THE WHISTLESTOP NEWS

The Official Newsletter of the Central Operating Lines Model Railroading Club

Don’t forget the December 12th Business Meeting. Please make it a point to attend and participate in your Club’s business. Starts promptly at 8PM.

Please don’t forget the chance books. Twenty one members are paid at this point.

Well folks, our Thanksgiving Holiday show is in the book! More than 830 visitors came through our doors during the three days. That’s not counting the children in the arms of parents and grandparents and the little Bijon who came in the arms of its master! I think that is a first! In addition to the turnout, we had revenue from sales, chance books and donations in excess of $1300. Many thanks to all those club members that participated by bringing and running trains, handling the snack stand , the souvenir tables, working the overhead viewing platform, answering visitors questions around the layout room, taking care of the signs, getting the Newsday item published and setting up/ breaking down the clubroom before/after the open house. Special thanks to our Junior Members Thomas Erickson, Lucas Gruber, Cody Cerillo and Matt Stagliano who did a great job working the layout. Also special thanks to "Johnny and his sidekick, Smokey" who ran their Thomas train and delighted all our younger fans and many of the older visitors.

All of you that worked on this 3 day event outdid yourselves to bring smiles and joy to all our visitors during the three days, We heard many compliments up at the front table about the visitor experience and many said they would be back for our next shows coming up. Ya Done Good Folks!! So let’s do it again for the December 13-14^th open house!

Mark your calendars for Saturday December 6^th. It’s the annual Holiday party of course. Come at 6pm for good food, holiday greetings and don’t forget to bring those great trains to run to celebrate the holiday season in railroading style.

ü December 5^{th ---}Board Meeting @ 7:30 PM

ü December 6^th ---Holiday Party at Clubroom 6PM

ü December 12^th – Business Meeting @ 8PM

ü December 13-14^th –Open House noon-5 PM

ü December 21^st – Swap Met @ Bingo Hall in Farmingville 8:30 Am –2:30 PM

ü January 2^nd --- Board Meeting @ 7:30PM

Rollers---Use Atlas Electra Lube on roller pins. It is an electrically conductive lubricant.

By the late 19th century, Silk became the fabric of high fashion, and was a valued commodity. Silk is prepared from the cocoon of the silkworm and the art of cultivating silkworms remained a closely guarded Chinese secret until the practice spread to Japan in the third century AD. Japan had become the world's foremost producer Vast quantities of valuable raw silk came across the Pacific Ocean in ships, landed at Pacific Northwest ports, and crossed the continent in the fastest trains to garment manufacturers on the East coast. Silk usually traveled on passenger trains in special express cars. So valuable was the cargo that, if a shipment had to pause for the night, the cars would be parked inside sturdy windowless buildings behind locked gates

In 1920, the New York Times reported that raw-silk imports to the USA were valued at $300 million annually. This valuable material was frequently targeted by thieves. Between 1917 and 1920, over one thousand thefts were reported, involving $1.7 million worth of material, of which roughly half was eventually recovered. In January 1920, legal representatives for the Silk Association of America requested and received a court injunction that required raw silk to be transported in passenger trains rather than freight trains. Thereafter, silk shipments rode in express cars behind the fastest transcontinental passenger trains.

Cars for transporting silk would have looked something like the 53' wood-sided express reefers currently available from Atlas O. Why not add an express reefer or two to your favorite passenger train to re-create this forgotten industry. In 1911, an eight-car silk special train set a new speed record on the Great Northern Railway. It traveled the 1829 miles from Seattle to St. Paul in 45 hours 16 minutes. During that era, the "Oriental Limited" took 58 hours to make the same trip. After departing the Twin Cities, the silk shipment continued on to New York City, on a fast schedule. The Great Northern operated the “Silk Trains” for a number of years in the Steam Era.

