NMRA RH October 2018

OCTOBER 2018 

Inside this issue: 

Modelling SP’s Coast Line in 1954 

Motive Power on the C&A 

A Tale of 3 Cars 

JMRI and DecoderPro 

Back2Basics 

Building 11th Avenue Station 

CN Tempo Trains 

The westbound Coast Daylight at Guadalupe, California, September 1954 

Photo by Brian Moore 

National Model Railroad Association 

British Region - “sharing know-how”

WE WANT 

YOUR 

Model 

Railways 

We will buy 

almost any Railway 

Collection, large or small. 

All gauges will be taken, in any 

condition. We always give an honest 

price and will collect and dismantle any layout. 

Telephone: 01302 371623 

Mobile: 07526 768178 

or email: anoraksanonymous@googlemail.com 

2 ROUNDHOUSE - October 2018

Welcome to the October issue of Roundhouse packed with feature articles from 

our many contributors and a warm welcome to some new advertisers. It is the 

latter that we should be thanking for their support of our magazine so please do 

let them know that you saw their ad in Roundhouse. They do rely on your feedback 

to let them know that you are supporting them too. 

Our cover story begins on page 6 with a 

multipart journey into how Brian Moore has 

transformed his railroad room into the amazing 

Guadalupe Subdivision: Modelling SP’s 

Coast Line in 1954 from the very beginning 

of his interest in this era and location and the research that he has done to faithfully 

recreate a part of railroad history in downtown Plymouth...! 

OCTOBER 2018 

I hope that by showing you this lovely model 

railroad that it will inspire you to create similar 

modeled scenes that come to life with the addition 

of scale figures and vehicles, not to forget 

the subtle scenery effects. 

Inside this issue: 


Motive Power on the C&A 

A Tale of 3 Cars 

JMRI and DecoderPro 

Back2Basics 

Building 11th Avenue Station 


I would like to take this opportunity to announce 

a new addition to the App which 

now has past Roundhouse magazines 

from January 2017 to June 2018 in digital format for 

you to enjoy. Plus the latest news and events - check it out. If you 

have not installed it on to your tablet or smartphone yet then head on over to the 

Apple store or Google Play. 

The dates for the NMRA 2022 National Convention 

in Birmingham have been announced - 14-21 August 

2022. The website at www.nmra2022uk.org has 

some preliminary details. The hosting committee will 

be making a presentation at the Derby convention. 

Russ Cook says the 25th Anniversary NTRAK UK convention will be held in Bournemouth, 

8-10 March 2019 with booking forms available from russcook1@hotmail.co.uk. Full details 

will be in the December issue of Roundhouse. 

The NMRA British Region 2019 convention will be held in Aberdeen. Full details to be announced at the NMRA 

British Region 2018 Convention at the Derby Convention Centre. 

Many thanks to James Lucas for taking on the role of Membership Renewals Officer as well as being the Registrar. 

Please send all membership renewals to him at registrar@nmrabr.org.uk 

Thank you to David McLaughlin for proofreading this issue. 

Peter Bowen 

Roundhouse Publisher 

and NMRA BR Membership Director 

The westbound Coast Daylight at Guadalupe, California, September 1954 

Photo by Brian Moore 

National Model Railroad Association 

British Region - “sharing know-how” 

NMRA British Region ROUNDHOUSE is published on the 1st of February, April, June, August, October, December 

Peter Bowen graphic design and layout, editing, writing and publication of the Roundhouse magazine 

Please send all material for publication to editor@nmraroundhouse.co.uk 

Deadline for all copy and content is 1st of previous month prior to publication month i.e., 1st August for October 

For commercial advertising in Roundhouse please contact: 

Jonathan Small, Advertising Manager advertising@nmrabr.org.uk 

All advertising artwork must be sent to Jonathan and paid for in advance of publication 

Please send all membership and Roundhouse subscription enquiries to James Lucas, Registrar registrar@nmrabr.org.uk 

October 2018 - ROUNDHOUSE 3

Welcome to the October issue of 

Roundhouse! In March 2018 National 

NMRA Vice President/Special Projects 

Gerry Leone emailed NMRA Region 

Presidents: …last year National NMRA 

instituted a new award called “The 

NMRA President’s Award for Service to 

the Division.” It was awarded by Charlie 

Getz … to one individual in each Region 

who has done outstanding, “beyondthe-call-of-duty” 

work to make his or her 

local Division effective, engaging, and 

welcoming to members. 

My nomination proposing Tom Winlow: 

I am honored to nominate NMRA British 

Region member Tom Winlow for “The 

NMRA President’s Award for Service to 

the Division.” 

Tom Winlow has done, and continues to 

do, outstanding, “beyond-the-call-of-duty” 

work to make both his local Division 

and the NMRA British Region effective, 

engaging, and welcoming to members 

through his exceptional work in preparing 

and promoting HO Freemo specifications 

and Freemo events. 

Tom Winlow joined the NMRA at the 

NMRA British Region Kegworth Convention 

in 1987. Tom was NMRA British 

Region Vice President 1993 and 1994; NMRA British 

Region President 1995 and 1996; and, Past President/ 

Meets Officer 1997/1998. Tom was NMRA British Region 

President during 1995, which covered the 50th anniversary 

of the establishment of the Region and helped organise 

the Golden Anniversary Convention. 

His work on what was to become Freemo began in 2009, 

prompted by Mike Arnold. Initial participants were Peter 

Lloyd-Jones, Keith Webb and Tom, but quickly expanded 

to a bigger team. The other key people were Geoff 

Tiller, Martyn Read, Mike Ruby and John Pitty but lots of 

others from various Region Groups were involved and 

Mike Arnold (as a BOD member) also provided support 

to the team. Tom Winlow’s role was to pull together all 

the ideas and write the first draft of the specification. This 

was released in 2012. Tom also modified it for the second 

(current) release in June 2014. 

Tom Winlow also promoted the Freemo concept by organising 

Freemo layouts at conventions in the early days 

and presenting clinics about the new modular ideas. Tom 

also wrote a series of articles for NMRA British Region 

magazine ‘Roundhouse’ covering the 

building of his own White Rock module. 

The four-article series started in April 

2012. Tom has written other articles on 

Freemo-related topics, including one 

on portable benchwork as part of the 

Region’s “Back to Basics” series. As a 

result of all this Tom has become the 

face of Freemo within the Region. 

In addition, Tom has volunteered for 

several stints as Contest Judge/AP 

Assessor as well as having organised 

a special day of clinics, drawing on 

presenters from across the Region. He 

has been part of the NMRA British Region 

Constitution Committee during the 

only two updates it has had in the last 

25 years and was the Atlantic Director 

Nominating Committee Chairman 2015. 

Tom avidly continues his passion for 

promoting Freemo through his local 

NMRA Club, coordinating all Freemo 

activity within the Bearwood Group. 

This involves designing a Freemo 

layout each month, creating the switch 

lists etc as well as producing the local 

group’s 10-page monthly newsletter. 

Thank you very much for this opportunity 

to put forward this nomination. 

National NMRA Vice President/Special Projects Gerry 

Leone responded: 

David – Thanks a million for this nomination. A worthy 

candidate indeed! - Gerry 

NMRA BR member Gordy Robinson is a key member of 

the National NMRA Social Media Team. Having posted a 

day by day account of the NMRA National Convention at 

Kansas City on Facebook, Gordy also posted a detailed 

decision by decision account of the National BoD Meeting 

from Kansas City. One of Gordy’s Facebook posts schedules 

all the recipients of the Presidents Award for Service 

to Divisions 2018 recipients by region. 

A further Facebook post by Gordy lists the Presidents 

Award for service to the NMRA Recipients 2018 including 

Kathy Millett MMR and Gordon Robinson. 

Many congratulations to each of you! 

David McLaughlin 

President NMRA British Region 

Contributing to Roundhouse 

If you have an idea for an article or have a story to tell then please, please, please send your comments, ideas, 

club or division news and announcements to editor@nmraroundhouse.co.uk 


On Thursday 2nd August, David McLaughlin 

kindly hosted a BoD meeting at his 

home at Upton Cheyney. A wide range of 

topics were discussed and in particular the 

apparent fall in cash reserves. We also 

discussed upcoming events, including the 

National Convention to be held here in the 

UK at Birmingham in 2022, GDPR, Roundhouse 

advertising, and how to retain and 

increase our membership base.The full 

minutes will be posted on the NMRA BR 

Forum in due course. 

David McLaughlin, in his President’s Car 

report in the June issue of Roundhouse, 

said he was looking forward to going to the Ashmolean 

Museum in Oxford to to view the exhibition titled ‘America’s 

Cool Modernism’. On the strength of his enthusiasm 

and wishing to broaden my own knowledge of art, I 

decided to go too and see for myself original works of art, 

some of which have never before been exhibited outside 

the United States. So, on a very hot Friday, my wife and I 

travelled to Oxford from Hillingdon, on the Oxford Tube, a 

coach service which operates 24/7 between London and 

Oxford. Parking in Oxford is a challenge, although there 

is the park and ride, and the coach service stops in the 

centre of Oxford, only a short walk to the museum. 

The exhibition brought together some of the greatest 

works by American artists such as Georgia O’Keeffe, 

Arthur Dove, and Charles Sheeler. 

The Martin Boyask Award for the best photograph 

of a North American model railroad subject 

Following the announcement of The Martin Boyask 

Award for the best photograph of a North American 

prototype or model railroad subject in the August 2018 

issue of Roundhouse, there has been some very 

positive and helpful feedback about this new award. 

This has been discussed in detail by the NMRA British 

Region Board of Directors. The BoD has agreed 

that the award will now be The Martin Boyask 

Award for the best photograph of a North 

American model railroad subject. 

The feedback included the following 

comments: 

It’s a really good idea, as it is truly open 

to every member, and not just the ones who 

can go to conventions. And it’s Modern! 

It allows non-attendees of the yearly convention to take 

part in a regional event. 

It’s inexpensive, and any member can enter from 

home. In today’s world, access to a decent camera has 

never been so easy. 

