The
Columbus
Garden Railway Society
May 2000
Online
Newsletter
Table Of Contents
Richard Abler
Barbara Abler
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The
Columbus Table Of Contents |
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Richard Abler |
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Barbara Abler |
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| Bus trip planned to Cass WV Scenic Railroad | Richard Abler | |
| Its Spring! Time for Garden Railroading! | Andy Geiger | |
| New LGBMRRC Liaison | Richard Abler | |
| Covered Bridges - Part 2 | Jim Shell | |
| Big turnout for last month's meeting at Babka's | Richard Abler | |
| Running with the Roses | Richard Abler | |
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Visit Our Advertisers:
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Next meeting at Collin's |
Richard Abler |
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CGRS meets this month for the first
time at the new garden railroad of Bob & Cora Collins in Worthington.
This raised-bed railroad features two independent loops, one of which is
powered by overhead catenary. Bob says the overhead catenary is for modeling a trolley line which he fondly remembers running near his boyhood home in Michigan. Now that Bob has spent time building and experimenting with the catenary system he's going to handle the clinic for this meeting - "Overhead catenary systems for your garden railroad." Fred Bischoff, another catenary buff, will assist with the presentation. Bob also is experienced with constructing items with Jigstones, and he'll show some interesting uses of same on the layout. Bring along your own lawn chair. (Location Details) |
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The Plant Manager |
Barbara Abler |
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Plant Nuts and Nurseries On April 28, Richard and I drove a visitor from Denver, Gwen Kelaidis, to a specialty nursery near Youngstown. Gwen is the Editor of the North American Rock Garden Society Quarterly and part of her payment for speaking to the NARGS Chapter was a trip to this nursery. The guy who runs the nursery specializes in Sempervivum (Hen-and-Chicks) and is internationally famous for his semps. He has over 2200 varieties of semps and several different Sedum and Orostachys. I can't tell you his name or where his nursery is located because he does not welcome retail trade or drop in visitors and insisted that we not tell anyone were we got the semps. It took 2 months of negotiations to get to see him and then we only were approved because he was assured that we would be buying LOTS of plants. This fellow is a real Original. He dresses as a bumble bee, complete with deelly-bopper antennae, to encourage pollination of the plants. He makes deliveries of plants to garden stores in a hearse. He collects hearses, Packards, and matchbook covers. After 2.5 hours standing in the sun picking out semps, my knees gave out and I gave up and went to sit in the shade. Gwen squatted for 5 hours in the sun bagging and labeling plants. Richard carried the packing boxes. We spent LOTS of money, Gwen more than I. My box of chicks in bags has so far produced 7 flats of potted plants, 18 pots to the flat, and I am still not done potting them up. If these things survive, I will have some really great semps to sell next year. Some are so tiny that they are hard to see. From semps, we went to Baker's Acres. In the past two weeks I have been there twice. As Andy Geiger has said in his article, the Baker's have started to sell some alpines. And they had some really wonderful things. I also got the tiny Ranunculus yakusimanus that Andy bought. I also got a different variety of Houstonia caerulea (bluet, Quaker lady), 'Millards' variety which has flowers that are deeper blue than the ones I already have. I got several more alpines and bunches of dwarf coleus and Impatiens repens for the shade plus lots of other strange and wonderful plants. Both Baker's Acres and Anderson's have Million Bells (Callibrachoa) which have very small petunia-like flowers and make a good ground cover for sun. Although not to scale, they could be used in a sunny railroad to add color. Then I went to the gourmet nursery, Essentially English Gardens. Craig Jaynes has lots of wonderful dwarf conifers. If I didn't already have several waiting to be planted, I would have gotten more than the single one I did buy on this trip. He also has a very small hosta, Bitsy Green, that would work well for the railroad. This is the place to go for unusual and rare landscape plants. He had several