Puget Sound September 2021 Railroading www.PSGRS.org Official Newsletter of the Puget Sound Garden Railway Society

Tuesday was a pleasant day with temperatures in the low 70’s but come Wednesday high 80’s and 90’s for the rest of the show. Our module layout is housed in the back of the hobby building “D”. There is no air conditioning and hav- ing to wear a mask I thought wow this is going to be un- bearable considering the show was from 10 AM to 9 PM. We had a full crew show up at 10 Wednesday morning and most stayed on when I arrived for my 2 o’clock shift. For some reason, I had one car on my train that kept derailing on the curve by the green house. David had the same expe- rience with one of his cars. Fortunately we had a track ex- pert Mike Phillips who found the problem; the rail jointers at two locations needed a slight adjust. Why that only affect- ed two cars and no one else’s trains – Murphy!

August host and hostess Bill & Kathy Thurston with some of Bill's dahlias. Photo by Mark Jennings On the Right Track Wrong Train Article and Photos by Chuck Carlson, President On the right track but wrong train; took off to Mount Vernon in the 5th wheel RV for the Skagit County Fair. For all the years the club has been displaying our module layout, this was the first time that Sharon and I have managed to Alex’s Green House attend all four days and take down on the 5th day. We actu- ally stayed at the KOA in Burlington Tuesday through Mon- day. Continued on next page. INSIDE THIS ISSUE

 A 2nd report on the Skagit Fair on pages 3-5.  Report on the August club meeting on pages 5- 9.  Steamup at Emerald Heights on page 10.  “View From the Club Car” on page 11.  “ So What Is It?” on page 11.  Map, directions, and description of the Emerald Heights railroad, site of September 18 club meeting, on page 12.  Club events schedule on page 13.  Other events of possible interest on page 14.  Local sources of G gauge stuff on page 15.  Contact info on page 15.

Page 1 Puget Sound Garden Railroading September 2021 Continued from previous page. Member turn out for running trains was great and a good number showed up Sunday for take down. (So many I can’t We continued to have full crews showing up Thursday, list them all) Friday & Saturday. I ran a Southern Pacific GP9 and U25B, The next module display is the Lynden Train Show Oct 2 at times each pulling eight triple dome multi oil company -3. Setup will be in the morning of Oct 1st and take down tank cars plus a work caboose. There was a variety trains will be after the show closes at 4 pm Sunday. Hope to see a including but not limited to; a Big Boy, Challenger, SD40, 4- lot of members there. After setup, Sharon and I will again 6-0, FA1 A-B-A, GP9, S-4. host the Friday evening BBQ at the Hidden Village RV Park party house. Keep ‘em running

Mark Howe’s GP9

Jerry’s passenger train

Norm’s train Continued on next page. September 2021 Puget Sound Garden Railroading Page 2 Continued from previous page.

More on the Modules the event. And Alex and all members of the module group have done an excellent job of adding well placed and good Article and photos by Bill Thurston looking accessories that add to the interest of seeing the It was a welcome sight to see the electric modules set up trains make their way around. for the public after more than a year of not being able to I did not see any railroad accidents. There was one curve have indoor events. I was not there for the setup on July that was causing problems with some cars. It was interesting 28th, but was advised that 15 or 16 members made short that Chuck Carlson and David Drake had long consists and work of it and had the modules all set up in about 2 hours. I only one car in each consist would derail at one point in the arrived Wednesday afternoon, August 11, the first day of curve. Mike Phillips was able to identify a rail joiner slightly the fair and several trains were running with fair patrons misaligned and made an adjustment that seemed to resolve looking on. the problem. Lots of speculation as to why it only affected Signs were posted requiring the wearing of masks and all one car in each of two consists. club members I saw were doing so at first. But with the Several club application forms were handed out during combination of heat, uncrowded space inside the modules, the short time I was there and assume more were during the and a very large building with all the large doors open for remainder of the fair. I talked with one guy who wanted an ventilation, several of us including myself, removed our application after he found out that we actually run trains masks except when meeting with fair patrons. outdoors – he thought we were a club that just had a large During my visit staffing was generally adequate with a indoor layout until we started talking. He had an indoor bit of shortage during the second day lunch period. I found layout and had always wanted to set up outdoors. He was it necessary to run my small rail truck just so we had more excited to hear most of us had outdoor layouts. Another than one piece of equipment running on the huge layout. It woman wondered if this was our club’s permanent layout is a terrific layout for showcasing the very long trains with where we held our meetings. That suggest that we may want big engines that many of our members are able to bring to Continued on next page. Page 3 Puget Sound Garden Railroading September 2021 Continued from previous page. to find a way to make it more obvious that we are indeed a “garden” railroad club and not just an indoor HO club on steroids! Maybe a large screen with continuous videos of trains running on our outdoor layouts? Apparently not eve- ryone reads our banner, or doesn’t really know what it means if they do read it. Now I am looking forward to the Lynden Train show in Oct. I have not been to that show before, but am hoping to make it this year. All I talk with say it is a good one. Hope to see you there. Alex Osenbach’s mixed freight with several cars covered with graffiti was a big hit with the kids.