I particularly enjoyed the paintings by 

Edward Hopper, 1882-1967, because for 

me, they represent images of the United 

States I could identify with as seen 

through the artist’s eyes. Some years ago 

there was a major exhibition of his work at 

the Tate which I attended. Paintings with 

a railroad interest include House by the 

Railroad, 1925, Railroad Sunset, 1929, 

and Compartment C, Car 293, 1938. If 

you would like to know more about Edward 

Hopper, there is an excellent book, 

Edward Hopper, ISBN 1 85437 533 4. 

You will be reading this, about 4 weeks 

before the NMRA British Region Convention, 26-28 October, 

hosted once again by the Black Diamonds, at the 

Derby Convention Centre. It may well be that you have 

never attended a British Region Convention for whatever 

reason and if that has been the case, I would urge you 

to come along, either for the day, or the whole weekend. 

There will be layouts to view, trade stands, bring and buy, 

conversations to be had. Please go to the website https:// 

www.black-diamonds.org.uk/convention/ for more information. 

I hope to see you there... 

Charles Hendy 

Vice President NMRA British Region 

The competition should be limited to model photographs 

alone, either of the person’s own models or 

one s/he has photographed – taking pictures of real 

trains is a completely different skill. Most NMRA(BR) 

members will never get the opportunity to travel to 

North America and spend time taking pictures of real 

trains. There should be a level playing field. We are 

modelers, and I’m sure that Martin Boyask would 

agree with the view that a competition in his name 

should celebrate “raising the modeling bar”. 

There should be a limit on how many picture 

submissions each individual can make; 

… limiting the number really focuses the 

choice and ups the quality. I’d suggest a 

maximum picture entry of two. You’ll get 

a lot of entries, and the great majority via 

email. 

… the entry … should (set out) details on 

the subject matter, the intention of the picture, 

the description of the scene, and how much (if any) 

photo-editing was done upon it. 

The use of even extensive photo-editing should be 

permitted. This is the twenty-first century! 

Entries are to be submitted either digitally or by 

post to arrive before 18.00 on 1 December 2018, to 

David McLaughlin, NMRA British Region President. 


The Guadalupe Subdivision: 


Brian Moore 

Part 1 

In the spring of 2017, there came 

the Big Space; and it was good. 

After living 25 years in the same 

house and the raising of two children, 

we finally moved in 2016. 

Temporarily relocating for five months 

to facilitate major works and refurbishment 

of our new residence, an 

“average” late-Victorian, three-bedroom 

mid-terraced house, we returned 

to our reconditioned home 

in March of 2017. Best of all, I was 

advance-gifted sole occupation rights 

to our new basement, which measures 

15 x 25 feet, almost the whole 

footprint of the house. 

The vital spark 

Like many of us, my model railroading 

journey started off in childhood, 

only to be abandoned for the usual 

hormonal reasons. It was kick-started 

again in 1985 when I chanced 

across a book in a public library in 

Exeter, where I was living at the time. 

I’d re-located there the year before, 

following my first quarter-century in 

Glasgow. The book was Modelling 

Historic Railways by David Jenkinson, 

and it enthralled me; after borrowing 

it for months, I finally bought 

my own copy. Completely “British” 

in subject matter, it introduced me to 

the concept of “planning for operation”. 

Jenkinson talked in fascinating 

detail about all the essential stuff and 

many of the compromises required to 

portray and to operate model trains in 

a realistic environment, including how 

to capture the “essence” of a real 

track layout when boiling it down to 

available space. It was a revelation; 

a marker was laid down, and I knew 

that any subsequent railway modelling 

I’d do would always be guided by 

Jenkinson’s principles. 

Following a move to Plymouth, I built 

my first layout since my early teens, 

a West Highland N scale BR transition-era 

model of Crianlarich Junction. 

The availability of an 8 x 18-ft. 

loft space saw my interest develop 

with a depiction of Gleneagles on 

the Glasgow to Aberdeen route. For 

various reasons, enthusiasm waned, 

and big temperature variations in the 

loft didn’t help things either. 

Jet-propelled to the Promised Land 

By the mid-nineties too, I was a 

regular reader of Model Railroader. 

As well as being impressed with what 

US-outline modelling could offer, the 

increasing wonders of DCC were a 

revelation. I also picked up a copy of 

the first issue of Kalmbach’s annual 


Model Railroad Planning in 1995, and 

I’ve bought every MRP since; edited 

by Tony Koester, it’s full of exactly the 

same stuff that fascinated me in Modelling 

Historic Railways. I was well 

up for a change by the time we visited 

California on a family holiday in 2000, 

and within days of landing I purchased 

a DCC-ready HO scale Bachmann 

Spectrum 2-8-0 and some boxcar kits. 

I already knew something of the 

Southern Pacific Railroad from Model 

Railroader, and a drive from Los 

Angeles to San Francisco followed 

by another down the peninsula to 

Monterey alerted me afresh to the 

existence of SP’s Coast Line. I loved 

the whole notion of this mostly single-track 

line that ran between San 

Francisco and Los Angeles, with its 

scenic locations and the variety of 

trains that used to navigate it in the 

transition era. The process of learning 

about a railroad located a quarter 

of the world away from where I live 

is a continuing one, and it started 

almost as soon as we arrived home 

from our Californian holiday. In the 

meantime, I quickly dismantled and 

sold off my extensive British N Gauge 

equipment to fund the purchase of a 

decent amount of HO track, and later 

a Lenz DCC system. 

Look and Learn 

I also joined the Western Union 

division of the NMRA BR in Plymouth, 

where I found a further source 

of information about North American 

railroading as well as a bunch 

of guys who were kindred spirits. 

Following a few years of us jointly 

running Anson Yard, a portable 12 x 

42-ft., DCC-controlled, single-location, 

freelance North American layout 

built in the shape of a big oval with a 

rear hidden storage yard, we became 

mutually more interested in “running 

trains with a purpose,” and not simply 

to watch them go by. We had a lot of 

fun attempting to operate more prototypically 

with Anson; in the meantime, 

I slowly learned more about SP’s 

operations along the Coast Line, and 

I started to collect and modify locomotives 

and rolling stock appropriate 

for my favoured transition period. 

In 2012-13 at the club, we began 

to recognise the prototypical operating 

and switching opportunities 

offered by HO-modular railroading, 

and several members built individual 

modules to the agreed NMRA BR 

Modular Standard. I later constructed 

my own 24-ft. module, Quisling 

CA, a fictitious and proto-freelanced 

central-Californian small city served 

by the SP. I carry it to the club every 

month, and to the big Christow Modular 

event each May. Quisling allowed 

me to hone my modelling skills, and it 

served as a test bed to run, film and 

video my developing 1950s Coast 

Line stock (search for “Quisling CA” 

on YouTube). 

Brian Moore 

. . . to be continued 


11th Avenue Station 

Mike Ruby 

Photos by Mike Ruby 

I 

have had the Walthers HO Union 

Station kit for many years, but 

had not got past opening the box, 

looking at the parts and making a 

card mockup. 

My 11th Avenue Freemo module was 

originally a double track one to the 

old NMRA BR standard. The station 

was to be mounted on a raised structure 

over the two mainlines and yard, 

there are videos on YouTube with 

the mockup in this position with long 

trains passing underneath. When our 

local group Western Union in Plymouth 

decided to change to the RS 

Tower single track standard, I built 

adaptor boards to covert the module 

to this standard. The station was 

moved to ground level on one of the 

adaptor boards. After a few years of 

use in this form I built a new module 

designed for single track from the 

start. Then 11th Avenue became my 

home layout. 

This year 11th Avenue was invited 

to the 2018 Christow, Devon Fremo 

event, I decided I must get around to 

building the station. 

I had always planned to fit out the 

interior. I’ve done this with several 

other buildings, but the size of this 

one would give a far larger space to 

work with. I decided the left section 

would be a restaurant with the centre 

and right still in use as the station as 

they open on to the platforms. 

8 ROUNDHOUSE - October 2018 

The first job was to do the insides 

of the walls, Walthers did not plan 

for an interior so the walls are hollow. 

I cut black card to fit around 

the window frames, the card 

was about the thickness that the 

window frames projected, black 

was used as I planned to light the 

interior and did not want it shining 

thought the walls. I then stuck 

printed texture paper to the black 

card but I left the paper longer than 

the card to allow for overlapping in 

the corners. 

Before attaching the inside 

walls I sprayed the outsides with 

Rust-oleum Limestone paint. I 

roughed up the inside of the walls, 

stuck the interiors with PVA and 

weighted them to keep the card 

flat.Next were the windows and 

doors, I painted the frames first 

Wall paper stuck to the wall finished 

window at left, as per the kit at right 

and then stuck on the glazing with 

Deluxe Glue ’n’ Glaze. Put a thin layer 

on the frame, it will stick faster and 

cleaner. I then cut edging strips from 

the textured paper and glued them 

around the window edges to hide the 

sides of the glazing, once again with 

Glue ’n’ Glaze. In retrospect I should 

have used thinner glazing than that 

supplied in the kit. 

I print the interior paper from Scalescenes 

dressed stone texture. This 

is my favourite way of doing interior 

walls. You can download many 

textures from such companies as 

Scalescenes, Clever Models and 

Team Track Models. Once you pay 

for the download you can print off 

as many copies as required. These 

companies also sell complete kits 

that can be printed out and laminated 

to card to make the kit. To protect 

the paper I sealed the printed sheets 

with flat acrylic spray varnish. To 

glue the sheets down I used Pritt 

Stick glue using a roller to press the 

paper down or double sided tape 

or transfer tape (this tape leaves a 

layer of glue but not the tape), I find 

liquid glue such as PVA tends to discolour 

the paper and I’ve read that 

spray on adhesive doesn’t last. 

The station was then built as per 

Walther’s instructions, without gluing 

the roofs on. I left the end canopies 

until after everything else was 

complete as I could then stand the 

building on end and not risk damaging 

them.

I wanted a polished marble floor and 

found photos of slabs on a supply 

company’s website. I loaded the photos 

into a graphics program, made 

them scale size, rotated copies and 

then laid them out to the floor plan, 

making sure the same images where 

not near each other. I printed out 

several copies and laminated them to 

give strength and the polished finish. 