variegated dogwoods, lots of Japanese maples, and a huge pine that grows parallel to the ground for several feet before finally growing upright. I was ready to have Richard remove the last of the grass in the front lawn so I could get this tree. Only thing is we would have had to hire a truck and a couple of strong guys to move it in. Obviously not a railroad plant but really an architectural stunner. Something that is railroad size and difficult to find is a very small holly, Ilex x Rock Garden. I had to go to Minneapolis to get the one I have on the P&P. I saw 2 at Craig's. Craig's hours right now are Thurs, Fri, Sat from 10 AM - 6 PM, Sun 2 - 5 PM. If you go, be sure to tell him you are a garden railroader so he can help you find suitably sized plants. His ad is elsewhere in the newsletter. So, don't just sit there, get out and go to a nursery. |
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Bus trip planned
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Richard Abler |
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As first mentioned at the annual
Holiday Party, a bus trip is being planned to Cass, West Virginia to ride
on the Shay geared Locomotives there. Cass has the former Western Maryland
#6 on the active roster. This was the largest and last Shay ever built at
Lima Locomotive Works. The Shay will pull a tourist train - with open
gondola cars, if you wish - up the steep grades (greater than 10% in some
places) to an abandoned coal mine. This will be a great trip. As currently envisaged by Bob Rowell of the Northern Ohio GRS (NOGRS), the trip package will include 2 nights hotel, all train rides, and round trip charter bus fare. The price is still being negotiated, but it looks like it will end up somewhere around $250 to $300 per person from Columbus. Those numbers are iffy and subject to change at any time. According to the survey passed out at the annual banquet, the following persons have expressed an interest in taking this trip. Family names are on this list if one or more persons in the family answered "Yes" or "Maybe" to the Cass question: Babka, Beck, Bigrigg, Bischoff, Browning, Cheney, Coghlan, Collins, Duggan, Easterday, Flesch, Frost, Guckeyson, Hill, Kelly Sr., Ketcham, Kimmel, Logan, Maier, Muchmore, Murday, Pennock, Roberts, Rosenblum, Shell, Uhlig, Wilcox, and Wythe. That's many more names than the 10 persons from NOGRS who have expressed interest. Bob Rowell is handling arrangements with the bus company and is doing all of the "heavy work." This will be a great trip! But its NOT going to happen unless someone from the above list steps forward to help Bob coordinate the CGRS members who have expressed an interested in this Cass trip. This will involve working with Bob and communicating with CGRS members - either via this newsletter or directly by phone and/or email. When you are ready to accept this challenge let me know and Išll get you in touch in Bob Rowell. If no one volunteers, there'll be no trip. |
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Its Spring! |
Andy Geiger |
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Spring is a great time for a Garden
Railroader! New purchases appear on the track even before the garden
gets much attention. I could hardly wait to try out my new USA
Trains Santa Fe Warbonnet F3 locomotives, building a consist which
recreates the Super Chief, at least in my mind's eye. The
electronics work fine, the locomotives and cars begin to move, and it
looks and operates even better than I dared hope. It's spring! As I drive around Columbus on various errands, stops seem to occur at various nurseries and garden shops. The endless quest for the unknown treasure that will fit into just the right spot, just where a spot of color or a green ground cover was badly needed. How could there be room for more? The annual trip out to Baker's
Acres in Alexandria found even more wonders than ever. They have
started an Alpine Table, and it is chock full of perfect little plants for
the Garden Railway. I hope the two miniature Ranunculus will do
well! Spring is an adventure even on a
small garden pond. Personally, I think the USA 1:29 scale is very attractive and fits the rolling stock variety of LGB, USA, and Aristo really well. A new product has just arrived,
and I think it is going to be terrific. It arrived today, and I have
just come in from a test run. I saw it on the Largescaleonline.com
website. It is a Trackman C 2000 track cleaner, and it really seems
to work well. Much cheaper than the LGB track cleaning engine, and
much more expensive than a dry wall sander, it cost about $120 delivered.
