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Contents

History
Roster - Member Profile
From The Signal Tower - Commentary

All Aboard!

Well, here we go; this is the first issue of The Signal and I am very excited about the possibilities that it holds for our club. To begin with, we are looking at producing it once every two months and will try to keep everyone up-to-date on what has been happening and what is planned for the future. With our members help, (that’s you guys) we will have interesting "how to" articles, book and movie reviews (railway oriented, please... ha, ha), web sites of interest, member profiles and who knows what else!

I think the perfect place to begin a project like this is with a brief history of our club. It should set the stage nicely for our first issue and it will bring all of us who have joined in recent times, a little more awareness of how our club happened to come into existence. Let’s jump right into it then and get this train headed down the right track!

Greg

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A Little Railway History

by Dennis Barker

The formation of the "Edmonton N Scalers"

It was May of 1991 when Laird Sherwood of The Edmonton Society of Model Railroad Engineers approached me to inquire of the possibilities of forming an "N scale" group within their club. Up to this point, the ESMRE was exclusively HO and they had just acquired the use of the CO-OP store at the end of the Sherwood Park freeway to set their layout up in.

I accepted Laird’s offer with the understanding that he would have to help with the construction of any proposed layout. Over coffee, where so many ideas are born, Laird, myself and a third modeler - Jon Fletcher, laid the ground work for the first design.

It was decided that we would build four modules to begin with and try to have them ready to go into the "Super Train" show later that October. As we started planning things, it became obvious that if we stuck to the NTRAK standards, we would not have enough railroad for much of a display. By adding an additional six inches to the width of the modules we shifted the design from the standard "donut" to a linear shape with the two mainline return tracks on this additional six inch extension. This enabled two return loops at either end and the dog bone shape that turned four modules into quite a nice display.

Interest was beginning to grow and before the October deadline arrived, another modeler -Fred Downing joined the group and a fifth module was added. The "Edmonton N Scalers" first appearance at Super Train ‘91 was a success and drew the attention of a few more "little modelers". As an aside, we won "best operational layout" at the show this year.

Membership grew quickly and in that first year we saw the group swell to eleven. By the time of the October ‘92 show, more member’s modules were added to the layout as well as a twelve foot "T" shaped yard. This nearly tripled the size of the display. Our modules were received very well at the show again and this year we were awarded the Public’s award of "The most popular layout".

The Edmonton N Scalers saw significant change in 1993 when in the fall, the ESMRE was asked to "vacate" their CO-OP site due to the closing of the store. The layout was stored briefly at the Edmonton Aviation Museum before all seventeen modules made their third consecutive appearance at the fall show this year. When the show ended, the ESMRE had found a new home and the layout was setup in it’s present home at the Londonderry Mall.

In the ensuing five years, the Edmonton N Scalers have received many invitations to attend various shows in Alberta. The strength of any club is determined by the enthusiasm of it’s members and our group is no different. A club cannot depend entirely on a few dedicated members to provide "the fun"...it requires the cumulative efforts of the entire membership. We are continuing to add new members to the group and change the appearance of the railroad. I invite every member to contribute (even in a small way) so that we can all enjoy the rewards that a strong club has to offer it’s members and let’s just have a lot of fun with a truly great hobby!

I hope you found this brief history of our group interesting and I look forward to seeing each of you enjoying our club in the years that lay ahead!

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The Roster

"tOur Member’s Profiles"

When a few of us first sat down and began thinking of ideas for a club newsletter it seemed a natural to include profiles of our members so that we could all get to know each other just a little bit better. In each issue, we thought we could "feature" one of our group and tell a bit about what he enjoys in the hobby and how long he’s been at it, et cetera.

Our first profile would feature a very special member of The Edmonton N Scalers, who has contributed so much to both our club and to the hobby in general. We wanted to feature Jack Nobels and have the opportunity to say thank you to him for all he had done and to show a little of the appreciation that all of us felt towards him. Jack had been ill with a relapse of cancer that he had been battling for a number of years and had been unable to make it down to the club. It was hoped that the first issue of The Signal could be given to Jack and through it, he could still share some of the club he enjoyed and had worked so hard for.

As this first issue was about to go to press, we received the very sad news that Jack had lost his battle with the cancer and had passed away on Sunday, October 18, 1998. Jack’s passing will touch all of us in a very special place in our hearts. Our deepest sympathy goes out to his wife and family.

What follows is the original text that Dennis Barker had so kindly written about Jack.

In this, our first edition of The Signal and in future editions, we will profile our members and their contributions to the Edmonton N Scalers.

Our first profile is of Jack Nobels. Jack joined our club shortly after it’s conception in 1991 and began work almost immediately on a corner module that is still a very valued part of our layout today. Because of the very "unusual" design of our layout and the requirement for two end loops, their design is crucial to the smooth operation of the trains.

At that point in time, one of the loops which we had, was giving us too many problems with derailments. It was decided that a "new" one should be built to replace the problem one and it was Jack who quickly volunteered to take on the project.

