MINI-BUNCH
NEWSLETTER
The Mini-Bunch newsletter is usually published 4 times a
year on an irregular schedule. Membership and a
subscription to the Newsletter are $8.00 for 3 years or with
Registration at a recent Mini-Bunch meeting. Website:
http://www.narrowtracks.com/minibunch
John Hansen & Ted Wiese – Editors Volume 37 Number 1 February 2008
email: jvhansen@earthlink.net or ted.wiese@gmail.com
Contents:
Jeff’s Jottings - Random Snipings Fall Meet - November 1 - 2, 2008
RIP - Nat Howard 1929 - 2007 Making Trees - Michael Yoakam
Spring Meet - April 3 - 5, 2008 OR & W Plans
Indiana On30 Meet - May 3, 2008
Random Snipings
Random Snipings
This will be the last of my columns as King Snipe, as the next newsletter will come out after the
current Snipe Hunt, I mean election, will have taken place. This has been an interesting, if at
times hectic, 2! years. I still haven’t quite got the grasp of what a deadline is, much to Editor
Ted’s dismay. I must say, however, this has been an enjoyable experience, even if I do get
anxious about using the bathroom during one of our business meetings.
So what has your soon-to-be Ex King Snipe been up to model railroading-wise? Well, by the
time you read this, I will have set my module with the standard gauge group I belong to at three
different venues. “What!?!?”, you ask. “STANDARD GAUGE??!!??” “Start the impeachment
proceedings!!!” (Uh, it’s a little too late, guys).
Now that you have gone to the refrigerator to grab some refreshment to calm your nerves, and
have possibly contacted Editor Ted, or noted modeler Jim Foster, and asked, “What is a $%##!!@
standard gauge modeler doing as our fearless (or is it clueless) leader?”, let me explain. My
standard gauge module depicts a narrow gauge museum. While it is a work in progress, it gives
me the opportunity to provide outreach to the masses.
How successful is this outreach? I’ve had mixed results. At a train show during the Christmas
holidays, about every 4th or 5th person asked the question, “Is that N gauge?”. So I got to explain
that it’s HOn30, HO scale equipment that operates on track that is the same width as N gauge
track. Some understood what I was saying, others’ eyes began to glaze over as I explained. Two
people actually recognized it was HOn30, and one person said that he had some HOn30
incorporated into his home layout.
At the most recent show, reactions were quite different. The N gauge question was never spoken.
Most people I spoke with recognized that the trains were narrow gauge, although some weren’t
sure what kind of narrow gauge. One fellow asked if he could photograph the module. Another
asked about the availability of locomotive and rolling stock kits. I explained which models were
kits and which were kitbashed or scratchbuilt. He was particularly interested in a diesel
conversion based on an article that appeared in RMC is the mid seventies. I told him about the
article and what N scale loco was used in the construction. He thanked me and said he would be
back after he visited the dealers’ tables. A couple hours later he returned, reached into the bag he
was carrying, and pulled out the N scale loco I had described. He excitedly told me how well it
ran when he had it tested and how he was looking forward to building the conversion. I told him
that I had the article at home and would send him a copy of it. Maybe, just maybe, I’ve planted
the narrow gauge seed.
Well, onto other matters.
Athearn HO model A Fords - When the models first came out, I thought that they were too
modern for use on my modules. Then I purchased one. I was impressed by the detail and how
close it resembled the real thing. So, like potato chips, I decided I couldn’t have just one.
Currently, it’s ten, and counting. The collecting gene has kicked in. At least I will have a variety
to choose from for display on my modules.
I’ve have heard that Athearn has released 1/50th scale versions of the model A. Hopefully, this
will be an item that O scale modelers can use.
GLHOn30 modular layout – For those of you wondering when we will be setting up in the
future, here is the current calendar
April 3-5, 16th Annual Narrow Gauge Show, Greenford, OH.
July (dates to be determined), setup at the Woodland Mall, Bowling Green, OH
September 19-21, NCR regional meet, Clarion Motel, Toledo, OH
November 1-2, Fall Mini-Bunch meet, held at the MCR Div. 3 train show, Hara Arena, Dayton,
OH
Railroad DVDs and software – I have purchased a few DVDs over the past couple years and
have found several to be quite interesting. The first is TREES, TREES, TREES, by Darryl
Huffman. It’s a 2-hour video of making a variety of trees, including Ponderosa Pines, Oak, Birch
and Aspen. A good portion is dedicated to working with Scenic Express SuperTrees and
SuperSage, which I found to be very helpful. You can find this video, and others, at Darryl’s
website: www.darrylhuffman.50megs.com
For those of you interested in historical narrow gauge footage, The Films of Gus Pratt: Riding the
Maine Two-Footers, might be what you’re looking for. The DVD contains film footage taken by
the late Earl “Gus” Pratt of the last days and dismantling of the SR&RL and WW&F railroads.
