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Newsletter No. 7-- January 4, 2001

1. Upcoming Meetings

• Note To Email Members: Mark your calendar --The printed newsletter will NOT be snail-mailed, except to members without email
• Note To Snail Mail Members: This newsletter covers both Meeting #5 and Meeting # 6, so mark your calendars for both of these dates. Maps are included for both meetings.
• Note To Non-Members: Addresses and directions to the meeting locations will be sent to members only, for privacy reasons. If you want to attend as a guest, call Jim Ingram

2a. November Meeting Was Cancelled--We had tentatively scheduled a meeting on Sunday November 12 at 2 pm, to synchronize our meeting with the Allentown First Frost Meet Train Show, by meeting after the train show at at Frank Titman's famous layout. We ended up cancelling this meeting, as it appeared only two of us (Jack McLaren & Jim Ingram) could make that date.

2b. The Layout We Saw In Selinsgrove

• As always, our THANKS to the host for allowing us to be there.
• Our meeting #4 was held at an operating layout, with a really intriguing track plan, consisting of 21 switches, two independent "up and down" loops, a third horizontal loop, connecting tracks to move between all the loops, plus a turntable and yard. The layout measures about 24 feet x 6 feet-9 inches.
  • Our host took the track plan from the book "Complete Layout Plans For All Model Train Sets" by Carstens Publications, using the layout on the bottom of page 18. He built it pretty much as drawn in the book, except he added a substantial yard to the north side.
  • In the book it looks like no big deal when seen on paper, but when you see this layout in operation, it's quite impressive.
• Our hosts operates using 100% Flyer. He does has a couple of American Models sets, but he keeps them hidden out of sight in plain brown wrappers.
• As for the future of his layout, our host probably has a "worst case" situation for a model railroader to be caught in. State construction plans call for a highway to be constructed right where his house is. But the matter is still under dispute, and may not be finally settled for a few more years.
• Our host, assuming there is a good chance the layout will be to be eventually torn down , has therefore essentially ceased all construction. He says unfortunately this layout may never be rebuilt. He comments, " I am now 72 years old; how likely is it that when this highway dispute is finally settled and I am 80 or so years old, that I am going to be able to rebuild this layout a second time?".

2c. Attendance At Meeting #4

• In attendance were 6 members total. We had Jim Ingram, Bill Lukens, Dennis Oberholtzer, Jack McLaren, Dennis Oberholtzer, Dick Purnell, and Milton Scholley.
• As I've said before, this club may or may not continue in the future. If you're missing the meetings, you may be missing your only opportunity to see some of these layouts.
• Officers--Anyone who wants to assist or take-over this group is welcome. Most S-gauge clubs around us have several officers and fives times as many things going on (plus they're not in such a barren location as Central Pennsylvania).

3. Other Club Business

3a. Dues Are Due

• The 2001 dues in the amount of $5.00 are now due.
• Please mail this to me (Jim Ingram) at the address at the top of this newsletter.
• Please make checks payable to "James Ingram". The bank will NOT cash checks payable to "Susquehanna S-Gaugers".

3b. Approve Treasury Report & Membership List

• A current Treasury Report for year 2000 and Membership List will be included with the "snail-mails" and distributed at the meeting. I will request approval of the Treasury Report.
• Note that the newsletter expense for Issues 1-5 was approved at the Sept. meeting. Thus the requested approval is for Issue 6 and the overall report.

3c. New Member

• At the Whistle Stop train show on Dec 3, Don Johnson from Elysburg joined. Welcome to the group Don !!

3d. Emailing Newsletters

• At the May meeting, in order to reduce our deficit, we decided to snail-mail newsletters only to members without email, unless otherwise directed. We should probably discuss how well people think this is working.

3e. Other S-Gauge Ramblings

• S-Gauge Displays Open To The Public -- I started a web page listing S-Gauge Displays Open To The Public, at www.trainweb.org/s-displays.
• Trainweb Central Pa Photo Page -- I started putting some photos of Central Pa clubs on this page, at www.trainweb.org/pa . Two of the clubs--Nazareth Society of Model Engineers and Black Diamond Society, have S-gauge sections.

4. S-Gauge Public Displays We Participated In

Note: Photos of some of these displays are on the Susquehanna S-Gaugers website at www.trainweb.org/ssg/photos-displays01.html

4a. Dennis Oberholtzer's 10/27-28/00 Display Layout In Wellsboro

• This impressive display was part of the displays done for Wellsboro Rail Days.
• Dennis and his wife Karen and two sons spent about 6 hours assembling this layout, which included putting up the four modules, attaching legs, making umpteen inter-module wiring connections, buildings, people, crossing gates, automobiles, little signs, snow, and the "whole nine yards".
• Dennis and his family may well have set a record for setting up the most impressive S-Gauge temporary display layout in Central Pennsylvania--a record that may stand unmatched for the rest of the 21st century, as there is just not much S-gauge activity going on in Central Pennsylvania.
• The layout is moved via a truck to carry the platform modules, plus a car to carry the other stuff.
• Dennis was kind enough to let me run the my S-Helper Service SW-9s on the outside loop of what is usually an all-Flyer layout (plus display the Susquehanna S-Gaugers signs). I used a laptop computer to "ramp" the speed of the train up and down automatically--see below for more details of computer control.

4b. 10/29/00 Scranton Train Show

• Sunday 10/29/00, there was a train show at the Lackawanna Station Hotel.
• I set up a display with a small loop of S-Trax with an S-Helper Service SW-9, equpped with the following add-ons:
  • Soundtraxx DCC decoder
  • flashing strobe light on top of the cab roof
  • cab light
  • special high-intensity headlights
  • (all installed by Chick Viggiano of Chicks' Hobby Shop in Gibbstown NJ)
• I used a 386 laptop computer running QuickBasic to automatically control the North Coast Engineering DCC command station. The computer "ramped" the train up, "cruised" the train, ramped the speed back down down, then held the train at idle for about 20 seconds. Then it repeated the whole cycle. (The laptop and the "smarts" of the Basic code were both borrowed from Fred Cupp.)
• The purpose of using the computer to vary the speed was threefold:
  • to break the monotony of a train just running in a circle
  • having the engine idling and "creeping", with full lights and sound, demonstrates the DCC capability
  • to give the engine a rest from constant running
• I had a few interested people stop to talk, but maybe only about 8 or so total people. (I passed out some Dispatches, 2001 Convention Registration forms, and lists of S Manufacturers that NASG VP John Foley had given me.)
• For some strange reason, S gauge seems to have made very little penetration over in this area. Most of the crowd and vendors seem to be 3-rail O gauge or HO.
• I feel like we have more interest in S gauge over here where I live in Williamsport than Scranton, even though Williamsport is only a fraction of the size of Scranton.

4c. 12/3/00 Whistle Stop Train Show in Williamsport

• Sunday 12/3/00 I set up a similar loop of track as described above. As a result, we got one new member, Don Johnson as described above, plus exposed some more people to S-gauge.

4d. 12/9-10/00 Toy Train Expo in Williamsport

• I set up 2 loops of track, The outside loop was for the computer-controlled S-Helper train, and the inside was for "guest operators"
• Saturday Milton Sholley ran several impressive pieces of Flyer, including a Northern pulling heavyweight passenger cars. Sunday non-member Graham Derr ran his Flyer equipment that has been converted to DC. He uses old-time Kinsman rolling stock. THANKS for Milton and Graham for making this a great display.