CGRS - June 2000 Newsletter

	The Columbus Garden Railway Society June 2000 Online Newsletter Table Of Contents
	Next meeting at Hahn's	Richard Abler
	The Plant Manager	Barbara Abler
	Great Meeting at the Collin's	Richard Abler
	Rose Festival A Success	Richard Abler
	Product Review: Aristo-Craft Snow Plow	Richard Abler
	Covered Bridges - Part 3	Jim Shell

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Next meeting at Hahn's	Richard Abler
We¹re meeting again on Sunday, June 25th at the home and garden railroad of Gary & Carolyn Hahn from 2 to 5 pm in northwest Columbus. This will be our first visit to the Hahns and their new garden railroad. For our program Fred Bischoff will show and describe the new Direct Digital Control system from LGB. This system is new on the market; we¹ll get an early chance to see how it works. The Davidson & Hayden Run Railroad contains 250' of track, with the mainline in a dog bone configuration surrounding a lumber service track. It is based on what Gary remembers of the old Pennsylvania RR/Penn Central RR that ran through Hilliard in the late 60's and early 70's. It also has some liberties added from what the contour of the existing yard and flower beds and materials supplied by the local road construction projects would allow! The name comes from the main east/west road nearest our house and the small stream to our north that Gary frequently visited on his bike as a kid. A replica of the stream has been built within the garden railroad's borders. There's always a lot of stuff that has to be schlepped to run the meeting. Bring along your own lawn chair. (Location Details)

The Plant Manager	Barbara Abler
Hot Stuff Although it is not officially summer yet, spring has long passed and the hot-and-muggies are here along with uncertain rainfall. I'm writing this between sessions of moving the sprinkler to different parts of the garden, knowing deep in my heart that the predicted chance of rain is not going to happen. People south of us and east of us got downpours but Blind Brook Drive remains dry. It's during the heat and dryness of the summer that herbs begin to show how tough they are. Other plants have begun to wilt in the hot afternoon sun but the herbs in the railroad don't seem to be fazed by it. That might be because so many of them originate in the hot, dry climates of the Mediterranean. While many of you use thyme as a groundcover in your layouts, there are other herbs that can be useful. I have used a dwarf oregano as a ground cover in the Puddlefort & Patio. It gave the impression of some type of crop growing in the Wisconsin farmland that our railroad, the P&P, runs through. I lost it the summer we got 4 inches of rain in one day. These guys don't like a lot of wet. Since then I have been growing a dwarf oregano, Origanum compacta, in the rock garden area. This oregano is not as small or fine-leaved as the thymes but it is considerably smaller than other varieties of oregano. It has small, oval, dark green leaves and is very fragrant when crushed. For me it doesn't get over 4 inches tall. It spreads reasonably fast and is a frequent addition to the cooking pots in order to keep it in control. I like to add it to an omelet with chopped tomatoes, green onions, and mushrooms. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. Another member of the same family, golden marjoram (labeled as O. vulgare 'Aureum') has lived in the P&P for 6 years now. This is a larger and more vigorous ground cover. In fact, it tends to take over the small space it is planted in and requires rather drastic cutting back to keep it in bounds so the cohabitation has not always been peaceful. When it forgets its place in the order of things, I rip it out by the handful. I gave some of these uprooted pieces to Glenn Babka a couple of years ago. Glenn & Judy's Worth Valley Line is considerably larger than the P&P and there was room for the marjoram to grow. Right now it has completely covered a gentle slope to give a magnificent golden hillside. In spite of its almost invasive nature, I keep it for two reasons: My mother used a lot of marjoram in cooking and I have a real fondness for the taste of it fresh. Also, its golden leaves make a wonderful contrast in the landscape. My references disagree on how tall O. v. 'Aureum' can get - anywhere from 8 to 30 inches in height, but mine never gets taller than 6-8 inches. In spring when it first starts coming up again, it is fairly flat. Later it mounds up and makes a nice shrubby background in the railroad landscape. If you have a lot of space to fill and can use something with a bit of height, you might consider using this herb because of its great color and culinary usefulness.

