www.nfr-nmra.org December 2020 Volume 66 No. 4 FRONTIER FLIMSY The Quarterly Newsletter of the Niagara Frontier Region, NMRA Waybill Train Orders Page 3 Executive Reports Page 4 Division Reports Page 5 Officer Reports Page 12 Accenting a DeSoto Suburban By George Dutka Page 13 Due South on the CN By Ron Johnson Page 12 George Dutka walks through bringing a little reality to a DeSoto Suburban in this issue highlighting that minimal effort can make a big difference.
Transcript
www.nfr-nmra.org December 2020
Volume 66 No. 4
FRONTIER FLIMSY
The Quarterly Newsletter of the Niagara Frontier Region, NMRA
Waybill Train Orders Page 3
Executive Reports Page 4
Division Reports Page 5
Officer Reports Page 12
Accenting a DeSoto Suburban By George Dutka
Page 13
Due South on the CN By Ron Johnson Page 12
George Dutka walks through bringing a little reality to a DeSoto Suburban in this issue highlighting that minimal effort can make a big difference.
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The Niagara Frontier Region NMRA
Frontier Flimsy
December 2020 Volume 66 Number 4 Stanley Conley, Editor
2194 Valley Drive Ottawa, ON K1G 2P8
The Frontier Flimsy is published four times annually by the Niagara Frontier Region of the National Model Railroad Association, Inc. and is distributed openly on the web at www.nfr-nmra.org.
Material for publication is welcome. Send articles, coming events, notices, etc. to the editor. Materials including photographs may be submitted by e-mail. Materials will be credited at the time of publication and will be returned if requested. Articles appearing in the Frontier Flimsy may be reprinted in other non-profit publications providing that credit is given to the author and the Flimsy.
Advertising is accepted in the Frontier Flimsy; please see the region web site for information and rates.
Opinions expressed in the Frontier Flimsy are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of the NMRA, the Region, its officers, or other contributors to the Frontier Flimsy.
Special thanks to Richard Sparrow for proofreading and nitpicking.
Email notification is coordinated by Richard Sparrow.
The Niagara Frontier Region Flimsy
2194 Valley Drive, Ottawa, ON K1G 2P8
The Niagara Frontier Region Regional Officers
President Richard Hatton 205 Country Lane, Stayner, ON L0M 1S0 705-428-9997, [email protected]
American V.P. Matt Bierl 146 Los Robles Street, Williamsville, NY 1422 16721 716-632-3686, [email protected] Canadian V.P. Gerald Arends 3080 Chipman Cres Niagara Falls, ON L2G 6M5 [email protected] Secretary Vacant – Tony Kerr Acting Treasurer Tony Kerr
1361 Creekwood Trail, Oakville, ON L6H 6C7 905-338-8881, [email protected]
Division Superintendents
Central Ontario Richard Hatton 705-737-9363 [email protected] International Ron Johnson 905-547-4135 [email protected] Ontario Northland
Model Contest Open WebMaster Tim Warris 519-583-1099 [email protected]
The NFR Frontier Flimsy—December 2020—Page 3
Deadline for submissions
for the March 2021 issue
Of the Frontier Flimsy
is February 19, 2021.
WANTED REGIONAL AP CHAIRMAN
For those of you who do not know, Peter Nesbit held the position of AP Chairman for the Region for 16 dedicated years and is sadly missed.
For now I am holding down this position until a replacement is found. If you or someone you know is interested in this position please contact me @ [email protected]
Regional Train Orders
January 23, 2021. Ottawa, ON. St Lawrence Division Meet. This will be a zoom event Info: http://sld-nmra.ca/
January 23, 2021. Virtual. WNYD January's Division Meeting Virtual Meeting Using FreeConferenceCall.com 10:00 AM EST info: https://www.wnydivisionnmra.com/
February 27, 2021. Ottawa, ON. St Lawrence Division Workshop. This will be a zoom event. Info: http://sld-nmra.ca/
March 27, 2021. Ottawa, ON. St Lawrence Division Meet. This will be a zoom event Info: http://sld-nmra.ca/
April 24, 2021. Ottawa, ON. St Lawrence Division Workshop. This will be a zoom event. Info: http://sld-nmra.ca/
Niagara Frontier Region Executive Reports President Richard Hatton Hello everyone hope you are safe and healthy.
