PRESIDENT'S MESSAGEBy Brent D. Schnitzius

Sunday, June 21st is the summer solstice, or the longest day of the year. Yet no matter how much daylight we have, there never seems to be enough time to get done all there is to do. How can that be? Well, less than a month ago, I had a medical procedure that restricted all my activities, giving me more time on my hands than I cared to deal with! Not one to sit around much, I knew I needed to have sedentary projects to keep me busy. Thanks to Darrell Levi and Hal Harner, I had 22 train DVD's and VHS videos to watch. I learned a great deal from the videos and had a good time seeing all the trains, layouts, projects, and “how to” classes. At the same time, I pulled off the shelf 12 new car kits, assembled and tested them, and repaired another 6 cars that were giving me rolling problems. It gave me an opportunity to concentrate on the hobby again and realize how much fun it can be.

The open house tours we have are a lot of fun and let you see what other club members might be working on. The last open house gave me the chance to see Steven Rudy and Rod Lorenz' layouts which I had not seen before. Both have nice O scale layouts. Stan Cedarleaf and Mike Nelson were also on the open house list and everyone was a great host. Thanks to all of you for giving us the chance to visit your homes. Other members might consider offering to show their layout for future open houses. We want to see them all!

The Beat the Heat swap meet isn't far off so we are gearing up for the occasion, making preparations and hoping for a good turnout. I hope everyone will be able to join in on the fun and to help out too. There will be reminders as the date draws near, so keep Saturday, August 15th open all day. Bob Lanning was able to get a generous train trip package from the Verde Canyon RR for our grand prize at the swap meet this year. The club needs door prizes, so if you have something that is train related or know of someone that would like to donate, we are still trying

to collect items for it.

We are going to try to add another train event day to our schedule this year at the Prescott Gateway Mall. There will be more information on the exact date, but this will be a good display for the public to see what our club is about, and give the kids a chance to see some trains run.

Model railroading can be fun, relaxing and a joy for the whole family. Keep the excitement alive and pass the interest on to someone you know. All aboard!

SCHEDULECAMRC regular meetings are held on the second Wednesday of the month. They feature tables where you are welcome to bring items for sale and most months also feature a program. They are a also great way to get together with your fellow members.

Meetings begin at 7pm at the Prescott First Lutheran Church. Smoketree Lane off Willow Creek Road or Prescott Lakes Parkway in Prescott.

July 8 - CAMRC meeting, First Lutheran ChurchJuly 18 - Summer layout open house tours: 2 - 5pmAugust 12 - CAMRC meeting, First Lutheran ChurchAugust 15 - Beat the Heat Swap Meet, Prescott Activity CenterSept 2 - 6 - NMRA PSR Convention in Las Vegas. The convention's web site is:http://www.psrconvention.org/2009/ For more information, contact Bob PrattSeptember 9 - CAMRC meeting, First Lutheran Church

SAVING MONEY ON MODEL RAILROAD SUPPLIESby Anthony Piscitelli(Anthony made this presentation at a meeting a couple of months ago, and it was so well received that

NEWSLETTERCentral Arizona Model Railroad ClubJuly - September, 2009

we asked if he would put it into an article so you would have a permanent record of his recommendations - ED)

When the Hobby Bench closed, I had to find another source for model railroad supplies such as oil and grease, adhesives, and paint. After doing some research and product testing, I found suitable replacement products available locally at True-Value, Ace, Wal-Mart, and Home Depot. And the great thing was that these “replacements” actually cost a lot less than I had been paying for my old “hobby” supplies.

Oil and Grease

Proper lubrication is very important to a model railroad locomotive, without it, parts will wear out very quickly. I have seen the gears in brass locomotive gearboxes completely worn out due to lack of lubrication. A penny's worth of grease will save a $40 gearbox.

Grease changes with time, some types of grease used by model manufacturers turn hard and waxy as they get old. The grease that AHM/Rivarossi used turns into bubble gum when it gets old, and is a real mess to clean out. So it is important that you check the grease in your model locomotive gearboxes on a regular basis, especially if the model has set for a long time without running.

I found a product called Super Lube, it is a light synthetic, plastic compatible grease. It works great in all gearboxes and axle lube for kit engines like Mantua, MDC, and Bowser. You can find Super Lube at True-Value and comes in a 3oz tube at $5.50. Compare that to LaBelle 106 grease which costs $5.50 for a 1/2oz tube.

