1st Quarter 2013 Callboard - Pacific Coast Region of NMRA

REDWOOD EMPIRE DIVISION JANUARY - MARCH 2013 

CALLBOARD 

In this Edition 

Director’s Report 

Page 2 

Front Office 

Page 3 

Visit new SP Layout 

Page 9 

Tips and Techniques 

Page 8 

RED Meeting 

Napa Valley Northern 

February 23, 2013 

All Aboard 

NMRA News 

Page 10 

RED/CVL 

Join Forces 

Page 11 

Up Coming 

Events 

Page 12 

Hope you marked your calendar for February 23rd, for our 

annual outing at the Napa Club. We always have a good turn 

out and this year we’ll be operating DCC only on their layout. 

We’ll have our business meeting starting and 1:00 PM with a 

Show and Tell session, door prize and raffle tickets. In addition 

Dave Grundman has setup a fine presentation from SMART 

about their trains which will operate between Santa Rosa and 

San Rafael. Should be a good time to ask all those questions 

we have had about the project. 

Bring yourself and your best equipment and cars for a fun filled 

afternoon on the Napa Valley Northern Railroad. Remember 

the date is February 23th, at the Fair Grounds, 575 3rd Street 

in Napa. See you there! 

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Empire Staff Roster 

DIRECTOR 

Dave Croshere 

1331 Enos Avenue 

Sebastopol, CA 

(707) 829-‐9220 

E-mail- ddc@sonic.net 

SUPERINTENDENT 

Stewart Benson 

131 Casa Verde Ct. 

Sonoma CA 95476 

(707) 938-5941 

No E- Mail 

CHIEF CLERK 

Verne Alexander 

907 Grouse Lane 

Petaluma, CA 94954 

(707) 763-9072 

E-mail: crapmanv@comcast.net 

CONTESTS 

Giuseppe Aymar 

1330 Medical Center Drive 

Rohnert Park, CA 94928 

E-mail: giuseaymar@aol.com 

MEMBERSHIP 

Gus Campagna 

1915 William Dr 

Penngrove CA 94957-9524 

E-mail:campgus@earthlink.com 

ACHIEVEMENT PROGRAM 

Giuseppe Aymar 

1330 Medical Center Drive 

Rohnert Park, CA 94928 

E-mail: giuseaymar@aol.com 

CALLBOARD EDITOR 

Dick Foster 

219 Avenida Barbera, 

Sonoma CA 95476 

707-935-6215 

E-mail: gatefive@comcast.net 

NOMINATIONS 

Open 

ESTATE COUNSELOR 

Don Clauder 

305 Garfield Park, Santa Rosa, CA 95409 

(707)539-3510 

Director’s Report 

Dave Croshere 

The RED is about to enter it’s every other 

year election for superintendent and 

chiefclerk/paymaster. That conjures up some 

ideas of changes that might be worthwhile. 

For a long time I’ve thought we might change 

or eliminate the staff officer’s meeting prior to 

quarterly meeting. The idea of the staff 

meetings is to make sure all the bases are 

covered for the next quarterly meeting and 

receive reports from the various volunteers 

and committee chairs. It is also to explore 

any new ideas and to check to see what lies 

ahead on the calendar as well as whatever 

else those present come up with. None of 

these are bad ideas and should be done, 

except maybe the last one. I think these 

meetings would be more efficient if they were 

handled by emails. 

If done by email, ALL the RED members who 

want to could be a part of the process. If 

done this way, I would like to think we would 

have more representative suggestions 

from the members and hopefully this open 

form of communications would make 

everybody feel more involved. This would 

also be beneficial when one has a conflict in 

schedules. These days most of us can send 

emails from almost anywhere. 

I see the superintendent sending out an email 

reminding one and all we have an upcoming 

quarterly RED meeting in, say, three weeks. 

The superintendent would also ask for email 

reports from the various committee heads 

and for any suggestions. The reports would 

be due sometime before the Callboard is sent


out. During this time everyone would 

have a chance to review the reports 

and make suggestions. The finished 

reports would then be published in 

the Callboard. A printed version could 

also be on hand at the quarterly 

meets to avoid repeating published 

information. 

A Message from 

the Front Office 

I see this as a very worthwhile 

change. I’m sure it will take some 

time to perfect, but should evolve 

into a streamlined means to improve 

our meetings and the group as a 

whole. 

