July 2012 - Gold Coast Garden Railroad Society

Upcoming Meets:
Saturday July 14 11 AM
Bob & Rochelle Hahn
Veutura
(805)648-2282
Track and Battery Power
Please bring:
A-G Desserts
H-O Appetizers
P-Z Salads
Saturday July 28 11AM
Dennis & Susanne
Paulazzo
Santa Barbara
(805) 964-3690
Track & Battery Power
Please bring:
A-G Appetizers
H-O Salads
P-Z Desserts
August 11 -- DeBrievre
August 11 & 12 -Siegel ( Parkinson
fundraiser)
August 18 --Goodman
August 25 – Mele
September XX --Siegel
July 2012
This month we start at the home of Bob
and Rochelle Hahn, and finish with a
visit to Dennis and Susanne Paulazzo.
I always enjoy visiting Bob and Rochelle
Hahn's Rocky Top RR because I can
always find something to steal borrow for
my layout. Bob has built four separate
loops of track, including a fairy themed
one that is entirely overhead. Rochelle
has a real eye for attractive plants, and
her wonderful figures and imaginative
structures bring the layout to life even
when there aren't any trains going by.
The fairy layout is built mostly on bridges
that have been painted in brilliant colors,
with the most interesting and original
tunnel portals I have ever seen. When
you see them, bear in mind that they
started out as scrap Styrofoam.
In addition to the fairy layout, there are
three loops at more traditional heights, all
with track power or not, your choice.
The outer loop has 20 foot diameter
curves and easy grades. Vertical
clearance is 10 ½ inches. There is one
tight spot that will handle
the big K28s, but anything
Hahn's meet
larger needs to be tested
Directions and map omitted from oncarefully.
line edition. Please call meet host for
directions.
Dennis and Susanne Paulazzo
Next we visit Dennis and Susanne
Paulazzo in Santa Barbara. Their
DIPSLP RR is a narrow gauge mining
and logging railroad. Construction
started in 1998 and has continued ever
since.
This layout is very deceptive because it
packs far more good stuff into a much
smaller space than you would think
possible. And yet it doesn't look jammed
at all. I really love Dennis' rock work, and
the plants are very effective. Dennis built
most of the buildings from scratch; the
rest are kit bashed.. Susanne made real
barbed wire for the cattle pen.
There is approximately 200 feet of code
250 mainline track. The minimum radius
is four feet. The steepest grade is about
5%, along with a short, steep downgrade.
Sounds like fun. The vertical clearance
is 8 ¾ inches. That will clear Shays and
other small, flexible engines. So, leave
your big stuff at home for another day,
but bring your smallest engines and lots
of cars, too. Map and directions on page
2.
Open Dates
We are still looking for someone to take
on the December meet and holiday party.
Bruce Kuebler's Kit Bashed Locomotive
Milestones and/or Millstones, Your Choice
Bruce has a Lionel GP7-ish locomotive that he has
converted to a very accurate representation of the North
Western Pacific GP9 #3850 (pre wreck). Bruce says:
Bob Hahn turned 65 at the end of May. Joe
Heumphreus turned 80 in mid June. Georges
Arseneault became an American citizen in April, but still
refers to himself as King Georges. Chris Walas has
moved to Portland, Oregon, and is busy repairing his new
house. New to him, that is; 80 years old to everyone else.
“I followed an
article by Gary
Raymond in
Finescale Model
Railroader
magazine more
than a decade
ago for detailing a
Lionel GP-20 and
went beyond that
to make as
accurate as possible copy of the real locomotive that sat
damaged in Willits (I spend several days climbing all over it
taking pictures and measurements). The Lionel model was
closer to a low nose GP-7 although NWP 3850 was a GP9. I removed and added louvers, added ditch lights, strobe
light on cab, replaced handrails and stanchions with
correct size, added piping detail to air tanks, replaced
trucks with more accurately sized and detailed side
frames, added sanding hatches with handles, replaced
lights on long nose, added a step plate and brake lever to
end of long nose, added or replaced the fold-down plate
used to safely step over couplers and used smaller safety
chain therewith, reconfigured and used smaller air hoses
at each end, added plug-in receptacle for MU running, had
decals custom made to duplicate all lettering on the real
engine, added diamond safety tread to walkways, added
coupler lift bars, modified the steps by cutting them into the
frame, added side panels to steps leading to cab, replaced
mesh screening on long hood, and replaced the domed
cooling fans with larger flat fans.”