Each of the three floors were cut to 

size and placed in the rooms. I then 

cut card to fill in the hole in the kit 

floor and stuck it to the laminate with 

double sided tape. 

I wanted a mezzanine floor above 

the main concourse to give a higher 

eating area. First I divided the three 

sections of the building with internal 

arched walls then cut the walls from 

foam core board and covered them 

with more dressed stone paper. The 

sheets include arched sections and 

I used those above the arched cut 

outs. The rear wall is wide enough for 

a row of tables and chairs to fit, the 

front is just a walkway. The mezzanine 

provides space underneath for 

the ticket office, toilets, etc. For the 

front walkway I made 

a glass balustrade 

from clear plastic sheet 

that used to surround 

a cake! Being clear 

stops it blocking views 

through the front windows. 

With the areas divided 

up I could start fitting 

them out. For the restaurant 

I added a kitchen 

and toilet block in 

one corner, made from 

foam core. I fitted it out with cooking 

equipment from a free Clever Models 

building and Scalescenes interior 

sheets. The floor and walls come 

from the Clever Models kitchen. To 

get lighting down to the kitchen which 

is visible through a window I ran the 

wires to a LED down an extraction 

pipe that runs up to the main ceiling. 

I made a serving bar from card that 

I printed my own design on. The 

seating booths are from Shapeways 

as are the bins, plates are punched 

from paper with food drawn on with 

fine markers, cups are short pieces 

of thin wire insulation. 

The centre area has Shapeways 

tables and chairs on the mezzanine 

floor along with Shapeways vending 

machines on both levels. I needed 

benches for the waiting area, 

after looking at photos on the web 

I designed them in a drawing program 

(Open Office). I printed them 

onto thin card and cut out and folded 

them around rectangles of foam core 

and stuck them to the floor, PVA will 

stick to the laminated floor. Finally I 

added a toilet block to a corner of the 

waiting room. 

To light the building I used 27 LEDs , 

6 in each side room, 12 in the centre 

and another 3 above the columned 

entrance. These LEDs came from a 

Christmas light set I bought discounted 

after the holiday, they have flat 

fronts ideal for mounting into ceilings. 

I made the ceilings from foam 

core, cutting out the areas under the 

skylights, they are removable, resting 

on foam core blocks glued into the 

wall corners. The LEDs were glued 

into holes drilled evenly around the 

ceilings. They were connected three 

in series with a 1,200 ohm (1k2) 

resistor in series, with each of the 9 

groups paralleled together for each 

ceiling. The circuits were connected 

together with spring loaded connectors, 

these were small enough to fit 

above the entrance, allowing easy 

disconnection if I need to remove the 

ceiling from the building. 

The people populating the station 

are all cheap Chinese ones. I change 

hair colour, they all come black and 

give them a dark wash to show 

clothing folds and facial features. 

I used about 50 in the station and 

restaurant. 

The station is just about complete, I 

still have to fit platform canopies, with 

lights of course and detail them. 

The only thing I would change is to 

not use the supplied glazing. After 

finishing the station I decided to fit 

the other unfinished buildings on the 

layout with glazing. These kits did 

not come with glazing, so I decided 

to try laminate offcuts from making 

car cards etc. This worked really well 

and is much thinner than the styrene 

in the Walthers kit. This would have 

made the windows stand out less 

inside and is optically better. 

Mike Ruby 


The Cornhill & Atherton RR 

Rob Clark 

Part 4 

Sometimes I make no improvements at all, as in the case of this Proto 2000 0-8-0 which is 

superbly detailed, painting and careful weathering are all that is required. Photos by Rob Clark 

Every model railroad needs 

motive power and the C&A 

is no exception. Rob Clark’s 

approach to satisfying this 

need is a simple approach to sourcing 

locomotives for his 1930s style 

railroad [ed]. 

The C&A has a large roster of locomotives, 

but this is purely for my 

interest. Generally only five to six 

would be on the layout at any one 

time. Three locomotives are sound 

equipped and my aim is to move 

to 100% when funds permit. A train 

without sound is like food without 

flavour! 

can still be had, but there is a big risk 

of paying more than the retail price – 

do your research. 

I follow a fairly standard approach 

when preparing a locomotive for 

service. I make a decision about 

the running and paint condition, any 

extra detail I want to add and also 

the type of decoder and additional 

features (like firebox glow) to be 

fitted. In some cases the locomotive 

The whole fleet has been sourced on 

eBay, mostly proprietary plastic and 

many from years ago when prices 

were much more sensible. Bargains 

A Mantua 2-6-6-2 logger showing the grey/black colour I use. The stock 

model is a little bare so I followed an old Jeff Johnstone article and added 

a lot of brass accessories, piping and handrails. 

is ready to go and just needs painting 

and in others I strip it right down to 

components. 

This Bachmann 0-6-0 has only been slightly modified – replacement crew and 

an air pump with a bit of piping. Again, weathering does the hard work 


In all cases the most important 

aspects are painting and weathering 

and this alone can transform the 

look of any model locomotive. I use 

a Badger 200 airbrush and finish all 

my locomotives in a weathered black 

that has a high grey component. This 

is un-prototypical, but brings out the 

surface detail well. Final weathering is 

a mixture of washes and dry powders 

resulting in a vastly improved look.

Photo 5 - This Bachmann USRA light 

2-10-2 in my opinion looks a little “toy 

like” as manufactured. 

Photo 6 - All of the paint is stripped 

(brake fluid) and some brass detail 

added – headlight, injectors, turret 

and generator. 

Photo 7 - After painting and weathering 

the transformation is complete. 

Photo above is a Bachmann 2-8-0 

almost stock apart from fitting a new 

headlight to replace the poor light 

pipe arrangement and a Vanderbilt 

tender. However the major change 

is fitting firebox flicker and ash pan 

glow effects. 

Photo left close up view shows two 

LEDs flickering at different frequencies 

enhance the firebox effect. In 

this case a TCS WOW decoder has 

been used. 


A Tale of Three Boxcars 

Tom Winlow 

The Richmond Fredericksburg 

and Potomac Railroad 

(RF&P) was a bridge line 

running 113 miles south from 

Washington, DC to Richmond, Virginia. 

Through various mergers it is now 

part of CSX. 

I model the Lehigh Valley Railroad 

in the 70s. Many of the photos of 

LV trains of the period show RF&P 

boxcars in the train. With dull blue 

paint scheme and map of Virginia I 

thought they were a bit more interesting 

than most boxcars of the period. 

The boxcar doors were often painted 

silver, which added to the overall 

effect. There are lots of colour photos 

of these cars on the Fallen Flags 

Railroad Photos website http://www. 

rr-fallenflags.org/ I decided I would 

like one of these cars; I ended up 

with three! 

Car number 2438 a 50 ft, combination 

door was my first RF&P car, which 

I bought, a few years ago. It is an 

Accurail model to which I made a few 

modifications. The main one, which 

made a big difference, was to replace 

the solid moulded roof walk with a 

see-through Kadee plastic version as 

shown above. I prefer these to etched 

metal ones because you don’t have 

differential thermal expansion problems 

between the metal roof walk and 

the plastic shell. It is a particularly 

easy modification as the pegs on the 

underside of the Kadee unit line up 

exactly with the holes in the Accurail 

car’s roof. Referring to prototype 

photos, I replaced the grabs on the 

left hand end of the sides with short 

ladders that I cut down from some left 

over ladders from an ancient Front 

Range kit. 

The other “mechanical” changes 

were ones I make to most of my cars. 

Metal wheels, Kadee #5 couplers 

and Details Associate cut levers were 

fitted. I also fitted metal stirrup steps, 

in this case home-made one bent 

from very small stationery staples. 

The sliding door is a separate part in 

the kit and was already painted silver. 

However, the plug door is moulded 

as part of the body shell and had 

been painted blue, presumably to limit 

manufacturing costs for these basic 

kits. I masked the car and airbrushed 

the plug door, and the roof, silver. 

To touch up the various modifications 

I mixed my own paint to match 

the RF&P colour. It wasn’t a perfect 

match but it was close enough 

when some weathering had been 

added. This was done using a combination 

of water colour, chalks and 

airbrushing. 

Car number 2438 (50 ft. combination door) 

I was very pleased with this car. It 

started as a simple “shake the box” 

kit and the result stands up well when 

compared to more modern, and expensive, 

models. 


Car Number 4097 a 50 ft. single 

door was my second car which was 

an “impulse buy” and was bought 

as it represented a “no work” model. 

It is a ready-to-run model by Intermountain 

and represents a car in 

the RF&P’s 4000 number series. 

The only work I did to this car was to 

lightly weather it using watercolours 

and airbrush. 

Car Number 2546 a double plug 

door is another Accurail car. It is the 

least accurate of the three. The big 

error is that the double plug doors 

are offset towards the left hand end 

when they should be centred. I didn’t 

notice this when I bought the car but 

decided to live with it. 

The modifications to the car are the 

same as for no. 2438, including the 

Kadee roof walk. The plug doors on 

this car are separate items. I found 

that they were slightly too large and 

stood proud of the sides rather than 

being flush with them. By very careful 

filing of the door openings I was 

able to fit the doors in their proper 

positions. 

I decided to weather this car more 

Car Number 4097 (50 ft. single door) 

Car Number 2546 (50 ft. double plug 

extensively and added rust to the 

top of the doors to match a photo I 

had. I also added rust to the edges 

of the roof. I used burnt sienna and 

burnt umber watercolours 

to simulate the rust. 

There’s a sting in the 

tail about this car. I had 

come to terms with the 

doors being in the wrong 

position until I looked at 

the photos of the other 

double plug car models 

on Accurail’s website. 

The cars for every other 

road name in that series 

of Accurail models have their doors 

centred. Only the RF&P one has 

offset doors. The RF&P did have 

some cars with offset doors but 

these had sliding doors, rather than 

plug ones. I wondered if these had 

misled Accurail, who went out of 

their way to get it right, but actually 

went out of their way and got 

it wrong! Whatever the reason, it 

is more than a little irritating! On 

the other hand, who in the UK will 

know, except me? Well, apart from 

the several hundred people who will 

read this article of course! 

