The Express
Newsletter of the Tinplate Trackers, Austin, Texas
January/February 2002 – 34th Edition
A newsletter will be sent out every two months to the current members, past members, and visitors of the club. Please contact Steve Wise at 512-444-3310 or E-Mail him at swise@aoot.com if you have any information you would like to have included in future newsletters. All comments/submissions welcome!
From The Editor
Hello O-Gaugers!
Sorry for the delay on this publication. You just can’t find good editors anymore. J
Hope you enjoy this somewhat terse edition…
Stevo.
PAST
CLUB EVENTS
Club Fun Run – BCE
Clubhouse - March 15th /16th, 2002
The club ran at the BCE clubhouse in March for a fun run. In attendance were Jim Smiley, Randall & Ryan Howell, Steve Wise, Adrian Elliott, and Ira Schneider. Ed Weltens dropped by to leave the new corner modules. There is some wiring still to be done on them, but they’ll be ready for the next BCE event.
The turnout was small, but in spite of this a 6x6 layout was setup including
Jim’s circus modules! Quite a
sight! A fun time was had by all!
Model Railroad
Jamboree - New Braunfels – April 20th, 2002
Thanks to everyone that took part in the New Braunfels Show in April. The show went very well, the layout looked great, and there were no major problems. In attendance were Scott, Steve, Adrian, Bob, Ira, Rick, Ricky, and Ron. The additional scenery modules produced by Adrian, Ira, and Scott added a lot to the looks of the layout. Pictures of the layout are available on-line, thanks to Ira. This time, Ira focused on photographing our wonderful trains. Great job Ira!
We also had a chance to view the work Steve has done with the plexiglass on the
corner modules. All of the feedback concerning the plexiglass was
positive. If there was something you didn't like about it, speak now or
we'll keep going forward with this process.
Stay tuned to the club web site for pictures of this event…
FUTURE CLUB EVENTS
Club Fun Run May 17th/18th Canceled
This fun run has been canceled due to various schedules resulting in not enough attendance.
Club Fun Run – BCE Clubhouse – June 7th/8th, 2002
We’re looking at the second weekend of June for another BCE fun run. Please email to the club email list if you are interested in attending. Setup will be Friday June 7th and we’ll run trains Saturday. Teardown will probably be around 2pm Saturday. This event is still pending until we get confirmation that enough folks want to attend…
2002 Club Event Schedule
The following table shows the 2002 events and shows that the club is considering. These dates are not final.
|
|
DATE |
SHOW |
PLACE |
STATUS |
|
|
Jan 25/26 |
Club Workday |
Branch Creek Clubhouse |
Confirmed |
|
|
Feb 2 |
SAMRA Train Show |
Live Oak |
Confirmed |
|
|
Mar 2/3 |
GATS |
Live Oak |
Confirmed |
|
|
Mar 15/16 |
Club Fun Run |
Branch Creek Clubhouse |
Confirmed |
|
|
Apr 20 |
Model RR Jamboree |
New Braunfels |
Confirmed |
|
|
Apr 26/27 |
Club Fun Run |
Branch Creek Clubhouse |
Canceled |
|
|
May 17/18
|
Club Fun
Run |
Branch
Creek Clubhouse |
Canceled |
|
|
June 7/8 |
Club Fun Run |
Pending |
|
|
|
June 1 |
Railfair |
San
Angelo |
Canceled |
|
|
July
12/13 |
Club Fun
Run |
Confirmed |
|
|
|
Aug 17/18 |
Train Show |
Canceled |
|
|
|
Aug 24/25 |
Rail Fair |
Confirmed |
|
|
|
Sep 21/22 |
Temple
Train Show |
Pending |
|
|
|
Sep/Oct TBD |
Annual Club Meeting |
Luby’s Cafeteria |
Pending |
|
|
Oct 5/6 |
AMRE
Train Show |
Pending |
|
|
|
Oct 25-27 |
Club Fun Run |
Branch Creek Clubhouse |
Canceled |
|
|
Oct 26/27 |
Czhilispiel |
Confirmed |
|
|
|
Oct 26 |
Austin Jamboree |
Round Rock |
Confirmed |
|
|
Nov
30/Dec 1 |
GATS |
Canceled |
|
|
|
Dec 6/7 |
Club Fun Run |
Confirmed |
OTHER NEWS
Fat Controller – What’s
Up With That?
By Scott Smiley
For those of you who are wondering where the term Fat Controller comes from, I have 5 books that describe this role. I would be happy to loan anyone one book so they can learn about this. In general, though, the Fat Controller comes from the Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends books based on the Railway Series by Rev. W. Awdry. The Thomas character has books, comics and TV shows here and in England. In the US, the show where the Thomas episodes are shown is Shinning Time Station on PBS. Thomas is a little blue engine that has lots of friends that are engines, cars, busses, helicopters, etc. The Fat Controller's name is Sir Topham Hatt (he wears a top hat and he is fat) and he is in charge of all of the engines.
The Tinplate Trackers was just getting started as my son Brian was a
baby. Through my sister in Ireland, we were introduced to Thomas as a star
over seas. This was a natural for my young boy who then liked Thomas and
his stories. Thomas was growing in popularity here about this same
time. When the club was created, we took the name Fat Controller (this is
what the engines called him) for the guy in charge of the layout for each
activity from these stories.