Thanks Bruce. Whew, that sounds like a lot of work. The
real 3850 was wrecked in 1997 and has been sitting at
Willits ever since. Thanks to Bill Fincher for the photo.
Bah Humbug Revisited
Last December, I asked for pictures of your Christmas
and/or holiday layouts and decorations. I received exactly
zero responses, so I promised to give you more notice this
year. Well, it's almost July, so here is your cue to get
started. I expect a better response this year.
Are You At a Loss for a Memorable Vacation?
Have you ever done one of those engineer-for-a-day
programs? There is quite a selection; both in location, and
equipment, and even how long it takes. Here are a few
starting with the closest:
Orange Empire Railway Museum Perris California
The OERM has a choice of equipment including a diesel
switcher, a U25B and an FP45 (hourly rates).
Roaring Camp and Big Trees RR Felton California
$175 to ride with the crew on a regular run.
Sumpter Valley RR, Sumpter, Oregon
The Sumpter Valley has half day ($500) and full day
($1000) classes in a Heisler. They also offer sessions in
an ALCO Mogul or will when they get It repaired, which is
expected to be pretty soon.
Cumbres & Toltec Cumbres, New Mexico
Engineer ($2500) and fireman ($2000) schools, four days
each, all but sold out for this year.
Paulazzo's meet
Directions and map omitted from
on-line edition. Please call meet
host for directions.
Joe and Leslie Bussing's Meet
The weather was warmer than
predicted, but perfect for running
trains. We had a good sized crowd,
and great food.
the same time. We had five trains
running at once at one point, and all of
them were bunched at the top of the
layout. It all worked out fine, though.
There weren't any wrecks, and nobody
was in any particular hurry to finish.
Joe has been busy since the last time.
The basic track plan was the same,
but he has torn out quite a lot of the
ground cover, and substituted rocks
that really improve the atmosphere of
the railroad. He has several bins of
the same rocks remaining, so it will be
even better in the future.
Ken Van Fleet ran his Colorado &
Southern SW1200 and some log cars.
The layout has a number of passing
sidings at each end, but the middle is
all single track. That works fine,
except when everyone with a battery
powered locomotive decides to run at
Gary's granddaughter, Chloe
Raymond, ran her Percy, complete
with some Barbies who, Chloe
explained, were on their way to Hawaii
for a wedding.
Georges Arseneault had his ATSF
Pacific and a few cars.
Gary Raymond brought his MTH
Baldwin V1000 and a nice train.
Jim Eldridge ran Sylvia's Chessie 44
tonner and also his D&RG GP9 on the
point of a short train.
Andy Speidel brought his West Side
Shay #15 and some log cars.
John Power, not to be outdone,
brought HIS West Side Shay #15 and
more log cars, but ended up
doubleheading with Andy.
Joe Heumphreus started to run his
Sierra rail car, but there was some
problem, and he stopped early.
Thanks to Chloe Raymond and Rex
Davis for some of these pictures. And
thanks to Joe and Leslie for another
memorable meet.
Three Garys
Gary & Marilyn Siegel's Meet
The weather was perfect, of course,
and we had a good crowd. Gary has
added even more track, and lots more
trees. There were reports of a couple
accidents; but I didn't see them, and
nobody took any pictures.
The picture in the lower right corner of
this page shows track on five levels.
Bill Fincher ran his Shay all the way
up the logging branch to end of track.
The logging branch is significantly
more challenging than the main line,
so there is much less competition for
running time.
pulpwood car. He ran down to what
will be the log dump someday, and
then found out that the train was too
long for the wye. He had to resort to
some non-scale fingers to continue
running.
Gary Raymond brought his MTH
Marc Iacobucci brought his SP GP38- Baldwin V1000 and a short train. He
2 and a long string of beautiful freight
also had a rail car that he ran more
cars.
than the V1000.
John Ryan thought that Gary Siegel's
GP9 and GP20 needed some
exercise, so he had them on the point
of a long trains of tank cars. Some of
them are John's and some are Gary's;
but they all looked great together.
Geoff Clinton brought his live steam
Roundhouse Sandy River 2-6-2 and
two South Pacific Coast passenger
cars that looked great together.
Luckily the rivet counters were
elsewhere, and the rest of us just
Doc Riese ran Ed Morse's LGB 2-4-0 enjoyed it. The little Prairie type ran
and a rather odd train of old time
great, although it ran out of fuel about
passenger cars and one modern
half way around.
