3.0MB - Sunrise Trail Division

Seasons
Greetings
Volume 43, Number 4
OF NOTE
TRIBUTE TO LGB AND THE MAN BEHIND
THE BIG TRAINS
SUNRISE CONVENTION HIGHLIGHTS
JOHN MACGOWN RECEIVES MMR
NER CONTEST PICTURES
Winter, 2013
Official publication of the Sunrise Trail Division of the National Model Railroad Association, Inc.
Remembering the Man
Behind LGB Trains
By Walter Wohleking
A little over a year ago, on November 21, 2012,
Wolfgang Richter, who led LGB, died at the age of 84.
Notice of his death came too late for something to
appear in the Winter 2012 edition of The Cannon Ball.
Because I felt that any tribute to him belonged in a
holiday issue, I’ve waited a year to write it.
Wolfgang’s Christmas train has circled our Christmas Tree every year since its arrival in 1998. The story
starts, however, in 1991 when my daughter in Dallas
sent me a clipping from the local paper about garden
railroads in the area. Up to that point I had modeled in
Container trains roll at Sunrise Division’s November Convention.
Continued on page 4
easy-to-make and useful
Coming up—January 11
The Winter Meet
Election Day for the Sunrise Trail
All Sunrise Trail Division
Members in good standing will
elect Division leaders at the
Winter Meet, which will be held
at the Westbury Public Library,
at 12:30 p.m. on January 11th.
The Winter Meet will also
feature a digital slideshow
“Amazing North America—50
States in 50 Minutes.”
The elections will be for
open officer and director positions—these are the people
who make the decisions for the
Division. Member participation
in the elections, which take
place during the Annual Business Meeting, is essential to the
vibrant operations of the Division.
The nominating period officially began on November 1.
Members can mail nominations
Building a Handy Test Track
using the form available at
http://ww.sunrisetraildiv.com to
either
Hiram E. Graves
STDiv Chairman of Nominations &
Ballots
1849 Park Place Apt 1
Brooklyn, NY 11233
or
Howard P. Dwyer
STDiv Secretary
36 Roberta Ave
Farmingville, NY 11738-1462
Members can also nominate
from the floor at the meet.
Elections will be held immediately after the nominations.
Division bylaws require that
petitions to nominate must be
signed by at least two Regular
Members. Name, address, and
Continued on page 3
By David Metal
At some point we all find ourselves in need of a test track.
This is especially true if you do not have a layout that has a
nice long length of straight track. In my case I had converted
to Digital Command Control (DCC) operation a while back
and still had a bunch of direct current (DC) equipment
(locomotives) that I wanted to convert to DCC. They needed
to be tested to see if they ran well enough to invest the time
and money to install a decoder in any of them. It is a wellknown fact that a locomotive that runs poorly on DC will not
run any better on DCC. Consequently, I wanted a test track
to check the remaining locomotives, and I wanted it located
near my work bench. The tracks of an interchange yard are
located on the wall above my work area and the space
below the interchange yard would be a good place for the
test track.
I wanted to be able to run both DC and DCC powered
locomotives on the test track, so I wired a small panel that
could connect to both a DC power pack or throttle to supply
the required DC voltage, as well as a DCC command station
with switches to select between operation in DC or DCC.
With DCC I wanted to be able to use the track in either the
programming mode or the operating mode. To satisfy these
requirements the small panel was made using 3/16” thick
plywood (available in most Michaels craft stores).
I used a piece of 1” x 6” x 8’ lumber for the base of the
test track and installed cork roadbed and track on it with
Continued on page 6
president’s corner
perspective / EDMUND NEALE
EDITOR & PUBLISHER
Dan Shepard
67-29 215th Street
Bayside, NY 11364-2523
(718) 224-9278
djshep@verizon.net
CIRCULATION
Steven Perry
seperry@optonline.net
THE CANNON BALL
is published quarterly by the Sunrise Trail Division of the
National Model Railroad Association, Inc. for the benefit of
the model railroading community.