For lubricating oil, I found a product called Zoom Spout Oilier. It is a light, plastic compatible oil, and it works great for oiling brass locomotive driver bearings, diesel engine truck bearings in Athearn, Atlas, Proto, and other plastic models. I also use it to oil motor bearings. You can find this product at Wal-Mart or Home Depot in the evaporative cooler parts section. It comes in a 4oz bottle and costs about $3.00, as compared to LaBelle 104 oil which is about $3.50 for a 1oz bottle.

Adhesives

I used to buy the small 1/2oz bottle of Jet brand of ACC glue. I don't remember the exact cost, but I know it was over $3.00. This product worked fine, but it would thicken to the consistency of syrup before I could use up half the bottle. I found that the brand Super Glue ACC worked just as good as Jet, and you

can buy two small tubes at any of the dollar stores for $1.00, and with a smaller quantity, it won't go bad before you use it up.

For those of you that use Walthers Goo, which is a contact cement, I found a replacement product called Dap Weldwood Contact Cement. It comes in a 2oz or a 4oz bottle. There is an applicator brush attached to the cap. I found this product to have a stronger bond than Walthers Goo, and both sizes are cheaper than Walthers Goo. You can find it at Home Depot, True-Value, or Ace.

Paint

I have been using acrylic paints for a several years now, I have been using Polyscale, Model Flex, and Accuflex brands. Acrylic paints work very well in an airbrush, they dry quickly and are less toxic than lacquer based paints.

The cost of paint, especially Polyscale has risen dramatically in the past 3 years. A 1oz bottle of paint that used to cost $3.50 is now $5.50, so I started looking for a substitute that would work as good as Polyscale, but costs less. I found two products that work pretty good. An acrylic craft paint called Ceramcoat made by Delta Coatings works well. It comes in hundreds of colors and the colors are compatible with each other, so they can be mixed. Most modelers use this paint for scenery. When diluted with water, it makes an excellent wash. I found that using a mixture of 75% paint and 25% water will work very well in an airbrush. Cermacoat comes in 2oz bottles and costs about $2.00. You can get this paint at Jo-Anne's, Michael's, or Wal-Mart.

I found another paint product that also works very well when sprayed in an airbrush. I stopped at the Sherwin Williams paint store on Miller Valley Road and asked about an acrylic paint that could be thinned enough to be used in an airbrush and had a gloss finish. They recommended I try an acrylic latex enamel paint, so I bought a quart of gloss black, the cost was around $8.00.

After some experimenting, I found that a mixture of 70% paint and 30% water achieved a good consistency for airbrushing. I tried spraying an old tarnished brass locomotive boiler, the paint went on very well with no runs, and dried to a very hard gloss finish in about 20 minutes. The nice thing about using paint with a gloss finish is that the model is ready for decals, there is no need to apply an additional coat of clear gloss for the decals.

I hope you found this information helpful, if you have any questions, please ask.

TRAVELS WITH NORMby Norm Delucchi

We took a short trip to Utah and Colorado to visit Arches National Park and Rocky Mountain National Park.  As most of the tourist lines were not yet open or were on limited schedule I was not planning on much train watching or riding. But, then I spotted my first train as we were going north on US 191 from Moab, Utah. It was an absolutely beautiful background for the train - the train was going south and I had no place to turn off the highway. So, sorry no picture. I thought this must be the UP Potash Turn to Moab. When we got home, there in the June issue of Railfan & Railroad was - guess what - a fantastic spread on the potash local.  But this was not the train I saw.  A little research (and a picture in July's Trains magazine) revealed that this is the new uranium tailings train.

Then it was off to Winter Park Co as base camp for exploring the west end of Rocky Mountain National Park.  Little did I know that the deck of the placewe were staying at was about 50 yards from the Union

Pacific mainline.  The first afternoon I saw a loaded UP coal train and later empties returning.

Early the next morning I heard a slightly different sound - it was a BNSF mixed freight.  About an hour later - still another different sound - the Zephyr heading west. On a daily basis at least two UP coal trains, each a different direction, a UP mixed and a BNSF mixed in both directions, and the California

Zephyr.  I checked the Zephyr schedule and was surprised that west bound train from Chicago was very close to being on-time, while the east bound from Oakland was normally quite late.

Even when you plan a trip to visit some national parks and have no train watching in mind - it just happens. Pictures included - two from deck of timeshare, western portal of Moffat tunnel at Winter Park, UP train at Fraser, and a D&RGW Spreader at Hot Sulphur Springs, CO.