Its election time so make sure you put in your two cents, it’s your NFR.
This year we added a new Division the WESTRN NEW YORK DIVISION, they consist of the US members of the ID and growing. Unfortunately, Covid-19 has kept me from going down and attending a meeting but as soon as we are allowed and it is safe to do so. Check them out on their website at www.wnydivisionnmra.com
Thanks to Covid-19 we could not hold a convention last year and it looks like that will happen again this year as it’s hard to make monetary commitments if you can’t say for sure you can even hold the event. The SLD is working on the 2022 convention so let’s keep our fingers crossed.
Thanks to all the efforts of the many people that have been trying to organize some kind of get together.
Assuming we get a successful vaccine this spring I would like to have some kind of gathering where we can show off some of our projects, get reacquainted with friends and most of all have a good time enjoying each other’s company. I am looking for suggestions and locations that would benefit all members. If you have any send them my way
I am looking forward to the next train show but who knows when that will be with the current unknowns here and shows being cancelled.
I hope you are supporting your local hobby shops and online stores as well. Most of the major hobby shops in our area have supported the NFR throughout the years as well as the many
vendors at the many train shows. Keep in touch with them as they need our support.
As the season begins to change and that white stuff begins to fly (snow is a four-letter word) we look forward to family and friends and all that goes with it. Let’s be safe and work towards a Very Merry Christmas. Follow the guidelines so we can enjoy Christmas with our friends and family
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year To you and all your family
May we see an end to the spread of the virus and our lives can shift back to normal. We are a strong nation and we will get through this
Stay safe
Play Smart
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American Vice President Matt Bierl Canadian Vice President Gerald Arends
Secretary Vacant – Tony Kerr Acting Treasurer Tony Kerr
Niagara Frontier Region Division Reports
Central Ontario Division Superintendent Richard Hatton Can’t believe we are nearing the end of 2020’ YAHOOOOOO!
This has been a very challenging year. We are looking to try and get people together in new ways without making contact, on line sessions are popping up everywhere. I am learning how to use Zoom so I can post pictures in meetings, or videos.
I’m looking for members who would like to put on clinics through zoom as soon as I figure out how it works. It looks simple enough so I will drive my wife crazy while I figure it out and run some tests.
What a great way to stay in touch with your fellow members and share your knowledge with others. Any suggestions let me know @ [email protected]
Right now, we have a few members working on a project for their Railway. The idea is to be creative and not just glue a kit together you know show off your skills a little by either kit bashing, upgrading or even scratch building. Dead line for completion is end of January. If you want to jump on board email me same address
If this works out we may try other things, so send me your ideas as to what you think we can do with this.
Thanks for your time and Stay safe. Have a very merry Christmas and may we have a cure in the new year.
International Division Superintendent Ron Johnson
Not much to report because of the Covid shutdown. In addition to the cancellation of most meetings and flea markets, several local clubs have been forbidden access to their own layouts or workspaces. There are no further plans for the cancelled Bayview 2020 convention, and although there might be some possibility of a restart in 2021, progress with the vaccine does not make this look hopeful. Considering that our timing options are best in the summer months, and months of advance planning would be necessary.
Many of you will be familiar with NMRA member and division board member James Whatley. I can do no better than pass along the following note from Ron Tuff, MMR:
“Some of you are no doubt already aware that James is getting married and moving to New Brunswick in early December. He is having problems with his computer and has asked me to contact both the ID and NFR Executives with his new email and address, to be activated very soon. [We’ll protect James’ privacy here]
“Congratulations to James and Annette. We will miss his calm, methodical organizational skills in the Contest Room and throughout our model railway meets. He hopes when the pandemic is over to be able to return and enjoy a future regional convention.