SUBSCRIPTIONS
U.S. and possessions: $7.00 per year. Please make check
or money order payable to Sunrise Trail Division. Send
requests for new subscriptions, renewals or address
changes to:
Walter Wohleking
5 Howard Drive, Huntington, NY 11743
631-757-0580 wgw5hd@gmail.com
CONTRIBUTIONS
Articles, photographs and artwork are welcome in either
hardcopy or as computer files. Copy is due by the 1st of
February, May, August, and November and should be sent
to the Editor at the above address. Submitted material will
be returned upon request.
®
OFFICERS
Edmund Neale
President
vermontrailroad@optonline.net
Steven Perry
Vice President / Treasurer
seperry@optonline.net
Howard Dwyer
Secretary
dhdwyer@optonline.net
DIRECTORS
John Jaklitsch (2015)
johnjay1@optonline.net
George Loy (2014)
georgejloy@gmail.com
Kevin Katta ( 2014)
boxcarny@yahoo.com
Gary Lynch (2014)
lynchga@optonline.net
Richard Mazzola (2015)
rpm253@gmail.com
Michael Siegel (2015)
viamdlr@hotmail.com
STDiv REPRESENTATIVE on NER BoD
Kevin Katta
ACHIEVEMENT PROGRAM
Michael Siegel
CONTESTS
Howard Dwyer
MEMBERSHIP
Gary Lynch
lynchga@optonline.net
PUBLICITY
George Loy
Michael Siegel
WEBSITE
www.SunriseTrailDiv.com
John Jaklitsch, Webmaster
If you haven’t yet digested Walter
Wohleking’s Fall Cannon Ball piece on
contests, take another look. I think our
Sunrise Tail Division can try some of Walter’s contest suggestions and I’ll work
with the Board of Directors to see if we
can try out some of these ideas at our
Spring Meet in March.
Four STDiv members attended the
Northeastern Region’s 2013 Convention
in Lakeport, New Hampshire in November. Secretary Howard Dwyer and wife
Diana, VP Steve Perry, Board Member
Rick Mazzola, and I, had a good time
attending clinics, taking some of the prototype tours, visiting home layouts, and
judging models and attending the dinner
and award night.
Steve and I attended the NER division
presidents’ annual meeting. This is where
we learn what is working—and what is
not—in our sister divisions across the
region. In the future we expect to take
part either physically or through video
conferencing to have further meetings
throughout the year.
Howard did well in the Contest Room
when he entered a scratch built structure
model; Steve entered a pair of scratch
mixed consist
commentary / DAN SHEPARD
It’s not altogether clear to me why I
volunteered to take on the editorship of
The Cannon Ball. After all, rationality
would dictate putting whatever spare
time I have into the layout.
But I thought it would be an interesting undertaking. Yes, the wider model
railroad press does pick up on local metro
-NY modeling from time to time, but I
thought the Cannon Ball
could be an effective vehicle
to show what people here
are doing in the Sunrise Trail
Division. Covering the territory from Manhattan to
Montauk, there should be
an incredible wealth of material to present here.
Walter Wohleking has
done a heck of a job as editor and he has helped me
get started here, even contributing a fascinating trib-
built pulpwood cars—on the road to becoming a Master Model Railroader. I also
did well, collecting winning certificates for
several photographs.
We plan to attend the 2014 NER Convention to be held in Palmer, Massachusetts, in September. For a good time join
us there.
I’m looking forward to continuing as
President of the Division. The present
team of officers and the Board of Directors are moving ahead with plans to continue successful programs and to try new
events to boost membership and participation.
We’re presently studying possible
changes to our annual convention and
annual meet. We’d like to keep the best
features of these events at a lower cost.
Stick with our team as these plans move
ahead.
Just before signing off, I’d like to thank
Mike Siegel for his efforts in working with
members to attain additional AP certificates and Master Model Railroader success.
Keep on trackin’!
ED
ute to the man who led LGB, Wolfgang
Richter.
To take the Cannon Ball to the next
level, I’ll need your help. I’d like your
ideas, your articles, photos, and modeling
tips. I’d like to know how you run your
railroad, how you decided on an era or a
name for your railroad. This is the place
to share just about anything that’s of interest to a model railroader.