In just a matter of a few weeks, Jack completed a beautifully scenicked module which won him considerable acclaim within our group. It wasn't long afterwards that he was also putting on a clinic for the rest of the club on how he produced his fantastic trees. (editors note: take just a little time to examine the assortment of trees on Jack’s two modules and his step-by-step display mounted on the wall. I think you’ll agree that Jack’s technique made excellent trees.)

Jack’s contributions to the layout are much too long to list, but we have to mention his work on the base of the main railway station and more recently, his fabulous scenery job on the other end loop module. His little "touches" are everywhere on the layout and should be enjoyed by all.

Jack was always a faithful operator at the club, even in his struggles with illness and is a model for all of us at ESMRE.

Dennis Barker

Three long blasts on the whistle please Jack, as your train leaves the last station on this run. We will continue to enjoy your contributions and the examples you’ ve left for all of us. Safe journeys.

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From The Signal Tower

by Greg Sargent

As I am writing this, I am sitting in my den with the sounds of a VIA Passenger train throbbing out of my stereo unit. Pictures of trains surround me on the walls and photos for the front cover of our newsletter are littering the floor... I am in heaven!

There has been considerable activity of late in our hobby and plans are ongoing for upcoming activities within our club.

September saw the annual Train Show held at the Aviation Museum again and from all accounts, it was a big success again this year. Some speculate that if the parking lot had not been torn up, the attendance figures would have been even higher.

I had the pleasure of working at the door on Sunday afternoon and spoke to many of the visitors as they were leaving. All had said they had enjoyed the show and looked forward to next years already.

Sadly, most scales were represented but, the absence (due to lack of space) of N was significant and will hopefully be rectified next year. The Salmon Arm Modelers brought their display, as did a number of HO and an On3 group from Calgary. Edmonton was well represented too and our very own LaBaJa group put on their regular "first class" display with their modules. Rounding out the displays were a model contest (judged by the public) and some examples of Doug and Jackie Hole’s modeling skills.

There were a number of commercial distributors with booths as well as some flea market tables...all quite happy with their sales during the show.

On the Saturday evening there was a bar-b-que hosted by the Fort Edmonton Park modelers with rides on the Park’s own steam train and an open house of the club’s fantastic pike. We didn't leave until the last burger was gone and the engine had been watered and put to bed for the night. (I had the thrill of accompanying the engine crew on their last run to water the ol’ girl...wow!)

Closer to home now, our latest club business was discussed at the monthly meeting held on October 2/98. New officers were elected and some ideas were floated around the table for the upcoming year.

Firstly, the incoming executive of the ESMRE is as follows:

President...................Dennis Miller
Vice President.........Gary Pecknold
Secretary...................Dave Robinson
Treasurer...................Dave Breton

As well, the new executive for the ENS is as follows:

Coordinator................Dennis Barker
Vice Coordinator......Gord Dixon
Secretary....................Mark Bielby

Our congratulations and vote of appreciation to all and a very hearty Thank You to those who stepped down from their previous positions.

Okay, so we have a newsletter now...that is pretty big news and we really want it to be a success for the club. We want this to be a news source for all of our group and it is hoped that each and everyone of you will contribute something over the span of the year. If you have a "how to" article, web sites you have found, cartoons and other railway art, or even just a classified ad... please contribute for the enjoyment of all the members!

After the general meeting on Oct. 2nd, our group had it’s own meeting and the idea of some new modules were discussed. Scenes, encompassing up to four modules in length, was the topic of debate and a few great ideas emerge. The thought of taking some of our club funds and building four "club" modules was proposed with the idea that they would be designed so as to break down into two module dedicated units for ease of layout configuration for shows, etc.

In addition, there are four or five members who are considering building their own modules as well and it is hoped that they might be able to coordinate the "scene" concept too in their plans. More on this later.

With a fairly healthy bank account, it was also suggested that we begin some detailing work to help improve the overall appearance of our layout at shows...and even just for our own enjoyment. A call went out for ideas on signals for the main yard that will display switch alignment. A couple of members have some ideas, but more would be appreciated. We are looking right now at dwarfs that could display both a red and a green aspect. "Hey, Scratch Builders" ... here's your chance! Let one of the executive know of your ideas and lets see what we can come up with.

Would anyone be interested in a little rail fanning? There is a great little lunch spot just east of Sherwood Park on Wye Road called the Junction Cafe. We could meet out there for lunch some Saturday or Sunday and do some photography and train watching (it is right on the CN mainline). The only catch is, we're not sure if they are open still or if they have only a summer operation. Stay tuned and we'll let you know. It might be fun to have a photo contest too, so that we can display some of the pictures we might get.

One last thought that I had... what do you guys think of the idea of naming our railway...something like the prototype, to reflect the geographic location (fictitious or real) and to name our towns and sidings? This would add a little realism when operating and some interest for the viewers. Let's hash it around a bit and see what everyone thinks.

That's it for now guys! I hope you enjoyed our first efforts and remember... it's our club, so let's make it FUN! All Aboard!

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