The first 2-8-0 was delivered to the Lehigh Valley in 1866 for operation over the mountain grades of the railroad's Mount Carmel Branch in Pennsylvania. The locomotive was built by Baldwin, but designed by the railroad’s master mechanic. The new design incorporated a self-centering radial engine truck that was equalized with the driving wheels to form a three-point suspension system, making the 2-8-0 a stable riding engine - much more so than the early 0-8-0s used in road service - and this made it capable of greater speeds. With eight coupled drivers, the 2-8-0 also had excellent adhesion. The engine quickly proved itself on the Lehigh Valley and the railroad ordered fourteen copies. The first LV locomotive was named Consolidation in the year that the Lehigh Valley merged merger with the Lehigh & Mahanoy, and this name was later applied to all 2-8-0 locomotives.

One of the all-time great locomotive designs, It could ably handle mountain grades; it became the standard heavy freight engine within a decade. Mountain railroads such as the Erie, Pennsylvania, and Baltimore & Ohio replaced 4-4-0s with 2-8-0s in freight service. Compared to a 4-4-0, the 2-8-0 could pull trains that were twice as heavy at less cost. The widespread use of air brakes in the 1880s prompted railroads to run heavier trains, which the 2-8-0 proved more than capable of handling, solidifying its position as America's preeminent freight locomotive. Consolidations were built continuously into the 1920s and received the latest advances in steam locomotive technology, such as superheaters, stokers, feedwater heaters, piston valves, outside radial valve gear, and more. Driving wheel size increased steadily from 51 inches to 63 inches, which increased the engine's speed potential. The size of the 2-8-0 grew from the small Lehigh Valley engines to those built by Baldwin for the Western Maryland and Reading, which had axle loadings in excess of 35 tons and weighed more than 280,000 lbs. By the time the last 2-8-0s were delivered in the 1940s, more than 33,000 had been delivered - more than any other type of steam locomotive built in the U.S.

Competition for the 2-8-0 came principally from the 2-8-2. By 1920 it was no longer enough to just pull a big train - a locomotive also had to move it fast. While the 2-8-0 had adequate adhesion, it did not have the raw horsepower needed to lug heavy trains at anything other than drag freight speeds. The 2-8-0's shallow firebox was located above the drivers and, as such, it did not have sufficient furnace volume to support the high rates of combustion needed to generate high horsepower. The solution came in the form of the 2-8-2, which had a deep firebox placed behind the driving wheels, supported by a two-wheel trailer truck. While the 2-8-2 had no more adhesion than a large 2-8-0, the 2-8-2's big firebox gave it the ability to evaporate water at a substantially higher rate. And this is what made the difference. On most railroads, the 2-8-2 and other modern designs replaced Consolidations in main-line freight service. Older engines met the torch, while others gravitated to branch lines, local freights, or yard duty. Consolidations also became popular short line engines. It was the diesel that ultimately vanquished the 2-8-0 from the rails. Many Consolidations remained active until the very end of steam

This time of year makes us recall the layouts each of us build or have built around a holiday tree. We have fond memories of these experiences and I wanted to talk about them a bit in this part of the newsletter. In our household, there has been a circle of track or more under the tree for more than 30 years. Usually, the Lionel Prewar items and reproductions of these toys make their appearance for a two week period. There have been 4 generations of children that have played with these trains under the tree including ourselves, our parents, our children and our grandchildren. Just as you have delighted your parents with the big smiles and happiness, we find our grandchildren delighting us in the same way. Our kids have been fascinated with the Polar Express, Thomas and Harry Potter. They have delighted in the 263 E , 800 series freight cars , A standard gauge Baby State Set, and the MTH 392E. As a youngster, I can recall the two level layout my older brothers set up in the dining room in Brooklyn. There was a Red Comet passenger train on the upper level and a 675 and some 600 series prewar freight cars running on the lower level, alternating between two loops. We were fortunate to have a pair of O gauge switches then. If you care to write a bit about your own Holiday Layout experiences, I will be happy to compile a separate newsletter with each of your stories so that you can share among club members. Send it in an Email if you are electronic or if not, a handwritten or typed note will work as well.

Wishing you and all your loved ones a joyous holiday season! Happy Railroading!!!!