Feel free to drop me a line. But in the
meantime, enjoy the Holidays and best
wishes for a productive and fun 2014.
Holiday train layout in Grand Central Terminal
2
THE CANNON BALL
progress, awards & certificates / MICHAEL SIEGEL
Sunrise members did well at NER’s October Convention in Lakeport,
New Hampshire. Above, Ed Neale’s photo taken in the Nevada
Northern’s yard took Best of Show. Top left, Steve’s winning pulp
wood cars, which helped him to meet his last required rolling stock
models for his next AP certificate MMR. Bottom left, Steve Perry
and Rick Mazzola working in the Contest Room. Next year’s 2014
NER Convention will be held in Palmer, Massachusetts in September.
2014 Winter Meet—Elections
Continued from page 1
President- Ed Neale
Vice-President—open
Secretary - Howard Dwyer
Treasurer- Steve Perry
WINTER 2013
Post A
ve
nd St
Rockla
t
ol S
Candidates for election at press time:
Exit
32
N
ho
Sc
Annual Business Meeting by any
STDiv member in good standing
and seconded by another STDiv
member in good standing, each
of whom must be ready to provide their name, address and
NMRA membership information
should they be requested.
Voting will take place following the close of nominations.
The Bylaws allow a vote by
voice, show of hands or written
ballot.
Linden Pl
NMRA membership number
must be clearly written beside
or under each signature on the
petition. The candidate’s name,
signature, NMRA membership
identification, and a statement
that if elected the candidate
intends to fulfill actively the
duties of the office and to remain a member of the NMRA
during his or her term in office
are also required. A nomination
by voice may be made at the
kwy
P
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t
Sta
n
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No
t
son S
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f
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e
445 J
Westbury Public Library is located at 445 Jefferson Street
Directors:
George Loy (2014)
Kevin Katta (2014)
Open (2014)
3
The Man Behind the Big Trains
Continued from page 1
HO, collected Long Island Railroad brass, and scratchbuilt some O
scale house cars out of styrene because I liked the heft of that larger scale. My HO layout was the stillborn product of a typical armchair modeler. For inspiration, however, I visited model railroads
in various stages of completion at homes, clubs and exhibitions.
In that newspaper clipping I glimpsed a possible solution to my
scenery phobia. What if I didn’t have to worry about plaster of
paris looking like mountains in miniature? What if the scenery
could be, well, like real and one-to-one scale? This seemed to have
real potential for a scenery klutz like me, particularly since my
scratch building proclivity indicated a hidden urge for things larger.
I needed to learn more about these trains, and to do so I set off for
Willis Hobbies, the nearest place I could find the trains that were
called, “G scale.”
My first reaction was that they were HUGE. My frame of reference was HO scale, of course, but on my return, I remember wondering whether a garden railroad would end up being a hobby or a
tourist attraction. Whatever it would be, it was to become one of
my railroad modeling passions. I sold off my HO collection and
headed for the garden to create my railroad empire.
In those days, garden railroading meant LGB and that is what I
began to accumulate. It is after all hard not to like the mass of
those large scale locomotives with their 7-pole Buehler motors,
which seem to pull effortlessly at a smooth crawl. And the fact
that they were designed to be used outdoors increased their reliability in all environments.
I was treated to a demonstration of this in two visits, a year
apart, at the New York Botanical Garden’s Holiday Train Show. The
operating layout was almost completely outdoors then. My first
visit was on a gray, damp day in 1991, the first year of an event
that has now become a holiday staple. As I remember it, all the
locomotives and rolling stock were from LGB. Ever on the lookout
for possible weather related problems on my own fledgling garden
railroad, I engaged at length one of the Garden’s personnel responsible for keeping things running. “Few if any problems,” was
his opinion as a steady drizzle continued to coat a multiple of
trains operated simultaneously through scenery created entirely of
natural materials.
In 1997, after running LGB trains for six years, I decided to
write Wolfgang Richter an unsolicited note of appreciation for the
high quality of his products (I thought even the boxes that the stuff
came in were classy). What started as a note ended up three pages long.