Bruce Kuebler ran his Lionel GP7
that he converted to a North Western
Pacific GP9. Read all about the
project on page 2.
John Power ran his Connie with some
beautiful but non-prototypical 1920's
Harriman style heavyweight passenger
cars.
Ed Morse ran his U25B and an
interesting train of colorful old time
cars.
Chuck Haverlah ran an LGB Mogul,
and a few cars. Chuck modified the
cab to make it look more 1:32, and
added RC and battery.
Thanks to Bill Fincher and Bruce
Morden for some of these pictures.
And thanks to Gary and Marilyn for
another great meet.
Bill Fincher's New Zealand Vacation
Bill Fincher and his girl friend spent some time in New
Zealand recently. Bill sent some pictures, and this
description.
steam train called the Kingston Flyer. We arrived after it
was through for the day and took several pictures but did
not get a chance to ride it.
After a few days
touring the west coast
we recrossed the
mountains over
Arthur's Pass back to
the east side to our
last night at the
French town of
Akaroa before
heading to
Christchurch and
My girlfriend Laurie and I recently returned from a two
week trip to New Zealand. We had a great trip with some
hiking, a train ride, some boat rides, and lots of driving
through the countryside.
We flew from Los Angeles to Auckland (a 12 hour flight)
where we rented a camper van and headed for the coast.
We did a few hikes and spent some time on the beaches.
After a few days exploring the North Island we drove to
Wellington and caught the ferry over to the South Island.
We spent some time on the north coast exploring the
beaches and hiking the Abel Tasman National Park then
drove down the east coast to Dunedin stopping for some
hikes and gardens along the way.
The Dunedin rail station was built in 1904 and has unique
architecture.
From Dunedin
we rode the
Taieri Gorge
Railway. It
travels
through a
scenic gorge
with many
bridges and a
dozen tunnels.
Construction
on the rail line
began in 1879
to provide
service to the
Otago goldfields and to transport the agricultural products
along the way. The line ended commercial service in 1990
and has been a tourist line since then.
After that we headed west to the fiords for boat rides on
Doubtful Sound and Milford Sound. Milford is more well
known but Doubtful
Sound is much larger,
less crowded and we
thought just as scenic.
It rains a lot there, 8
meters (26 feet) a
year, but this accounts
for the hundreds of
waterfalls along the
sounds. It snowed the
night before we went
to Milford Sound
giving the surrounding mountains a layer of white.
After the fiords we crossed the Southern Alps to the west
coast. We passed through Kingston where there is a
flying home.
We ended up driving over 2300 miles and saw a lot of the
country (and some of the 40 million sheep). Of course the
driving is on the left
side of the road. It
was a little tricky at
first, especially at the
roundabouts and with
a 5 speed stick in the
van (left hand shift).
Nearly all the roads
are two lane and
almost all the bridges
are one lane. Some
of the bridges were
one lane including railroad tracks.
Overall we found the country beautiful and the people
friendly. There is lots to do and see and we could have
spent a couple
more weeks.
Thanks, Bill, that
makes me want to
go back and to
encourage
everyone to go
see for
themselves.
Bill didn't mention
that the architect for the Dunedin station, George Troup,
was knighted for this project. At one time, it handled more
than 100 trains per day, but there are only a few now.
Most of the
building is now a
restaurant and
sports museum.
And those one
lane bridges with
railroad tracks
down the middle
are really...
interesting... the
first time.
More pictures of New Zealand, because you can never have too many.
Lake Waketipu and snow
Bill Fincher
Dunedin Station Window
Oamaru Steampunk Headquarters
Taieri Gorge
Dunedin Station Front
Lake Manapouri
GCGRS Membership Application Form
Membership in the Gold Coast Garden Railway Society is open to anyone who is interested
in outdoor model railroading. Dues are $20 per year if you need a printed copy of the
newsletter mailed to you; or $10 if you can take the newsletter via email. New members,
please add $6 for each name tag that you want to have. Membership runs from January to
December. Make checks payable to “Bruce Kuebler for GCGRS”.
Bring this application and payment to any meet, or mail it to:
Bruce Kuebler
10908 Encino Dr
Oak View CA 93022-9238
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(805) 648-1770
garyolmstead AT
earthlink DOT net
Membership:
Bruce Kuebler
(805) 649-3050
pbkuebler AT
sbcglobal DOT net
Meets: Jim Eldridge
(818) 954-9809
sjeldridge AT
earthlink DOT net
NOTE NEW web site:
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