A NOTE FROM MARLINby Marlin Benson

Well it has been sometime since I have offered a contribution to the CAMRC newsletter, however at this time I feel a great need to express my gratitude to a number of club members that have been very helpful to me personally in assisting in my efforts to get ready for the TCA National Convention tour here in the Prescott area on Tuesday June 30th. First and foremost the energy and time that Peter Atonna has contributed during the past many months has been unbelievable, without his efforts my layout would not have progressed to the status that it enjoys.Recently the additional contributions of other members, Mark Ziven, Doug Glascock, Pat Savage, Donn Pease, Stan Cedarleaf, and my life's partner of 54 years, Donna. Without their support and concerns this mission would never have happened. This type of support from a club such as ours is one of the many benefits that we as members receive. When you read this, the tour will be just around the corner. I along with the others locally can all enjoy the opportunity that we have had to share with 100 other visiting train lovers from around the country! For those club members who never have been to the B & R or haven't been for some time, Donna and I will have an open house after our Beat The Heat swap meet on August 15th.

(Even if you have visited Marlin’s previously, do not miss this opportunity to see the spectacular layout and displays that Marlin has created during this past year - ED) 

CHILDRENʼS CLUBby Dan LePage I am looking for anyone to work with to set up a children’s club for kids from seven up. We will need a place to meet and some track and trains so if you are

interested please contact me at 928-636-9726 or send me an email to dansgnrr@gmail.com. 

UP ENGINES ON THE GROUNDby Len Kratz We were on a three man railfan trip to California's Feather River Canyon in June 1983 when we saw a derailment scene at Grey's Flats Lumber Yard near Quincy CA. The lumber yard guys were very friendly and told us that someone had released the brakes which caused the three UP engines to gravity roll down the siding into the yard and off the rails. 

SUMMER LAYOUT OPEN HOUSES

It is the lazy days of summer, perfect for a delightful Saturday of visiting some of our CAMRC member’s garden railroads. Four of our members have invited you to visit on Saturday afternoon, July 18th: Warren Webster, Barry Rudaitis, Stan Cedarleaf and Chuck Windett.

I will email the tour map to all members at the same time as I email this newsletter. If you do not receive it, or would like a hard copy mailed to you, please let your editor know.

Here is some required viewing to prep you for your visits:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kH7vb71oy_M

After posting this report and photos on Trainorders.com in 2007, I received a message from a UP engineer who was involved in the cleanup of that mess. Some of his comments about how the MoW guys recovered the locomotives make for interesting reading as follows: 

"It was a "trip" seeing that lumber scattered all over hell and those SD40-2's scattered out beyond the end of track. The first two came right back up but the third one that was askew was a bitch to pull back. Its truck slewing chains were broken, so the trucks were loose." "I recall we managed to slew it away from the concrete yard platform foundation and then laid old rail sections on their sides and placed the trucks' wheels in the web of the rails, then placed the engine back on the trucks and hauled it back with a 1 3/4 inch wire cable from a fourth SD40-2. The cable was attached to the coupler housing. The coupler knuckle was removed and the cable end loop was placed in there and the knuckle pin put back in the coupler through the loop." " It was a trip listening to that cable stretch and strain as the MoW guys pulled that loco back. The cable got real "thin" too as it stretched. When the MoW guys made the pull, I was over behind a BIG tree twice the

distance of the cable in case it cut loose."

 The Rest of The Story: When I got home, I had a photo lab make a dozen 4x6 enlargements of the group photo of the lumber yard crew, and mailed them over to Grey's Flats for souvenirs.

                                                                         Footnote: My two friends are experienced railfans. The slender guy on the right is Steve Kibort who now lives in Florida. The big guy on the left is Gerry Carson, a superb photographer who also holds an NMRA Master Model Railroader Certificate.

VERDE TUNNEL AND SMELTER RAILROADby Anthony Piscitelli

As many of you know, I model copper mining railroads of Arizona. One of those railroads is the Verde Tunnel & Smelter Railroad, which ran between Hopewell and Clarkdale. This standard gauge railroad was incorporated in 1912 and became the principal railroad in the Verde Valley. At one time the VT&S operated two 2-6-6-2 articulated steam locomotives as well as several 0-6-0 and 0-4-0 type locomotives. If the mines had survived into the 1960's, the VT&S would have certainly converted to diesel power.

With that in mind, I decided to model a “what if” Verde Tunnel & Smelter diesel locomotive. I contacted my friend Marc Pearsall, who is an Arizona railroad historian and author and asked him for ideas regarding a paint scheme for a VT&S diesel. He speculated that if the mines and railroad had lasted into the 1960's and beyond, they would probably be under the control of Phelps Dodge, a large copper mining corporation. Marc sent me some photos of Phelps Dodge diesels, and I selected a photo of a Phelps Dodge GP35 from the Morenci Mine as a starting point for my model.

