CSWRR Open House September 11–12
September 3rd, 2010 | 
Author: Marty Quaas
Palmer; This year the Annual Consolidated South Western Railroad Open House will be on Saturday and Sunday, 
September 11 and 12. This is a great opportunity to visit this Model Railroad and enjoy watching a Model Railroad in operation and chatting with the friendly crew. Bring the family, bring a friend, bring yourself and have a great time with fellow Model Railroaders. Mark your calendars now and be sure not to miss this event. The CSWRR is located south east of Palmer, near Mile 4.6 of Knik River Road, right on Ivanhoe, right on Arnold, follow the signs For more information call Marty at 746-6414.
Palmer: the Consolidated South Western RR Operation Sessions are on the second and fourth Saturday Afternoons starting at 1 PM, visitors are always welcome. For more information Visit the CSWRR Webpage or call Marty at 746-6414.
Anchorage: the Northern Lights Model Railroad Club located in Russian Jack Springs Park, 5200 DeBarr will be 
continuing to hold its monthly Public Open House on the fourth Sunday afternoon of the month. The next Open House will be on Sunday, September 26 followed on October 24. The regular meetings are on Friday evenings. For more information visit the Northern Lights Webpage or call Marty at (907) 746-6414.
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August Westside Local
Marion Weston
I’m not just a little late with this, but a lot late, sorry ! August 10 we had a great clinic by Pete Rowe on the building of plastic buildings from scratch. Pete does almost all if not all his buildings from scratch. He makes it look so easy, but I’m not sure that I could ever make anything as good as Pete does.
Our next clinic will be September 7. Yes this is a week earlier than usual, but with the PNR Convention the second week we wanted to insure that we didn’t miss out on our clinic. Peter Maitland will be presenting the clinic and the last time I talked to Peter he was still deciding on the topic. Another surprise.
Then Bremerton Northern Model Railroad Club spent most of the month at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds. We set up Aug 9 and used the time until the fair to run trains and give our old layout some much needed TLC. Our next show will be at Lynden and we hope to see you all there.
DCC Demystified — Part 3
Dale Kraus
CONTROL VARIABLES (CVs): What you need to know (and don’t)
A continuing source of confusion in the DCC world is the nature and use of Control Variables. There is a dizzying array of them, 248 at last count, so it’s easy for both novice and experienced DCC users to get a bit overwhelmed. Adding to the confusion, beyond the basic CVs not all decoder manufacturers use them in the same way (!?). That’s the bad news. The good news: You can have a smoothly operating, fully functional DCC railroad with realistic motion and speed matched locomotives, and only use seven CVs!
Note: For now use 28 speed steps, not 128. Trust me…it’s easier this way.
CV 1. Engine address. This one is obvious. Simply enter the locomotive number (up to 127) in this CV and sent it to the decoder, using whatever method your system recommends… that’s it! If you wish to have a four-digit address, go to Direct Programming in your system and bring up ADR. (Some systems will say Loco Num.) Punch in the digits and enter.
CV 2. Start voltage. This sets the decoder so the loco will start creeping as soon as you crack the throttle. Enter a low value here (1 or 2) and place the loco on an operating track. Bring up the address and open the throttle. If the loco doesn’t move by speed step 3 (out of 28) go back to programming mode and increase the value by 3. Usually this will do it. Older locos with open frame motors may require a higher starting voltage. Just fiddle with the numbers until it starts slowly.
CV 3. Acceleration. This CV adds simulated mass to the loco, enabling it to start like it weighs many tons instead of a few ounces. The higher the value entered here the slower the loco will accelerate. My experience with this CV is that a value between 8 and 12 is usually sufficient. More than this and the loco will start way too slowly.
CV 4. Deceleration. Another mass simulator. This CV allows the loco to drift realistically when braking to a stop. For most model railroads, a deceleration rate of about 6 to 8 is adequate. More than this, and your crack express will sail right past the station platform. (Ask me how I know this!) A caveat here: If you are doing a lot of switching, it is best to set the deceleration to 1 or 2. Too much braking delay makes accurate spotting and uncoupling of cars difficult.
CV 5. Maximum Speed. Almost all model locomotives run much too fast. Since we’re not running slot cars, we need to dramatically lower the top speed of our locos. This can get complicated, but, as a rule of thumb, set this value initially to 30 for conventional steam and diesels and 12 for geared steam locos. After you have done this, you can tweak this value up or down for each of your locos until they all run at close to the same speed for a given throttle setting.
