May 2011 newsletter - Home of The North Atlanta O

2011
N E W S L E T T E R
O F T H E
N A O G R R C
MAY
C LEAR T RACK A H E A D
http://www.ogauge.org/
Les's Lionel Dual Motor 2363
F3A/B Illinois Central
from 1955-1956
These past couple of weeks we have visited 7 of our members' layouts. What I thought really was
great was the fine refreshments that the wives of these members prepared for us. I want to thank
them on behalf of the members and families who attended and enjoyed the hospitality they extended
to us.
We were promised Rack of Lamb at one stop but I didn't see any. Did anyone have some? I guess I
have to get Perry Mason to investigate.
All kidding aside, if you missed the tour this time try to go on the next one we have. You really missed
a great time.
by Les
Open call for more articles of interest for the Newsletter. Please email all submissions to newsletter@ogauge.org
TRAIN DR. TED
JAY C. LAYOUT
PAGE 5
MAX W. LAYOUT
CURT A N D M A X W. - 4 / 3 0 / 1 1
T
JAY C .’ S L AYO U T 5 / 7 / 2 0 1 1
2011 Spring Layout Tour a Success
The first two layouts were in Dallas
has recently changed his
GA at Rich B's and Jim D's. The
configuration from the old layout.
layouts were both still in progress.
Max has been working on his for
Rich used fastrack with some
Department 56 scenic buildings and
had 2 trains running. He said he has
a ways to go yet. Next stop was
Jim's who has Atlas track and is a
some time and on the day we
visited was given a TMCC
component for his birthday by
Wyatt W, which I thought was a
great gesture. Max also is going to a
scale operation. Jim uses hand held tubular layout. control for his layout and trains
As a final stop this Spring, we went
have been weathered.
to Jay C's layout in Carrollton. He
The next stop was at Dale S. in
has a layout with a replica of a coal
Atlanta and he has a layout with a
mine in Scranton PA where his
NYC theme with King Kong on top
grandfather worked and also a
of the Empire State building. He also
replica of Bath Maine with a few
runs Digital Control of Lionel military ships and planes and a
AS CASEY ALWAYS SAYS
"HAPPY RAILS TO YOU"
and MTH. Dale has a Subway line
TH E L AYO U TS
JIM D.
Corvette submarine chaser from
the Big One (WW2). He runs
Pennsy engines by Lionel and
some MTH and Atlas.
DAL E S.
and a station for the Yankee Stadium We also went on a trip to
Jim Steed's in Blairsville. His layout is
stop at 161st and River Avenue in
the Briazonx as us guys from
tubular Lionel track and is amazing.
Brooklyn used to call the Bronx.
We then went to eat at Steve's
The next tour day had 3 stops all
on the same day starting with Bill D's in Marietta. Bill has a scale
layout with a mix of manufacturers
with Atlas track and weathered
trains and cameras mounted in
Steak House. Then on to Misty
Mountain Rail Road also in
Blairsville. Most first timers thought
it was awesome.
RIC HARD B.
Thanks to all who participated and
rolling stock. Bill also has scratch
a special thanks for those who
supplied pictures for our newsletter.
built buildings.
A really big Thank You goes to Bill D
We then went to Curt W and his
for organizing the trip to Misty MT
son Max W 's layouts in Canton. and Jim Steeds'.
Curt is running with traditional
trains and Lionel accessories. He
by Les
MISTY MOUNTA IN
The Story of the Shay
Logging railroads often had rough, temporary track, steep grades and sharp curves. Conventional steam
locomotives, long and heavy with large driving wheels, would
derail on the crooked track and lose traction on inclines. Specialized locomotives were required. Three principal
designs were used in the United States: the Shay, Climax
and Heisler. The Cass Scenic Railroad has examples of all
three.
PH OTOS
While details differ, the basic concept of all three types is
similar. The pistons rotate a crankshaft, powering a long,
jointed drive shaft that turns the wheels through
reduction gears. Unlike conventional rod locomotives, all
the wheels of geared locomotives are drivers, arranged in
short-wheelbase, swivel trucks. Slow and steady, all their
weight used for traction, geared locomotives produce far
more useful power on hills than conventional locomotives
of similar weight. Because of their flexible trucks, they
negotiate poor quality track that would stop a rod engine
cold.
Bill
D’s
Lionel
3‐truck
Shay
on
the
The Shay locomotive was the most widely used geared
club’s
diorama
steam locomotive. The locomotives were built to the
patents of Ephraim Shay, who has been credited with the
concept of a geared steam locomotive. Although the design of Ephraim Shay’s early locomotives differed from later
ones, there is a clear line of development that joins all Shays.
Some were designed to run on logs rather than rails. Steel rails cost money, but in lumber camps there is one thing
you have plenty of---trees. The practice was therefore to lay down tree trunks as “rails”. Obviously conventional
railway wheels would just fall off the tree trunks, so big concave wheels were used, rather like car wheels with no
tires on. These gave very little grip, so the only way to get some tractive effort was to make sure that all the wheels
were driven. The Shay design was well suited to this.
In 1903, Lima could claim that it had delivered the “heaviest locomotive on drivers in the world,” the first 4-truck
(class D) Shay, weighing 140 tons. This was built for the El Paso Rock Island line from Alamogordo, New Mexico to
Cox Canyon, 31 miles away over winding curves and grades of up to 6%. The use of a two-truck tender was forced
by the fact that the locomotive needed to carry enough water for a round trip because of the poor water quality
along the line.
