The Western ST A R February May 2012 2010 w w w . t e x a s w e s t e r n m r c . o r g arch 2010

The William’s Family Take Tour of Wil- The Texas Western Model Railroad

THIS month read about The Gulf Coast Limited Skully B. Underbridge In Member Profiles on page ...... 4-5 2012 Lone Star Region, NMRA Convention , Texas In This Issue

LMR 2012 Con...... 1 June 6 – 10, 2012 The President’s Car-...... 2 Photo of Month...... 3 Featuring: Member 4-5 Profile ...... The Train Schedule...... 6 Four days of modeling and prototype clinics. CDO Report ...... 7 Visit our Website for Clinic Titles and a brief outline of each! ...... 8 An Evening at the Park –Houston Area Live Steamers Track. East To West...... 9 Take a tour of HALS at www.HALS.org Guest Speaker Douglas Weiskopf –Author of Rails Around Houston. Birthdays...... 10 Doug will also give a full length clinic and have copies of the Book available. Self guided Layout Tours for approximately 20 area layouts. Visit our Website for a list of layouts and photos of each! Super Tour- Bus tour of six well-known area Layouts. Six of Houston’s best Scenicked railroads-See them on our Website! Tours of Port Terminal Railroad Yard and Maintenance Facility. Have a Suggestion Full Descriptions of the tours and links to PTRA webpage on our website! Or a Story Idea? Tour of Houston METRO Operation Center Contact: stareditor@ twmrc.org Model and Photo Contests –NMRA rules. Download the Contest Forms on Our website or LSR website! Non-Rail Clinics and Tours. Onsite Craft Clinics and Thursday Tour-Visit our Website.

Discount Registration ENDS May 2, 2012 Hotel Reservation must be in by May 24, 2012 for Convention Rates

Visit Our Website: www. Lonestarregion.com or www.Gulfcoastlimited.com

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From the President’s Car The STAR ( President’s Car Continued is published by The H on Page 7 ...... ) Texas Western Model Railroad Club & MYSTERY SOLVED: Thanks to all SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: The Texas Western our computer gurus, the great problem We will be having a special open Railroad Association, house from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on

on the main line was solved and, with A 501c Non-Profit the perfect words “It wasn’t the com- Saturday, May 12 for National Train Organization. Visit puter,” we now can operate on the main Day. We will also have a booth at our web site: www. line again. the T&P Station from 10:00 am until texaswesternmrc.org 2:00 pm to promote our club and For those of us who are not as gifted sell our cars. We will need plenty of when we are at the computer, it’s nice members to help at the station and to know we have all of those bits and at the club on this day. We will bytes people to help. Thanks! make formal plans during our busi- ness meeting on the third of May. Congratulations to J.T. Bailey who just Executive Board

received his second certificate from the NMRA. Keep up the good work. Fred Tucker President Glen Buie Chief Operations Officer Darrell Cowles Chief Development Officer Connie Stiles This is a good opportunity to help Chief Financial Officer

make the club more visible to the David Kranda - Chief public. At this time Mike Corley, J.T. Administrative Officer Bailey and Glen Buie will be going to the PRO TRAC convention. Have fun!!

Fred Tucker ( J. T. Bailey pictured above ) Texas Western President www.twmrc.org 3 May 2012 The STAR

Nominations Texas Western for 2011 Board of Directors: Monday Run Night PHOTO OF THE MONTH: MAY 2012

“COME OUT & RUN WITH US”.

Prospective member Hutch switches his A.T.S.F. engine in Jasper !

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Railroad. After climbing up to a section of track called New Car City, I began my tour of lower yards under the section of the Texas Western known as Fort Worth Yard, I decided

Prospective Member Profiles: Skully B. Underbridge

I got my first look at the Texas Western on a self-guided tour of the underside of the clubs benchwork about one year ago. It was fascin- ating to see all the parts of the layout most visitors overlook when visiting model railroad layouts. This layout really caught my attention and I found myself returning again and again ( Above Photo: Skully crosses the tracks in Ewok- each week for about one month. oni as rail inspectors clear their eyeglasses. Below: Skully attempts to Hobo aboard the Eagle ) On my second month visiting this model layout I wanted to see some operating trains so I let myself in, like all the other times by crawling thru a thin crack in the back doorway. As it turned out, since my watch had been lost recently, I didn’t know what time it was, and on this visit the club was closed for the night. So, I clumsily stumbled around in the dark, stopping first to grab a snack at the trash bin nearest the club refrigerator. A couple of sips of Diet Dr Pepper from a tossed soda can, a morsel of cheese from a left-over microwavable pizza, and a bite out of discarded snickers candy bar wrapper, and I decided to take a ride on the “Reading” to the nearest

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( Continued from Page 4...... )

I’d venture off to New Orleans on track 6.