Rae Mitchell's logging train passes by a green house that adds interest to the layout.

Terry Lattin puts a railroad pin on a potential new member while another (below) looks quite interested.

Chuck Carlson’s tank car train with the prominent club sign in the background. Not all fair patrons saw it!

More photos on next page.

September 2021 Puget Sound Garden Railroading Page 4 Continued from previous page.

Mike Phillips’ consolidation pulls a mixed freight load. The staging yards are enormous on the new modules. And it was easy to maintain social distancing within the module boundaries while I was there.

Rae Mitchell’s unique salt train (or did he say it was Mary’s train ?)

Bud Harrington ran one of the few passenger trains I saw.

More photos taken by members can be found on the club’s Facebook page and the GRnews page.

Page 5 Puget Sound Garden Railroading September 2021 August 21, 2021 Club Meeting By Jack Kowitt, Secretary All photos by Mark Jennings The August 2021 meeting of the PSGRS was held at the home and railroad of Bill and Kathy Thurston in Gig Har- bor, WA. It was a potluck, again. Bill had requested that we wear masks when appropriate and only vaccinated members attend as there might be small children present. Bill and Kathy have hosted several times before, but it is always in- teresting to both run trains on his classic setup and see what he has added between each visit. As Bill explained after Chuck opened the meeting and asked him to say a few words on the railroad, the railroad has grown through the years, first track having been put in place in 2001. Track is varied (“whatever I found on sale!”), A beautiful summer day and a beautiful yard. A fine time the buildings are mostly scratch built and there are for the club ladies to take it easy. L to R : Bev Melrose, features and animation galore. It is a true master class in Gale Baullinger, Sharon Carlson, Rosemary Zook, and “how to.” To an observer, one can stand and wonder if Kathy Thurston anything is running one moment and be surrounded by trains coming from everywhere the next due to the size and landscape, both natural and built. Even the native enjoys the railroad as proved by deer tracks to be seen here and there! Bill also followed a wise adage by inviting his neighbors a bit later in the afternoon to join us. The adage, to paraphrase, is that if you invite them, they can’t complain about the cars or the noise! We weren’t that noisy, but we did fill the street with our transportation! Though there were no new members at the meeting, there were some friends we hadn’t seen in a while - Don Rose and Don and Patsy Harris. Mark Howe has put out a notice that we have a new member (Lloyd Hartstock) from the meeting at the church. Alan Melrose gave the treasurer’s report. We are com- fortably in the black. Our transfer from Wells Fargo is now Norm Baullinger and Alan Melrose take lunch seriously. complete Alan has been reviewing our insurance and has found that our basic coverage, structured on a per member basis is set to 210 members, or almost 90 more than our current membership. He also discovered that we ae under- insured on the layout by almost half again. (This time the wrong way.) As our insurance year is up 9/30 Alan will cor- rect the coverages in the renewal. The Secretary had no report, but did announce some books, a picture and puzzle are on the sales table for best offer as a contribution to the club. Alex Osenbach was not at the meeting, so Chuck gave a brief report. We had a great turnout at the Skagit County Fair with plenty of members running trains and there for set up and take down. Two ideas, well, one idea and one action, came from the fair. First, arising from a compliment from Sharon Carlson, the idea is to have chairs for members watching the layout from the corners, perhaps tall “directors” chairs. Crowd proximity to the layout even with our chains can create inadvertent, or advertent, damage or Jack Kowitt looking very relaxed. loss to equipment and scenery.

Continued on next page.