1998 turned out not to be one of my better years, with an illness hospitalizing me for the first time since I’d had my tonsils out
at age six. Christmas week still found me blue when, as luck would
have it, a DHL Courier truck rolled into our driveway to deliver a
box full of trains! Inside was that year’s LGB Christmas card signed
by Wolfgang, Johannes and Rolf Richter. On the card, Wolfgang
Richter wrote:
Dear Walter,
I received your kind letter on January 8th, 1998. I kept your letter
during all these months, always planning to answer. Please excuse
me — this year was so busy, but at least before December 31, I
wanted to thank you! I can tell you that your words really cheered
4
me up. Thanks for your loyalty to LGB. All the best to you and your
family.
Wolfgang
Needless to say, I cheered up immediately. I was cured!
We exchanged Christmas cards and letters the next two holiday
seasons. Then one day in early February, 2001, the phone rang,
and I answered it to find Wolfgang on the other end calling from
Germany. He was headed to New York for the annual international
toy show and would like to get together for lunch. He’d call once
he arrived to set up a time. We met in an office/display suite
E. P. Lehmann maintained at the Toy Industry of America facility in
Manhattan. Prominent in the office was the pre-production model
of the LGB Mikado, which Wolfgang had had a hand in building
and which would debut in that year’s catalog.
We spoke about any number of model railroad related subjects, including the company’s early days.
Devotees of the PBS program, “Antiques Roadshow,” might
recognize Lehmann as the German toy maker that produced many
turn of the 20th century tin toys that appear on the show and are
evaluated by the program’s appraisers. The company that made
those toys and many others was founded in 1881 by Ernst Paul
Lehmann and located in Brandenburg. Lehmann was receptive to
new ideas, and his unique, patented toys soon gave the company,
Ernst Paul Lehmann Patentwerk, a worldwide reputation. In 1921
Lehmann’s cousin, Johannes Richter, joined the company. Another
individual with a keen eye for new ideas, he helped expand
Lehmann’s reputation as an innovative toy maker and became the
company’s head in 1934 after its founder passed on.
During the Second World War the firm was able to avoid producing military goods, unlike most German firms, and also managed to resist the request to produce politically-approved toys of a
military nature. For Wolfgang, high school was interrupted abruptly in January 1944, when at age 16 he was drafted to fight in the
Second World War. As an air force spotter and front-line soldier,
he experienced first-hand the horrors of war. At the conflict’s end,
he found himself a prisoner of war of the American military.
After release he did not move back to Brandenburg in the RusTHE CANNON BALL
sian-occupied zone, but to his oldest sister's home in Munich,
which was part of the American-occupied zone. There he returned
to high school and in his spare time worked in the shops of the
American armed forces. After graduation in 1947 he continued
studies at the Munich language school, where he obtained an English translator’s diploma. After that, he worked for the Red Cross,
at magazine publishers, at government legal departments, for
Pepsi Cola, and at a company making medical tools.
Finally, he returned to his family roots, the toy business, and
began an apprenticeship at Josef Obletter, the largest toy retailer
in Germany. After obtaining a trade associate diploma in 1950, he
moved to Nürnberg. From there, he and his brother Eberhard
helped their parents rebuild Ernst Paul Lehmann Patentwerk in
Nürnberg, after the Brandenburg company’s expropriation by the
East German government. With great energy, careful economic
planning and many new ideas for toys, they continued the steady
growth of the company, even after the death of their father.
For 20 years after the war, the company produced toys that
were well made, but not necessarily unique. In 1968, however,
Eberhard and Wolfgang, who had been running the firm since their
father’s death in 1958, introduced LGB — the big train — perhaps
the company’s boldest concept ever, thus reviving interest in No. 1
gauge trains. From the beginning, they intended the trains to be
used outdoors as well as indoors, and the weather-resistant quality of the trains was the catalyst for the development of the garden
railway hobby as we know it today. It was under the brothers’
leadership that Lehmann went from being a small toymaker that
specialized in tin toys to one of the world’s largest model train
manufacturers.