Tom Winlow 

Freshly painted RF&P 50 ft. boxcars No’s. 2442 and 2923 at Acca Yard in Richmond, VA in June 1969. 

RF&P Railroad photograph by W. W. Young, Sr. from the collection of the RF&P Railroad Historical Society, Inc. 



Back2Basics 

Back2Basics 

You’ve built your baseboards, laid your track and now you 

are staring at some clean pieces of plywood or foam and 

wondering where to go next! Scenery can feel very 

daunting to a newcomer but is actually very forgiving. It’s 

easy to correct mistakes and redo sections so the best 

advice is to give it a go and not worry. 

Basics 

The first thing to do is consider your model and where it is 

based. Is it desert or forest, flat or mountainous, rocky or 

muddy, arid or wet? All of these impact on your scenery and 

how you build it. The good news is that the basics are the 

same regardless. 

I always think of my scenery in terms of foreground, 

midground and background. I try and make my foreground 

the most detailed. Viewers will be drawn to this first and 

naturally assume that the rest of the layout is as detailed. 

PART 13 – Scenery 

Section Section PART 2: Trees, 1: 13 An – Grass Scenery Introduction and Details 

Section 2: By Trees, Kathy Millatt Grass and MMR Details 

By Kathy Millatt MMR 

as paint or, in deserts, can be the bulk of the 

scenery work. 

4. I tend to do the water, roads and buildings at this 

point. The buildings are not attached and can be 

removed for messy work but it enables me to work 

out exactly where everything will fit and get it to 

bed down well. 

5. After this I add in trees, then bushes, then grass. 

6. The final step is the details that brings it all to life, 

from wildlife to people, rubbish and detritus to 

weathering. 

Substructure 

The first step in scenery is to start with a suitable base. This 

doesn’t need to be anything fancy and can build on 

whatever the baseboards are made from. Depending on 

your baseboards, here are a few thoughts to get you going 

so that your scenery is not totally flat: 

In reality, everything blurs with distance and you cannot see 

weeds or details after a certain point. We can use our 

scenery to add a feeling of depth that mirrors reality. My 

backgrounds are therefore more generic, quicker to model 

and less detailed. The midground is a halfway house with 

some leaves and details but not too many. 

In the last issue we looked at basic scenery construction and 

some In the last detailed issue we aspects looked of at scenic basic scenery effects construction like rivers and and 

roadways. some detailed This time aspects we look of scenic at what effects Mother like Nature rivers does and for 

us roadways. in real life, This trees, time bushes, we look grass at what etc Mother and finishing Nature off does the for job. 

us in real life, trees, bushes, grass etc and finishing off the job. 

Trees 

Trees 

Trees are not appropriate on every layout but I generally start 

Process 

the 

Trees 

green 

are not 

scenery 

appropriate 

with the 

on 

big 

every 

stuff 

layout 

like trees, 

but I generally 

working 

start 

down 

to 

the 

the 

green 

grass 

scenery 

at the 

with 

end. 

the 

Trees 

big stuff 

split 

like 

into 

trees, 

two 

working 

camps: 

down 

broad 

to the grass at the end. Trees split into two camps: broad 

leaved deciduous and conifers. I use a variety of methods but 

Here's leaved an deciduous overview and of conifers. the scenery I use process a variety I of prefer methods to use: but 

try and make the trees towards the back of the layout more 

try and make the trees towards the back of the layout more 

generic and the ones near the front more detailed. 

generic 1. and Start the with ones a near substructure the front more that acts detailed. as a firm base 

for your scenery. Obviously, mountains look very 

The most important thing to remember is that trees are large; 

The most different important to thing prairies to remember but you is can that use trees the are same large; 

they dwarf buildings and people. Most people scale them back 

they dwarf materials buildings for and the people. substructure Most people but just scale build them them back 

as they often do with buildings but you need one or two large 

as they often up differently. do with buildings but you need one or two large 

"hero" trees right at the front to show off your skills and add 

"hero" 2. trees At this right point at the you front need to to show mock off in your the skills roads, and rivers add 

some scale! The viewer's eye will rest on these and somehow 

some scale! and The buildings viewer's so eye that will they rest have on these correct and somehow height 

assume that everything else is as detailed. 

assume that and everything flat areas else for is as the detailed. water or road/building 

surface. 

3. Next up is an earth layer that hides the base (which 

is often white, blue or pink!). This can be as simple 

• Foam is easily worked with bread knives or hot wire 

tools and can be built up or subtracted from making 

it very versatile. If you or your friends have had any 

building work recently then you may have a ready 

supply of insulation foam. You can use the white 

expanded polystyrene too but it will need a hard 

outer layer as it is a bit soft. 

• Plywood needs to be built up as it is generally too flat 

but it is a solid start. I usually use Sculptamold which 

is a plaster/paper maché mix to build up slight 

undulations and foam for larger hills. 

• If you have open areas between framing you can use 

For the plaster generic cloth background which is easily trees, available I generally online buy or from pre-made 

For plastic the shops generic trees, like spray background Hobbycraft. them with trees, I put an aerosol I scrunched generally can up buy glue newspaper pre-made and sprinkle 

plastic on Woodland trees, underneath spray Scenics' them and lay with green the an plaster aerosol blend cloth can fine on glue turf. then and This spray sprinkle is the 

on constant Woodland with colour water. Scenics' through I find green this all is blend less of my messy fine layout than turf. scenery trying This to is to the tie it 

constant together. dunk colour plaster through cloth in all water of my and layout put it scenery in place. to tie it 

together. 

For the middle ground trees, I start adding Noch leaves into the 

For 

fine 

the 

turf 

middle 

mix to 

ground 

add some 

trees, 

more 

I start 

defined 

adding Noch 

texture. 

leaves into the 

fine turf mix to add some more defined texture. 

Finally, I make wire trees from scratch for the "hero" 

Finally, 

trees. 

I 

Using 

make 

very 

wire 

fine 

trees 

florists’ 

from 

green 

scratch 

wire, 

for 

I twist 

the "hero" 

a bunch 

trees. Using very fine florists’ green wire, I twist a bunch 

together to create the trunk and branch structure. I use latex 

together to create the trunk and branch structure. I use latex 

rubber I bought online to get rid of the wire texture and create 

rubber I bought online to get rid of the wire texture and create 

the bark. I then use static grass, glued using spray adhesive, in 

the bark. I then use static grass, glued using spray adhesive, in 

varying lengths to add the finer twigs. 

varying lengths to add the finer twigs. 

I paint the tree with a rattle can brown and then apply Noch 

I paint the tree with a rattle can brown and then apply Noch 

leaves using the spray adhesive. You have to be careful to only 

leaves using the spray adhesive. You have to be careful to only 

spray the twigs and not the trunk. This may sound very long 

spray the twigs and not the trunk. This may sound very long 

winded, and it is, but you only need to do a few for a layout 

winded, and it is, but you only need to do a few for a layout 

and they will make all the difference. 

and they will make all the difference. 


Bushes 

Next up are bushes. I use these around the trees, at edges of 

scenery and near buildings to add a middle height layer. I tend 

to go simple with bushes and use either rubberised horse hair 

or poly fibre as a base. I tear these into bush shapes. I use the 

spray adhesive followed by the Woodland Scenics' fine turf or 

Noch leaves to add foliage. I can create hundreds really 

quickly! 

and gives density. I choose a brighter colour as grass is 

normally greenest at the base. 

Applying the grass needs a static charge. You can use a puffer 

bottle (I certainly have) but the grass does not stand as 

upright. A static grass applicator gives better results but is 

pricier. You can make your own but that's a whole new hobby 

– building tools! 

There are specialist glues you can use for static grass made by 

the grass manufacturers. I have used thin white glue but 

apparently this skins more quickly. Generally, I try and glue 

small patches at a time to avoid this. 

Either remove your trees and bushes or mask them off using 

newspaper to avoid them becoming covered in grass. Fill up 

your grass applicator, brush a thin layer of the glue on to the 

ground, turn on the applicator, attach the grounding lead 

somewhere near the glue and sprinkle the grass on. You can 

hoover the spare grass up at this stage whilst the glue is still 

wet and the suction of the hoover will pull the grass more 

upright. 

Grass 

Nothing beats static grass to represent grass. It is short fibres 

that stand upright in just the way that real grass does. The 

danger is that if you just put static grass down on a plain board, 

it has no texture and looks like a bowling green. That is 

obviously not ideal in most cases so it can be worth gluing on 

a few bits of small talus or something similar if you have a 

completely flat surface. 

I generally start with a short base layer of grass. This is best at 

about 2mm in HO and O scale as this grass covers the ground 

I use tights material over the end of my hoover and I do have a 

dedicated small grass-only hoover. Both methods allow you to 

recover your grass to reuse again. 

Next up you need to add the main grass layer. This is the 

colour you want to be most obvious when you look at the 

area. Later summer grass will be more straw coloured and 

there are some great brands out there, such as WWS (supplied 

through Peco as well) or Noch, who mark their grass by the 

season it is supposed to represent. 

I find it best to use the WWS layering spray at this point as a 

glue. I have tried other spray glues (they leave little balls) or 

brushing on a white glue (you need to wait for it to be set 


and dry before doing this) but the layering spray gives the 

quickest and best consistent result. It's very easy to use and 

you just spray the glue then apply the grass. You can build up 

multiple layers of grass with this technique in a matter of 

minutes. 

You can also wipe on white glue with your finger and sprinkle 

on small amounts of ground foam to represent leaved plants 

or flowers. A little can go a long way with this technique but it 

builds up another layer of texture and adds to the reality. 

Sometimes I go back with an airbrush and add a different 

colour, such as a vivid green in a damp hollow, just to give 

variety. You can dry brush the tips a pale colour to represent 

the grass drying in later summer. 

Bedding in Buildings and Structures 

At this point I bed in my buildings. If you have them on a base 

then you just need to merge the scenery. If they are individual 

buildings then do pay careful attention to getting them to sit 

in the landscape. A pet hate of mine is the dark lines around 

the bottom of buildings where they don't quite meet the 

ground. 

