
Sidetrack
There are two train shows coming up in Frederick Maryland. The dates are December 26, and February 6. They will all be held at the Independent Fire and Hose Co. Take US 15 which bypasses Frederick to exit 14 (Rosemont Ave.) Go north on Rosemont (towards mountains) and make a left at the second traffic light (Baughman’s Lane). The Fire house is 100 yards on your left. Admission is $3.00 and the hours are 09:30 a.m. until 02:30 p.m. For further information contact Rich DeLong at 41 Greenvale Road, Westminster, MD 21157 (410) 848-5458.
Former member Carl Barna e-mailed us with his new address and extends his wishes for a Merry Christmas to all the Trackers. He also said if any of us ever get out that way to look him up. His e-mail address is
cbarna@dellnet.comThe WB&A Chapter of the Eastern Division TCA will hold their Winter Mini Meet at Damascus High School on December 12th from 08:00 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. Free Tables available to TCA members. This meet is for members only. No guests allowed.
The WB&A Chapter of the Eastern Division TCA will hold their Spring meet on March 4, 2000 at Tall Cedars #45 Hall, located at 2501 Putty Hill Avenue in Baltimore, MD 21234. The meet will be open to members only from 08:00 a.m. until 09:30 a.m. The meet will then be open to the general public from 09:30 a.m. until 01:30 p.m. (Directions: Baltimore Beltway (I-695) to exit 30 South, left onto 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: NationalCapitalTrackers@RRmail.com