Both B&W and color footage is included. An interesting touch is some modern footage of the
elderly Mr. Pratt observing the building of the new boiler for WW&F #9 at the Boothbay Railway
shops. You can find out more about the DVD at the WW&F Railway Museum’s website:
www.wwfry.org
If your looking for tourist railroading videos, then I suggest The Maine Narrow Gauge
Collection: Vol. 1-3, by Black 5 Video. Each of the videos is roughly 30 minutes long, and
covers one of the Maine narrow gauge museums, The WW&F museum, the SR&RL museum,
and the Maine Narrow Gauge museum. I’ve only had time to watch the video about the MNGM
and found it quite thorough. Included are interviews with museum members, shots of the
equipment, and the obligatory cab rides and runbys. For those of you who were unable to attend
the National Narrow Gauge convention in Portland, Maine, this would be a way of seeing what
you missed. Information about the videos can be found at Black 5’s website:
www.timelesstrainsandthings.com
If you are interested in switching puzzles, you might want to look at RRSWITCH, by Challenge
Products. I got a copy of it for myself for Christmas, and as a result, I’ve lost quite a bit of
modeling time. The software comes with ten different track arrangements. You switch up to
eight cars, randomly selected and located, to the desired locations. There is a time limit based on
the number of cars you are given. You are rated by the number of moves it takes you to complete
the assignment. There are options for you to place cars on the layouts yourself and to create your
own switching layouts. I’m so impressed by this software that I’m incorporating one of the
layouts into a new module I am building. More information can be found at
http://members.aol.com/challengeproduct/
Snipe season is almost around the corner. Put on your thinking caps and come up with an
unsuspecting victim, I mean upstanding volunteer, who would be an ideal candidate for King
Snipe.
Remember, if you would like to contact me regarding any of the above ramblings, or any other
Mini-Bunch matters:
Email me at jschumaker@cros.net,
Call me at 419-637-2876, or
Send a letter to 401 S. Patterson St., Gibsonburg, OH 43431
RIP - Nat Howard, Sn3 Modeler
By Ed Cass
Nat Howard, who died December 20, 2007, was a newspaperman. and headed his own public
relations firm. He was famous among Cleveland area modelers for his skill and artistic talent in
creating and painting scenery. He helped many other modelers with their scenery, and there are
examples of his skill all over the Cleveland area. He wrote about his method of making model
trees for the Model Railroader magazine.
Nat began his modeling career in HO standard gauge, but about 35 years ago he switched to Sn3.
Recently, with the help of friends, he built a new layout in On30, a lovely model based on the
Kelly’s Island Lime and Transport Company. It features a very convincing limestone quarry.
Nat’s love of model railroading led to his handling public relations for the Brotherhood of
Railway Trainmen. He attended model railroad conventions across the country. As spokesman for
the Carnival of Model Railroading at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds in Berea in 1995,
Howard told an interviewer, “Whey you think about it, no other machine ever built is as living as
a train. It breathes, sighs and whistles just like a person.”
He also expressed his model railroading philosophy: “Realistically, or imaginatively, people build
their own empires when they put together an entire layout.”
Nat was friendly and outgoing, and helped other modelers a great deal. He loved creating old-
time buildings and whole towns, often building from scratch. Now that Nat is gone, a lot of us
don’t know how we will be able to do attractive and convincing scenery without his help.
Spring Meet - Greenford, OH April 3 - 5, 2008
Gary Kohler is sponsoring the 16th Annual Narrow Gauge Show which will begin Thursday
evening for the early birds and continue all day Friday and Saturday.
A registration form is available in for files section of the Yahoo group.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mini-Bunch/files/
file name is: 2008 Show Registration-1.pdf
Remember to register for the Mini-Bunch by paying a $2.00 fee. We will meet at 2:30 on
Saturday.
Indiana On30 Meet - May 3 2008
By Al Askerberg
The Hoosier On30 Mini-meet will be held on Saturday, May 3, 2008 from 10 AM to 4 PM. The
meet host is the Columbus Area Railroad Club that features five operating layouts. The meet is
jointly sponsored with the Hoosier Narrow Gauge Guild.. The club is located at Johnson County
Park in Edinburgh, Indiana, about 35 miles south of Indianapolis.