If this happens, don't panic! You can use thin rolls of plasticine 

to add an easily malleable gap filler which allows you to remove 

the building later if needed. If you are happy to glue solidly in 

place then do run your scenery up to the building and think 

carefully about the detritus that builds up against the edges of 

buildings, such as leaves, rubbish, dirt etc. 

Details 

The best-looking scenery has multiple layers which build up the 

illusion of reality. Nature is not just one colour green or one 

texture. We need to emulate this with our modelling. 

As with roads, details are a good way to add extra layers and they 

can be anything from weeds to rubbish. I recommend detailing 

the foreground more than the background. Details naturally get 

lost as they get further away and we can force a feeling of depth 

with our placement of items. Here are some ideas to get you 

started: 

• Scale newspapers - made out of fine printed paper 

• Rubbish – I find that cut up sweet wrappers make excellent 

rubbish but you can buy all sorts of details such as bottles or 

cans to add more layers 

• Leaves – as with roads or in larger scales consider using laser 

cut leaves for effect. They're not cheap but just one or two 

can look amazing 

• Weeds – you can use ground foam for simple weeds through 

to laser cut dandelions or nettles from suppliers like Noch 

• Animal paths – through patches of grass land 

• Flowers – using white or coloured ground foam 

• Animals or birds – dock scenes look excellent with a few 

seagulls 

• Bird mess – naturally follows the birds and easily done with 

fine application of white acrylic paint 

• Abandoned junk or cars – use up those mistakes and weather 

them to death so no one can see the problems! 

Once the basics and details are in I do recommend taking some 

photos and seeing where areas look flat, model-like or just plain 

boring. Shiny spots can be fixed with matt varnish. See overleaf 

for some photos of details added to aspects of models to bring 

them alive. 

That's a whistle stop tour of basic scenery. There are some 

excellent videos and books out there to help if you get stuck, 

wonder how best to achieve something or want to take your 

scenery to the next level. There are many reference sources 

today, beyond just books and magazines. 

A selection of my videos on YouTube can be found here: 

Reference Sources 

Static grass: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiR83CikHoo 

River beds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soMGwgm6FFI 

Dioramas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_UNpdJa-3U 

Muddy roads: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02Rt8If7Qes&list=PLrIRL5 

XIQmdmIANRZrRuIzJEdhfeTVD5S 

Making water: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0PtkWhANFU 

Clutter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd6AIisaST8 

Books by Gordon Gravett from Wild Swan Publications: 

Modelling Trees Part One – Broad Leaf Trees 

Modelling Trees Part Two - Conifers 

Modelling Grassland and Landscape Detailing 


Here’s an example of scenery using the techniques described. 

It’s only a small scene and is actually a scenic break between 

two detailed sections of my layout. It’s important to give the 

eye somewhere to rest every now and then. 

Only a few inches back and we are into the middle ground of 

the scene. The trees are generic plastic ones that I have added 

ground foam to and the bushes are polyfibre or rubberised 

horse hair with the same ground foam and only the odd leaf. 

In between the foreground and the middle ground is a dividing 

bog area. 

The static grass has been painted a little but lacks the extra 

detailing of the foreground. 

The foreground starts off with high detail including hand made 

wire trees with Noch leaves, laser cut plants including 

butterflies, a detailed (or soon will be) vehicle on a weathered 

mud road and static grass with dandelions and other weeds. 

The background is just cheap wire trees with ground foam and 

a painted sky. The colours are limited and nothing stands out 

to draw your attention but you know that there is depth to the 

scene. 


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Mixing it with the British 

(Outline modellers that is) 

Mike and Martin Ford 

Going to a model railway 

exhibition always has its 

risks, whether you visit as 

an exhibitor, trader or as a 

member of the paying public. 

As an exhibitor you hope that some 

visitors will take an interest in what 

you’ve tried to achieve from a wide 

range of aspects - operation, scenery, 

representation of the original 

if one existed, or the concept if the 

layout is free-lanced. You are also 

hoping for a well organised exhibition, 

decent access to unload/load, 

reasonable operating space, copious 

cups of tea (or coffee) etc. 

As a trader you hope for a constant 

stream of visitors thrusting pictures of 

the queen into your hands or transferring 

money to you whether it be 

contactlessly or not. 

As a member of the public you are 

hoping to see some decent quality 

layouts, operating without too much 

interference from the big hand of 

god, without prolonged periods of inactivity 

and without indifference from 

the operators. 

We’ve pretty much given up going in 

the role of the general public, due to 

seeing/experiencing at first hand too 

much of the finger prodding, inactivity 

or indifference. 

wedges of cash that were being 

thrust into our palms. Pity we had to 

hand it over to someone else, but it 

was an experience none the less. 

It was in the role of exhibitor that we 

attended the Sleaford Model Railway 

Club’s annual exhibition on 2nd June. 

Although only scheduled for a single 

day it was sufficiently local for us that 

the journey was neither difficult nor 

time consuming (30-minute drive). 

We arrived early at St. Georges 

Academy in Sleaford having negotiated 

a road closure into the site 

(courtesy of activity from the local fire 

brigade). The weather was extremely 

humid, precipitating a torrential 

downpour as we pulled up to unload. 

Fortunately the main unloading doors 

were covered with a sort of veranda 

which prevented an unnecessary 

soaking. We had co-opted Richard 

Brooks - a fellow Black Diamonds 

member - to assist and Richard was 

already there. Having located, and 

communicated with one of the club’s 

organisers, we determined where 

we needed to be in the exhibition 

hall and began setting up. Within 

the hour, we were good to go - trains 

were ready to run, and equally 

(more!) importantly we had found 

were the tea was dispensed, and the 

bacon sandwiches! 

As is usually the case we were the 

only representative of the North 

American scene (sometimes there 

may be two of us but it is unusual) 

- we were surrounded by British layouts 

of various gauges, and traders 

catering primarily for the British modeller. 

The public were admitted at 

10.00 am and it soon started to look 

like it was going to be one of the better 

exhibitions. There was a lot more 

questions from the public, some genuine 

real interest We were visited by 

a variety of people ranging from an 

We’ve done the trader bit, more in 

the role of assistant - just accepting 

Richard Brooks Honing his DCC skills - Padden Flatts at Sleaford RailEx 

2018 - Photo Martin Ford 


We tend to act as trainee recruitment 

officers if someone admits to being 

a closet American Railroader. We 

always take NMRA publicity material 

to hand out and encourage interested 

parties to seek out their nearest 

venue/Division and go along and see 

what it can offer them. We returned 

home with our stock of ‘promo’ material 

seriously depleted - an unusual 

yet pleasant change from the norm. 

Holding Up the Traffic - Padden Flatts - Photo Martin Ford 

American gentleman who felt quite at 

home when seeing a snapshot of the 

Midwest. It turned out that his interest 

was in continental modelling as he 

was in the midst of a massive project 

to recreate Berlin’s main terminal 

and surroundings. Later in the day 

an elderly ex-mariner from the coal 

freighters which sailed between the 

eastern seaboard of the US (N&W, 

C&O, B&O piers) and Japan in the 

50s was drawn to a large articulated 

steam engine slumbering on the team 

track lead. Although it was not the locomotive 

he thought it was (A, Y, H8, 

EM-1), a Big Boy never fails to draw 

the interest - they really did have a 

very good press officer, although they 

are not the largest steam locomotive 

in spite of statements to that effect. 

To clarify we operate a small switching 

layout set in the Midwest in 1967, 

power is usually GP20’s and/or 

SW7’s - occasional non-era specific 

locomotives have been known to 

make an appearance (Challengers, 

Big Boys, Turbines, U50’s and 

Centennials). These locomotives are 

not used operationally but do provide 

stimuli for conversions with the public. 

In summary it was a really good 

exhibition for a lot of reasons, mainly 

because of the visitor quality, but 

organisationally also. The Railway 

Society had an increased visitor total, 

had complimentary reviews and generally 

were well pleased with the day. 

Thanks to Richard for his assistance 

and to the organisers for giving us the 

opportunity to play trains. 

We’ll be at the Lichfield show later 

this year (15th September), Soar Valley 

in 2019 with other bookings to be 

confirmed if any fellow NMRA members 

want to come along and chat. 

Mike and Martin Ford 



Peter Bowen 

CN RS18m 3151 at the head end of the Tempo Train Service from Windsor to 

Toronto with assistance from CN RS18 3104. Photos by Andy Panko 

June 2018 marked the 50th anniversary 

of the introduction of 

the Tempo, a unique Canadian 

National (CN) passenger train 

that operated between Toronto, Windsor, 

Sarnia and Chicago. The Tempos 

consisted of a fleet of 25 lightweight 

streamlined railway coaches built by 

Hawker-Siddeley Canada in Thunder 

Bay Ontario for the Canadian National 

Railway in 1968. The cars were the 

centrepiece of a new set of intercity 

passenger trains in Southwestern 

Ontario. The fleet passed to Via Rail 

in 1978 and later saw use with the 

Ski Train, QIT-Fer et Titane, and the 

Algoma Central Railway. 

Hawker Siddeley Canada was the 

Canadian unit of the Hawker Siddeley 

Group of the United Kingdom and 

manufactured railcars, subway cars, 

streetcars, aircraft engines and ships 

from the 1960s to 1980s. 

Unlike most other passenger cars 

in North America from the time that 

looked like a Budd or Pullman design, 

the Tempo cars were quite unique in 

their appearance and construction 

that had aluminium body shells. 

Motive Power 

Canadian National rebuilt six Montreal 

Locomotive Works (MLW) RS-18m 

diesel locomotives in 1968 to have 

a top speed of 92 MPH and provide 

575V Head End Power (HEP) to haul 

the Tempo railcars. The locomotives 

were painted in a unique red-orange 

and grey livery. The Tempo cars 

were built to use Canadian National’s 

standard 550 volt HEP; in 1982-83 Via 

rebuilt them to use 480 volts. The cars 

rode on inside bearing trucks with outboard 

disc brakes, GO transit’s bilevel 

cars have a similar truck design and 

were built with modern electric power 

rather than the old-school steam heating 

seen on the iconic stainless steel 

streamliners of North America 

The original fleet consisted of five 

club/galley cars, five coach/cafe cars, 

and fifteen coaches. The club cars 

seated 39, the cafes 16 (in the coach 

section), and the coaches 80. In 1969 

Canadian National rebuilt one of the 

club cars into an 80-seat coach and 

another into a 52-seat coach/galley 

car. The seating in the club car was 

2×1, common for parlor cars. 