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James has been an enthusiastic, friendly and supportive board member, and he will be missed at the International Division. We were also waiting to see the completed L&PS electric locomotive he claims to have finally finished. The other big question we will waiting to have answered is, “How big is the new basement in New Brunswick? Best of luck, James
St. Lawrence Division Superintendent Malcolm Vant As noted in the last Flimsy, we decided to bite the bullet and plan our entire SLD season as virtual sessions. We subscribed to Zoom and now we are off and running. During a season, we have several meets (Sep, Nov, Jan, Mar, and May) where we host a couple of clinics, have a display table for show and tell, and conclude with a layout tour. In between, we have less-formal “KitBuster” get-togethers (Oct, Jan in aft., Feb, and Apr). At those sessions, we work together on a project of a common theme, or just bring whatever we want to work on while we socialize. In designing our new virtual season, we tried to save as much as we could of what we usually do.
After the success of our initial Zoom meeting on September 26, where two Zoom clinics were presented: David Jeanes, “History of the Prince of Wales and Alexandra Bridges”; and Doug Matheson, “Using LCC to Control Signals,” we have been busy scheduling the rest of the season. With Zoom, geography is not a barrier, so our clinicians have been chosen from across the country and even one internationally. On November 28, Jeff Pinchbeck will discuss how to use the Canadian Pacific Historical Association online archive in modelling, and Chris Butler will demonstrate how he uses a Cricut machine for rapid prototyping. The clinics will be followed by a virtual layout tour of Lloyd Henchey’s MHO Jct. layout. In January, Bernard Hellen will discuss his new 3D printing business, Miniprints, where he produces fantastic miniatures of animals and people. He will be joined by Rene Gourley from BC who has been applying 21st technology to the modelling of a 19th century steam locomotive. March brings Rob Clark from the UK (who writes in
MRH) and a discussion of how he is realistically growing the towns on his layout, the Cornhill and Atherton. Rob will be joined by George Dutka from the WOD, who will be discussing weathering with acrylics, pan pastels and weathering pencils. The program for May is not yet complete, but for a start Marc Simpson from BC will discuss the kitbashing he has done to create the model rolling stock for his Hudson Bay Railway. If anyone wants to join these sessions send our Dispatcher an email at [email protected] and he’ll send you the link.
We had a harder time figuring out how to replace our KitBuster sessions. Our KitBuster project for this year is to modify an existing model/kit to repurpose a car, just as a full-size railroad would do. At our October KitBuster we replaced our in-person meet by an online show and tell and question and answer session related to the project or any other project anyone was working on. This way we were able to include a virtual display table of sorts. In between sessions, members are encouraged to use our SLD Facebook group to share their progress and ask questions. If any of you wish to join it, just search for St Lawrence Div NMRA on Facebook and ask to join, and we will let you in.
To make sure we reach our less internet-inclined members, we are continuing our regular newsletter, the MailCar, but with an expanded photos section for show and tell. The MailCar is free for anyone to download at http://sld-nmra.ca/ under the Around the Division button at the top of the home page.
During the last two months, Grant Knowles and Ed Brandon have been busy moving our SLD website to a new internet service provider. This has given the SLD a chance to refresh the look of the site and bring it up to date. More material is being loaded as the weeks go by. At this time, we also decided to create position-oriented email addresses for the SLD Executive and key members of the team. These addresses will be permanent and not dependent on the individuals in the position. See the website for the new list of addresses.
Hopefully, we will see some of you from the rest of the NFR both on Facebook and during our ongoing Zoom meetings. What a fortunate group we are to have such a great hobby to keep us sane during these difficult times!
Conversion/kitbash of a Bachmann 2-10-0 to a CPR decapod: modifications included a new cab, Elesco feedwater heater, air piping, pilot, and tender. John Licharson.
Scratch-built HO scale S.P. Foster Foundry made from an advertising sign from a city bus. Bob Farquhar.
