our latest work party - Backyard Railroaders

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JUNE 5-9
29th National
Garden Railway
Convention
Cincinnati, Ohio
Issue # 6
JUNE 2013
JUNE 23
Open House @
the Fraser’s
JULY 6
Open House @
the Mooney’s
JULY 21
Open House @
the Rozema’s
AUGUST 11
Open House @
the Lloyd’s
AUGUST 18
Open House @
the Graves
AUGUST 25
Open House @
the Amsler’s
SEPTEMBER 15
Open House @
the Barber’s
OUR LATEST WORK PARTY
THE ABOVE PICTURE DOES NOT
REPRESENT WHAT ACTUALLY
TOOK PLACE ON SUNDAY MAY 26.
This was Earl’s first rest break in three
hours not to bad for an old fellow.
1
John LeForestier’s Open House/Work Party
May 26th was a
great day for a
little work, the
only problem
was, it wasn’t
little work.
We first had to
clear the acres
of “Forget me
not’s” to find
the work area,
then came the
grading, leveling and the
carrying of
TONS of concrete to build
legs for John’s
new layout. By
the time the
ladies had finished this they
were tired and
the guys had to
take over. As
you can see in
the photos the
guys are checking the ladies
work.
We all left feeling we had
helped in a
“smallville”
way. More
work still remains.
2
The existing “Littleton & Smallville Railroad”
The photo below shows the present Littleton & Smallville RR. The valley in the middle
is “Forget me not Valley”. The track crew is busily working on the track as seen in the
two photos on the left and center below. The track forewoman inspects the progress in
the photo on the right.
PHASE 2 - Lumber is stacked ready for the benchwork for
the switching yards on the Littleton & Smallville RR. We
ran out of both time and “GAS” to begin the construction.
This work might not be as physically demanding as Phase 1.
Hopefully we get a little time to recoup.
3
JOHN ALLEN a legend in model railroading.
www.gdlines.com
The photo above is of his HO scale Gorre & Daphetid.
A date that should not go unrecognized by any model railroader is July 2nd. That is John Allen’s (RIP) birthday. This year would have marked his 100th birthday. For those of us that
have read model railroad books and magazines, might not remember his name but sure noticed the many pictures of his railroad.
He was considered an unmatched giant by model railroaders worldwide for the many innovations he brought to the hobby in the books and articles he wrote, in the amazing photographs
he published, and in the astonishing model railroad he built, his HO scale Gorre and Daphetid
(pronounced gorey and defeated). In his floor to ceiling scenery, and in his new, freelance
modeling style he introduced modelers to previously unthought-of scenic detail. Perhaps
most important, his innovations gave modelers a licence to build to their imaginations instead
of slavishly following prototype practice. Plans are underway to mark this date by paying
homage to John’s memory with model announcements, contests, displays, field trips and other activities. John and his railroad reached almost mythic status during the sixties, while I
was a teenager, and since then his reputation has not faded one drop. Tragically, the G&D
Railroad was completely destroyed by fire shortly after his death. By John LeForestier
4
This months recipe from the Littleton & Smallville Dining Car
John Allen Memorial Flapjack
INGREDIENTS
1 3/4 CUPS ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR
3 TABLESPOONS SUGAR
2 TEASPOONS BAKING POWDER
1/4 TEASPOON FINE SALT
1/8 TEASPOON FRESHLY GROUND NUTMEG
3 TABLESPOONS UNSALTED BUTTER, PLUS MORE IF NEEDED
2 LARGE EGGS, ROOM TEMPERATURE
1 1/4 CUPS MILK, AT ROOM TEMPERATURE
1/2 TEASPOON VANILLA EXTRACT
Directions
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg.
In another bowl, beat the eggs and then whisk in the milk and vanilla.
Melt the butter in a large cast-iron skillet of griddle over medium-low heat.
Whisk the butter into the milk mixture, add to the flour mixture, and whisk until a thick batter is just
formed.
Keeping the skillet a medium to medium low heat, ladle about 1/4 cup of the batter onto the skillet, to
make a pancake.
Make one or more pancakes, taking
care to keep them evenly spaced
apart. Cook, until bubbles break the
surface of the pancakes, and the undersides are golden brown, about 2
minutes. Flip with a spatula and
cook about 1 minute more on the
second side. Serve immediately or
transfer to a platter and cover loosely with foil to keep warm. Repeat
with the remaining batter, adding
more butter to the skillet as needed.
Serves: about a dozen 4 inch pancakes
Serve and add JAM (J.A.M.) on top
of pancake.
It’s the least that every true model
railroader can do on that special
morning.
Enjoy
John LeForestier
5
NEW CONCRETE BUILDINGS ON THE WN & MRR
Ray Loughran shows off his new concrete buildings that he is in the process of installing
on his railroad. It is his hope (and mine) that these will last years. Ray is making more
modifications to his railroad this year with the addition of more trees and plants. He has
placed an additional order for more buildings.
Another short newsletter with lots of pictures. Still not running trains but spring cleanup and planting is almost complete so it won’t be long (golf season has also started this
week).
We will being working on more concrete buildings now that we have room to work both
inside and out.
A few members are off to Cincinnati to the 29th National Garden Railway Convention, I
hope they have a great time and take lots of pictures for those of us who aren’t able to
attend.
Bruce Nord has had a few health issues and as of May 26th was still in hospital, we hope
he’s doing better and will be home soon.
We’ve had two successful work parties so far this spring. Brian Davis is making good
progress , and reports he will be looking for help very soon.
SEE YOU ALL AT THE FRASER’S ON JUNE 23RD
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