Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club · 2013. 4. 30. · Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club WFRM - 3 - March - May 2013 The dining car looks to be well booked for the month of May, so

www.ecgrc.com - 1 - March - May 2013

March – April – May 2013 www.ECGRC.com Vol 2013-2

Spring Blooms Ahead!

Well, Folks, Spring is exploding all around us. Trees are budding and pollinating. Notice the

yellow pine dust on your cars? And the bushes are getting colorful with tiny little flowers. Bees are a buzzing, including those big, fat, black ones at the Jordan Lot. Hit one of those and you know it. And weeds are growing at a rate you would only expect on some sort of sci-fi movie. Think those weeds grow an inch every time I turn my head away. More flowers, less thorns!

Page Contents

1 Spring Blooms Ahead

2 President’s Message

3 NMRA / SER Grant, Big Bend Train Show

4 Officer Elections

5-6 Storage Building, Third Rail Car

7 Heavy Duty Rail Car

8 Rock Piles

9 Scuttlebutt

10 Theatre at Depot, Lumberjack Conclave, Scratch Ankle Festival

11 Santa Rosa Fair

12-13 Spring Swap Meet

14 Bagdad Festival, Events

15 Final Departures, Jim Campbell Estate

16-17 Estate Planning, Lost Gnome Violet

18 Health & Welfare, Birthdays & Anniversaries

19 National Train Day

Things have been blossoming at the Jordan Lot, too. The new Storage Building has popped up thanks to the RR Museum's financial support and horse trading, plus lots and lots of work by folks

in the ECGRC Club and the Museum and from outside the Museum. That work included Art Tuttle taking

a nasty fall which injured his hip very painfully. Art reports that we got a building for about one-third what a regular commercial building would have cost us. And it has lots of storage, which is quickly getting filled up with Road Show materials, track, dioramas, buildings, rugs, tents,

Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club

Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club WFRM


and a few zillion trains. Anybody got a big shoehorn?

One corner in the new Storage Building

Several tons of gravel have been spread around the Jordan Lot. And even many more tons have been spread over the Depot Courtyard grounds. The rocks arrived right after a series of heavy and very wet rain storms and the arrival of the Dream Players theater group using the Depot for their Mystery Murder Dinner Theater.

Soggy Bottom at the Depot, bring your hip

waders

All that soggy ground, and in some places deep mud, drove home the need for rock and lots of rock. Took four trips by a dump truck to pile up tons and tons of rocks. Oh, my aching back...and legs...and arms. Bengay! Advil! Bed!

Two Loads of rocks arrived. Now Do What?!?

From a horticultural perspective, expect to see some new plants at the Jordan Lot. No announcement yet. Let it be a surprise. And, see how observant folks can be.

President's Message Jack Grill: Unless you have been running your trains in a cave you are already aware of the two big events in the club's life these past couple of months. The most time consuming was the Santa Rosa County Fair. We gave a great performance. Elsewhere in this newsletter I'm sure you will find a host of pictures showing our award winning layout. Many thanks go to Ed Dice for spearheading the effort. He put a lot of time in. Frank Paine, Paul Weston, Bill Carrington and yours truly are proud to have been part of it, too.

The other event of significance was the election of officers for the next term beginning 1 May. We have a new secretary, Ian Sinclair and new publicity chair, Ed D. Paul W. is still treasurer and I am still president. We ran, but apparently not fast enough. At the same time we approved an amendment to the by-laws that changes the dues renewal date to January to be in line with the museum. When a member's renewal date comes up the treasurer will notify him how to proceed.



The dining car looks to be well booked for the month of May, so we should expect to be giving lots of birthday train rides. Hey, and maybe Andy will come back, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Jack

NMRA/SER Grant The National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) / SouthEast Region (SER) gave the West Florida Railroad Museum a grant of $2,100 to be used on the new floor in the Dining Car. As many of you have noticed, that flooring in the Dining Car has seen a very hard life and is showing it.

Dining Car floor wear, Kitchen area

Since the Dining Car is the main revenue generator for the RR Museum now, it is critical to update the facilities. Art is currently searching for various types of flooring material and making arrangements. So expect some great changes in the Dining Car soon.

Dining Car floor wear, West end

Also, as long as we are changing one thing, why not another or two or three. More changes in the Dining Car are being planned, hoped for, and scoped out. Things on the menu are upgrades to the tables so they are much more attractive, new upholstery for the chairs, new kitchen appliances, and better kitchen cabinets. This is in addition to the on-going work to change out the gas hot water heater for an electric hot water tank, thus eliminating the propane gas tank piping into the Dining Car.