Great Meeting at the Collin's	Richard Abler
'Twas a bright day which brought forth lots of CGRSers to the meeting last month at Collins' and to the open house at Duggan's before the meeting. We began with the open house at Bob & Kathy Duggan in Dublin. The three-year-old railroad surrounds the deck in the back yard. Bob had two log trains running on two separate loops. One train of several four-axle log cars was pulled by a Bachmann Shay with a Phoenix sound system and the other train of several small two-axle cars was headed up by an LGB Stainz 0-4-0 Locomotive. A street car shuttled back-and-forth on a third track. The railroad was nicely planted with a variety of dwarf conifers, perennials and annuals, all of which were of a size in proportion to the size of the trains. Bob had an extensive photo record of the construction of the garden railroad available for viewing. Records such as these are interesting and useful. [This will be in the starting from scratch section of the site - available soon. Wm.] Our monthly meeting was the first ever at the one-year-old garden railroad of Bob & Cora Collins. This raised-bed railroad has two separate loops, one of which is powered by overhead catenary. The railroad is reminiscent of the area in Michigan were Bob and Cora grew up. The street car on the catenary-powered line goes to the end of town where an amusement park (under construction) is located. During the meeting we raffled off a door prize of a concrete tunnel portal made by Jim Kimmel - as per his clinic at the April CGRS meeting. The lucky winner was Diane Lott. All of the folks who ordered metal wheels at the last meeting were there to pick up their order. We distributed sixty 4-axle packs of Aristo-Craft metal wheels (blackened). We discussed a few business issues too. First of all we reviewed the status of the new CGRS web site and thanked Peter & Edy Wine for their hard work in getting the site up and running. Next we discussed the Rose Festival and added to the staffing sheet for the festival. As always, CGRSers were ready to volunteer for this important community service event. We explained how the online signup form worked. we handed out some extra Rose Festival posters. We introduced new members in attendance for the first time - the Piggrems from Westerville. They were the winners of an LGB starter set we raffled off earlier this year. We also introduced Gary & Carolyn Hahn - the hosts for the June meeting. We're looking forward to seeing the new garden railroad. This will be our first meeting at the Hahns. Barbara Abler offered some free balsam plants to members. The balsams look like miniature palm trees. Barbara challenged the members to create a vignette using the plants for a future article she is interested in writing. Barbara also had small plants for sale. In August we¹ll again be helping out our public television station, WOSU-TV, with their Summer Festival Fund Raiser. CGRS will staff the phone bank in the evening of August 9th. We¹ll also help out ourselves by getting our banner in front of the public a few weeks before our annual open garden tour in September. This will be our only gig at WOSU-TV this year. Cecil Easterday volunteered to coordinate the CGRS portion of the bus trip to Cass WV to ride behind one of the remaining few Shay locomotives. The trip will be for two nights with hotel included in the price. That trip is tentatively scheduled for late September or early October. Additional information will be forthcoming as soon as its available. Bob Collins and Fred Bischoff gave a clinic on the use of overhead catenary in the garden railroad. Bob constructed a short test track to show how to control two different locomotives on the same track (without use of decoders or batteries or radio control). Fred discussed the two principal types of LGB catenary poles which are in use. Finally, our sincere thanks to Bob & Cora Collins for all the snacks and goodies and for being such good hosts!

Rose Festival A Success	Richard Abler
A good complement of CGRSers turned out to run trains and staff our information booth at the annual Rose Festival at the Park of Roses. The hot, humid weather did not keep visitors from enjoying the park, the roses, the exhibitors, and the concerts at this large, free horticultural event. We again had a steady stream of visitors, many of whom were repeat visitors from previous years. Our location - under a huge hawthorn just outside the shelter house - is one of the best in the park. Being on one of the two entry ways assures us of a steady stream of visitors. For our first two years here we were in the herb garden which is a bit off of the beaten path. Several visitors commented on how the trains just seem to be a natural part of our garden site. We¹ll have to thank Sherry Chaplin for that. Sherry coordinates the volunteers at the park and sees to it that nothing gets planted in "the CGRS right-of-way". She takes photos of our temporary garden railroad each year to use as a reference when adding plants to the garden space at other times of the year. New this year were the pieces of driftwood that Bill Lott liberated from a nearby stream. Visitors always delight in tossing coins into a coin car. We hadn't planned to run a coin car this year. But we were about 20 minutes into the show when a family showed up and asked to toss coins. So we added a gon to the consist. The coin car was back by popular demand. I was surprised by the number of visitors that asked about our annual garden tour. That is our most popular event with the general public. We also had a number of visitors commenting on the comic strip "For Better or for Worse" by Lynn Johnston, which was running some segments on building a garden railroad. We got several serious inquiries about membership in CGRS. We also ran into people seeing a garden railroad for the first time. Hard to believe they've never seen one before. They will have another opportunity to see one next year in the park as we have already been invited back. Garden railroad displays don't just happen, lots of people pitch in to make them happen. On the set up crew: Bob Collins, David Wythe, Bill Lott, Randy and Robbie Ketcham, and Richard Abler. CGRS staffers on Saturday and Sunday included: David Wythe, Chuck Coghlan, Randy Ketcham, Robbie Ketcham, Earl Browning, Doug Clark, Richard Voit, Peter & Edy Wine, Bob Duggan, Gary Piggrem, Jeff Piggrem, Bob Dana, Bob Stetson, Hank Fossen, Lonnie Dill, Doug Murday, Ron Mayer, Bill Lott, and Richard Abler. The tear-down crew included Doug Murday, Ron Mayer, Richard Voit, Bob Duggan, Bob Collins, Bill Lott, and Richard Abler. Our thanks to everyone who helped out!