CV 6. Medium Speed. Set this CV to about 1¤3 the value of CV 5. This will give you a very nice acceleration curve. Tweak as necessary later.
CV 29. Configuration. This can be a confusing CV if you think about it too much. However, all you need to remember are a few simple things. First, enter a value of 6 into this CV. If the loco runs in reverse when the throttle is set to run it forward, change this value to 7. That’s all, folks! A note here: if you are running permanently coupled F or E “A” units, with or without intervening “B”’s, pick one as the “lead” and enter 6 in CV 29. The other is the “trail” and should be given a value of 7.
That’s it for now. Next time we’ll tackle the dreaded consisting conundrum.
BEMRRC Finds New Home
Bob Browne
The Boeing Employees Model Railroad Club, the SEATTLE AND NORTH CASCADES RAILROAD, finally has a new home. We have leased part of a building and are in the process of cleaning up the space and preparing for a new layout. The building is centrally located in Burien in the 400 block on SW 153rd St. All the materials have been moved from storage to the new location including those portions of the old layout that are to be considered for use as part of the new layout.
A new layout is in design stages and it is hoped that a first operating session may be held in late spring 2011. Making a layout do everything for everybody is difficult so initial phases are with a design committee to seek a layout that will both fit the space available and satisfy most of the desires of the membership.
Our November 13 Swap meet is on schedule with the usual first class presentation by our dealers, Info on the Swap Meet will be in the Digital Grab-Iron soon.
Classified Ad: Modelers Workbench For Sale
For Sale: Modelers Workbench, $30 or trade for ???. 40” wide X 24” deep X 32” high. It’s not pretty but it is functional. Plastic laminate top (Formica), light color, smooth, some wear and scratches. Six long drawers for tools and materials. Aluminum front edge. Rear fence to prevent tools and parts from falling off the back. Tilting top. Contact Ted Becker, rail.bird@att.net. Free delivery to Cascadian International 2010, or anywhere in Snohomish County, Seattle or to the Eastside Clinic.
NW Logging Modelers Meet August 20–21
from John M. Reid
The 16th Annual Northwest Logging Modelers Convention will be held at the Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie the weekend of August 20–21.
Friday: A guided tour of NRM Logging Equipment; a tour of the Issaquah Historical Society Museum (Donkeys); and layout tours of Ken Schmelzer’s Pino Grande Lumber and Russ Segner’s Coal Creek Lumber Co.
Saturday: A diesel excursion behind Fairbanks Morse WRL #1; logging clinics; a presentation by Scott Barrett on Vail-McDonald Rail Tails with Vintage Steam Logging movies; and a Barbecue dinner in North Bend BYOB
Full registration is $25.00 (including BBQ), the train excursion is $20.00, and Saturday-only registration is $15.00 (without BBQ). For more info, contact J. Clark McAbee, (253) 906-5826, loggnhstry@aol.com.
Milwaukee Road Modelers Meet August 27–29
from John M. Reid
The Cascade Rail Foundation is sponsoring a Milwaukee Road Modelers Meet the weekend of August 27–29 at the Cedar River Watershed Education Facility, 19901 Cedar Falls Road SE, North Bend (I-90, exit 32). The cost is $15 for both weekend days or $10 for one day. Box lunches are available for $9. All proceeds go to the C.R.F.
Friday: There will be a van tour along the old Milwaukee right-of-way through the Cedar River watershed on August 27th, from 10 AM to 4 PM for only $10/person. Registration is required and is limited to 21 people.
Saturday: There will be a model display in the morning plus clinics by Doug Nighswonger on MOW equipment and Mike Faletti on modeling bridges, structures & freight equipment. There will be slide shows by Al Currier on Milwaukee history and George Werkema on the Bellingham branch line.
Sunday: There will be presentations on Milwaukee history by Allen Miller, Paul Krueger, John Crosby and Noel Holley.
To register, contact David Newcomb, 206-799-3833, arch@davidnewcomb.com.