All of these changes and upgrades will make the Dining Car much more attractive and useful for not only birthday parties but adult social functions, like the Dinner Theater.

Big Bend Train Show A good train show on 15 June, Saturday. Lots of dealers, lots of swapping and bartering, lots of trains. Free parking. Only $5 admission. At Tallahassee fair grounds. See www.bbmra.org for details on the show.



Officer Elections

The April monthly Club meeting on 20 April at 3 PM resulted in the officers set for the next term of 1 May 2013 through 30 April 2014.

President Jack Grill

Secretary Ian Sinclair

Treasurer Paul Weston

Publicity Ed Dice

Former president Keith Rapley


www.ecgrc.com ‐ 5 ‐ March ‐ May 2013

Storage Building ‐ Unbudgeted Costs

The Jordan Lot Storage Building had unbudgeted and unexpected costs.

The biggest was Art's fall from a ladder while working on a portion of the roof. Although it was not a full 15' fall from the roof, it still was significant and complicated by his tool belt with tools getting in the way. Fortunately, Art healed quickly and was up and around in short order. Today, Art can walk around without any limp or lasting complications. Wonder if he can predict the weather better?

Art's accident put the "Do not reach too far!" mantra in everyone's head as they continued to work on the Storage Building. Especially, when it came to putting down the heavy shingles on top of the roof. That was a job and a

half. That roof work resulted in a very tired crew, some sore knees and backs and legs. Plus the crew endured a few scrapes. Again,

unbudgeted and unplanned costs. No Advil in the budget. Dang!

Yet further work inside resulted in more work‐related pains as we got the insulation in and up while dodging pointed nails, plywood walls nailed up, and then lots and lots of paint rolled and sprayed. Once the paint dried enough, the wire shelving got installed and hung. Lights were re‐installed and caged so a cargo tub or someone's head did not break a very long 8' light bulb. That light fixture has sharp edges. Ouch! Finally, the floor got painted its current grey color with a paint rolling crew.

Emptying the Third Rail Car and storing all of the Road Show material into the shelves took another couple of days and lots of helping hands. The shelves filled up quickly with lots of room left for Club members' trains.

Much thanks to everyone that pitched in and helped with all of the Storage Building work. It was a TEAM effort done by many folks in the G Club, RR Museum, and the community. THANKS, EVERYONE!!!

Third Rail Car The biggest thing (in more ways than one) at the RR Museum was the final departure of the Third Rail Car from the campus of the West Florida Railroad Museum on 15 March 2013. That rail car was used by the RR Museum as an exhibit car for a number of years, but it deteriorated to a point that the public could not be allowed inside. Then it became storage for the RR Museum. And thus, the ECGRC also used it for storing the road show materials. As time went on, the RR Museum Board decided that either they had to maintain the rail car and open it to the public, or dispose of it. Restoring the rail car for public access would have been very expensive because of all the work needed inside and out.

The Fourth Rail Car was salvaged earlier since it was too badly deteriorated by rust and its past life as a generator car for the CSX work train. That Fourth Rail Car had a very hard life. Sanborn Construction did the salvage work with lots of hard work over several days. Eventually, some of the car pieces went to the local landfill and other parts were recycled for the scrap metal value. But that Fourth Rail Car did not go without a fight. It gave the workers fits and hassles including a bent up forklift front loader that ended up looking like a pretzel.

Adventures Unlimited wanted the Third Rail Car to use for two train themed rental cottages at the campgrounds north of Milton. And so, the RR Museum Board came to an agreement with Adventures Unlimited and, after many months, the movement work started on 11 March. A house moving company was selected by Sanborn Construction to do the actual move of the Third Rail Car. And they had some neat toys. But before it could be moved, a lot of work emptying the car of stored items and railroad artifacts had to be done.



George Wilson removing one of the many

railroad artifacts

George Wilson, Tom Augustine and some others carefully extracted the artifacts, inventoried, photographed and packed everything up. Then the displays cases were removed and placed into the RR Museum for display use there. The big glass panes were also removed and safely stored for later use, we hope. It was a lot of hard and sometimes heavy work by lots of people. Thanks, Guys.