The meet will include the inaugural run of the Hoosier On30 Moduleers modules that feature an
eastern logging theme. Participants are invited and encouraged to bring modules and dioramas,
finished or not. Free tables will be available on a first-come basis. There will be clinics.
Our own Mini-Bunch member, Sam Swanson, plans to present on scratch-building his On30
Mann's Creek Hopper. Ron Lane, co-author of the book on the Mann's Creek Railway will be
present, and I suspect one would have no trouble getting him to autograph your copy. (Sadly, the
book is out of print.)
Clinics, swap & sell, bring & brag, show & tell - it will all be there. Bring your projects,
finished, in progress, drawings, or mere dreams, and share them. There might be a few vendors
in attendance. Keith Wiseman and Merle Rice (Model Railroad Warehouse - Mann's Creek Ry
products) have expressed interest.
Prototype? Model?? Come and find out!
Dave Keith has placed the flyer and registration form on the Mini-Bunch website, and you can
also find this at our club web site: http://www.trainweb.org/carc/ There are plenty of motels
nearby for those traveling a distance. There is also a large Prime Outlets Mall, an antique mall,
and an architectural tour in nearby Columbus to entertain accompanying spouses during the meet.
Allen Littlefield has his Mid Hudson meet on the same day. That makes at least two meets on
what he and I believe to be National On30 Day. Come and celebrate that auspicious day with us.
Plenty of On30 fun and conviviality is the goal and the promise.
Any questions about the meet can be addressed to me at aiberg@comcast.net.
“AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. . .”
Our Fall 2008 Meet in Dayton
By Jim Foster
Many of you are aware of, or have attended, the NMRA Mid-Central Region Division 3’s train
show in Dayton every November. It includes an entire [large] room of modular and portable
layouts, and for 2008 the show’s organizers have invited the Great Lakes HOn30 Modular Group
to be a part of the exhibit. Expanding this proposal further, the Mini-Bunch will be holding its
Fall 2008 Meet in conjunction with this show, in the same building (Hara Arena), and wants to
invite all our members with modular layouts (Sn2, On30, etc.) and portables to be a part of the
layout room.
Why this departure from our traditional theme for Mini-Bunch meets? Several reasons:
• Outreach: a terrific opportunity to expose the general public, and especially kids, to Our
Stuff. We will be given a table to champion the Mini-Bunch in particular and narrow
gauge modeling in general.
• Over 5000 attendees to see Our Stuff.
• On-site clinics: the Division offers these to attendees (Sam Swanson has been assisting
with these for the last several years), and there is ample space for any of you to give a
demonstration or conventional clinic.
• Access to dealers: consistently this show sells several hundred tables to dealers from all
over the Midwest, about two-thirds of which carry items of interest to Mini-Bunchers.
• Ample meeting space.
• On-site food service: I am not suggesting that Hara Arena offers gourmet cuisine, but
food is available.
• Change: let’s try something different! If it doesn’t work, we won’t do it again.
Richard Davoust and I will also be arranging an off-site banquet plus layout tours, as the show
does not run all day either Saturday or Sunday. One final note: Mini-Bunchers displaying
layouts will not be required to stay for the entire day on Sunday as are the dealers, although it
certainly would be desirable.
Of all the above bullet points, it seems to me the most important is the outreach opportunity. This
is entirely consistent with a discussion we held at our Fall 2007 Meet about how to address the
very real “graying” of narrow gauge modelers and the gradual reduction in our numbers. It is
also entirely consistent with my own efforts to preach to a larger audience, including kids, about
Our Stuff, by displaying my portables at this and other shows, as well as my articles about Our
Stuff in a general interest modeling magazine (the CRAFTSMAN). None of this makes me a
good person, of course, but I say it to illustrate the kinds of things any of us might do to “plant the
seed.” One final comment: we should not necessarily expect instant gratification, but I think we
do need to try to reach out and try to plant that seed, with the hope that some of these kids and
general modelers will become interested in narrow gauge.
So. Mark your calendars for the first weekend in November 2008, and watch this space! Anyone
with a modular or portable layout who is interested can contact me at 1221 Hathaway Road,
Dayton, OH 45419, or at 937-299-1599, with your general requirements.
Making Trees
By Michael Yoakam
I’m writing this to share some ideas and an experience that I’ve had. I have a modest around the
walls layout in my basement in On30. I model Southeast Ohio and loosely follow the OR&W. I
am to the scenery stage and enjoying it. Every bit of progress now really makes a big difference
in the appearance. Well, it was time for trees, and I estimated that I would need 300 to 400. I was
a little low; it’s more like 500. Well I do have limited hobby dollars and did not want to blow the
entire year’s budget on trees. I was looking for a cheap way out, but it also had to look good.