After the unexpected and early death of Eberhard in 1984,
Wolfgang Richter continued to develop the LGB program. While
his responsibilities mostly included the business side of the company, he was always involved in the planning of new products. Indefatigably, he worked on the technical improvement of the trains,
and on maintaining their high quality standards. Many inventions
are based on his ideas. At the same time, he successfully integrated both his oldest son Rolf and his nephew Johannes into the company’s management.
As we continued our lunch, Wolfgang spoke admiringly of Lionel’s founder, Joshua Lionel Cohen, and Alfred Carlton Gilbert,
creator of the Erector Set and American Flyer trains. Each had
been inducted into the Model Railroad Industry Association Hall of
Fame, and although he was far too modest to broach the subject
directly, I could sense that Wolfgang would have regarded that as
a truly great honor.
Eventually our conversations moved to concerns about the
future of his company’s place in the hobby it had fostered and
nurtured to its then current state of well being. The LGB product
line had grown impressively and was continuing to do so. (LGB
catalogs were always big, glossy, and graphically attractive, but
one in particular in the years following our meeting comes to mind
as an example of that growth. The 2006 catalog marked the 125th
anniversary of Lehmann and was 387 glossy, heavyweight, 11"x11"
pages, edge–bound within LGB–red hardcovers (It weighed 6
pounds!). The cost of producing such a diverse line of high quality
products had grown exponentially, even as some of the production
had been moved from Germany to other European locations with
lower labor costs.
And then there was China. In the early going, Bachmann’s interest in garden railroading could be considered cursory, at best,
WINTER 2013
with a few price-driven products that couldn’t come close to
matching LGB’s high standards or reliability. But Bachmann had
begun to address the garden railroading market with a growing
line of higher quality products aimed specifically at the U.S.
Our conversation eventually moved away from “big trains” to
our families, to our past experiences and to things that we found
we had in common, despite obvious differences in our histories. I
learned that he was born in Brandenburg in 1928. His childhood
was a happy one, and he remembered playing in the family’s large
garden. In 1936, the family moved to the Lehmann villa on the
company grounds. He and the other children were not allowed to
enter the factory, but their bedroom contained a chest full of Lehmann tin toys. From an early age, he was drawn to making things
and to working with tools. Together with his brother Eberhard, he
used a small carpentry shop to build models of cars and ships. He
also enjoyed playing with a Märklin clockwork train.
It was apparent that Wolfgang had great affection for Americans and their country — far more than business interests alone
might have required. Perhaps it was his family’s experiences during the Second World War and its aftermath that fostered that, or
maybe he was just gregarious by nature and got along with most
people, regardless of nationality. In the end, the reason didn’t
make any difference. I found Wolfgang Richter, as had countless
others before me, a kind, intelligent and thoughtful gentleman.
We returned to the Lehmann suite to end our meeting, and
there Wolfgang introduced me to his son, Rolf. After many years of
working together with his son and nephew, Wolfgang had officially
handed over the company to the fourth generation of Richters in
1999. However, he made his experience, his advice and his
knowledge available to the company at all times. His travels allowed him to visit customers in Germany and abroad, as he always
enjoyed keeping close ties to LGB fans the world over. His immense knowledge, friendliness and modesty made him a respected figure in the model railroad world.
As we said our good-byes, I couldn’t help wondering about his
concerns for the family business and the brief feeling of foreboding that had insinuated its way into our earlier conversation. As I
and others would unfortunately find, it was to be all too prophetic.
In my 2002 annual holiday letter to Wolfgang, I congratulated
him on a much deserved honor: the induction of Eberhard and
Wolfgang into the Model Railroad Industry Association Hall of
Fame, which had taken place three months earlier— he had become the first European elected to that august body.
Though no longer the firm’s CEO or “Senior Chief” (terms he
was always loathe to use, preferring to credit the entire LGB team
for Lehmann’s success), he could still usually be found at the factory as early as 6:30 a.m. But the concerns he had voiced at our
meeting a year and a half earlier had begun to form storm clouds
over his world. Clouds that would impact both his business and
family.