When the Canadian National reacquired 

part of the fleet in 2009 it 

refurbished the cars, replacing the 

windows, carpet, and seat upholstery. 

Service 

The Tempos entered service on the 

Canadian National Railway in mid- 

June 1968. Canadian National operated 

the Tempos as integrated trainsets. 


Routes served included Toronto–Windsor and Toronto– 

Sarnia. At the outset each set comprised a club/galley car, 

three coaches, and a coach/cafe. Travel time was four 

hours. The cafe/coach and the addition of luggage racks in 

the coaches allowed the elimination of dining and baggage 

cars. In 1971 Canadian National ran five daily “Tempo” 

trains: four to Windsor and one to Sarnia. Via Rail inherited 

the fleet and leased the RS-18s. By 1980 the Tempos were 

limited to the Windsor route. Via later placed the Tempos in 

service on the Chicago–Toronto International. These were 

pulled by LRC locomotives. 

remaining Via Tempo car, coach No. 370, was reported at 

the Toronto Maintenance Centre in 2000. After the closure 

of the Ski Train CN acquired its rolling stock for use on the 

Algoma Central Railway. 

Peter Bowen 

special thanks to Andy Panko for the photos 

CN Tempo logo by kind permission of Rapido Trains 

Via Rail stored the five cafe cars in 1986 after a regulatory 

change permitted it to serve alcohol in coaches. In 

1987 Via Rail included up to four Tempo coaches on the 

International. The cars ran between Toronto and Sarnia 

on Sundays only. The remainder of the fleet was stored. 

At the end of 1987 Via sold all but four of the cars. Four of 

the coaches went to QIT-Fer et Titane, which used them 

to shuttle workers. 17 cars, including the three remaining 

club/galleys, the coach/galley, the five coach/cafes, and 

eight coaches, went to the Ski Train in Denver. On the Ski 

Train they replaced 1915-vintage cars which had been 

sold to the Napa Valley Wine Train. Via withdrew its four 

remaining Tempos in 1990 because of budget cuts. 

QIT acquired three more coaches in 1998. The sole 


Faux Narrow Gauge Locomotives 

Jason Stamper 

Part 2 

Completed locomotives 12 and 9 

photos by Jason Stamper 

Headlight Modifications 

I was not happy with the stock 

headlights. They had clear lenses 

with square light tubes behind them 

and were not very bright at all. The 

boiler shells were already removed 

for painting but removal would have 

been necessary for this as well. I 

started by popping the stock lenses 

out with a knife. Next, I removed the 

stock light tubes. This took a bit of 

doing as they were clipped in well. 

I ended up breaking the light tubes 

into pieces. 

There are a few important notes 

here. First, make sure the light soldering 

does not contact the screws 

because they are part of the power 

pickup. Second, seal everything up 

with liquid electrical tape to prevent 

shorts. To replace the stock lenses I 

used MV Products lenses drilled out 

slightly in the back and glued them in 

with CA. Finally, I cut small fingernail 

shapes of thin sheet brass to fashion 

hoods for the headlights and glued 

them on with CA. I decided to only 

paint the top of the lens hood as the 

raw brass helps reflect the light. 

Detailing the 2-6-0 Mogul 

My plan for the Mogul was to loosely 

base it on the Colorado and Southern 

#9. All nitpicking aside, the wheel 

configuration was right, and although 

the prototype was a smaller loco it 

seemed close enough. 

I unscrewed the stock light boards 

and de-soldered the stock LEDs. 

Then soldered pre-wired micro LEDs 

with short leads to the light boards 

where the lighting wires came in. 

To put the lights back together, I fed 

the micro LEDs up through the holes 

the light tubes once occupied and 

carefully replaced the boiler castings. 

Finally I replaced the boiler front 

removed earlier. 

I bought some detail parts from 

Republic Locomotive works. The first 

part added was the snowplow. This 

detail part was actually N scale but 

designed to fit on an Nn3 locomotive. 

As a result it was a bit short on the 

bottom so I just cut a bit of the scrap 

off the etching sheet that the plow 

came on and glued it to the bottom of 

the plow. I airbrushed it flat black and 

added a support rod from the center 

of the plow to a hole drilled under the 

headlight. 


The next part added was the Ridgeway 

or “Bear Trap” cinder catcher 

that I had already airbrushed flat 

black. It took some fussing with to 

shape the down pipe to fit my loco, 

after which it was glued to the top of 

the stack with CA. This Nn3 part, like 

the plow was a bit short with the cinder 

pipe not going down far enough. 

I simply glued a piece of a toothpick 

to the front of the cylinders and painted 

it flat black to match. This is one 

of my favorite detail parts. 

After this I added mullions to the front 

cab windows which were cut out of 

a Grandt Line engine house window, 

painted red to match the existing cab 

window trim and then carefully glued 

in with CA. The last detail part added 

to the locomotive itself was some 

feed water pipes. This loco was a bit 

lacking on external piping details so I 

thought these would add to it. 

For the tender I added a small air 

tank and piping on the back like the 

C&S #9. This part too was airbrushed 

flat black before it was applied. I’ve 

always liked tender doghouses on 

narrow gauge locomotives, and 

although the C&S #9 did not have 

one, my brakemen were complaining 

so I gave in. This little doghouse was 

entirely scratch built from building kit 

scraps with a bit of wire for handrail 

details. It was painted flat black with 

acetone “glass” added in the windows. 

Now my brakemen can get 

out of the weather and stop complaining! 

Detailing the 4-6-0 Ten Wheeler 

I did not have a real prototype in 

mind for this locomotive so only a 

few details were added. I did decide 

to add a homemade spark arrestor 

much like those found on the 

Durango and Silverton’s locomotives. 

Some fine screen, which I also got 

from Republic Locomotive Works, 

was cut in a narrow strip test fitted 

to the circumference of the smoke 

stack and cut to length. I glued it 

together with a tiny bit of CA using 

reverse tweezers as a clamp. While 

that was setting, I cut a tiny circle of 

screen using a bamboo skewer as 

a guide. This was glued on the top 

of the mesh ring and then the whole 

thing was glued to the top of the 

stack. Next I cut another tiny strip of 

painter’s tape and wrapped it around 

the top of the stack to hide the joint 

between the screen and stack. 

Lettering and Re-lettering 

First I had to remove any factory 

lettering. Both USRA short tenders 

came lettered for Union Pacific. To 

remove the factory lettering I used 

a small piece of paper towel soaked 

in Micro Sol and brushed periodically 

to keep it moist. After about 5 

minutes I used an eraser to rub off 

the factory lettering. Custom decals 

were required since I had decided to 

do my own “faux narrow gauge” line. 

Through a Facebook connection, I 

found Russell at Red River Models. 

I designed a whole sheet of lettering 

for locomotives and rolling stock, and 

Russell printed them out. His work is 

outstanding so be sure to contact him 

if you need custom decals. I added 

my road name, Silver Creek Northern, 

to the Ten Wheeler’s tender and 

the number 12 to the back. On the 

locomotive, I added numbers to the 

cab, sand dome and headlight. I also 

added “SCN” in tiny letters to the 

bottom of the cab. While I did not use 

it as a prototype, Tweetsie Railroad’s 

(former ET&WNC) #12 was the inspiration 

for the Ten Wheeler’s number. 

Later 4-6-0 locomotives will follow 

the ET&WNC’s numbering scheme. 

Once the decals were applied I over 

sprayed the locomotives with Testor’s 

Dull Cote. 

Weathering 

I had actually been stressing about 

this quite a bit and finally decided 

to order Doc O’ Brien’s weathering 

powders from Micro Mark. These 

worked great and were easy to use. 

I added rust spots to fittings, streaking 

to the boiler and tender, sand/dirt 

to the running gear and tender trucks 

and other general grime. Then, I over 

sprayed it again with Testor’s Dull 

Cote. This really diminishes the color 

of the weathering powders but, the 

good news is, more weathering powders 

can by applied. When viewed up 

very close, the locos almost look over 

weathered but when standing back 

to a normal viewing distance, I think 

they look pretty good. Also, I forgot to 

mention that both locomotives got an 

engine crew from Woodland Scenics. 

Final Thoughts 

All in all, this was a great learning 

opportunity for me, and has given me 

the confidence to try other customizing 

projects. My little “faux narrow 

gauge” line is going to be quite a 

unique railroad. 

Jason Stamper 


JMRI Programming 

A step by step guide to DecoderPro 

Ian Watton 

Part 1 

Several months ago I hosted 

a meet of the Kent and East 

Sussex Group at my house, 

one of the items I had on 

show was programming DCC locos 

via JMRI DecoderPro. If you’ve not 

used this software I highly recommend 

it, not only is it free, but the capabilities 

far outweigh any dependency 

on handheld DCC system where 

programming is required. It really 

comes into its own when programming 

sound decoders, CVs (configurable 

variables used to control 

functions/operations in the decoder) 

which can stretch into the hundreds 

and combinations of which CVs are 

required for which sound/light combination, 

run into the thousands. So 

here is a guide on how to make the 

most of DecoderPro. 

JMRI DecoderPro can be downloaded 

from their website: http://jmri. 

sourceforge.net/ In order to program 

a DCC Decoder you will need an 

interface unit between your PC and 

your DCC System. The likely cost 

is £45 to £70 for those systems that 

don’t have a computer interface 

already, in the case of Digitrax, the 

LocoBuffer (£60) enables so much 

more than just programming and the 

NCE PowerPro, Digitrax DCS240, 

ESU Ecos, and many other systems 

have the computer interface 

in place already - so no cost at all. 

The SPROG Programmer (http:// 

www.sprog-dcc.co.uk/) currently £65 

comes complete with a power supply. 

This is the system I have - a SPROG 

IIv4 with JMRI version 4.12 on my 

PC. This version of JMRI will only 

run on Windows 7 and above, as it 

requires Java version 8 (a problem I 

found when hooking up an old laptop 

running Windows XP - it couldn’t 

cope!) 