I decided to use an Athearn SD40-2 since I had an undecorated one sitting on the shelf. I first airbrushed the area on the shell under the dynamic brake with yellow paint. I looked though my selections of yellow paint I had and decided on Duluth Missabe & Iron Range yellow because it best seemed to match the yellow of the prototype photo. I also painted the walkways, pilots, cab front and roof yellow. After the paint dried, I applied a round adhesive label to the shell on both sides under the dynamic brake, the label is about 3/4” diameter. I use these labels as price

stickers on items that I sell at the swap meets. The idea was to create a round number board identical to the prototype.

I then masked the walkways, pilots and cab, and airbrushed the entire shell a nice warm light gray paint, for this I chose Milwaukee Road gray. After the paint dried, I removed the masking and the round labels, I now had nice round number boards for the decals. I made the decals myself using Microsoft Word and I printed the decals on blank decal paper with my laser printer.

I have another undecorated Athearn SD40-2 sitting around, and one of these days, when I have time, I'll paint and letter it for Verde Tunnel & Smelter as well. After all, two locomotives are always better than one.

 BEYOND THE BASEMENT: MODELING PEAVINE INTERCHANGES AND BRANCHLINESby Darrell Levi

Allen McClellan, builder of the now-defunct Virginian & Ohio, popularized the “beyond the basement” concept of model railroading. This idea is that one’s model railroad (McClellan would have said “railroad”) is part of a regional or national railroad system.

I’ve used this concept in building my Peavine layout, representing the Phoenix to Williams Junction route, by use of two interchanges and three branch lines.

The first interchange is at South Phoenix with the SP (in recent decades UP). Since I have a collection of Mexican railroad engines and cars I’ve added a fictitious Nacional de Mexico connection at South Phoenix. The SP/UP/NdeM interchange allows me to run cars to and

from “off-stage” industries in Mexico and the southern tier of US states. This requires operating cars acquired during a lengthy residence in Florida, lettered for such companies and railroads as West India Fruit, Apalachicola Northern, Valdosta Southern, Atlanta and St. Andrews Bay, and Florida East Coast, reinforcing the national railroad system concept

UP GP60 5838 readies a transfer run in South Phoenix

Transfer runs between South Phoenix and the main ATSF/BNSF yard in Phoenix are handled by SP, UP, and NdeM locomotives. Cabooses are used because of frequent back-up moves.

The first branch line occurs at Matthie. It represents the former ATSF Parker District. The branch is a stub-ended single-track line that terminates in hidden staging (kept simple to avoid operating problems). This branch is my railroad’s connection with California and the Pacific Northwest. Phoenix-bound traffic includes building materials, petroleum products, fabricated steel, and Oregon and Washington fruit. Cars lettered for GN, NP, Yakima Valley Fruit, and Oregon Steel Mills reinforce the idea of a California and Northwest Pacific connection.

In the contemporary era, the Parker District becomes the Arizona and California Railroad (ARZC). Motive power includes two custom-painted units, a GP-30 and a GP38-2, the latter painted by Anthony Piscitelli. Cars include four ARZC double-stack cars and a boxcar, and a variety of Northwest shortline and

ARZC #3891 and #3008 enter Matthie with a merchandise freight, while ATSF engines wait to haul the train to Phoenix

company cars, such as those for Seattle & North Coast, Pend Oreille Valley, Montana Rail Link, Union Railroad of Oregon, and Oregon Steel Mills

Following prototype practice, that occurs at Castle Hot Springs. On my layout ARZC engines terminate at Matthie and their train is brought to Phoenix by Santa Fe or BNSF engines. The corresponding return train is trundled

back to Matthie by ATSF or BNSF diesels, with ARZC engines taking over for the return trip to Parker and Cadiz, where the ARZC connects back to the transcontinental main headed west. This practice adds spice to a contemporary-era operating session.

.The second branch line occurs at Skull Valley (what, you haven’t noticed it driving through?). It is the fictitious North East & Western, named in honor of the late CAMRC member Hewson Lawrence. This branch line also terminates in hidden staging, and is barely long enough to handle an ALCO RS4 lettered for the NE&W, four cars, and a caboose. In theory, it runs from Skull Valley to the copper mine at Bagdad. It exchanges inbound coal loads off the ATSF for outbound copper ore bound for a refinery in Rillito, AZ via the SP/UP interchange. Thus the NE&W

NE&W #325 enters Skull Valley with copper ore from Bagdad

provides a point of destination and of origin for the coal and copper hoppers, which I seem to have acquired in abundance, and adds operational complexity

The third branch line runs, as does the prototype, from Drake to Clarkdale, and manages to stay in the basement. This is another coal in/ore out operation. The inbound coal comes off the C-YKPX (coal loads, York Canyon to Phoenix) which also services Skull Valley. The outbound cement and limestone loads are handled in covered hoppers, destined for the large cement plant in Phoenix. In the contemporary era, the branch becomes the Arizona Central Railroad (AZCR). An aging GP9 custom-painted by the talented Mr. Piscitelli provides the motive power for the AZCR.