Lehmann celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2006 by releasing
more than 200 products, including special recreations of historic
toys the company had once produced and LGB items such as
Amtrak locomotives, passenger coaches and freight cars; Disney,
Coca-Cola, Peanuts and Wild West-themed rolling stock; a classic
LGB Mogul loco featuring a Vanderbilt-style tender; special models
exclusively for LGB Club members; and an easier-to-install model
catenary system.
But on September 18, 2006, Ernst Paul Lehmann Patentwerk,
the maker of LGB trains, a family run business for 125 years, deContinued on page 6
5
BUILDING A TEST TRACK
an easy-to-make and useful addition your workbench / DAVID METAL
Continued from page 1
the center line of the track 1½ inches from the front edge of
what will be the test track shelf. To make it easier to put a locomotive on the track, I installed a re-railer track near the center of
the test track. I soldered all the rail joiners to the track, soldered
a length of 18 gauge red wire for the front rail track feed and an
18 gauge white wire for the track feed to the back rail. Three
angle brackets were attached to the bottom of the shelf along
the wall edge spaced to match the location of studs in the wall.
Find a stud near where one end of the shelf will be located and
transfer that point to the shelf then measure two studs distance
from there (usually 32 inches, but you can locate it by tapping
the wall and listening for a solid, rather than hollow, sound — or
there are stud finders available from hardware stores) for the
location of the next bracket and install it. The third bracket
should be four studs distance from the first bracket. You will
now be ready to install the shelf to the wall. With some help
position one end of the shelf on the wall (track side up) and install a single screw through the bracket and wall into the stud to
hold that end of the shelf snug to the wall. Now carefully level
the shelf and install a screw through the bracket and wall into
the stud at the far end of the shelf to hold it and recheck the
level. Once the shelf is level, install the remaining screws and
make all of the screws tight. Be sure you install stops at both
ends of the track to prevent a run-away locomotive from going
off the end. A block of foam rubber backed with a piece of wood
is good for this.
I made a small control panel for the test track using a piece of
3/16” plywood that is 4” high and 9” long. I used two screws to
hold the panel to the edge of the test track shelf. Measure down
½” from the 9” edge of the panel and draw a light line. Measure
1” in on this line from the two 4” sides to get the location of the
two mounting screw holes. Use a #27 drill and make a hole at
each point.
To position the three selection switches on the panel, measure and draw a line 2” down from the top of the panel. From the
left edge of the 4” side of the panel, mark a point at 1” in for
SW1, the DCC MODE “PROGRAM/RUN” switch, and a point at
2½” in for the DC/DCC SELECTOR switch, SW3. From the right
edge of the 4” side of the panel, mark a point at 2½” in for SW2,
the DC DIRECTION switch. Drill each hole with a ½” drill bit and
install a double pole double throw (DPDT) center–off switch in
each hole. The apparent non–symmetry of the panel switches is
to leave room for a self-contained DC throttle and its controls,
which might be the subject of a future addition to the test bench
and would eliminate the need for a separate power pack or DC
throttle
Parts list
6

SW1, SW2, SW3 Double pole, double throw, center–off
toggle switches

Any combination of barrier terminal strip(s) to provide a
total of 8 screw terminals (e.g. four 2–terminal strips or two
4–terminal strips or one 8–terminal strip) for connections
to the DC power pack, the DCC command station and the
test track
FROM DC POWER PACK OR THROTTLE
+
SW2
DC DIRECTION
SW3
INPUT
NORMAL
DC
TO TRACK
RAIL A
–
REVERSE
DCC
RAIL B
FROM DCC COMMAND STATION
RUN A
RUN
RUN B
PROGRAM A
PROGRAM B
PROGRAM
SW1
DCC MODE
Figure 1 shows the wiring diagram for the panel, which includes parts that can be obtained from most electronic supply
houses (e.g. Mouser, Digi-Key, Radio Shack, et. al.).
To use the test track, first set each switch to its center–off
position.