So having installed the SPROG 

IIv4 and reading back the COM 

port it’s attached to (the install DVD 

explained everything), it’s time to 

start DecoderPro. The first screen is 

the Preferences which gets Decoder 

Pro talking to the DCC System. 

Follow the on-screen advice for 

System manufacturer and System 

connection, and press save when 

done. From the above image you can 

see the PC has detected SPROG 

as being connected to serial port 

COM3. Once saved, this information 

is retained each time you load up 

DecoderPro. Next it’s time to put a 

loco on the programming track and 

‘read’ the decoder’s information into 

DecoderPro. I have a dedicated test 

track for just this purpose, which is 

independent of my DCC layout (the 

benefit is that I cannot accidentally 

program any other locos at the 

same time), however you may not 

be as fortunate as me, and whatever 

setup works for you is fine. Put a loco 

on the track and we’re ready for the 

next step.

To add a new loco click on the ‘New 

Loco’ button, you’ll then be asked 

to select your decoder from the list, 

or to get DecoderPro to ‘read’ the 

decoder automatically. 

In this example DecoderPro has 

successfully read the loco’s decoder 

and returned the decoder’s manufacturer, 

type of decoder and loco’s 

address as currently programmed in 

the decoder. In this case the address 

is 716. We can change the Roster ID 

to something meaningful (I usually 

change it to the loco’s description 

and running number). It is possible 

to change the loco’s address on this 

screen so let’s do it! Enter a new 

number in “Active Address” then click 

on ‘Write’. 

save it to the decoder. With Lenz (the 

system I have on my layout) it takes 

at least 12 key presses on the handheld 

controller to achieve the same 

result. The same method in Decoder 

Pro is used to make complex changes. 

And we will look at that next. 

Click on ‘Open Comprehensive Programmer’, 

one of the tabs available 

(shown above) is the Function Map. 

This gives details of what function 

is attributed to which output wire or 

operation. What is a time consuming 

process with Lenz, becomes 

a doddle with JMRI. Everything is 

displayed on screen. The first step 

we need to do is ‘Read Full Sheet’ to 

see what is already programmed in 

the decoder. Having done this, the 

default positions on the sheet change 

from a yellow background to clear 

background and the ticks may move 

around. I have multiple output wires/ 

operations configured to function 1, 

2 and 6 (This loco has working ditch 

lights that flash for grade crossing 

simulation and there are dimming 

capabilities for all lights). 

In the example below I want to 

change the operation of functions 3 

and 4, so that F3 operates the Ditch 

lights and F4 operates the Dimming. 

For Function 3 click in the box 

to select Dim and deselect Ditch, and 

repeat this process for Function 4. 

DecoderPro changes the background 

of the changes made to yellow, so 

you can see 

which operations 

have change to 

be made. 

Now click ‘Write 

changes on sheet’ 

and wait until 

everything stops 

flashing on the 

screen. The loco 

may move too 

on the programming 

track whilst 

this is happening 

(It does at least 

show things are 

happening!). If 

any of the columns 

stay Red then the programming 

has been unsuccessful. However, 

in our example everything worked 

fine and the background returned to 

clear. 

As you can see the changes have 

been made with 5 clicks of the 

mouse and none of the stress of a 

proprietary DCC system! Placing the 

loco on the layout and selecting F3 

now switches the Ditch lights on and 

F4 Dims the headlights. 

When you write changes to the decoder 

all the boxes that can be written 

briefly turn red then flash yellow 

as the changes are accepted. If I put 

the loco on my layout now I would 

be able to run it as #455. As you can 

see we only needed 4 mouse clicks 

to change the running number and 

Ian Watton 

. . . In the next part of this series 

we’ll look at adding another loco to 

DecoderPro’s roster and programming 

a sound loco. 


BLACK DIAMONDS 

Meets: Saturdays all meetings at Kegworth 

Village Hall. DE74 2FH. from 9.30 to 4.00. 

The Hall will be open from 9am and help will 

be much appreciated with setting up and 

taking down. www.black-diamonds.org.uk 

Steve Dennison 07834 718651 stevedennison46@yahoo.com 

CALDER NORTHERN 

Meetings: 15th April, 19th May, 10th June 

14th July, 12th August, 15th September, 

7th October, 17th November,16th December 

(Christmas Meet) At “Crewe Heritage 

Centre”, Vernon Way, Crewe CW1 2DB. Terry 

Wynne: t_wynne@sky.com 

www.caldernorthern.org 

CENTRAL DIVISION 

Central (North): 

West Midlands, Staffordshire and Shropshire 

Steve Scott 07912 499430. 

Central (South): 

Northamptonshire and Warwickshire 

Brian Clark 01234 959326. 

A5 RAILROADERS 

“THE WATLING ROAD” 

(formerly Nene Valley Railroaders) Meet 

above Northants Model Supplies, Dunster 

Street, Northampton NN1 3JY every first, 

third, and fifth Thursdays of the month, 10am 

to 1pm. New members welcome. We have 

an operational end to end layout with a 

switching theme (HO DCC) and hold regular 

operating sessions on the second Sunday of 

even months from 10.30am onward. Geoff 

Ford, gt482284@yahoo.co.uk or tel 0208 951 

0198 

CYDER BELT 

THREE COUNTIES GROUP 

Hereford, Gloucester, Worcester 

Phone Rod Welch 01594 826400 or rod@ 

worcngauge.co.uk 

For exhibitions contact Gavin Fry. 

gavin@worcsngauge.co.uk or gavinfry@ 

btinternet.com 

EASTERN DIVISION 

Paul Purnell 01284 763701, before 9pm 

leave a message if necessary. 

pmjandlrr@talktalk.net 

THAMESIDERS 

Meets third Saturday of each month at Whitegates 

Farm, Frating, Essex CO7 7DG 10am 

to 5pm. HO and N scale modular layouts all 

welcome; free tea, cakes etc. Check with 

Geoffrey Smith-Gillard 01255 677482 or 

railroader48@gmail.com 

NORFOLK & SOUTHWESTERN GROUP 

Cambridgeshire, Norfolk & Suffolk: 

All enquiries contact Paul Purnell 

pmjandlrr@talktalk.net 01284763701 

NORTH EAST DIVISION 

Chris Hobbs, 8 Rosewood Close, Worksop, 

Notts S81 7RD tel 01909 479480 or 

07449938889 chrishobbs00@outlook.com 

Sheffield Area - No active group at this time. 

Contact Chris Hobbs. 

NORTHUMBRIA SUB DIVISION 

The clubrooms of the Blyth & Tyne MRS at 

Redpath House, 40 Saville St., N. Shields, 

NE30 1NT www.xclent.net John Wright 

0191 416 6280 

YORK 

We meet within the N Gauge Society Yorkshire 

area group, our American modelling 

is in N scale and freemo based. Full details 

about times and venue can be found here - 

http://www.tinyurl.com/ngsyag 

NORTHERN IRELAND 

Informal get-togethers on the 3rd Tuesday 

of each month, anyone interested please 

phone Desmond Browne 028 9042 5110 

browne151@btinternet.com 

RED DRAGONS (WALES) DIVISION 

At Conservative Club, Vere Street, Cadoxton, 

Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, CF63 2HU 

See Red Dragon page on Barry & Penarth 

MRC’s web site at www.bpmrc.org.uk 

SCOTLAND 

Meets at the premises of the Cupar Model 

Railway Club In Cupar Fife. 

SOUTHEASTERN DIVISION 

SEABOARD SOUTHERN GROUP 

Crawley, West Sussex Meetings every 

Friday evening between 18:30 and 22:30 

at Tilgate Park (near K2 Leisure Centre) 

and running sessions on Saturdays. We 

currently have an HO modular layout with 

members also interested in N, HOn3 and 

On30 contact Dan Spalding 07876 553211, 

secretary@seaboard-southern.org.uk www. 

seaboard-southern.org.uk 

SOUTH SHORE GROUP 

Weekly meetings, on Wednesdays at the 

Sompting Village Hall, in Sompting (just off 

the A27) between Worthing and Lancing. 

Meetings start 7.00 until 10.30. Tea and 

Coffee available. To confirm that a meeting 

is to take place www.southshore.org.uk or 

Nick Whitmarsh 01903206695 pamelawe@ 

sky.com 

KENT & EAST SUSSEX GROUP 

The Group meets at members’ homes on 

a regular basis to view and run members’ 

layouts and to hold clinics. Visit the Group’s 

page on the Region website at www.nmrabr. 

org.uk/divisions-groups/divisions-groups-list/ 

south-eastern-division/kent-east-sussex 

for up to date information on events, Mike 

Arnold 01892 459967 tunnelmotor@tiscali. 

co.uk 

SURREY GROUP 

This Group meets in members’ homes every 

two months or so to run members’ layouts, 

test out locos on a DCC programming track 

and just shoot the breeze. Please contact 

Stephen Black on 07768 516487 or e-mail 

him on: stephenblack2@mac.com. The 

meets are open to all NMRA members and 

others thinking of joining, including those in 

South and West London. 

SOUTHERN DIVISION 

HO BEARWOOD GROUP 

Monthly meets 8.30 am to 3.00 pm at the 

Bearwood Community Centre, King John 

Avenue, Bournemouth BH11 9TF. Visitors 

most welcome. Tea, coffee, biscuits available 

all day, and excellent fish and chips at lunchtime. 