Product Review: New Aristo-Craft Snow Plow	Richard Abler
Oh boy! My new snowplow just arrived! I've always wanted a snow plow, but I've not wanted to spend a lot of money for one. The new Aristo-Craft snow plow for their club members filled the bill. I was filled with excitement as I took it out of its box. The first thing I noticed was the bright yellow V-shaped plow. Now that's a grabber! There's a light above the plow, which works from track power (no on-off switch). The plow has an adjustable front edge. A pair of set screws - one on either side - allows track clearance adjustments from approx 1/8 to 5/16th of an inch. My model had two axles dislocated out of the side frames, but it was relatively easy to put them where they belonged. Probably got dislodged in shipping. While I was at it, I checked the gauge of the wheels; all axles were slightly out of gauge. The back-to-back distance of the wheels was about 1/16 of an inch too narrow. I left them that way. The paint job and lettering are first-rate; mine is in the gray MOW (Maintenance-of-Way) livery for Aristo Insider club members. The model has Aristo's new metal wheel sets with ball bearings and electrical pickup contacts at the axles - instead of carbon brushes against the backs of wheels. This arrangement looks like it should reduce drag. Seven of the eight wheels spun freely; one was a bit tight, but it didn't interfere with good running in my limited running experience with this model. All of the axles have pickup contacts to supply power to the light. A knuckle coupler was mounted on the rear truck - none in front. A hook-and-loop coupler is also provided if you want to change to this style. I did. [In the interim since this piece was first written, the snow plow was used as a "coin car" at the Rose Festival display garden rail-road where it ran for 20 hours on a back-and-forth track without problems. Gathered a lot of attention too!]. The model is fairly heavy right out of the box, but you may want to add some additional weight to keep the plow on the track when attacking snow drifts or other material which needs to be removed from the track, like twigs or acorns or leaves or piles of dirt from holes dug by squirrels. The ball-bearing trucks are designed to handle extra weight. Because of the plow shrouding around the front truck, its a bit tricky to get the front truck on the track. Vision is obscured, so you have to do it by feel. As for "fit-and-finish," the sideboards tend to lift up a bit if you pick up the model the way most of us do - by lifting from the top and against the sideboards. A few gentle taps with a small hammer got them reseated OK. I set the plow on the track on my garden railroad and pushed it around to check for clearances. I expected clearance problems because of the long, wide, low overhang of the front edge of the plow. I guessed right. With the front edge in its highest position it still hit some of my LGB switch machines and track connectors, especially at changes in grade on my somewhat twisting, uneven right-of-way. It also hit up against the landscape timbers which form the raised bed of the railroad. I'll need to raise the track just a wee bit at that corner. I consider these to be minor glitches which I'm sure I'll sort out. I haven't yet done my annual spring ballast and track leveling routine (as of May 30th.) All in all I'm very pleased with this plow so far and I¹m looking forward to clearing the right-of-way with it. It's a good looking model and it'll look great just parked on a siding. I'm sure its going to get lots of comments at our next open house in late June. I'm also looking forward to winter to try it out in the snow! Bring on the snow!