AT&SF 34' boxcar in O scale. This was built by Bill Meredith from a kit designed and produced by him. Major components are laser cut basswood and ply. Details were 3D printed along with etched
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brass and injected plastic details. The lettering was designed in Corel Draw and printed on a laser. Trucks are full working swing beams with full working suspension. Bill Meredith.
Ontario Northland Division Superintendent Trevor Ross
Western New York Division Superintendent Andy MacVie What are we up to now? Well, to start, we had our September and October virtual meetings. You can watch them on our website www.WNYDivisionNMRA.com. In September, we had Bill Brown, NER AP Chairman, give a clinic on One Evening Projects, and our own Chief Clerk Ron Kemp gave us a clinic on PanPastels®. In October, we had Doug Sandmeyer from Division 12 gave us a clinic on Light-it from NCE, and our old friend Clark Kooning gave us a presentation on Model Railroading 101. Incidentally, Clark has agreed to do a 15-minute session for us; each meeting called appropriately “15 Minutes with Clark.” We are looking forward to his presentations.
By the way, did I mention that we now have a store? Yes, we have a store dedicated to our Division Clothing line directly on our website, Polo Shirts, hats, Division lapel pin to start with name tags to follow. We are looking at denim shirts and jackets as a follow-up line.
HOn3 Colorado and Southern Number 7. This is a redo of a number 8 model from Key, renumbered as part of a DCC/Sound installation. These are very small locomotives and sometimes have proved a little reluctant to pick up electricity when operating on a real layout. So, the “current-keeper” option was added to the Soundtraxx decoder which necessitated carving out the top of the tender and installing a new overflowing coal load to hide all the wires and magic inside. Now it runs nicely on the test track but is still to be layout tested. David Steer.
On Saturday, November 7th, our AP Chairman Gary Reynolds was presented with his Gold Spike Award and his AP Certificates for Scenery and Electrical. He is on his way to becoming our first MMR. We are looking forward to his guidance to help some of our other members with their incredible hobby journey.
At our October meeting, we amended our by-laws to include a section that stated that our Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent could only serve two-term, then they must step down. We feel that this will keep new blood in our Division.
Our election committee has done an excellent job for us. Head-up by Ron Tober, Fred Synder, and Paul McPherson they contact all Division members, and the results are final. Andy MacVie will serve as Superintendent; Frank Pastore will serve as Assistant Superintendent. Ron Kemp will serve as Chief Clerk, and Gary
Reynolds, as appointed by the Superintendent, will serve as AP Chairman for the next two years.
That’s all for now.
High Ball
Photo by Frank Pastore
Left to Right Frank, Gary, Andy, Ron
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Western Ontario Division Superintendent John Wagner
It’s been very, very quiet in western Ontario this summer and fall. Hopefully the members are using all this free time to make some extra progress on their railroads or build some fantastic models. Rather than holding virtual meetings, we have been encouraging members to watch the excellent productions by NMRAx and OpSIG. However we did publish an emagazine called “Model Railroad Inspirations” in October with eight articles submitted by both members and nonmembers. It can be accessed at our website http://www.wod-nmra.ca/ and look under clinics or directly at http://www.wod-nmra.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Model_Railroading_Inspirations-WOD-NMRA-Fall_2020.pdf
We will also be holding a second Zoom meeting where we will show pictures and descriptions of projects that members have been working on, either finished or in progress. Any interested member can submit up to three photos with explanations to [email protected] by Dec 12/20.
Also from the WOD is this note from Steve Juranics;
I am currently the AP Chairman for the WOD and recently I presented Graham Macdonald with his MMR Certificate.
I was awarded my Official and Author AP certificates at the same time.
Graham has been working towards his MMR designation for the last 20 years. He resides in Baden, ON and his layout was always one of the highlights on the Double Headers Layout tour every spring. A few years ago Graham disassembled his layout and donated it to the West Parry Sound District Museum, aka The Museum on Tower Hill. His layout is set up as an exhibit in the museum.
Here are a couple of pictures of Graham doing his Tree Making clinic at some of our hands on Clinics that the WOD has put on over the years.