If you are coming from afar, please 

phone to confirm dates. Tom Winlow 02380 

261971 tom.winlow@btinternet.com 

SW&N (SWANS) 

Stanwell, Windsor & Northolt 

This group currently has a membership of 

eight with active layouts, ranging from N to 

G - scale and we meet in members’ homes 

once a month, on rotation, to run trains and 

enjoy a meal together. Charles Hendy 01895 

637043 

GOSPORT GROUP 

(SOLENT SUB-DIVISION) 

The Group meets on the second Friday of 

each month at 7:30 pm. N Scale modular, 

HO, and On30 layouts. Running Meets eight 

times a year at St. Mary’s Parish Centre, 

Green Road, Alverstoke, Hants PO12 2ET 

NMRA Members welcome. 

www.freewebs.com/gosportrailroadgroup 

Bob Norris 07846 482190. gosportrailroadgroup@gmail.com 

THAMES VALLEY 

Meets every Monday at 7.30pm. Peter Smith 

petersmith1942@hotmail.com 01494 864833 

or Dave Fryer 01494 439755 

READING GROUP 

Mike Ingham 01189 872707 

michael@theinghams.com 

Robin Swan 01189 792448 

robin.swan@btinternet.com 

WESTERN UNION 

Meets: Saturdays HO-modular meets each 

month at 1st Crownhill Scout Group, Dayton 

Close, Plymouth PL6 5DX. Access from 

8am onwards. If you wish to take part in the 

operational and running side of things, you 

are required to be at the hall by 8.30am maximum, 

to lend a hand in carrying-in, erecting 

and wiring up (or other helpful stuff within 

your capabilities) and to remain to dismantle 

and pack the layout at the end of the day. 

Coffee & Tea provided. Mike Ruby 01752 

369068 mike_rby@yahoo.co.uk 

OTHER GROUPS WITH 

NMRA MEMBERS 

The WUT Group (Part Of North London 

SME) Legion Way, off Summers Lane, North 

Finchley, London N12 0QQ Meets every 

Wednesday evening. Contact Rai Fenton 

020 8529 7307 rjfen@raisig.demon.co.uk. 


ANNUAL REPORT 2018 

- DIVISION 12b – IRELAND 

Lots of activities provide interest and 

enjoyment at our regular monthly 

meetings at each other’s homes. 

Progress in developing our Layouts 

can be seen though some faster 

than others! Newest Member Mike 

Maguire (SP&S) has progressed 

well, his layout reflecting the tracks, 

jointly owned by the NP and GN. He 

hopes it will reflect the NW area of the 

US. Baseboards and most track now 

complete with areas of scenery progressing. 

Peter McVicar (UP/SP) also 

has track well progressed on his large 

permanent layout while still being our 

only member exhibiting a separate 

modular switching layout. This is scenically 

very full, with lots of figures and 

details in an industrial park. He has 

ideas to use it as a “peninsular” for 

the permanent layout. Derek Manson 

(BN) is still developing his rebuild. We 

have had a visit to Laurence Bindley’s 

layout at his new home. Now housed 

in a roomy garden shed, it has most 

Visit to Jeff Young’s D&RGW C&S 

HOn3 layout 

track in position with buildings saved 

from his previous layout carefully 

situated. Scenic progress at Victorville 

CA (ATSF/UP/SP) has stalled as I 

develop tracks on my S-scale layout 

loosely based on Phoenix AZ 1950, 

Jeff Young’s C&S/D&RGW progressing 

an H0n3 system building scenery 

as the track is developed. Raymond 

Hall (NYC) continues to build S-scale 

kits, helping me particularly with my 

HO buildings. Our other members, 

Norman Adamson and David Chambers 

continue to support our efforts 

and we all look forward to more enjoyment 

and modelling next year. 

Des Browne 

Layout Registry 

Jonathan Small is currently updating 

the Region’s list of members’ layouts 

available for exhibitions and displays. 

It was last updated in 2012-13. He 

will be contacting all those members 

currently on the list, to check that their 

information is correct and up to date. 

He invites all members with portable 

exhibition layouts built in the last few 

years, who would like to be added to 

the list, to get in touch with him at - 

jonathan.small57@gmail.com 

Important Achievement Program 

Information for the 2018 NMRABR 

Convention 

Due to work commitments, I’m not 

sure if I’m going to be available at 

Derby this year. If you intend to bring 

models for assessment, please send 

me your completed SOQ’s ASAP so 

that I can try and organise people to 

be available to assess your models. 

I will accept partially-completed 

forms immediately IF you have only 

just started the model but will have it 

completed by the convention. 

If you do not send me your SOQs 

in advance (as specified in the AP 

Rules) and inform me ahead of the 

convention, I cannot guarantee 

that there will be qualified assessors 

available to assess your work. 

Please read all the relevant parts on 

the website here: https://www.nmra. 

org/education/achievement-program 

to ensure you provide what is 

required to avoid disappointment. 

There are tips and tricks there too. 

You can find all the forms you need 

here: https://www.nmra.org/forms. 

DO NOT use the Contest Forms. 

Please remember that AP assessing 

is not like the contest – you are 

expected to be there to show the 

assessor around your model and 

answer questions. However, it is not 

a ‘show and tell’, you still need to 

provide all the supporting documentation 

and photos showing construction 

and conformity (how it conforms 

to prototype). I would also request 

you to scan and email me all of your 

completed forms and documentation, 

as I have to send this on to the USA 

(I’m also assessed that I’m doing my 

job properly and fairly!) 

If you have any questions – call me 

(between 17:00 – 19:30 preferred, 

phone number in the Directory). 

One final important reminder – The 

AP Chairman (Keith Webb) does not 

run the Contests. We do not currently 

have a Contest Chairman, so no 

contest unless advised otherwise by 

the BoD. 

Keith Webb 

American Model Railroading in HO 

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9 Miles from Heathrow Airport 

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Website Only Shows In Stock Items and Clearly Marked Advance Reservations 

Everything You Need To Go Model Railroading 

High Quality Pre-Owned Models 

Buildings 

Couplers/Trucks/Wheels 

Thousands Of Items In Stock 

Magazines 

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Our Yeovil Road shop is open Tuesday to Saturday 10.00am to 4.00pm. (Closed Bank Holidays), Shop open 5 days a week - Website 24/7 

916 Yeovil Road, Slough Trading Estate, Berkshire, SL1 4JG 

www.modeljunction.info 


KANSAS CITY 2018 NATIONAL CON- 

VENTION REPORT - Mike Arnold 

KC2018 was up there with the best I 

have attended, and the extras we put 

into our itinerary made it so special. 

But where to start? So two preliminaries 

– first, plan well and book the tours 

you want (they do sell out) and second, 

arrive in style. Four of us flew into Chicago, 

spent one whole day railfanning 

Dolton Junction, then took Amtrak’s 

Train #3, The South West Chief from 

Chicago’s Union station to Kansas City, 

a seven hour, 427 mile pleasure in itself, 

all for $58! The hotel was opposite 

Kansas City Union Station 

so views of trains were not 

difficult but we had much to 

do at the Convention itself. 

I gave a clinic on day one 

(“British Railway Modelling”), 

repeated on day five 

and others to listen to tours 

to go on etc. The trip to see 

Stephen Priest’s ATSF HO 

layout was a joy. Visits to 

see Mike McLain’s HO MKT 

layout and Jon Percy’s N 

scale Buffalo & Pittsburgh 

on the LDSIG layout tour 

day were brilliant - all 

quality modelling. Prototype 

tours were good too but 

with security being the way it is, access 

at yards was very limited but expected 

so we were not disappointed with that. 

The Train Show opened on the Friday 

at 9.00am for NMRA members only 

til noon. As they say in the advertisements 

– it’s a candy store! Wallets 

were hammered with items you do 

not see back at home, with discounts 

too. As a consequence all four of us 

had to attend Border Control in the red 

channel to declare our goodies on our 

return. There were also visits to local 

hobby stores and one not so local, 

Spring Creek Model Trains in Deshler 

At Mid-America Car (loco and car re-builders) of the Brits in the 

tour group L-R Mike Cox, Mike Arnold, Graham Charman, Dan 

Spalding, Dave Griffiths, Ian Lampkin photo by Dan Munson (our 

tour guide and also BNSF Yardmaster, BNSF Argentine Yard). 

NE. They were at the Tran Show but 

we just had to see the shop…. 

After the Convention closed we hit 

the road for a road trip through Kansas 

and Nebraska via North Platte’s 

Golden Spike Tower to Cheyenne, 

WY to visit the Big Boy program (no 

photos allowed) and Greeley, CO for 

the Colorado Model Railroad Museum, 

and then back to Chicago. We discovered 

some little gems along the way, 

purely by chance. The Rock Island 

may be long gone but its presence can 

still be found at the Depot Museum 

in Fairbury, NE and on the 

preserved passenger depot in 

Iowa City on IAIS. We were 

also spellbound by real operations 

and switching on the 

short line Nebraska, Kansas 

& Colorado Railroad east of 

Sterling, CO on what was a 

BNSF line. The switchman 

travels by pick up between 

each location rather the 60- 

plus car train reverse each 

time to pick him up! But then 

we had to come home…..well 

pleased with our purchases, 

our photos and our memories 

of places visited, old and new 

friends met, and meals and 

beer consumed. 

HO CODE 83 

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Featuring the impressive 

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Main photo - a scene on Lewis Junction modelled by Roger Epps. Photo: Neil Davis. 

THE TRACK SPECIALIST 

Find 83 LINE at your favourite model shop or visit www.peco-uk.com for more information 



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FIRST RUN PAINT SCHEMES INCLUDE: Alco Demo, Conrail blue, Conrail 

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Norfolk & Western (as delivered), Norfolk & Western (blue w/Hamburger logo), 

Pennsylvannia RR (as delivered), Penn Central (ex-PRR/ex-NH), Southern Pacific 

(Black Widow), Southern Pacific (Bloody Nose) & five undecorated versions. 

MSRP $225 (DC/Silent) and $335 (DC/DCC/Sound). Prices in USD. 

THE ORDER DEADLINE IS OCTOBER 15th, 2018 

DELIVERY EXPECTED IN MID-2019 

ORDER DEADLINE OCTOBER 15TH, 2018. DELIVERY IN MID-2019 

QUEBEC NORTH SHORE & LABRADOR IS A CONDITIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT. IF IT DOESN'T REACH OUR MINIMUM ORDER IT WON'T BE MADE. 

50 years of the Tempo. 

New from Rapido Trains Inc. 

Reserve yours by October 15th 2018. 

RAILS OF SHEFFIELD STOCKS RAPIDO! 

Visit railsofsheffield.com for more details 

rapidotrains.com 

RAPIDO SHIPS DIRECT TO THE UK! 

Order with confidence from rapidotrains.com 

• No VAT added • No duty or fees added • The quoted shipping cost 

is all you pay! • Items delivered in the UK using Parcelforce

NMRA RH October 2018

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