September 2006 Railhead

PIKES PEAK "N" GINEERS MODEL RAILROAD CLUB

THE RAILHEAD

September 2006

SEEKING SERIOUS N-SCALE MODEL
RAILROADING SINCE OCTOBER 13, 1989

Calendar of events for the Pikes Peak "N"Gineers 2006

September

September 10: Combined picnic at Palmer Lake – 12 noon to when ever – earlier if you want to see more trains.
September 11: Board Meeting – Howard's Pit Barbeque – dinner at 6:30 p.m. – meeting at 7:30 p.m.
September 15: Business Meeting – 7:30 p.m. in the dining room on the fifth floor of St Francis Hospital
September 15: DSP&P tour again. See Como Article on when & where.
September 23: Run trains at Joe's from 1 to 4 pm.

October

October 7, 8, & 9: Rock Island Festival – notice change of dates
October 9: Board Meeting – Howard's Pit Barbeque – dinner at 6:30 p.m. – meeting at 7:30 p.m.
October 14: Club Anniversary Party will be held at the Peck's. Time will be set when we find out how many movies everyone wants to watch.
October 20: Business Meeting – 7:30 p.m. in the dining room on the fifth floor of St Francis Hospital

November

November 4&5: GTE show in Denver
November 13: Board Meeting – Howard's Pit Barbeque – dinner at 6:30 p.m. – meeting at 7:30 p.m.
November 17: Business Meeting – 7:30 p.m. in the dining room on the fifth floor of St Francis Hospital
November 25: Swap meet

December

December 11: Board Meeting – Howard's Pit Barbeque – dinner at 6:30 p.m. – meeting at 7:30 p.m.
December 15: Business & Corporate Meeting – 7:30 p.m. in the dining room on the fifth floor of St Francis Hospital

N Scale Collectors Convention
We met at 10 am at the storage unit to load the MTL. The stopped for breakfast and headed for Denver. We had to set the MTL up around a large pillar. So before we could do any clamping we moved the layout about three times till we came up with a workable area. We were in an excellent location for everyone to see the MTL. The hours of operation were 9 am to 6 pm every day except Sunday.
On Thursday we had a few gremlins, mostly in the automation parts of the layout. The oil wells and prison lights didn't work. Couldn't get the cam – car to work and the wind turbines were working then some started to stop. Trying to repair all this and speak to old friends and new was quite a challenge. As the morning went on we were able to get almost everything running. Was still having trouble with the wind turbans, but a plan was being devised to take care of that problem in the future. We did get a chance to walk around and see other layouts. Got many ideas for future animation projects.
We did find out that we are going to have to change our electrical setup in the future do to a national electrical code. All the power strips that are mounted to the modules will have to be removed and no longer used, more on this later.

In Memoriam
Lois Benton, a long time member of the Pikes Peak "N"Gineers passed away on August 4^th. She loved to collect the Holiday cars that came out every year and shop for those she did not have at train shows. Lois loved to talk to people. She was the go to person when we needed to get the advertisement out for swap meet and show. She and her husband Dan and son Dan Jr would go the different train rides the club went on. She was one of the best soldiers in the club. She never had a cold solder joint. Lois had several of the club members help her build her basement layout. This went all the way around the basement wall with areas for towns other scenes. It was loosely designed around her home town in Floridia.


Lois's Holiday car collection	Dan & Lois on the caboose of the Cumbre & Toltec RR

Lois fought cancer for over four years. During that time she still lived life and enjoyed her family and friends. I recall seeing her at the GTE show in February and commented that for a sick person she looked really good. She replied that she even felt good at the time. Lois was my friend and I will miss her.
PPNG CAM-CAR

