December 1998

FROM THE THROTTLE - Bruce Lee

Welcome to our Christmas edition of Eagle Tracks. When I think about Christmas I remember my Father setting up an old Lionel train around the tree. Back when I was four or five that was mighty exciting stuff, come to think of it, my heart still beats a little stronger at the sight and memory. How many of us were introduce into model railroading the same way? Without an actual survey I would guess the number is well over 75% of our membership as well as across the entire hobby. Many in the world see model railroads as that old Lionel running around the tree and have never seen the artistry, work, and research that make a model railroad more than "just" a toy train, No mater how much nostalgia we have for those early memories we still need to educate the public as to the differences.

Part of the local education process has been provided by Ron Hatch of Hobbles and More. Effective December 24, 1998 Ron is closing down the store to move on to a new career. It is appropriate at this time to thank Ron for all that he has done for the model railroading community here in Idaho Falls; from having the Hobbies and More store, to his own layout and his willingness to handle special orders.

Just a reminder - there will be no meetings on either December 24th or 31st for obvious reasons.

PRESIDENT'S SOAP Box - Leo Harker

It is with deep regret that we note the imminent closing of Hobbies and More, the local Hobby Shop that Ron and Carol Hatch have owned and operated in our area for the past few years. I remember stopping at his small store when he opened in Shelley and thought how nice to have a convenient hobby store since I went through Shelley quite often then, and looking at it from Ron's point of view, "what a great extension of one's hobby". I was even more excited when he moved the store to Idaho Falls and was there almost any time you entered the store. Ron has been most accommodating and helpful to the model railroad community by taking special orders and imparting much helpful information to any one who took the time to ask. The details and modeling expertise he has incorporated into his modules and home layout will be remembered and should serve as examples in excellence for a long time.

For those who were privileged to participate in an operating session, his N-scale Lima to Idaho Falls layout will also leave a void since it will be going too. Missed as well, will be his recreation of a 50's era soda fountain and the authentic dispatchers office.

Ron and his family are moving to Alamosa Colorado and will surely be missed by those of us who regard him as a friend. We are told that special orders will continue to be taken for a short time but the final day for business will be December 24. Everything in the store is reduced at least 20% discount at this time, Ron says, "everything must go, we quit".

Thanks Ron, Carol, Chris and Peggy for providing a pleasant place to stop, shop and visit.

ROSTER ADDITIONS

We would like to introduce six new members of our organization.

All have joined at RailShow '98 or since.

Welcome aboard!

ALONG THE RIGHT-OF-WAY - Bruce Lee

The following story is excerpted and paraphrased from the September 26, 1964 edition of the Church News.

{Leo had a customer who wanted to copy an article out of the above paper. On the back of that article was this one.}

The birth of the Utah Central Railroad.

A church build a railroad? Who ever heard of such a thing?

When the officials of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads decided to by-pass Salt Lake Clty with their cross-country line, there was only one thing the LDS (Mormon) Church could do: build its own railroad from Ogden to Salt Lake City.

On May 17, 1869 the Utah Central Railroad Co. was organized. Ground was broken for the new line near the Weber River west of Ogden. Bishops in the settlements along the 37 mile route were given the responsibility of getting the grade built through their respective areas. A friendly rivalry developed as the various crews raced to get their allotted sections completed.

Early in September John W. Young began organizing the track laying crew in Ogden. On September 22, 1869 Young and his crew of 70 laid the first half mile of track.

By the end of the year the crew had increased their rail laying speed to two miles per day. Much of this speed was due to the fact that much of the track crew were experienced track layers.

During the construction of the trans-continental railroad workers from the Salt Lake area had been assigned to building the Union Pacific from Echo to Promontory Summit, the hardest 54 miles on the entire route (the Chinese working on the Central Pacific in Eastern California and Western Nevada might have disagreed with that statement-BSL).

The Union Pacific contracted directly with the Church for the construction of above noted section of the railroad. Church officials asked to be paid in rails and rolling stock in place of the $2,250,000 due on the contract to the Church. Using these supplies the Utah Central would be built and operated.

With the exception of $750,000 all labor was donated to the project by the Salt Lake Area workers.

The article ends with a quote from the Deseret News: "The days of isolation are now forever past.- We thank God for it."

As we in Eastern Idaho know, the Utah Central was the beginning of railroading here in the intermountain west. Tracks were pushed further and further north to eventually reach a then little known place called Eagle Rock.

This region grew because of the easy access provided by the railroads and to the fore sight of requesting rails and rolling stock which otherwise would have cost much more or not even been available.

POINTS OF INTEREST - Bruce Lee

A few months ago, I noticed an old locomotive model upside down in a box adjacent to the modules which were then being setup for the show. It was a strange looking contraption with what looked like a tender in front as well as behind with a large boiler in the middle. Perhaps, strangest of all, the drivers were under the tenders!

I was informed by Dave that this was a Garratt from South Africa.

I did a little research on the Internet and discovered Garratt's everywhere from Africa, South America, Asia and Australia.

The picture at the right was taken in New South Wales, Australia and is very similar to the GMAM class in South Africa. These South African locomotives were first built in 1955 and were not retired until the 1980's when they were replaced with electric locomotives.

The first Garratt locomotive was designed in 1909. The idea was to place a single boiler/firebox between, what the British call, trucks. Each truck constituted a separate locomotive with its own cylinders, connecting rods, wheels, and leading and trailing trucks. The shared firebox/boiler unit was on a chassis between the two trucks with an overhang in the middle as illustrated.

Typically, the leading truck contains coal while the trailing holds water. With the boiler between the coal and the firebox there must have been some mechanical means of transporting the coal to the firebox, but I have not been able to discover what was used. I suspect that a system of augers or screws but I have no proof of this.

Frequently a tank car was coupled just behind the engine to help cross and areas.

This system completely eliminated the conventional wheels and frames used under the boiler on a standard locomotive. Without the need for the boiler and fire-box to be contained within a massive framework, the boiler could be made oversized to the limits of the track and right-of-way.

All of this resulted in a locomotive that was very powerful yet spread its weight out across a number of axles thus allowing it to be run on lighter rails. Because of the way it was articulated it could also traverse much tighter curves than its size might otherwise suggest.

Frequently these engines were used on narrow gauge railroads. In South Africa they ran on 3'-6" gauge tracks.