I guess it all started back when I was grow- ing up in Forest Hill, in a nearby trailer park. My dad had a lionel train set he’d set up at Christmas. Oh, how I spent countless hours watching that steam locomotive go round and round and round and round.

I had heard stories from my cousin RatFink who had visited the Texas ( Photo Above: Skully inquires about a room for the night on the circus train ) Western Model RR Club three trail- ers to the West and thru the chain link fence. He told me that if I really wanted to model trains then he sug- gested that I learn from the Best this side of the Red River.

Ratatouille, the famous movie star, and little known model railroader once said in Model Railroads Magazine, that THIS was the layout to visit to learn the craft of H.O. scale model railroading. One of my goals now is to learn how to operate on this fine layout. I haven’t figured out how to get a DCC throttle yet, since I don’t have a job or a good plan on how to get to someplace called Hobby World, since I don’t drive a car. ( Photo Above: Skully hanging out with In fact, lately times have been a little Everyone’s favorite engine, Thomas ...... ) tough, and finding enough to eat is all the more difficult since the club has reinsti- All I know is that model railroading IS tuted the clean up crews and food is a FUN !!!! And I look forward to getting bit scarce to find, to say the least. I think voted IN soon!! I ‘ve lost a few pounds lately, though no one has mentioned it.

Skully B. Underbridge 6 May 2012 The STAR THE TRAIN SCHEDULE Upcoming Meetings, Events, Shows & Clinics MAY 2012 26th -Operations Night, 3rd - Texas Western MRC Saturday, 3p - 9p Regular Club Business Meet- ing: Thursday, 6807A Anglin Dr, ( Mike running on Monday Night ) 28th: - Open Run & Work Night: Ft.Worth. 7:30 - 9 PM Monday, 6 p - 9 p 5th- Happy Birthday 31st- Work & Run NIGHT: Darrell Cowles Thursday, 7:30 PM - 10 PM 5th - Second Part of Darrell’s History of Fort Worth. Sat. 7:30 pm JUNE 2012

7th - Open Run & Work Night: 7th: - Texas Western MRC Monday, 6 p - 9 p Regular Club Business Meet- ing: Thursday, 6807A Anglin Dr, 10th- WORK NIGHT: Thursday, Ft. Worth, 7:30 - 9 PM 7:30 PM - 10 PM

12th -SPECIAL EVENT: OPEN- HOUSE, 10 AM - 4 PM, FOR ( Kathy’s Magic Scenic Touch ) NATIONAL TRAIN DAY, & Operations Night, Saturday, 5p - 9p ?

14th - Open Run & Work Night: Monday, 6 p - 9 p.

17th - Work Night & Open Run Night, Thursday, 7:30 pm

19th -Operations Night, Saturday, 3p - 9p

21st - Open Run & Work Night: Monday, 6 p - 9 p.

24th- Work & Run NIGHT: Thursday, 7 PM - 10 PM

( Glen, Jay, & Jerry at the Wax ahachie Train Show ) 7 May 2012 The STAR

The CDO’s R.P.O. We will have the opportunity to help others understand While we work on our layout and trains, we railroad history even better by joining with the Texas are also participating in HISTORY. Rail Advocates for National Train Day on May 12th. Dave Kohler sent me a link to this event and I have contacted them to see if we could set up a table for our club as History (from Greek ἱiotopia - historia, ( Mike running on Monday Night ) well as hold Open House for a few hours that day. I meaning “inquiry, knowledge acquired think it will be an excellent opportunity to gain city- by investigation” is the discovery, col- wide exposure for our club and participate in a fun lection, organization, and presentation event too. We will be discussing this at the business of information about past events. (thanks meeting and will need some volunteers to greet visitors Wikipedia) for a few hours that day. We are still relatively orga- nized from the Williams reunion open house so it will Our modeling work is intertwined with the history not require a lot of work to get ready for this. The event of the railroads, history of certain industries, his- runs only one day, May 12th, from 10 AM till 2 PM; I have tory of certain towns, certain locomotives, and offered Open House from 10 AM till 4 PM so we are still even certain people. We do research to be “proto- free to operate that evening, if not during the Open typically” correct in how we build scenery, or por- House. This will be a fun new annual event that will tray scenes or dioramas and in the operation of the gain us more exposure with the public and railroad train layout as well. We have dedicated quite a lot fans alike! of effort, time, and money into depicting the 1950’s in the southwest and Fort Worth here at the Texas