Art Tuttle reported on 12 March, "... that 2715 rolled on her own for about 25 feet pulled only by a small front end loader on Monday. She wanted us to put her back on the mainline."

On Tuesday, 12 March, the trucks were off of the rail car and subsequently moved via low‐boy trailer up to Adventures Unlimited.

Rail Car lifted just a little bit - pic by Paul Weston

Museum Quality Assurance Team in place and

observing - pic by Paul Weston

CSX Mainline Track Work at same time; lots of

railroad activity - pic by Paul Weston

Rail Car on its rubber-wheeled bogies - pic by Paul Weston

On Thursday, the rail car was slowly moved away from the display track and up onto Filmore St. behind the Bridge Tender's Building. It was impressive and not without some tension and concern. But all went smoothly and ready for the big move.



Rail Car on Filmore ready for its journey cross-

country

Finally, on Friday, 15 March, the house mover guys had things in place and almost ready. Except there was a hitch in the route planned over the county roads and concern about bridge weight being exceeded with the heavy load. Eventually, things were worked out to the satisfaction of Milton and county authorities. The police escort arrived. The rail car crept slowly through the streets, up Canal St. and onto Caroline St. then up Stewart St. No problems other than some close clearances. Eventually, arriving at Adventures Unlimited about 3 PM Friday afternoon.

Third Rail Car almost at its new home - pic by Paul

Weston

Plans for the track and old Warehouse Lot are still very much up in the air. Lots of ideas, rumors, and suggestions persist but the Museum Board has not yet finalized on one thing yet. Once the Warehouse Lot is formally turned over to the RR Museum, then plans will likely firm up and can then be announced.

And then there will be another big project at the RR Museum to be done.

Heavy Duty Rail Car On Friday, 8 March 2013, there was a big whopping surprise on the CSX mainline beside the RR Museum. There was a special CSX train with a very heavy and very expensive transformer load being hauled using a schnabel car.

Schnabel car with transformer at the Milton Depot

- pic by Paul Weston

This was reported to be absolutely the heaviest load ever moved on the entire CSX mainline. The $50 million transformer weighed in at 840,000 pounds. That is 420 tons. The schnabel car weighed in at 440,000 pounds. That was a total of 1,280,000 pounds total for the car and its load. Movement on the CSX mainline was heavily restricted by speed and track weight load limits. One CSX engineer mentioned he was glad not to have manned such a special and hard to handle train.

This schnabel car had 20 axles for a total of 40 axles for the whole train. With its transformer load the schnabel car was 380 feet long. Now who is going to build such a model on the Jordan Lot Garden Railroad?



Schnabel car with transformer load - pic Ron Vile

And who says nothing happens at the Depot?

Rock Piles A few of you may have noticed the arrival of several piles of rocks. It was a total of 57 tons of rocks. About 20 tons at the Jordan Lot and another 37 tons at the Depot Courtyard. It was a whopping big bunch of rock piles. A rain storm in February made the Depot grounds very, very soggy and emphasized the need for another shipment of rocks.

Depot Courtyard parking lot after a February rain

storm. Soggy yuck!

Jordan Lot rock pile, about 2/3 left to go

Orlando Gomez was the first one at shoveling and wheel barrowing rocks around. Mainly to uncover the Riding Train tracks for the weekend. Many other folks helped out with moving more and more rocks around the Jordan Lot grounds.

Lots of new rocks spread around the Train Shed,

mostly by Orlando

New rocks were spread around the Jordan Lot Train Shed, by the front of the new Storage Building, and up front by the entrance to the Jordan Lot.



Paul Weston rock path to the Depot Courtyard

Rock piles in the Depot Courtyard before being

spread around

Orlando got busy one Tuesday evening, before an approaching storm, and was able to spread the Depot Courtyard rocks around with his tractor. It sure was a lot quicker than a shovel and a wheelbarrow. Orlando used the tines on his tractor to spread and level the rocks all over most of the Depot Courtyard parking lot.

Later on, Ed, Bill Wertz, Jack Grill, Ian Sinclair, and Bill Mason finished moving the Jordan Lot rock pile so the riding mower could get out of the Engine Cab. No simple task which took two days. All shovels and wheelbarrows. Groan...

All looks great. We all appreciate everyone's hard work.

Scuttlebutt

Given our ample portion of nautical butts, the term scuttlebutt needs little explanation. But a few non‐nautical folks are around thus a little definition is appropriate to further the common cultural education.