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Niagara Frontier Region Officer Reports Achievement Program Chairman Acting – Richard Hatton Hope all are doing well and staying safe.
Seems being locked up has people working on their AP Certificates. My many thanks to all the local AP chairs that are out there encouraging our members. Here’s this quarters AP Successes.
Merit awards
James Whatley Motive Power London and Port Stanley Electrical Locomotive International Div. 120 pts
AP Certificates
Roger Chrysler Dispatcher Western Ontario Div.
Gary Reynolds Scenery Western New York Div
Gary Reynolds Electrical Western New York Div.
Walter Reid Electrical International Div.
James Whatley Motive Power International Div.
Again many Thanks to all for your efforts in these trying times and congratulations
We are currently looking for someone to volunteer to be the Regional AP Chairman. Looking for someone central to the region with good communication and computer skills. Most of this can be done from your own home. Interested parties please contact me at [email protected]
Stay Safe
There seems to be, no matter how far off, a light at the end of the tunnel.
Thanks for your support
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Accenting a DeSoto Suburban By George Dutka
I recently purchased an Oxford models DeSoto 1946-48 Suburban in noel green. I normally just take the model out of the package and place it on the layout. These excellently detailed and painted models always look great on the layout under any light conditions. I do take a lot of photos and I am realizing these models look maybe a bit too new. My layout's current era is set in 1955 and a shiny looking 1946 vehicle just does not fit. The car by then should be well faded with a good case of rust spots if still in use. I decided to make this 1946 model reflect what it might look like a decade later. I began by giving the whole car an air brush coat of Model Master flat clear. This product is a dead flat finish and great for all models. It is my go-to finish for freight cars and engines prior to weathering. For this project I did not want the finish
totally flat, there should be still a bit of a shine. The airbrush coating was more of an over-spray. I did not tape up the windows as the flat finish was lightly applied especially in these areas. I like to make the windows look a bit dirty. If you wish to keep shiny windows just tape them up or at least tape up the wiper pattern which is a cool effect also. Now for the rust. My go-to for darker rust is Vallejo rust effects which is a very dark brown with a tone of rust included. I used my finest brush and just touched the edges of the fenders and around the bottom of the doors. These are the areas that rust first. One does not want to go overboard with this as the car is still in use and not stored behind the shed or out in a field. I left the weathering at that, but one could use bright rust Bragdon powders over-top these spots to highlight fresh rust. There is no need to seal the rust effects as they wear well. I feel this vehicle really turned out well and I am now looking at some of my other older cars and pickup trucks.
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Due South on the CN By Ron Johnson
It’s been 20 years since CN took over the Illinois Central Railroad, making the Canadian road into a major north-south carrier. Once our present virus fighting vigil is over, it will be worth planning some railfanning on our new southern outlet—the I.C. was a pretty interesting property.
When I was a kid in Paxton, Illinois, I could walk all of two blocks to where the Illinois Central Railroad charged through a cut in the middle of town. Paxton is perched atop a barely discernable hill. Back in the 20’s, the railroad noted this hill was a drag on what was one of the fastest tracks in the US, and digging a trench would maintain train speed at a high velocity. To this day, Paxton has 5 auto bridges and two pedestrian crossings. One of the pedestrian bridges crossed directly to the city library, so it would be a barrier to my education if I failed to cross that bridge and perhaps spend some time watching the IC trains beneath. At the north end of town, the Nickel Plate’s line to Peoria also crossed the I.C. on a bridge, allowing a unique two story union station complete with an elevator for baggage carts.
The land in eastern Illinois is otherwise flat—think of the boring stretches along the 401 around Chatham, Ontario, only really flat. When Trains Magazine published their annual speed surveys in the 1950’s, the winner was inevitably the Illinois Central north of Paxton towards Gilman. And the speed limit in many sections was one hundred miles an hour. That’s 100 MPH. I.C.’s fleet of E-units was geared to 114 mph. And there have been many verifying
accounts by crewman hanging on for dear life as one of the road’s engineers decided to make up time.