Dave Croshere 

REPORT - CHIEF CLERK 

Verne Alexander 

Our November 17 th meeting at 

Monroe Hall was attended by 27 

people, twelve of whom brought 

models to show for the contest and 

the show and tell. Roy Anderson 

brought an HO bakery constructed 

from various Walthers modular parts. 

Stewart Benson brought an HO brass 

model of a C&NW Northern that had 

been a feature of his youth. Ed 

Merrin delivered a mini-clinic on how 

he made inexpensive and realistic HO 

trees from Pride of Madera stalks, 

poly foam and cheap hair spray. Dave 

Grundman showed his scratch built 

HO model of a former Grace Brothers 

warehouse. Bill Cossey showed the HO 

double crossover he built using Fast 

Tracks jigs. David Norris showed two 

HO diesel locomotives lettered with 

custom decals depicting what the 

power might have looked like had the 

NWP continued its existence. Ron 

Kaiser brought the HO Campbell fruit 

warehouse he completed from their kit, 

saying that it was therapy for him! 

Bryce Benson brought a completed 

FSM HO kit that he surrounded with 

scenery and a gazillion details, a la 

George Sellios. Bryce said it only took 

him 120 hours! Dick Foster showed the 

completed HO Bar Mills pawn shop kit 

that he built as part of a review for a 

magazine. Ron Learn brought his 

scratch built HO model of the lumber 

yard office across the tracks from the 

depot in Willits. I brought the HO 

Continued on page 4 

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scratch built ice house that I built ½ 

inch too wide for its place on my layout! 

There was lively interaction between 

the presenters and the rest of the 

members, reflecting a lot of interest 

and some education as well. 

Jim Kanmeyer, Roy Anderson, Stew 

Benson, Dick Foster, David Norris, 

Frank George, Dudley Peters, Gus 

Campagna, Dave Grundman, Dave 

Turner, Grundman again, Steve Skold, 

Ed Merrin and Foster again all won door 

prizes simply from the fact that they 

showed up, wore a name tag or brought 

a model. The prizes consisted of 

books, photographs and rolling stock. 

The paid raffle prize, two long HO 

gondolas donated by Poggies Hobbies, 

was won by Nancy Cossey. We thank 

Poggies, and several individual members 

who have answered the call to donate 

good items that no longer fit their 

plans for the raffle, for their support 

of our prize fest! Please keep these 

donations coming in. 

Dave Croshere reprised his clinic on 

the construction of manual turnout 

controls that are reliable and cheap. 

His presentation commanded the close 

attention of many of the members, and 

he opened his layout to a demonstration 

of the controls in action after we 

finished at Monroe Hall. 

Financially the raffle generated 

$26.00, as did the Kitty Car, and two 

members paid a total of $12.00 for 

hard copies of The Callboard. Someone 

has been putting a $20.00 bill in the 

Kitty Car, which is very generous and 

we thank you very much. The down side 

of this is that it reveals that about 20 

of us aren’t putting in anything at all! I 

think we can do better than that, 

nudge, nudge. 

Completing the financial picture, we 

had an expenditure of $49.00 for ink 

for the hard copy Callboards, and 

another of $47.03 for supplies and 

postage for the mailing of the notices 

of the next meeting at the Napa Club. 

Our current balance is $2372.61. 

I urge you to take advantage of the 

Napa Club setting for our February 23 

meeting. This is our chance to exercise 

some of our equipment and trains that 

we may not be able to run anywhere 

Continued on page 5 

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else. If we don’t have stuff of our own 

we want to run, we can run club 

equipment. There are l-o-n-g runs on 

this layout, mostly visible and we can 

follow our trains around through pretty 

nice scenery as the layout will be in 

DCC mode for our meeting. Just be 

sure anything you bring to run meets 

basic NMRA standards such as wheel 

gauge, coupler height and free rolling. 

Just in case anyone is curious, I moved 

the ice dock and its two tracks on my 

layout, and displaced Kowalski’s Poles, 

so my ice house does now fit and 

perhaps no longer deserves to be called 

“Verne’s Folly!” 

Aymar Comments on 

Iron Horse Exress Contest 

Well, the time is getting short for 

getting going on your entry for the PCR 

Iron Horse Express Convention model 

contest. The contests have 

traditionally been well atened with a 

large variety of entries. This year your 

committee (Karen Kiefer, Steve Biggs, 

Frank Markovich and myself) have 

added more prizes, more recognition 

for entering and more enjoyment 

during the convention. There will a 

number of ways that you can enter the 

contest. Let’s look at those choices: 

•The will be the traditional 

Contest for 1st, 2nd and 3rd 

place. 