Texas State Railroad Historical Park Excursion – Trip Report
A consolidated report from Bob Stettner and
others from the HOT G-Gaugers
On April 27 & 28, 2002, eighteen family and friends of the Heart of Texas G-Gaugers went to Palestine and Rusk to tour and ride the Texas State Railroad.
The event was the idea of Francis Kiser and organized by Ruth Kriger. We met Saturday for a picnic lunch at the Palestine Station and Railroad Park grounds. After watching the arrival and departure of the train from and to Rusk, we had a tour of the Palestine shops. Our host was Robert Gore (no relation he says to the Tennessee Gore’s) who is in charge of the maintenance at Palestine.
They have one tourist train based in Palestine and the other in Rusk. Two steam engines (#400 and 610) and an Alco R-3 #8 are based in Palestine. The ‘400’ is a Baldwin 2-8-0 built in 1917 for the Tremont & Gulf Timber Co of Louisiana. The 610, built in 1927, Texas type 2-10-4, ran for the Texas & Pacific between Shreveport and El Paso until 1950. She was restored in 1975 and pulled the ‘Freedom Train’ for the U.S. Bicentennial. This engine was at the Cotton Bowl for many years before coming to the Texas State Railroad in 1986. The engine isn’t operable and is only pulled out of the barn for show.
We all had the opportunity to clime aboard the 610 (ring the bell) and walk through a 1917 Rock Island caboose, and a partially restored 1899 T & P Business car among other items in Palestine.
After that we drove on to Rusk for the arrival of #300 and then another tour of their main shops and maintenance facility. Because of the age of the equipment, most all repair parts are machined from scratch in an extensive machine shop. The shop has some of the oldest, heaviest and well-maintained presses, lathes, and drills I’ve ever seen.
Three steam engines are based here. The 300, which is the regular excursion engine, a 1917 Baldwin 2-8-0 Consolidation class, #201 4-6-0 Ten Wheeler that is being rebuilt and #500, a 1911 Baldwin 4-6-2 Pacific. The #500 is the spare steamer and actually pulled our train on Sunday.
After an overnight stay in Rusk, we returned to the Rusk depot for the morning train-ride to Palestine & return. Saturday we observed that Engine #300 & #400 operating in opposite directions. To our surprise, #400, the consolidation 2-8-0 scheduled to pull our train had been replaced with a beautiful green #500, a larger more powerful Pacific class 4-6-2. Before departing, special stairways were brought to each side of the cab & tourists were invited to a walk-through & visit with the engineer & fireman. Picture taking and bell ringing followed.
"ALL ABOARD" called and a prompt on time departure was made at 11:00 AM. With a full head of stream, we were on our way to a great adventure through rolling & twisting turns of the 25 miles of pine, dogwood, oak, lily ponds, bridges & many crossroads, where each was alerted by the wonderful sounds of the steam whistle. All wooden bridges have been replaced w/ concrete built by State Prison System once quartered in that area, making for a safe, lasting roadbed. One such bridge extended over 1100' long and 30' high as it crossed the Neches River. An old retired turntable is still located in the Maydell station. After experiencing the joy of climbing slopes of about 3 degrees at full steam, then coasting downhill w/ brakes applied, we arrived at the Palestine station.
As we were picnicing at nearby tables, an interesting event occurred; our loco
was uncoupled, traveled through the "Y" tracks that surround the Park
& station, and rejoined the rolling stock on opposite end. Promptly
at 1:15 PM we boarded & departed on time at 1:30 PM. Arriving
at Rusk station, a group picture by #500 loco was planned, but some, however,
got derailed in the gift shop.
KUDOS to Ruth for this well planned & wonderful field trip for the HOT G-Gaugers!
Also: Larry Wise took photos of the event and placed them on-line. These can be found at:
http://www.txwises.com/trains/020427_TSRR/
2002 TEXAS TRAIN
SHOWS
May 26, 2002 – 22nd Lone Star Railfair at the Will Rogers Memorial Center (Amon G. Carter Exhibit Hall) in Ft. Worth. Doors open from 10am to 5pm with over 50,000 square feet of air-conditioned dealer space and will also include operating layouts. For more information contact Terry Adams, 4220 Shannon Dr. Ft. Worth, 76116. Phone: 817-732-2117; e-mail: tadams1@worldnet.att.net
August 17th, 2002 – New Braunfels Summer Model Train Show. 380 S. Seguin St. New Braunfels, TX - August 17, 2002 9:00am to 4:00pm - Admission: Adult $5, 17 & under $1, Family $8 - Contact information: Bryan Weidner, P.O.Box 134 Fischer, TX 78623, 830-935-2517
October 5th & 6th, 2002 - A.M.R.E. Train Show – Live Oak Civic Center, 8101 Pat Booker Road, Live Oak.
November 9 & 10, 2002 – GATS at the Pasadena Convention Center Complex, 7902 Fairmont Parkway, Pasadena. All GAT Shows are open to the public both days from 11am to 5pm. For more information and a $1.00 off coupon go to www.GATS.com
November 30 & December 1, 2002 – GATS at the Fort Worth Convention Center, 1111 Houston Street, Fort Worth. All GAT Shows are open to the public both days from 11am to 5pm. For more information and a $1.00 off coupon go to www.GATS.com