If you are interested, you can contact M.O.W. Equipment Co., 107 Greenwood
Dr., Temple, PA 19560. Or, give me a call (614-481-3177) for a
demonstration. |
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New LGBMRRC Liaison |
Richard Abler |
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In last month's newsletter there was
a letter from the LGB Model Railroad Club (LGBMRRC) asking for a CGRS
Member to volunteer to be the designated contact for communication between
CGRS and LGBMRRC. Bill Kelly has volunteered to be the contact person for
CGRS. As soon as Bill receives relevant information from LGBMRRC he'll be in touch with me and we will pass along the information at meetings and in the newsletter. Thanks Bill! |
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Covered Bridges - Part 2 |
Jim Shell |
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[Permission is granted for use in
other garden railway newsletters as long as full credit is given for text
and photos and a hard copy sent to Richard Abler for Jim Shell]
Highway covered bridge The shortest covered bridge ever
built for public highway use in the country was the Church Hill Road
Bridge (35-15-08) over Middle Run east of Lisbon in Columbiana County,
Ohio. It was built in 1870 with a clear span of 19 feet (the distance
between the stone bridge abutments) and used the kingpost truss. In 1963
the bridge was bypassed and later moved to Elkton, Ohio, near the Lock 24
Restaurant where it Considering the little Church Hill Run bridge, you may discover that you really do have room for a small covered bridge on your layout. This article will discuss some of the basic structural features which should help you design the perfect highway covered bridge that meets your needs. What is a wooden bridge truss? A truss is a frame work of wooden timbers in a triangular shape that sets on abutments and spans a waterway or depression. This arrangement of triangles allows each brace to support the other and working together they support whatever weight is placed upon it. The first truss was a deck truss; this truss was below the path or roadway. It is not known by whom or when the truss was raised above the roadway creating the through truss. The term "through truss" means going between the two trusses. How a truss works When a load passes through the
bridge, the diagonal braces (compression member) Our focus will be on the kingpost
and the queenpost trusses, What are kingpost and queenpost trusses? The following diagrams show the kingpost and queenpost truss and their variations.
Choosing a truss There is no guideline to determine which truss to use except possibly the length of the bridge and load limits. The kingpost and queenpost trusses were simple trusses to build and they were not patented. Suppose you were a farmer and you wanted to build a covered bridge over a canal or stream on your property. The determining factors involved in your decision would be the wood available to you, the overall cost, and which design you prefer. A county wanting to build a covered bridge might choose a certain truss and then accept the lowest bid. Size of trusses Full height highway trusses are 12 to 15 feet high, and half height trusses (called low, half or pony trusses) are 4 to 8 feet high. The panels on a full height truss vary in width, from 10 to 15 feet wide. On half size trusses (pony trusses) the panels are shorter, 5 to 10 feet wide. The queenpost center panel could be as much as 20 feet in width with 10 foot wide side panels. All these dimensions are averages as the builders would adjust the height of the truss and the width of the panels to fit the size of the truss needed. A small highway covered bridge could have used either a full height or a pony truss. In your design the choice is yours. Examples of trusses used The following examples of small covered bridges show a variety of trusses used. l The Barger Farm Canal Bridge was a 47 foot long single kingpost, Pike Co. OH (collapsed in the 1970s). l Indian Camp Bridge is a 36 foot multiple kingpost, on TR 68 just east of SR 658, Guernaey Co. (35-30-04). l The Rock Mill Bridge is a 37 foot queenpost on CR 41 over the Hocking River, 6.5 miles northwest of Lancaster in Fairfield Co. (35-23-48). l
Cox Bridge is a 40 foot
queenpost over Brushy Fork, 8 miles south of the Greene County Ohio had two covered bridges that were 40 feet long, one using a Warren truss and the other using a Smith truss. Bridge numbering system As bridge historians began collecting data on covered bridges, the need for a numbering system to identify particular bridges became apparent especially since more than one bridge may have been built on the same location or more than one bridge on the same road in different locations. Such a numbering system was devised by John Diehl of Cincinnati in the 1940s. Today this system is used worldwide. The Rock Mill Bridge number is 35-23-48 which identifies it as follows: 35 - State - Ohio 23 - County - Fairfield 48 - The 48th bridge cataloged, not the 48th bridge built. All cataloged bridges have been assigned such a number. Bridge structure
When you design your covered bridge the critical dimension is the opening. Take a look at the drawing of the bridge portal. The dimension for the opening is a minimum for a small bridge. The size of the vertical and diagonal truss timbers are about 6x7 inches. Choose the timber sizes according to the look you want, a heavy look or a light weight look. All dimensions are flexible. The siding of the bridge can be vertical boards with or without battens, horizontal clap board or shingle. The height of the siding varied from county to county. The higher the siding the more protection for the truss from rain and snow. You can expose as much of the truss as you want. The siding can be left to weather or be painted, red or white are the most common. Greene County, Ohio, has one bridge painted green, 3 that are red and one that is unpainted. The roof can be shingle, metal with standing seams or corrugated metal. The pitch of the roof can be flat or high.