•The AP Judging will be there 

for the Achievement Program 

• Popular Vote Awards. Anyone 

entering the room can vote for 

their favorite entry 

•Non juging area for simply 

displaying 

•Novice Prizes 

•Arts and Crafts 

•Open category and a Kit 

category 

We also are featuring a category for 

the popular Photographic Award. If you 

visit the Iron Horse Express website, 

you will find a full description of all the 

contests and forms to download, along 

with a program time line and full 

instructions. The rest is up to you. I 

know, when you enter, you will feel you 

have contributed to the success of the 

convention and instilled a sense of 

pride in your own accomplishment. All 

of us will be grateful for your 

participation and we thank you ahead of 

time. See you in Dublin! 

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Clincs and Tours Abound 

At Iron Horse PCR Convention 

The Iron Horse Convention running April 3-7th in Dublin promises to have one of the 

largest clinic lists I have ever seen for a Regional meeting. We can only list a few of 

the outstanding clinics and their presentors. To see the whole list and sign up for the 

convention see the PCR website for further information. 

Advanced DCC Decoder Programming Using 

Decoder Pro 

Jim Betz 

Fundamentals of Backdrop Painting 

Dave Biondi 

Starting Over on a New Layout 

Tom Blinn 

Keeping Your Trains on the Track 

Tom Blinn 

Tools for Model Building and Scratchbuilding 

Jack Burgess, MMR #136 

California Western 

Gus Campagna 

Simple Car Cards - A Simple Approach 

Guy Cantwell 

Public Utilities and How to Model Them 

Tom Crawford 

Undertable Positive Turnout Controller 

Dave Croshere 

Basic Structure Design with Free Software 

Dave Croshere 

Hazardous Materials Markings on Rail Cars 

Paul Deis 

JMRI Operations 

Dennis Drury 

Model Railroading with Arduino 

Dave Falkenburg 

Layouts Portable, Practical & Palatable 

M.C. Fujiwara 

Fast Forward - Ten years of Layout 

Construction in an Hour 

Guy Cantwell 

Practical ABS Signaling for Model Railroads 

Chuck Catania 

Freight Train Operations and Car Forwarding 

Methods 

Dave Clemens 

The San Ramon Branch of the SP 

Dave Connery 

M.C Fujiwara Fe-Mo module 

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Here are just some of the potential model railroads that will be open for touring and/ 

or operations during Iron Horse Express 2013! 

LAYOUT OWNER GAUGE RAILROAD NAME 

Alameda County Central RR oSc O / HO Alameda Cty Central RR Soc 

Antioch Model RR Club HO Black Diamond Lines 

Charlie Bedard HO Agassiz Basin Railway 

Tom Blin HO Livermore Valley Lines 

Robert Bowdidge HO SP Vasona Branch 

Bob Brown, MMR O / On3 / On30 Tuolumne Forks 

Jack Burgess, MMR HO Yosemite Valley Railroad 

California Central Club HO / HOn3 California Central Lines 

Carquinez Model RR Club HO Carquinez Model RR Club 

Dave Connery HO Sierra Carson & Truckee 

Dave Connery Fn3 South West Side Lumber 

Jim Diaz HO Western Pacific Railroad 

East Bay Model Engineers Society N / HO / O 

Golden Gate Railroad Museum 

Jack Burgess 

Yosemite Valley Railroad 

Carquinez Model RR Club 

Benicia California 

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Big Red’s 

Workbench Tips 

and Techniques 

This is a short series of tips and 

techniques that have come from our 

fellow members as well as from some of 

the best craftworkers in our hobby. 

A British Import! 

Here’s a simple diagram for those of 

you who have logging railroads or a 

lumber mill on the layout. The picture 

is from a British Model Railroad 

magazine that beats most US model 

railroad magazines for depth of 

articles, color photographs etc. 

If you have a trick or technique that you would like to 

share, please send your idea to the CallBoard Editor. 

