(Volume 5, No. 8)
It's Fall Meet Time
The 2000 Fall meet is scheduled for October 14 and 15. A copy of the flyer for the meet is displayed at the end of this newsletter. In addition to the listed events, there will be layout tours on Saturday afternoon. Please tell your friends about the meet so that the attendance will be ~h. Remember this is our main fundraiser for the year, and with the expense of building a permanent layout, we can use the help.
President's Soapbox
We are now in the last two weeks before our annual Railshow, I know I speak for everyone in the group when I say that we look forward to this event. Aside from all the work entailed in organizing, setting up, carrying through on the plans, then the cleanup, it is an enjoyable experience. If we can recall the best points from previous events, we will remember the faithful dealers and public attendees from other years, other friends and acquaintances we know from our daily routines, the look of marvel on the faces of kids and adults alike, and even the questions we get such as, "How do you do that?" Other segments of this annual event which we enjoy is the dinner meeting and outstanding speakers we have had in the past. This years speaker will be no less a hit and we must count ourselves very fortunate to have such authorities in our midst. If there is any one aspect which is our greatest challenge, it will be finding the manpower to keep things running smoothly and cover all the various assignments involved in insuring a smooth operation. Even with a full crew, there will always be another activity we would like to include in the weekend agenda which will require some additional people power. In addition it will give us the opportunity to showcase the changes and improvements that have been made on the club layout during the last year. These improvements represent a significant investment by the club members in terms of both time and resources, an accomplishment of which we should be very proud.
This year's event will also signal an important milestone in the completion process of the club layout. In the eight years I have been associated with this group, we have seen the layout setup in six different locations not counting the year in storage. Our current configuration, while not the biggest, also offers some of the most diverse operating possibilities we have seen in those eight years and if the proposed plan is ever fully implemented, we will have the best of point to point and full loop continuous run to operate on.
This current location, while not the biggest nor the most accessible, offers the best prospects we have had for a long term tenancy. In keeping with our occupancy in a public building and our status as a nonprofit entity, beginning immediately after the 2000 Railshow, we should institute a regular Open House, at least monthly, and host other public events for the benefit of the various community groups which have previously been identified. These events should be viewed as nothing short of returning something to the community as payment for their support. It is also through additional exposure in events such as these, that we stand our best chance to gain membership and continued public support.
When we have raised this subject in the past, I have heard a myriad of excuses such as "It isn't ready" and "We aren't finished". The fact is that we may never be finished or ever have every condition to our liking especially since the "Real Railroads" are always changing and improving too. We can only benefit from such activities in a positive way and only if we make the effort to share our hobby with others. I refer everyone to an excellent article on this subject which appeared in the June 2000 issue of Model Railroader, although this was about an individually owned layout, one of the key points made was, "If you wait for everything to be perfect, you will never operate. Besides, operating the railroad is one of the best ways to find and fix operating problems". Since most of the layout is functional at present, I look forward to at least one full operating session before show time and two would be better.
Leo Harker
Timetable
October 5 ................Business Meeting
October 12 ..............Work Session, Meet Setup
October 13 ..Meet Setup
October 14, 15 Fall Meet
October 19 ..............Recovery Day, Run Trains
October 26...............Run Trains Again
November 2.............Business Meeting
December 5.............Club 25" Anniversary
Layout Status
The layout is looking good and it looks like the critical sections are going to be done on time. For the meet, we will have the Idaho Falls section with a staging yard at the east (compass south) end operational to feed into the modules, which allows a continuous run. Because of the wye at the west (compass north) end of Idaho Falls, the modules also form a reversing loop to allow trains to reenter the staging area.
Based on prior experience, I recommend that we do not initiate any new projects before the meet. While it would be nice to have some other things done, there just isn't time. These things take more time than we expect to get finished, and it is better to have some finished than more projects underway than we can handle when the meet comes. Besides, we need to have more done next year so the public will keep coming back.
One thing we do need for the meet is volunteers. If you have friends, spouses, children, or anyone else who can help man the layout during the meet, it will help free up the members so they can talk to the public. This allows us to personally visit with our public, and perhaps recruit new members.
Doug Henmann
Club 25th Anniversary
Yes, it's true. On December 5, 1915 17 model railroaders got together in the Idaho Falls City Recreation Center (in a second floor meeting room directly above our present location) and discussed forming a model railroad club in Idaho Falls. I do not have a list of the names of those attending, but there was an article in the Post-Register in November, followed by an open house at my layout, and I do have the names of those attending. Many of them later came to the original planning meeting. The first name on the list at the open house was Alan Udy, and I remember he showed up at the first meeting as well. There are other past members on the list, but he and I are the only current members who were there.
For this occasion, we should plan a celebration. I would be willing to have a combined Christmas and Anniversary party in December at my home. Since the fifth is a Tuesday, we should have it either on the seventh or on a weekend. Think about this and be prepared to discuss it at the business meeting.
At the time, I felt we needed a club in town to provide fellowship and to operate my layout. As you know, I am still having operating sessions which require more than one operator on the same layout I had then. It is hard to realize that so much time has passed and I am still operating the same layout. Our purpose has greatly expanded from that small beginning.
Doug Hemnann
Sumpter Valley Railway
The Sumpter Valley Railway was incorporated in the state of Oregon August 18, 1890. To capitalize the proposed railroad each shareholder of the Oregon Lumber Company took an equivalent number of shares in the new organization, with David Eccles named president of the original corporation. The enthusiastic citizens of Baker City ensured Eccles 10 acres of land in Baker City for a right-of-way and a depot.
Joseph A. West, the engineer responsible for the railway's design and construction, recommended narrow gauge rails over standard gauge, influenced by three factors:
The mountainous terrain the railway had to cross.
The narrow gauge permitted tighter curves than standard gauge.
The special requirements of the lumber companies who were to be the largest shippers.
A narrow gauge line has its rails set 36" apart in contrast to the standard separation of 56.5". The mainline had to maintain roadbed grades no greater than 5%.
Construction began at South Baker in 1890 with an old Grant 8 wheeler from the Utah Northern to handle the work train. The first grade followed the Powder River through Bowen Valley to Salisbury, 9 miles south of Baker. After the Boulder Gorge passage and a few more mountain curves, the line was fairly straight down the open meadows. Curry was a logging camp set up in a wide hat meadow on the way to McEwen. This once serene pasture land is now under the waters of the Phillips reservoir. The track followed the river canyon to McEwen. This small travelers' stage stop was named for Thomas McEwen, a stage driver, who operated a stage and freight line to Sumpter and Canyon City. The track was completed on October 1, 1891, and a depot was built. Within a year, two stores, two blacksmith shops, a saloon, Odd Fellow's hall, and a Methodist church surrounded the Sumpter Valley Railway stop.
To be continued
A later Sumpter Valley locomotive, 2-8-2 Number 19
This locomotive is currently running on the restored Sumpter Valley Railway between Dredge and Sumpter.
Material Needed
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