September 2021 Puget Sound Garden Railroading Page 6 Continued from previous page. During discussion Tom Briggs showed the club a book describing three engines a member had for sale including a The Board will discuss if we get chairs, what kind and UP Hudson, an A-B-A Santa Fe Alco PB and PB setup sand how to store and transport them. The action arising from as 4-4-0 old timer. The Hudson went almost before he was the fair will be new signs for the club’s name and a direction finished speaking. He also showed new club hats available sign to guide visitors at our venues. This will replace the to members (see box below.) He also plugged the last operating sign that has served us for many years but is aging just like us session at his house next month the day before the Emerald all. Heights meeting suggesting that members could stay there in The next event is in Linden with set up on October 1st. Redmond overnight and be close to the meeting. More details will be forthcoming, but we do have a block of Also, there was discussion about arrival times for set up rooms at the Belmont Inn for those interested. and take down. The basic message was to arrive appropri- Mike Phillips gave an update on our website with some ately. While some members voluntarily arrive much earlier good news. Work on the front end is complete and is now and do considerable work, especially on take down, the dan- available on the site. The backend (newsletters, membership, ger is members will rely on them and stop coming them- etc.) is still under construction. Mike is also planning im- selves. Best action is show up a half hour or so early to be provements in site security that has been a problem recently. ready when the trailer shows up. He is considering member registration so each will have a Chris reminded the attendees of the 2nd Saturday steam password vs. a single password we had in the past. In this ups at his house and at various other time at others. matter security is in the hands of each member and can be Next meeting Emerald Heights. Joe Sommer spoke of it. revoked upon leaving the club or for dues delinquency. The layout there at Emerald Heights is probably the only Bill Thurston thanked contributors to the newsletter garden railroad in a senior facility in the US. Considerations There were no SIG reports or Show ‘n Tell. for the meeting is masks for everyone. As we won’t be al- lowed in their dining room, there will be a cabana set up for our potluck and meeting. It is also important to note that ONLY VACCINATED members will be permitted at the meeting.

Left - the fire watchtower has a view of the forest, the town of Sunny Bay and visitors to the town.

The Sunny Bay daily freight winds its way past Burma Shave signs. Karla Benson Don's Group Attire To order hats: sales associate 425-503-9144 cell 425-961-0130 hm office The Matt Craft Boat works [email protected] train passes the Big Bear Brew- ery. Continued on next page.

Page 7 Puget Sound Garden Railroading September 2021 Continued from previous page.

Paul Severud chats with Mike Phillips. A biplane buzzes the Sunny Bay hotel.

Jeff Forde’s boys Aedan and Quinlan were interested in the water wheel and what it was good for.

Don and Patty Harris having a cutting edge discussion.

Continued on next page.

Alice Vdolek and Ron Cole.

September 2021 Puget Sound Garden Railroading Page 8 Continued from previous page.

The log flume sending logs into the log at the second The Big Bear Brewery with a mural on the wall by Kathy lumber mill. and papa bear in front.

Ed. Note: As usual for these club meetings, the potluck was a highlight. And a particular favorite dish that several people commented on was the carrot cake Gale Baullinger brought . Gale graciously offered to share her recipe:

CARROT CAKE Add dry ingredients. I just use the mixer on low setting to mix all together. By Gale Baullinger Bake at 350 for 35-40 min in greased floured 9 x 13 pan. Ingredients: Can make layers too.  2 1/3 c flour  2 t soda CREAM CHEESE FROSTING  1 t baking powder  ½ t salt You can use any frosting you wish but cream cheese is tradi-  2 t cinnamon -optional; I usually don’t use it tional.  3 eggs, well beaten Ingredients:  ¾ c vegetable oil  8 oz. block creamed cheese; (do not use low fat ver-  ¾ c buttermilk sion)  2 c sugar  1 stick butter  2 t vanilla  3 c powdered sugar  1-8 oz crushed pineapple drained  1 t vanilla  2 c grated carrots Have all ingredients at room temperature.  1 c chopped nuts Beat well – really can’t beat too long.  1/3 c coconut ENJOY Combine eggs, oil, buttermilk, sugar and vanilla; beat until smooth. Stir in pineapple, carrots, coconut and nuts.

Page 9 Puget Sound Garden Railroading September 2021 Steamers Visit Emerald Heights John Bigelow brought an English stationary steam en- Article by Joe Sommer gine (photo below by Ron Cole) powered by the world’s oldest On Saturday, August 7 PSGRS steamers Ron Cole, his heat tabs! The moving locos all depended on butane as a friend Tim Lake, Jim Montgomery, and John Bigelow visited source. the Emerald Heights Garden Railroad club and a good time was had by all! EHGRC engineers and gardeners Stationary steam engine. turned out in force to make this event a rousing success. Mac Photo by Ron Cole. Trunkey, David Graves and I were on-scene early to ensure everything was ready for our PSGRS guests: reserved parking signs were set out, directional signs within the building, etc. Earlier preparations by many people had made the layout steam friendly. The steamers brought with them a variety of mo- bile and static machines. An initial free-run switcher had no difficulty negotiating our gentle grades. In fact the biggest challenge was slowing it down so it would not fly off the tracks on sharp corners. A judicious load of rocks in the train’s gondola did the trick: thereafter all its runs stayed on the track!