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New SP Layout Rises in Santa Rosa 

RED members should be jealous of fellow modeler, Tom Swearigen, and his new 

layout. Tom added a new art studio to his garage, which made it necessary to totally 

rebuild his HO layout, in the ajoining garage. As a theme, Tom selected the SP from 

Oakland along the Bay through to Pinole and points beyond. A little license was taken 

on staging and the “short” trip from Martinez to San Francisco. What evolved is a 

beautiful two deck layout with an impressive helix connecting the two decks. An unusual 

method of construction was used on the helix. All support for the double track helix is 

composed of 4x4” posts in the inside of the curves, and no supports around the 

outside. Easy to get to now but will be covered as scenery progresses. Scenes below are 

from a recent operating session that was attended by about 16-18 operators and yard 

people. Needless to say fun was the order of the day. Beautiful cabinets, carpets and 

nice heating made the whole room a great place to hangout besides the crew lounge 

(Art Studio). 

Overall view of SP layout. Helix behind Tom on right 

Verne lost in a reverie again - round and round 

Martinez Station on Tom Swearigen’s new layout 

Dave attempts to read the Dispatch info 

9


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NMRA NEWS 

• Donations for “The Magic of Scale Model Railroading” Exhibit at the California 

State Railroad Museum are continuing to pour in. Among the more noteworthy 

are: 

The World’s Greatest Hobby campaign has pledged $50,000 toward the 

Exhibit. 

◦ Cincinnati Division 7, in the Mid-Central Region, has pledged $15,000 

toward the Exhibit. 

Current pledge and donation totals are now over $200,000, but the NMRA 

still needs to raise an additional $50,000 to meet the $250,000 “matching 

challenge pledge” by an anonymous donor. You can contribute via the web by 

visiting www.nmra.org and clicking on the donation link near the top of the 

homepage. 

Hasea.com, the model railroad association located in China which has 

aligned itself with the NMRA, has invited the NMRA President and a few 

other NMRA officials to tour the new, highly restricted Chinese High 

Speed Rail factory and facilities in February. No foreign visitors have 

ever had the opportunity to view these facilities before. As you may recall 

from NMRA Magazine articles and blurbs here, Hasea is a network of 

100,000 Chinese railfans and modelers. The NMRA Board has entered into 

a Memorandum of Understanding with Hasea to share our standards and 

organizational knowledge. 

• The Peachtree Express 2013 website has been updated, and now lists all the 

planned prototype and general interest tours, along with all layout tours. 

There are photos of each layout, and, in some cases, videos. Visit 

www.nmra2013.org to view the updates, and watch NMRA Magazine for 

Peachtree Express 2013 layout features. 

• Bill Kaufman, Vice President of Special Projects, is spearheading a new 

eBulletin idea – an electronic communication sent by email to interested 

NMRA members on a regular basis. The project is still in the planning stages, 

and will be presented to the Board of Directors at the Winter Meeting in 

February.


Support Your Local Hobby Shop 

10% RED Member Discount 

RED Members Make CVL Lines 

A Successful Christmas Show 

The Coast Valley Lines Modular layout closed out a 16 day run at the Napa Valley Museum just 

before Christmas. Because of the length of the show in days and hours, the group called on 

the various model railroad clubs and individuals from the North Bay area. I know that Steve 

Lewis, CVL run coordinator and RED member along with RED membersVerne Alexander and 

Dick Foster pitched in taking turns on several days, talking with the over 1,200 visitors and 

helping to run the layout. For some of us it was a throw back to the olden days of regular DC 

and not DCC. Tended to keep you on your toes at times. 

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Coming Down the Line 

Great Train Expo - February 16 & 17, 2013 - Sonoma County Fair Grounds 

RED Meeting - Napa Model Railroad - February 23rd 12:00 PM Lunch and 1:00 PM Meeting. Bring good DCC 

trains to run on their great layout. Napa County Fair grounds. 3rd Street entrance. 

Iron Horse Express 2013 PCR Convention-April 3-7, 2013 Holiday Inn, Dublin, CA - See article this issue 

NMRA National Convention - July 14, 20 2013 Peach-tree Express - Atlanta, GA 

ELECTIONS COMING IN MAY 

Elections are Fast Approaching. It’s time 

to start thinking who you want to lead the 

RED Division. In the Spring issue of the 

CallBoard, there’ ll be a paper ballot for 

you to fill out and send back before the 

May18th meeting. This will be the only 

time the CallBoard will be printed and 

mailed. 

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1st Quarter 2013 Callboard - Pacific Coast Region of NMRA

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