Covered Bridges - Part 3	Jim Shell
[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] Railroad Covered Bridges The smoke stained covered bridge which faithfully served our railroads has quietly slipped into the history book. It is estimated that the railroads built about 3,750 miles of bridges. A conservative estimate is that half were built with wood and that at least 1,000 miles were covered bridges. Ohio had 846 wooden bridges by 1880. In 1886 The Cincinnati and Muskingum Valley Railroad had 38 wooden truss bridges and the Columbus and Hocking Valley railroad had 64 wooden truss bridges. Some railroad companies had a position called "bridge watcher" on their payroll. They were assigned to a wooden bridge and were to inspect the bridge for fires or any damage after a train passed through it. The fireman on the steam engines were instructed to close the ash pan to keep burning embers from falling out when crossing a wooden bridge. Railroad wood trusses Ithiel Town took his highway Town Lattice Truss of 1820, doubled the lattice web and raised the height of the truss to accommodate the locomotives. In 1830 Colonel S. H. Long patented the Long truss. Both designs were good and railroads accepted either design. William Howe patented his truss in 1840. Howe's truss was primarily for railroads. He replaced the wooden vertical posts with iron tension rods. These rods allowed the truss to be adjusted by tightening the nuts on the ends of the rods which pulled the upper and lower chords firmly against the diagonals and support blocks. Howe's use of the metal rods was the first step towards the all metal bridge. A full size Howe truss ran 19 to 24 feet high and could go as high as 30 feet. The half or pony truss ran 6 to 12 feet high. It's not known when the first Howe truss was built in Ohio, but its use was in the hundreds. Belmont County, Ohio, had 12 Howe truss bridges, seven of which were covered. Bridge # 34 was an 8 panel, 80 foot Howe truss built in 1870. The truss was 19 feet high. The siding was whitewashed and extended around into the inside to the first counter brace. In 1851 Daniel C. McCallum patented his McCallum's Inflexible Arched Truss. McCallum's truss was strong and durable but with the top chord being arched it was more difficult to build. The Ohio & Mississippi Railroad built over a hundred of McCallum's truss from 1854 to 1859. They ranged in length from 35 to 210 feet clear spans. How many were covered or the shortest one covered we don't know. Shortest railroad covered bridge? The Railroad Reports which were written by the Superintendent of Railroads and Telegraph to the Governor of Ohio state that the Wheeling and Lake Erie RR had a 28 foot through Howe truss bridge. Since the report did not say half or pony truss we could interpret it as a full height truss. The truss had either two 14 foot panels or three 9 foot panels. The Ohio & Mississippi Railroad used McCallum's truss for bridge as short as 35 feet long. Railroads under deadlines to lay track found the Howe truss quicker to construct. They could leave it uncovered with the option of going back later to add the siding and roof. Howe Truss Support Block The support block on the Howe truss was usually metal, but wood has also been used. Support blocks vary in sizes. Large bridge companies may have cast their own and small companies would have bought them. l Railroad As an example the support block used on the Chambers Logging Company covered bridge (mentioned in part I) are about 18 inches wide, 5 1/8 inches high at the center, 42 inched long and have a 30º angle. The chord has four timbers 9x18 inches, spaced about 2 inches apart to allow for ventilation. The 3 iron tension rods per block measure 2 to 3 inches in diameter. l Highway A drawing by bridge builder D.H. Morrison in 1870 shows a highway Howe truss support block to be 12 inches wide, 3 1/2 inches high at the center, 31 inches long, a 30º angle, with 3 metal rods. The chord has four timbers 6 to 7x12 inches and spaced about 2 inches apart to allow for ventilation. The metal rods are 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter. A highway Howe truss support block can be a two rod or a three rod block. The Ballard Road covered bridge in Greene County, Ohio, is a two rod block and has two timbers in the chord. Which truss to use? The all wood Long truss is the easiest to build. The Town Lattice with its lattice webbing, the Howe with the iron tension rods or the McCullum with the arched top chord with flaring vertical posts trusses have their own peculiar challenges. As stated in part 2, when you design your covered bridge the critical dimension is the opening. The drawing of the bridge portal show dimensions based on the Howe truss drawing. If you want to build a frame that will hold a piece of sectional track (LGB or Aristo) you can reduce the height of the opening. Design the frame around the piece of track that will be used. The Lone Star Bridge & Abutment advertisement in Garden Railways, June 2000 page 8 shows a frame for holding sectional track. Don't forget to check the height of your rolling stock. Choose the timber sizes for your truss according to the look you want, a heavy or light weight look. All timber sizes and bridge dimensions are are flexible. Don't forget to add ventilation for the smoke at the top of the sides or a long cupola on the roof. The siding can be vertical board with or without battens, horizontal clap board or shingle. It can be left to weather or be painted. The roof can be shingle, metal with standing seams or corrugated metal. The pitch of the roof can be shallow or high. You have the freedom to design your bridge any way you want it to look. In the January 2000 issue of Garden Railways is a plan by Northeast Narrow Gauge for a 2 foot narrow gauge Howe pony truss bridge. The drawing will help you to understand the structure of a truss. The frame I made for the covered bridge and the small pony truss bridge were designed to hold a piece of sectional track, as in the photo above. If you want to build a frame that will hold a piece of sectional track (LGB or Aristo) you can reduce the height of the opening. Design the frame around the piece of track that will be used. The Lone Star Bridge & Abutment advertisement in Garden Railways, June 2000, page 8, shows a frame for holding sectional track. Don't forget to check the height of your rolling stock. References Allen, Richard S. Covered Bridges of the Middle West. The Stephen Greene Press, Brattleboro, Vermont. 1970 Annual Report of the Commissioner of Railroads and Telegraphs of Ohio, 1880-1883 Johnson, Earl T. Model Railroader Magazine. Article, Modeling a covered railroad bridge. April, 1977 Mallery, Paul. Bridges & Trestles Handbook. Boynton and Associates, Clifton House/Clifton, Virginia. 1976 Shell, James H. Covered Wooden Truss Bridges of Greene County, Ohio. Greene County Historical Society, 1998 Wood, Miriam. The Covered Bridges of Ohio. Old Trail Printing Company, Columbus, Ohio. 1993 The drawings in Part 2 and Part 3 are by the author on a Macintosh computer using Adobe Illustrator.