First design of club cam-car. Used the body and cut-down frame of E-6 B unit and the front part of a Dimi Trains rotary snowplow kit. The camera is removable, it is held in place by the rotary portion in front. The frame was cut down so the camera could be mounted closer to the track.
The camera was purchased through Micro Mark. I was able to contact the manufacture in order to ask some questions about the camera. I explained what I was intending to accomplish and the gentleman there said to send the camera to him and they would do the modifications for me. I had them shave down the sides so the camera was 9/16 on an inch wide (the same width as an "N" scale car), and reroute the antennae and power cord out the back on the camera instead of the side. This little procedure was well worth the cost.
The next problem was where to put the 9-volt battery. Two solutions to this problem were worked on. The first was to make a load box to hold the battery and run wire out so it looked like fuel lines. This worked until the paint was scraped off the wire. Next step is to get some gray wiring. It was also suggested that fuel decals be added to the battery box. This worked pretty well except that the wire kept breaking off. I discovered that I would have to add liquid latex to the battery connectors to keep the wires from breaking.
The other solution we came up with is to use a Boeing aircraft car. This car can hold the camera and a 9-volt battery. The other plan was to put two 9-volt batteries in the car for extended battery life. We are still working on this part of the project.

Como, CO
On Saturday August 26 a small group of club members met at the Park & Ride in the rain at Woodmen and I-25 for a little trip into the past. Do to the weather the coarse of the trip was changed. We headed straight for Como, CO. We did make a short stop at the museum in Florescent, CO. They did have some nice drawings and other old pictures of the Colorado Midland RR. We traced the Midland to Hartsel then headed toward Fairplay. On reference maps we were looking for a place called Garo or Garos and we drove right passed it without even seeing it. The main line from Denver to Gunnison went through Garo. A Wye branch line was added here to go to the gold fields around Fairplay and Alma. There is a geographical boundary that has a break at Garo and one at Hartsel that kept the railroad from building the main line from Como to Fairplay.
We passed through Fairplay and headed toward Como. At Como we stopped at the old six stall engine house. You can check in at one of two stores in town and go into area. The preservation crew has added track from the engine house to the turntable pit and it looks like they plan on adding track to the turntable as well. There were some foundations of other buildings in the area.
We walked around for a while and took several photos.

We then headed over Boreas Pass. It appears that a large part of the grade from Como to the turn to start up the existing grade was destroyed when the dredges went through the area. There is a nice display at the summit and chance to walk around and look. On the other side of the pass heading to Breckenridge there is a water tank that has been preserved. It does have a non-typical tin roof. We found a place we could take lunch and pictures of some palisades. Of course it rained on our lunch so we ate in the car. We headed into Breckenridge and were going to park and take pictures of the rotary snowplow there but it was all posted no parking, so no pictures.

Members that participated were Lester, Rick, Chris & Connie and their friend Karen, and Mike & Mary. Yes we all went in one vehicle. It appeared we missed most of the rain in the Springs. I do plan to do this again and to go to those places that were missed. I am finding out that I cannot get to every place I schedule unless it is just a quick drive by and go. It is more fun to walk around and look at the achievements the earlier railroads made.
Weather permitting I believe I would like to try again on Saturday September 16^th. Meet at the park & Ride at Woodmen Rd & I-25 between 7:30 & 8 am. Bring a snack lunch and drinks & a CAMERA.

Combined picnic

September 10 at 12 noon at the Palmer Lake Park. You may arrive earlier if you wish. Bring a side dish or desert. Don't forget to bring your cameras.

Anniversary party

The Club Anniversary party will be on October 14 at the Peck's. The Peck's will be making a large pot of beef stew so bring a side dish or desert to go with. Please call and let Mike or Mary know what you wish to bring so when others call we can give them an idea of what others are bringing. This will help with any duplications.
The time will be set at the September business meeting. The question is how many train movies do you want to see in an evening. I have a library of at least 27 train-oriented movies. A list will be available at the business meeting or E-mail me for it and I'll send it to you. The downstairs layout will be available for anyone who wishes to run trains. The layout will handle two engineers.

Swap Meet and Show

The club is planning on having a swap meet and train show on Saturday November 25 from 10 am to 4 pm at the Disabled American Veterans at 6880 Palmer Park Blvd. This is the northwest corner of the intersection of palmer Park Blvd & Peterson Rd in Cimarron Hills. The show may be cancelled do to a lack of venders. At this writing the show is a go.