AZCR #2279 hauls covered hoppers from Clarkdale to Drake

The second and final interchange is with the ATSF/BNSF double-track mainline at Williams Junction. The mainline is actually my eastern staging yard, in the shape of a thirty-foot double-ended fork with two tines to the left (west) and three to the right (east). It can stage five westbound (geographically southbound) trains to Phoenix, although it operates best with three or four trains. There is track for eastbound diesels to runaround their trains and make them westbounds. During staging, I often move cars off and on the layout to provide variety.

BNSF units enter the mainline at Williams Junct ion

This staging yard represents the connection to the ATSF/BNSF eastern destinations such as Belen, New Mexico; York Canyon, Colorado; Texas; Kansas City and beyond. Coming from afar, westbound coal, grain, and general merchandise trains bring their goods to Phoenix, as corresponding eastbound trains, mostly of empties, take their place.

The staging yard is also the place where, up to the 1960s, Peavine trains #42 and #47 connect with Santa Fe’s famous streamliners.

When I’m operating “seriously” I try to make sure that every locomotive and car on the layout is there for a purpose, delivering goods to specific industries (modeled and “beyond the basement”) or being returned empty to points of origin.

“Beyond the Basement” thinking has allowed me to operate a wide variety of equipment representing the national railroad network on my Peavine layout, and thus has greatly increased my enjoyment of the hobby.

BANK BALANCES AS OF JUNE 12 

Checking           $7,349Savings              4,364CD                   10,426Total               $ 22,139

 Major Income / Expense items YTD

 Income

50/50                                          $143Dues                                         3,7052009 Swap meet (Net)*              624Total                                        $4,472

 * This is table rentals received to date,

with some minor expenses for printing 

Expenses

Meeting Refresh / Donation         $170Admin / Postage / etc.                108Insurance                                   218Total                                  $496

FOR SALE HO scale Milwaukee Road passenger train.Eight Rivarossi heavyweight passenger cars factory painted maroon and orange. Fairbanks Morse A-B-A set of C-liners custom painted, repowered with an  Athearn chassis, and one Varney F3A painted and lettered in the early Milwaukee gray and orange paint scheme, repowered with an Athearn chassis. All for $50 contact Anthony Piscitelli at 636-7512 or (c) 420-4034 

THE DISNEY TRAINby Peter Atonna

As we sent out information to CAMRC members, the Walt Disney Company sponsored a train to travel cross country to promote this winter’s release of Dicken’s A Christmas Carol, an animated, 3-D film. And Williams was the first stop for the train following its departure from Los Angeles. Mary Jane and I went up to see it on its first day, Friday, figuring to beat the weekend crowds coming up from the Valley. the first person we ran into was Donn Pease who was working the train the GCR was running for folks coming to see the display. Here are shots from Donn and me of the train.

Heading over to the display train we had a short line to wait in and were told that the demonstration movie would be shown in a room in the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel, not in the inflatable theater the tour brought. Seems rain the day before caught them trying to inflate it only to find out rain weighs more than the pressure fans have to blow the tent up! It sat sadly still half inflated on the park in front of the depot.

The train was entirely wrapped in graphics for the movie as was a pair of Genesis diesels and an observation car parked in the GCR coach yard

awaiting reassembly of the train to head east to its next stop, Santa Fe.

The movie preview itself impressed me in that animation has progressed another step beyond that done in Polar Express with tremendous detail and facial expressions in the human figures. The 3-D effects were stunning, but in the same league as Polar Express. Nonetheless, I will be in line for a ticket this fall when it show up at the Imax in Tempe.

Inside the train were a variety of displays ranging from models used for some of the shots to a demonstration of the techniques used to film live action before converting it into animated film. Most people, however were in booths having their photo taken which would be morphed into one of the characters in the movie, and emailed home.

A LEN KRATZ ALBUMAPACHE RAILWAY, Part 2

June, 2000

February, 2000

May, 1984

June, 2000

March, 2009

June, 1981

February, 2000

CAMRC NEWSLETTERPeter Atonna, Editor25375 N. Feather Mountain Rd.Paulden, AZ 86334

Is Peter volunteering to become a character in the animated movie, A Christmas Carol?Read the story of the Disney Train inside and find out.