Western so that our visitors will better understand the impact that railroads had on the lives of the peoples of this area. So…I am boring you, right? ( Kathy’s Magic Scenic Touch ) Right. But we also enjoy the history of it all, we have book collections and photographs to doc- ument what we are doing here; we make scale models that are historically correct. If you have been here at the club in November, you have real- ized that our visitors like to come see our club and most bring their friends and family. In fact, several ( photo above from National Train Day 2010 in Ft. Worth) have told us they have a tradition of coming to our

layout in November, a history you might say, of com- See you at the meeting, ing to our layout. So while we are portraying 1950’s history with our work, keep in mind we are making Thanks, 2012 history for others as well; cool huh? We want visitors to remember their visit and share it with others because they learned something special, or Darrell Cowles, got to see what Fort Worth looked like in the 1950’s, Chief Development Officer or even drive a steam engine. We showed them a little vision of the past, the history of railroads and Fort Worth, as well as what a great group of people we have here. ahachie Train Show ) 8 May 2012 The STAR Texas Passenger Trains of 1945-1959 The SAM HOUSTON ZEPHYR model train consist by James French

The Sam Houston Zephryr was first run in the state of Texas, train #3 and 4, October 1, 1936, between Ft. Worth--Houston. The train set was a Burling- ton shovelnose articulated Zephyr that used engine # 9901 and 9902. The original set lasted until Dec- ember 1, 1944 when engine # 9901 caught fire and burnt the complete train set up. No passengers were injured. This train set was the first diesel passenger operation in Texas. CB&Q then substituted E-5 #9909 and light weight equipment and used this arrange- ment until 1955.

This is the model train set that is featured on the TWMRC for the operating era of 1948. The car con- sist was baggage, coach, coach, observation-diner. Often a mail boxcar or RPO heavyweight was added when needed. After 1955 various E-5’s and train sets of lightweight and heavyweight coaches in different configurations were used. The Sam Houston Zephyr was discontinued January 27, 1966.

Next month will be the a train set that ran from Ft. Worth to Denver.

(Top: Shovelnose Zephyr. Above: Sam Houston Zephyr E-5’s Below: Sam Houston Consist.)

The Sam Houston Zephyr by James French 9 May 2012 The STAR

A through siding connects to Dilemma Stock Pens, Dilemma Tannery, and a team track on the east side and to

East To West Duffy’s Coal and Dilemma Fuel Supply on the west side. Passengers have been scarce these days, so passenger On The Texas Western service was temporarily suspended a few years ago. Howdy folks, The Fort Worth to Troublesome Turn This month we are heading west past (FWTR1T) freight train provides daily Tower 55 to Colorado. As we begin the service to Dilemma and switches the slow climb from Fort Worth, we’ll stop town’s five spots as needed. and explore Dilemma, home to cows, dogs, snakes, dried animal skins, coal, and assorted industries. You can’t miss Dilemma; it is situated beneath the tow- (er)ing curved cliffs of an unnamed mou- ntain (it used to be called Mary Kay Mountain when it was pink foam).

Dilemma is home to a water tower (fed from a local stock pond) and rural depot on the main. Steam engines should take- on water in Dilemma for the long dry run ahead. Well, that’s it folks. Next month we’ll explore Alamosa Junction, gateway to Alamosa, the narrow gauge division, and points west.

Happy Rails,

Mike Corley

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY - MAY 2012

Darrell Cowles 5/5 Clean UP Crew MAY 2012

FRED TUCKER KATHY TUCKER JONAS GRANT PAUL YORK

THE TEXAS WESTERN STAR

Texas Western Railway Association P.O. Box 1303, Kennedale, TX 76060 www.texaswesternmrc.org