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April 2022 Newsletter







The weather’s warming up and so is CCMRRC activity beginning with our Spring BBQ.

Club News

CCMRRC Spring BBQ – Friday, May 20, 2022  

Tim and Dana Fitch (2734 Rock Land Drive, Washington)

Trains will be running at Tim’s house as well as Dick and Laurie Saunders’ house (2649 E Upper Canyon Drive, Washington) between 10:00 and 10:55.  

11:00am - Club Meeting and 3D presentation by Tim Fitch and Keith Johnson  

12:30pm - Lunch (smoked meats and related fixings).  ($15/attendee for non-members.)  

Bottled water will be provided or feel free to bring your own beverage.  

Please RSVP to Tim Fitch at tififaf32@outlook.com or 801-599-2112 no later than May 13th.  After the attendee list firms up, volunteers may be requested to bring desserts.

Southern Utah Veteran’s Home Lionel Railroad – Over the past two years, the Veteran’s Home in Ivins has safeguarded its residents from COVID19 by preventing visits to the facility.  This action halted maintenance which has been ongoing since the CCMRRC built and donated the layout in 2014.  (http://www.colorcountrytrains.org/p/veterans-train.html) Last week, after proving their COVID vaccination status and having their temperatures checked, Terry Schramm and Al Thorne cleaned, oiled, and greased the locomotives and rolling stock to ensure the railroad ran flawlessly before leaving the facility.

Children’s Museum G Scale Railroad – Larry Schneider provides details of the G scale group’s newest charitable project.  “I met with Brian Larkin today and they are eager to begin their layout in the ‘Construction Room’.  I will give them a corner of track so they can get that set.  Suggested we go 8" wide or more in all areas on Plexiglass. The plan is to anchor the shelf to the wall and also suspend the outer edge from the ceiling.  They also have an area near the windows where the wall juts out so they will suspend that entire length so there will be no special curves.  

They plan to build a fence using rods and small steel cables on the outside so the train cannot fall off.  There are things in the room that can be thrown but they do not think this will be an issue. They have a 110VAC timer that we will use for starting the train.  CCMRRC will supply the button, there is one at the 100S location.  The timer device they gave me has a 110VAC output.  I ordered a relay with 110VAC coil and it has a set of contacts (cost $16) that will be used to activate a dead-rail for starting the train so we will not need to build any additional devices.

We have about 45ft of track at the 100S location.  I have asked for measurements for the room but I think we may need to purchase another 20-25 ft of track.  I will see what the group has for curves; maybe we can get someone to donate if they have surplus they don't need.  Target install is early to mid-June.” 

Larry took two photos, shown HERE, of the Museum’s Construction Room where the railroad will be built with red lines indicating approximate track location.

Lionel Project Railroad - Bob Mallory and the Lionel group have been hard at work with the logging-themed layout.  For the latest photos, click HERE and scroll down to the April 2022 Update.

Cheyenne Railroad Heritage Days – Cheyenne, WY

  • NMRA Rocky Mountain Region – May 11-15, 2022
  • Union Pacific Historical Society – May 11-14, 2022
  • Sherman Hill Train Show – May 14-15, 2022

Details of the two conventions and the train show can be found at http://www.rmr-nmra.org/comingevents.htm

Club Member Railroads

Keith Johnson updates us on his rebuilding progress after devastating winds ravaged his outdoor G scale layout last year.  “My upper oval loop has been recreated. After last year's heavy winds destroyed most of the elevated track, I had to reconstruct about 250 feet of roadbed. Since my previous design did not work well under heavy winds, I had to come up with a new design. Fortunately, Tim Fitch had a design that I could modify to fit my layout design. So, I spent the better part of a year reconstructing the roadbed. At the same time, I took advantage of the time to redesign some of my layout to simplify the design and to eliminate two of my five switches. In the last week, we have had some strong winds again and, so far, the track roadbed has withstood the onslaught.” For photos, click HERE and scroll down for the April 2022 Update.

Club Member Trips

Werner Balsterholt tells us about a trip he and Ann enjoyed recently.  “I just finished a trip to the outdoor layout the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in Palm Desert.  Layout consists of more than 3,300 feet of track laid for 8 different loops as trains on the Bighorn Railroad come and go.  The G-scale model train sits on 3/4 of an acre and offers unique views such as the Grand Canyon, Rocky Mountains, and even old Indio.  This large layout allows trains to run 19 or more lines at one time. Trains are designed to operate both during the day or night.  Trains run with one full-time staff member along with a crew of 25 volunteers.” Photos of the layout are shown HERE.

Railfanning

Prototype News

 
Until May, All Aboard !!
Lloyd Thomson