Most of the traffic in those days consisted of long coal drags, 4-8-2’s being popular power, but the IC ran some top-quality passenger traffic as well. Like many coal haulers, IC locomotives were dirty and functional. When diesels finally came along the company ignored F-units altogether and instead bought hundreds of GP’s painted, no surprise, black with white pin striping. Passenger E-units, on the other hand, were painted in pumpkin and chocolate, arguably one of the best color schemes ever. And the equipment was kept in top-notch condition right up to the Amtrak era. When I.C. leased dome cars from the Northern Pacific over the winter months, they were painted to match the
The NFR Frontier Flimsy—December 2020—Page 15
equipment on the City of Miami, and when sent back to the NP they were returned in two-tone green.
IC’s most prominent route was the connection to New Orleans. The City of New Orleans is one of the best known of U.S. passenger trains because of the popular Steve Goodman folk song. However, the premier train was the first class Panama Limited. One of the last trains to maintain its all-Pullman status, it ran from 1907 to 1971. Amtrak used the Panama name for a short time, but switched to the better know “City” moniker—folk singers don’t do songs about posh trains for the rich (that’s what musical comedies are for.)
I saw the City of New Orleans depart from Carbondale, IL in the mid-60’s, its Mars Light slashing the night. Almost every face at the window was African-American, and it seems to me that maintaining the Panama might have been a subtle form of racism, based on the ability of the wealthy to buy separation. The I.C. was a key transport in the exodus of former slaves to better paying jobs in the north.
During its hey-day there would be multiple passenger trains on most IC routes. Another train of note was the every-other day City of Miami, connecting at Birmingham with various southern railroads to reach its destination. Iowa also got its share of traffic, including the aptly named Land o’Corn and Blackhawk.
Amtrak continues to operate the City of New Orleans route. On the same route, the State of Illinois subsidizes two additional trains towards Champaign-Urbana (University of Illinois) and Carbondale (Southern Illinois University). Carbondale is the point where trains from St. Louis once connected to the main line. Another route west to Rockford and Iowa has been under discussion.
The Illinois Central somehow missed being consumed by one of the Big 4 American rail conglomerates. Instead, during the latter part of the 20th century it merged and sold off and bought back parts of its system until 1999, when CN purchased the lean and efficient road, along with its CEO and guru, Hunter Harrison. It seems incongruous to see red and black CN diesels in the Midwest, and CN on all the signage. Like many other Canadian corporations that have made purchases in the U.S., C.N. is not labelled as “Canadian”, but simply as initials.
With the importance of NAFTA, IC is an extremely good fit in the CN geography, stretching from Chicago
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to the gulf port in New Orleans. For most of its life, IC was the only route that could complete that route without interchange. CN already had the GTW subsidiary to connect to Canada through Sarnia, and also acquired Wisconsin Central to join with the home rails in the prairies and the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern as a ring around the Windy City. As a bonus, IC also had subsidiary lines to Iowa and Omaha to connect with U.S. western railroads.
The I.C.’s trains ran straight into downtown Chicago, the intercity routes stopping at Central Station (now moved to Union Station). They also built an electrified commuter service on their route out of town, now sold to the Metra agency. Double deck electric trains continue to run into the Randolph Street station, now Millennium Station, and trackage is shared with the South Shore and South Bend. Both these routes are very accessible to tourists, the CSS&SB especially attractive to steel mill fans.
The article in Wikipedia contains a list of preserved I.C. equipment. Especially notable is the collection at the Monticello Railroad Museum, on I-72 near Champaign. As a bonus, the museum holds a set of CN MLW FPA4’s and other Canadian items.
The Monticello Railroad Museum has a fine collection of well painted diesels, used in excursion service their website is located at http://www.mrym.org
And lastly, we mustn’t forget that iconic engineer Casey Jones was working for the I.C. when he rode his locomotive to glory. There is a museum at his birthplace in Jackson, Tennessee.