Skagit Valley and Whidbey Clinic
Gordon Garnhart
Photos by Al Frasch
There were 25 people gathered in the modest sized home of Phil and Susan Gonzales in Oak Harbor on the evening of June 9th. They had hoped that the crowd overflow could spill out onto the back patio, but the weatherman did not cooperate. However, the layout was definitely worth the trip. They had sealed the door of a single car garage and devoted the space to a very interesting HO layout based on the Carson, Colorado, rail line that ran from Carson City to Keeler. It is set in the early 1940s during World War II. Theirs is a work in process, but they have made great strides, and are developing a layout that will lend itself well to rewarding operating sessions for four to six people.
A happy crowd
In Phil’s own words, “It was a lot of fun to have everyone over, although it was a little nerve wracking in the days leading up to it. I started on the layout in October of 2005. Susan started helping about a year later. It took that long to get her hooked! The layout is 11’x16’. The continuous run is a folded dog bone of about 60 feet in length. The Eastern Sierra Pacific has about 75 feet of track, with about 25 feet of that using part of the loop. We operate as a point to point, using a Digitrax Zephyr DCC system. There are two hidden three-track staging yards that are each nine feet long. The loop has a minimum radius of 26 inches and a maximum grade of 2.25%. The ESP has an 18 inch radius and a max grade of 3.5%. No helpers are needed as the trains are short and the length of the grade is not very long.
“Susan’s biggest enjoyment is scenery and buildings. Downtown Deco is her favorite. She has painted most of the backdrop. She also makes the trees. I help with scenery by building the basic plaster shell, rock work and first layer of ground cover. She does most of the finish earth layers.
Some scenery in place
“I do all track and wiring, and have started teaching Susan to ballast. I really enjoy wooden building kits and building and weathering rolling stock.
“But the best part of it all is having a wife that has taken an interest in the hobby. Everyone should be so lucky.”
We will not have a formal clinic during the months of July and August, but on Wednesday, September 8th we will meet back in the conference room at the Summer Hill Retirement Community at 165 6th Avenue in Oak Harbor where we look forward to enjoying a talk by Noel Holly from the Bellingham Museum about, “Milwaukee Electrification”.
June Kreitler Passes
Dave Kreitler
I am sorry to inform you that on this past Tuesday, June Kreitler passed away unexpectedly during the night. June had been a 4D member for many years. In that time she served as Treasurer for the division as well has played a significant supporting role in events such as PSX96 and the National Convention PSX2004.
Her interests in the hobby were varied from introducing her children to American Flyer trains, to helping them build their first HO layout, to exploring N scale T-Trak modules, and more recently trying her hand at O scale craftsman kit building.
She enjoyed all the crazy things we do in this hobby such as crawling around the steam donkeys at Camp 6 to get critical measurements and stomping through the brush to get photos of some old rusting piece of iron or some building that is about to collapse – regardless of how hard it was raining.
She enjoyed riding trains too whether it be the geared triple header at Mt Rainier or taking Amtrak’s Empire Builder across the country with 4 children.
While her failing eyesight limited her modeling in recent years, she still kept track of local events and attended local train shows. She always enjoyed getting out to see what folks were doing and touch base with the model railroading community. Her spirit will be missed.
For anyone interested there will be a service Saturday evening (August 7th) at Flintoft’s in Issaquah at 7:00 p.m. The spirit of the service will be an informal celebration of her life. For directions, more information, or if you cannot make the service and would like to leave a farewell note, visit http://www.flintofts.com. The family is asking that in lieu of flowers, anyone wishing to do so please make a charitable contribution to the King County Humane Society.
Thank you,
Dave Kreitler
Grain Elevator Documentary
Ken Liesse
Here’s a neat video from a 1981 documentary that I learned about from the folks down in PCR. It shows how a “prairie skyscraper” works. Pay close attention to the guy moving a box car by himself. That would make for an interesting model.
4d Board to meet August 14th
Dennis Hill
The next BOD meeting is scheduled for Saturday, August 14th at 1:00 PM at the Yankee Grill in Renton. Please send budget requests and other agenda information to Secretary Jeannie Melvin or Superintendent Dennis Hill before August 12th. Everyone who is a member of the NMRA is invited.
National Garden Railway Convention Here Next Week!
John M. Reid
The Puget Sound Garden Railway Society will host the 26th National Garden Railway Convention here from August 1-8. Watch this video and then check out their website for complete details. It’s not too late to see some of the great layouts of the Pacific Northwest…and in perfect weather! 26th National Garden Railway Convention, August 1-8, 2010