To test a DC locomotive, set SW3, the DC/DCC SELECTOR, to
“DC,” and use the re-railer track to place the locomotive on the
rails. Connect a DC power pack or throttle, with its speed control
set to the OFF position, to the “FROM DC POWER PACK OR
THROTTLE” terminals. Use SW2 to set the direction of travel and
advance the power pack or throttle speed control as desired.
Alternatively, if the power pack itself includes a direction control
switch, as it most often does, you may use that instead to control direction.
To use the test track to test a DCC locomotive, set SW3, the
DC/DCC SELECTOR, to the “DCC” position, and use the re-railer
track to place the locomotive on the rails. With the DCC Command Station turned off, connect the DCC “Run” and “Program”
outputs to the DCC “RUN” and “PROGRAM” terminals. Use the
DCC MODE switch to select either the RUN or PROGRAM mode.
Turn on the command station and use the DCC Throttle to control the locomotive’s speed and direction. With SW3 set to
“DCC”, the DC DIRECTION switch, SW2, is out of the circuit and
will have no effect.
The Man Behind the Big Trains
Continued from page 5
clared themselves insolvent and requested bankruptcy protection. Eventually Märklin took control of Ernst Paul Lehmann
Patentwerk in 2007.
On September 25, 2009, Wolfgang’s son, Rolf, died in an
auto accident in Bavaria at age 54 leaving his wife and three
children and his father.
In the end, Wolfgang Richter, toymaker extraordinare, died
after losing his wife, his brother, his sons and the family company he helped rescue and then reach its greatest heights. He had
little to leave of all he had cared for and accomplished in his
life, except for the love and devotion of those of us his creations touched. Having had the true pleasure of meeting this
kind, intelligent and above all modest gentleman, I somehow
think he’d believe that legacy was OK.
THE CANNON BALL
around the division
and elsewhere
Staten Island Rapid Transit—It started as a quest for narrow
gauge, said Ciro Compango, President of the Garden State Division, guest speaker at the November Convention. But after scoping out the possibilities of a Rio Grande Southern (too far away to
explore), or East Broad Top (still a long drive) he stumbled across
the Staten Island Rapid Transit, “right in my own backyard.” The
old B&O line, he says, became the basis for his Richmond Harbor
RR. Ciro and Marc Pitanza presented a mile-by mile tour of the
railroad. Marc has built a modular N-scale layout of the North
Shore that has been featured in the
model railroad press.
It’s the little things that matter—
Simple projects with big impacts were
the subject of Howard Dwyer’s clinic,
which included tips on a track cleaner
using Dr. Scholes Moleskin, chain link
fencing from bridal veils, and cheap
but very useful derails that keep cars
from rolling while spotted on grades.
Opportunity to operate—For those
who would like to try their hand at
participating in an operations session
on a model railroad, the Sunrise Trail
Division, the West Island Model Railroad Club and OPSIG are arranging
sessions on a number of Long Island
layouts over three days, from April 2527. More information can be found at www.islandops.org
Modeling the Cannon Ball—Sunrise member Michael Boland
has a really nice article in the November Railroad Model Craftsman
about modeling the secondhand heavyweight LIRR parlor cars that
made up the “Blue Ribbon Fleet.” The cars were used in the 17-car
all parlor car trains that comprised this newsletter's namesake
train, the Cannon Ball.
“Ops” Til You Drop Weekend —The CNY Division is offering
operations on six first class Utica/Syracuse layouts on Saturday
and Sunday, April 5 & 6. The cost is $10 (By March 19, 2014) and
that covers Saturday dinner and snacks. Hotel is on your own. For
Info contact Bill Brown at LARCProucts@yahoo.com.
Frequent Cannon Ball contributer Ken Szekretar reports from
Maryland that the new modules of Heritage Harbour Model
Railroad Club made their public debut at the Holiday Bazaar,
where 6 members set up a 20' x 8' layout which he says performed flawlessly.
John MacGown, with family, receiving Master Model
Railroader Award #517 at the November Convnetion banquet—the 11th Sunrise member to achieve the award.