What I have come up with is probably not new and not all mine but a culmination of ideas and
what looks good to me.
First, find a helper. In this case it was my son Joshua. He is 5 years old and knows how to run the
Digitrax and is always willing to help Daddy run, build, clean and play trains. I must say it is
great having a son that wants to follow in my hobby.
Second, find some Sedum. I talked to the director of horticulture in my community because they
manage the city parks and have large groves of Sedum. I asked if I could harvest it in the late fall
or winter. Once I explained what I used it for they said to take all I want. It’s less they have to
mow in the spring.
The third thing is scenic material. I use Woodland Scenics Course Turf, Burnt Grass, Light Green
and Yellow Grass.
Next are the rest of the supplies. The green spray paint I use is Design Master floral paint in Sage
Green. It is available at Hobby Lobby. I also use a spray contact cement that is available there
too.
The tools I use are a pair of wire cutters, rubber gloves, a sheet of Styrofoam and three-one gallon
plastic buckets.
I go through the sedum and cut them apart into reasonable trees. I sort them according to size,
small, medium and large, and stick them in the Styrofoam tray.
When the tray is full I start another. When I get four or five trays done I spray all of them at once
on the tray with the green spray paint. Only paint the tops or flower portion, not the trunks. While
the paint is drying I set up my buckets. In each bucket I dump one of the ground foam colors.
Now it’s time for my helper. I put on a rubber glove and take a trunk from the tray and spray the
entire top or flowering section with the contact cement.
I also spray it from the bottom. I then hand the tree to Joshua and he puts it in a bucket upside
down and shakes the bucket around. He also puts some on the bottom of the tree. Just before he
takes it out he taps it gently on the side of the bucket to remove any excess. Then he sticks it back
into the hole in the foam, and I hand him another one.
Once all of the trays are done, we head to the train room and I start drilling holes using a drill and
a 3/16” bit. I then vacuum up any dust. Then we start planting trees. I recommend starting at the
back of the layout and working forward. I use the large trees in the back and work forward using
smaller trees up front to eliminate any open spots.
It is amazing how quickly a forest can appear. The two of us did over 200 trees in one weekend
and had a great time doing it together. Not only did my son and I finish a good portion of the
layout but we also had a great time doing it together. Model Railroading can be a family activity.
Plans of O R & W Equipment-
Besides the various plans of O R & W equipment included in the book "Hidden Treasures", quite
a number of drawings have been published in the GAZETTE. The first batch appeared in the the
issues from Mar-Apr 1997 through Mar-Apr 1999. In May-Jun 2000 Gondola 215 appeared, in
Jul-Aug 2000 Box car 620.
Then nothing until May-Jun 2006 through Jan-Feb 2007.
Caboose 36 in its 1909 state appeared in Jul-Aug 2007, long caboose 38 in Sep-Oct 2007,
Baggage-Mail 22 in Nov-Dec 2007, and in Jan-Feb 2008 came P J E & E 2-6-0 number 5, which
became O R & W #16, the last engine to run on the O R & W. The next loco drawing to appear
will be #16 as it appeared in 1931 - a tremendous difference between the original loco and its
final appearance. If you want a copy of any of these drawings let me know - a Kinko's is not very
far away.
Ed Cass
21262 Byron Road
Shaker Hts., OH 44122
2008 Convention in Portland, Oregon
If you plan to attend the Portland OR convention next September, please note that the convention
hotel is taking reservations now, and they are filling up fast. Phone is (503) 256-5000. Breakfast
is included with the room
Narrow Gauge Websites
Mini-Bunch
http://www.narrowtracks.com/minibunch
Yahoo! Groups – Mini-Bunch
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mini-bunch
Narrow Gauge Timetable
National Narrow Gauge Conventions
28th 2008 - September 10 - 13 - Portland, OR
29th 2009 - September 16 - 19 - Colorado Springs, CO
30th 2010 - September 1 - 4 - St. Louis, MO
31st 2011 - September -Hickory, NC
32nd 2012 - September - Bellevue, WA
2008 Mini-Bunch Meets
April 3-5 , 2008 Greenford, OH
Nov 9-11, 2008 - Springfield, OH
Sn3 Symposium
Feb 19 - 22, 2009 - Clearwater, FL
2010 - Houston, TX
2011 - Pasadena, CA
Other meets:
Div 5 Railfest March 15-16, 2008, Kirtland, Ohio
(Lakeland, CC - I-90 and Rt 306 at Exit 193)
NMRA MCR Regional meet
May 15 - 18, 2008 Independence, OH