Loading rocks on the gondola Photo by Mike McCannel

One of the steamers brought a beautiful twin articulated scale model of a Southern Pacific passenger loco. It was op- erating at high speed and going nowhere on a display stand. The rig was way too long to navigate our sharper curves!

Running a “Ruby.” Photo by Jim Montgomery We had large groups of EH residents and their guests present throughout the entire three hour show. Best of all, the Cookie Monster (Sponsored by EH Marketing) was successful in dispensing all its wares. And the predicted never materialized!

SP passenger loco. Photo by Ron Cole.

September 2021 Puget Sound Garden Railroading Page 10 View from the Club Car articles and accounting of the multitudes of club meetings that he has attended. He always has a funny story about By Mark Howe, Membership Chair some part of the meeting. Another Skagit Fair has passed and it was great, however Marie and I had the pleasure of visiting Mark and Rose- I am sure Alex will tell you all about it. ( Ed. Note: See pages 1- mary a couple months ago at his home in Wenatchee to help 7 for articles on the Fair) him with a battery problem and to see his present layout. I want to mention another great member of our wonder- What amazed me was the great condition of his railroad ful little club, Mark Jennings. Mark has been with the club equipment. longer than I can remember. He has always had some beau- Mark has been reducing the size of his rolling stock in- tiful equipment running on his and other’s railroads while at ventory. In that regard, Mark has given me a number of open houses, including my little railroad at my open house a cars and a couple of RC Engines to sell. I told Mark that I few years ago. Mark has also run many of his trains on the would sell his equipment and give him the proceeds. He club’s modules. I remember attending Mark’s open house in said no, he wants all proceeds to go to the club treasury. So Cle Elum a few years back; trains were running between his far we have gotten $255. Anyone interested can call or shop and his yard. email me and I will get you a list of what is left. Mark’s writing is great and he has given us all some great

Here is this month’s “So What is it?” So What is it? By Ed Mattison Last month’s ‘So What Is It?’ is a whistle sign. This met- al version is mounted on a post a predetermined distance from a crossing. This let the engineer know a road crossing was coming up and that he needed to blow a grade crossing signal. Congratulations to Jack Kowitt for getting the correct answer.

Page 11 Puget Sound Garden Railroading September 2021 Directions and map to the club meeting are on this page in the members version of the newslet- ter. Guests are welcome. Please contact us at Info.psgrs.org for an invitation or more infor- mation.

September 2021 Puget Sound Garden Railroading Page 12 Club Special Interest Groups (SIGs) and Regularly Scheduled Events Some activities, including the Briggs operating sessions, will/have resumed.

Big Liars Club South Sound Liars Club Modules SIG Meets the 4th Thursday of each Meets for breakfast different times, plac- Constructs and displays the club modular month at 9:30 AM at Redmond Fami- es, and dates based on who calls for a layout at various shows throughout the re- ly Pancake House 17621 Redmond meeting. Sometimes includes running gion. No set schedule, but shows are publi- Way, Redmond for breakfast and friend- trains after breakfast. Notices typically cized well in advance. Contact Alex Osen- ship. Contact Beth MacLaren at sent to all club members who have email bach (206-369-2446) to join. [email protected] for more addresses. Contact Chuck Carlson at information. 253-927-7062 for more information. Boating SIG For PSGRS members who are also interested Little Liars Club Wind Up Train SIG in model boats. Meets the 1st Sunday after Meets at 9:30 AM the 1st, 3rd and 5th Jim Montgomery is hosting a monthly the 1st Thursday of each month at the Belle- Thursday of each month at Ikea, 600 SW wind up, or clockwork, train meet at his vue park just south of Bellevue Square mall. 41st St, Renton for breakfast and friend- house on the first Saturday of each Call Dave White at (425-269-9277) for further ship. Contact (TBD) for more information month at 1:00 PM until dark. Bring your information. vintage windups and have fun! Call Jim West Sound Liars Club at 206-783-0829 for more information. Operations SIG - Briggs Meets at 9:30 the 2nd Thursday of each Second Friday of each month starting in May month at the Family Pancake House, SIG and ending in September from 2:00 PM until 3900 Kitsap Way, Bremerton for break- The Live Steamers meet on the 2nd 9:00 PM at Tom and Judy Briggs’ home. Bat- fast and friendship. Contact Bill Thurston Saturday of every month at Chris John- tery powered engines available for visitors to at [email protected] for more in- son’s. We also meet at a member's use. Call Tom at 425 885 3894 for more infor- formation. home as shown in the steam-up sched- mation. (Goodson’s on next page ) ule. Contact John Bigelow (206-284- Tall Tales Club 5038) or Peter Comley (253-862-6748) Meets at 9:00 AM on the 1st Thursday at for further information. the Buzz Inn, 9900 Airport Way, at Har- vey Air Field in Snohomish. For more information contact Mark Howe at psgr- [email protected] (a change in sched- ule from last month) Date Time EventSchedules and StopsPlace Comments Sept 11 Noon to 4 PM Club meeting Joe Sommer and Jim Easley, Emerald Note second Saturday rather than Heights, Redmond usual 3rd Saturday