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Big turnout for last month's meeting at Babka's |
Edy Wine (Miami Valley GRS) |
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Take your trains, a great layout,
good club friends, fabulous food, an interesting workshop and a beautiful
day, and what do you have? The April CGRS meeting! It was held at Glenn
& Judy Babka's "Worth Valley Lines," which enthralled
everyone with its plants and the bridge over the lake. Did you see
the sailboat in the lake? It just takes off at the wind's whim.
Trains were running on both tracks - one with track power and one on
battery power. After a brief business meeting to inform clubsters about how to sign up for the Rose Festival at the Park of Roses on June 10th and 11th, how to get CGRS Badges, how to sign up for a club purchase of metal wheels, and how to access the new web site (www.cgrs.org). We also learned more about the "Worth Valley Lines" construction and 8 years of maintenance. Attention then turned to Jim Kimmel, who showed us how to make fancy concrete portals - without the fancy price! It turns out you can save a hundred dollars or more by doing it yourself! I gotta try that! We were also asked to partake of the great eats. (Well, if you insist.) There were sub sandwiches, fix your own sandwiches, chips, brownies and drinks. Yum! Yum! The layout had a real test at the end of the meeting, when visiting power (Fred Bischoff's Aster/LGB K-28) tried to go through one of the tunnels. It went CLUNK! And stopped. It was repositioned, and the bridge over the lake was more obliging. It allowed the engine through, but just barely. (I THINK you could've put a piece of paper between the bridge and the engine...) Many of those in attendance for the meeting took the opportunity to visit Barbara & Richard Abler's Puddlefort & Patio Railroad at their open house before the scheduled monthly meeting. Several members stocked up on plants for their garden railroad - taking advantage of Barbara's plant sale. Our thanks to Glenn & Judy for being such excellent hosts! |
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Running with the Roses |
Richard Abler |
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CGRS will be running trains again
this year at the Park of Roses in Whetstone Park. Columbus Recreation and
Parks Department will be hosting the annual festival on Saturday and
Sunday, June 10 and 11, from 10 am to 8 pm both days. The event will showcase the beautiful Columbus Park of Roses, a 13 acre site with 11,000 rose bushes, an internationally acclaimed daffodil garden, herb and perennial gardens, and other specialized collections. Interest in the Rose Festival has
been spreading throughout Ohio, and more families are enjoying the serene,
calming beauty of this unique event. This year's event will focus on
horticulture, nature, and the environment, with commercial sales and
hands-on exhibits of flowers, plants, bird and Signup today by calling Richard Abler at 614-885-0351, or email: abler@infinet.com, or on on-line. In addition to having a lot of fun you'll be participating in an important community service event. (More Info) |
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First Call for Garden Railroad Tour |
Richard Abler |
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Here comes the first call for our
annual open garden tour this fall. Because of deadlines with some of the
publications in which we advertise it is necessary for me to have your
railroad descriptions and directions completed by early July.
A current list of open hosts follows. Some on the list have stated to me directly either in person or via email that they plan to be open for the tour on Sunday, September 10th. Others have indicated their desire to participate via the survey form at the annual banquet. In this latter case the family name appears on the list if any one member of the family answered 'yes' or 'maybe' to the question. Here is the list as of early April: Babka, Beck(*), Bigrigg, Burns(*), Cheney(*), Coghlan(*), Collins(*), Dana(*), Dobaj(*), Duggan, Easterday, Hahn(*), Hill, Ketcham, Kimmel, Logan(*), Lott, McRae(*), Muchmore/Jones(*), Murday(*), C. Myers, Polsdorfer, Rosenblum(*), Shell, Uhlig, R Voit, and Abler. If you are on this list and are NOT planning to be on the garden tour, better let me know. Conversely, if you ARE planning to be on the garden tour and you are not on this list, you had best let me know too. Those names which have an asterisk: I need to have a description of your railroad and/or a clear set of directions to your garden (including any parking restrictions). As in the past the descriptions and directions will be submitted to your neighborhood weekly newspaper. Addresses with a brief description will appear in the Dispatch on the Sunday of, and the Sunday before the tour. Addresses and descriptions will also be included in the mailing from Columbus Recreation and Parks Department. This promises to be our biggest garden tour to date. But therešs a lot of work to do between now and then and I'll need your cooperation in getting your descriptions and directions to me on a timely basis. |
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