Building turnouts
from jigs—Taking the
mystery out of
scratchbuilding turnouts, Dennis Gander
shows how he is using Fast Tracks jigs
and supplies to build
trackwork.
Manhattan in Maryland—Brian Sheron’s LIRR layout of
the Port Jeff branch was a highlight of the MER convention in October. From Penn Station to Jamaica to Huntington, Brian’s HO layout has loads of detail, right down
to Manhattan traffic.
The deadline for the Spring 2014 issue of The Cannon Ball is March 1st
WINTER 2013
7
PLACE
STAMP
HERE
FIRST CLASS MAIL
DOWN THE TRACK
PLACE MAILING LABEL HERE
A TRIBUTE TO THE MAN BEHIND LGB
WINTER MEET & ELECTIONS INFO
BUILD A HANDY TEST TRACK
CONVENTION WRAP-UP
IN THIS ISSUE
6 BROOKHAVEN DRIVE
ROCKY POINT NY 11778
Jan 5-6
12:00PM-4:00PM TMB Train Club O gauge layout open house – 1110A Rte 109 (behind Intercity Baking), Lindenhurst – Admission free tmbmodeltrainclub.com
Jan 11
12:30PM-4:00PM Sunrise Trail Division Winter Meet – Westbury Public Library, 445 Jefferson St, Westbury—Admission is free
Jan 12
10:00AM-4:00PM Great South Bay Model RR Club train show – Freeport Recreational Cntr, 130 E. Merrick Rd, Freeport – Adults $5; Under 12 free freeportsouthern.com
Jan 13
8:30AM-2:30PM Central Operating Lines swap meet – Island Bingo Hall, 1055 Portion Rd, Farmingville – Adults $4; Under 12 free 516-314-6499 coltrains.com
Jan 18
11:00AM-3:30PM Northrop Grumman Model Railroad Club train show – Bethpage High School, Stewart & Cherry Aves, Bethpage 516-334-4550
Feb 3
12:00PM-5:00PM TMB Train Club O gauge layout open house – 1110A Rte 109 (behind Intercity Baking), Lindenhurst – Admission free tmbmodeltrainclub.com
Mar 1
11:00AM-3:00PM Westbury Boy Scouts Layouts train show – United Methodist Church, 265 Asbury Ave, Westbury
Mar 3
8:30AM-2:30PM Central Operating Lines swap meet – Island Bingo Hall, 1055 Portion Rd, Farmingville – Adults $4; Under 12 free 516-314-6499 coltrains.com
NATIONAL
Jan 25-26 10:00AM-5:00PM Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show – Eastern States Exposition, 1305 Memorial Ave., West Springfield MA www.amherstrail.org
RECURRING
National Railway Historical Society Long Island Sunrise Trail Chapter meets 3rd Friday of each month at 8:00PM, Christ Church, Carll Ave & Prospect St, Babylon www.nrhs-list.org
Rockville Centre Model Railroaders Club layout open house every Saturday from 1:00PM–6:00PM, 200 Sunrise Hwy (basement), Rockville Centre , 516-520-2996, rcvmr.org
SUBSCRIBE TO
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2 years $14.00
Sign–up with Sunrise
AND JOIN THE NMRA FOR FREE!
Just phone or email us and we'll do the rest
Here's what we'll need to know:
Name: __________________________________________ Birthday: ___________
Name: __________________________________________ Birthday: ___________
Address: _____________________________________________________________
Address: ____________________________________________________________
City, State Zip: ________________________________________________________
City,State Zip: ________________________________________________________
Phone: _________________________________ Scale(s): ____________________
Phone: ________________________________
Email: _______________________________________________________________
Email: _______________________________________________________________
Send a completed copy of this form and a check made payable to the Sunrise Trail Division to:
Walter Wohleking, 5 Howard Drive, Huntington NY 11743-3032
Scale(s): ___________________
Give Gary Lynch the information by phone: 516-314-6785 or email: lynchga@optonline.net
or surface mail to: 289 Jefferson St., Franklin Square, NY 11010-2245.