Shay locomotives had regular fire-tube boilers offset to the left to provide space for a two or three cylinder “motor,”
mounted vertically on the right with longitudinal drive shafts extending fore and aft from the crankshaft at wheel axle
height. These shafts had universal joints and square sliding prismatic joints to accommodate the swiveling trucks.
Each axle was driven by a separate bevel gear, with no side rods.
The strength of these engines is that all wheels, including, in some engines, those under the tender, are driven so that
all the weight develops tractive effort. A high ratio of piston strokes to wheel revolutions allowed them to run at
partial slip, where a conventional rod engine would spin its drive wheels and burn rails, losing all traction.
Shay locomotives were often known as sidewinders or stem-winders for their side-mounted drive shafts.
2768 Shay locomotives were built by Lima in four classes, from 6 to 160 tons between 1878 and 1945.
Class A : two cylinders, two trucks. Weights between 6 and 24 tons.
Class B: three cylinders, two trucks. Weights between 10 and 80 tons.
Class C: three cylinders, three trucks. Weights between 40 and 160 tons.
Class D: three cylinders, four trucks. Weights of 100 and 150 tons.
by Bill D.
Train Dr. Ted
Lionel
Tubular
Track
is
S1ll
Here
to
Stay
at
This
Time.
Within
the
week
of
May
15‐21,
the
rumor
of
Lionel
tubular
track
has
gone
from
“No
more
producFon”
to
“It
will
be
back
in
the
catalog.”
So
far,
the
last
word
is
the
track
will
sFll
be
produced.
Tubular
track
has
been
produced
for
over
100
years.
It
works
well,
is
easy
to
assemble
and
is
affordable.
As
of
this
wriFng,
there
is
sFll
the
quesFon
if
the
tubular
o‐gauge
switches
will
also
conFnue
to
be
produced.
The
022
switch
is
the
most
reliable
switch
machine
made
and
has
no
electronics
in
it
to
fail.
The
switch
machine
mechanism
has
been
used
for
over
80
years
because
it
works.
FasTrack
Tubular
Lionel
also
produces
the
FasTrack
system.
FasTrack
was
first
introduced
in
the
2003
Volume
1
catalog.
Unless
you
are
8
years
old
or
younger,
you
did
not
grow
up
with
the
FasTrack
system.
It’s
more
realisFc
looking,
easy
to
assemble
but
is
more
than
double
the
price
per
secFon
than
tubular
track.
In
reviewing
toy
train
magazines
such
as
Classic
Toy
Trains
and
O‐Gauge
Railroading
the
use
of
Lionel’s
FasTrack
system
is,
by
far,
NOT
the
choice
of
the
scenic
builder
arFcles.
In
our
own
Club,
member’s
use
of
FasTrack
is
also
limited.
FasTrack
is
part
of
the
Lionel’s
‘starter
set’
track
system.
As
this
system
gets
into
more
homes
it
is
more
likely
to
be
used
on
newer
layouts.
FasTrack
is
not
available
in
any
size
less
than
036
and
many
of
us
are
using
027
and
031.
A
big
advantage
of
tubular
track
is
that
you
can
cut
it
to
make
it
fit
in
‘your’
layout.
Try
cu[ng
FasTrack.
On
my
tubular
track
layout,
one
of
my
beginning
goals
was
not
to
cut
any
track.
That
goal
was
soon
not
realisFc.
To
make
your
track
fit
your
plans
usually
calls
for
special
lengths.
With
FasTrack
the
price
of
a
1
3/8”
track
is
at
$4.59
which
does
not
make
much
sense
to
me
when
a
10”
track
is
$4.79.
I
hope
to
see
tubular
track
offered
well
into
the
future.
Click
these
links
to
view
videos
of
club
member
layouts:
hap://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4nZ4fNqMgc
hap://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pqg9ETJPmDA
hap://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMaRc_i1N1w
N AOG RR C C A L EN DA R
Meeting Minutes
5/19/2011 at Hobby Town
Members attending- 27
Guests- 4
New Members- none
NEXT MEETING
THE JUNE NAOGRRC MEETING
WILL BE HELD AT ERIC S.
HOUSE ON THE 16TH.
OFFICER
NOMINATIONS
BY JUNE 4TH
EMAIL MIKE C.
Layout Update
Three of the four lift outs are complete.
Rock molds will come after hard-shell. We
are talking about a six hour session on
some night to put on hard-shell. Need
some volunteers and then figure out a
schedule. The mine area has black siding
so that the video looks more like a mine
shaft. The gorge is being filled slowly. The
clouding of the water is a problem in some
areas. Might be an artifact of time of pour.
Waiting two weeks seems to help. Maybe
the heat from the transformers is a cause?
If the pour is thick it could get cloudy so
doing thin pours helps. Also need
volunteers to be on the track cleaning
crew. It is best to work in teams. The
teams need to clean track for about two
hours to get it clean because it is so dirty.
we are using Bestine as the cleaning fluid.
Contact Scott or Jim D. if you want to
volunteer.
Children's layout
Dave says next show is August 13th at the
Norcross North Atlanta Trade Center. All
trains working well now. Lionel donated a
transformer and track in addition to the
Hogwarts train.
Summer Picnic
Sept 10th at the lake where we had it last
year. Al C. will do shopping the night
before. We will need lots of help.
Member news
• Max will be selling fast track.
• Photos of Eric’s layout in Classic Toy
Trains in November issue.
• Sam told us that the Hobbytown layout
is on local tv.
• Max’s and Jim D.’s layouts will be in the
August issue of O-Gauge Magazine.
• Wyatt reminded us about the online
forum for the club.