Oct 2-3 Lynden Train Show Lynden Scheduled. See note below*

Dec 18 10 AM - 2 PM Christmas Party Elks Club, Lynnwood Recently added to calendar. Details in future issues of NL*

*Glenn Shadduck has developed a preliminary schedule for the Christmas party.

 10:00 setup and silent auction begins. We’ll add to the silent auction as items arrive and set aside anything worthy of an oral auction.  11:00 Pot luck.  12:00 - 1:00 Oral auction  1:15 cleanup and leave by 2.  members should be looking for auction items and remember this a club fundraiser, and not a rummage sale.

More details will be in future newsletters

Page 13 Puget Sound Garden Railroading September 2021 Other events of possible interest to club members* * If you know of a railroading event that you would like to see posted here in the future, please send it to me ([email protected]) .

Date Event Website

Third Friday afternoon and evening Operation sessions @ Goodson’s Please call Dave(425 823 3507) for details and invi- of each month. (Briggs info on SIGs page) tation.

Sept 10-12, 2021 Spokane, Portland & Seattle Rail- https://www.spshs.org/ way Historical Society Albany, OR Sept 21-25,2021 Northern Pacific Historical Asso- https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/43058 ciation convention. Missoula, MT Now - Oct. 2021 NMRA sponsored events in the http://pnr.nmra.org/ northwest. Oct 8-10, 2021 Debut of Nevada Northern 2-8-0 https://nnry.com/ steam locomotive No. 81 in special excursion service. June 20-25, 2022 National Garden Railway Conven- https://ngrc2022.org/ tion: Denver Sept. 2022 National Narrow Gauge Conven- Early alert regarding location of 2022 convention. tion. Tacoma Details will be in future NL issues July 3-9, 2023 National Garden Railway Conven- https://ngrc2023.com/ tion: Bay Area

The Sunny Bay Railroad gets its first visitor (barely visible behind the switch light) for the August 21 club meeting. Photo by Bill Thurston.

September 2021 Puget Sound Garden Railroading Page 14 Local Sources for Garden Railroading Stuff*

What Who Contact Info Recommended By Track, switches, trains Sunset Valley, Bonny https://www.sunsetvalleyrailroad.com/ Bill Thurston and more Lake Ballast, rock, water Walraths, Gig Harbor https://tewalrath.com/landscape- Bill Thurston features, landscaping supply/gig-harbor-wa-landscape- materials supply/ Bridge topping for bal- Manufacturers Mineral http://manminco.com/ Alex Osenbach last 1215 Monster Rd SW Renton, WA 98055 NW flower show, Se- https://gardenshow.com/ Bill Thurston attle Plants Brothers , https://www.brothersgreenhouses.com/ Bill Thurston Port Orchard. Small ground cover and Molbaks, Woodinville https://www.molbaks.com/ Beth MacLaren evergreens Plants Sky Nursery, Shore- https://skynursery.com/ Beth MacLaren line Plants Swansons Nursery, https://www.swansonsnursery.com/ Beth MacLaren Seattle Small Plants Tsugawa Nursery, http://www.tsugawanursery.com/ Gale Baullinger Woodland Chuck Carlson

 If you have local sources you would like to recommend, send them to me (thurston,[email protected]) and I will add them to the chart Bill Thurston, editor.

Please contact the club at [email protected] if you have any questions about the club or newsletter.

Quote and copyright notice: Permission is granted to other garden railway socie- ties to quote or reprint any non-copyrighted articles or information originating in this publication. Please credit the author and PSGRS when doing so.

September 2021