Scuttlebutt ‐ Noun ‐ 1. An open shipboard cast containing drinking water. (what no hygiene?) 2. A drinking fountain for use by the crew on a vessel. (at least not a common drinking cup?) 3. Rumor or gossip (none of us knows about rumors or gossip?)

Well, class is over. Back to your interrupted activities.

***<<<Scuttlebutt Alert Notice>>***

With the end of the Fairhope Train Show held in March for so many years, folks in the Mobile and Baldwin County areas are planning and hoping for some sort of train show. They organized a small swap meet at the Foley RR Museum with the annual Foley BBQ in the adjacent park on Saturday, 23 March 2013. While small, it did allow model railroad folks to get together, swap stories and trains. It was a small start for something bigger ... maybe. That is the news. Folks are scurrying around trying to plan, organize, plan, organize and make a train show happen in the future. Lots of maybes, and wouldn't it be nice if, and guesses and wants. It may be in a civic center in the Foley or Baldwin County area. The Baldwin County civic center is huge and absolutely terrific. This may be facilitated by many folks from SWARM, LOTS, TCA, NMRA/SER/Gulf Division, and area model railroaders. No one person could pull such a thing off. So, stay tuned.

***<<<Scuttlebutt Alert Notice>>***

This bit of news came from the recent Swap Meet at the RR Museum. The NMRA/SER/Gulf Division guys discussed having a train meet (or mini‐meet) in the Mobile area around an early October timeframe. No details. No schedule yet. Everything is very much up in the air. There may be a meeting venue with modular layouts on display, clinics on railroading topics, model contest, layout tours, prototype tours and such. So keep your scuttlebutt radars powered up, tuned up, and actively scanning



for additional alerts and news items over the summer.

Theater at Depot We have another performance by Dream Players

Theatre, a Milton group, on the schedule. It is

another way to support the RR Museum operations.

May 3rd and 4th @ 6pm

Polter-Heist

Haunted Inn Murder Mystery

Take a walk on the spooky side when Dream Players Theatre presents Polter-Heist, an audience participation murder mystery. The action takes place at The Mouldering Pines Inn, where the Bogeyman Outreach Organization (BOO), a support group for ghosts, is holding its annual convention. As BOO members, you’ll observe a séance, meet the Inn's ghoul-in-residence, and learn dark secrets about every cast member. Besides Madam Zelda and the Professor, you’ll also meet Phyllis and Jim Lodge, the Inn's squabbling owners, Dana Skullery and Fox Smolder, from BOO's Washington, D.C., chapter (or are they?), and Janet from Another Planet, a DJ with a past. Will Madam Zelda help the ghost relocate? Will the Lodges stop arguing long enough to get their hands on the treasure map? Is the Professor who he claims to be? And who committed the murder? The murder? That’s right—the murder! Someone will be ruthlessly murdered at the end of the show, and it’s up to you to solve the crime! Prizes will be awarded to the table that correctly guesses both the murderer and the motive.

What can you expect from an audience participation murder mystery? Fun the minute you walk in the door! Doors open at 5:30pm, then you’ll get a chance to mingle with Madam Zelda Von Schpookum, Professor Lionel Specter, and other cast members as they drop hints about themselves and the show and

give you a chance to ask questions. You’ll enjoy a delicious three course dinner, buffet style, while the cast keeps a low profile. The main show starts before dinner and concludes after, then you'll have time to discuss details over dessert.

For information and reservations: Call (850) 225-8892 Email: [email protected]

Lumberjack Conclave The RR Museum participated again with the

Lumberjack Conclave held at the UWF/PSC campus

in Milton. This has become a regular annual event.

Fortunately, this year the weather was good. Tom

Moody, George Wilson, Tom Augustine, Frank Paine

and others staffed the RR Museum display along

with its N scale demo layout for logging in the

Milton and Bagdad areas. It was a good show. Set

up for the RR Museum display was in the same

hallway as before, just outside the college library.

The show this year was just the one day, Saturday, 2

March 2013.

Scratch Ankle Festival

Milton folks resurrected the old Scratch Ankle Festival on Thursday evening, 14 March. They wanted to return to its original format and limited the participants to local area non‐profit organizations. The RR Museum set up an info table for the evening event. No problems were reported and all seemed to go well. This was organized by Art Tuttle with support from George Wilson, Tom Augustine and others. Expect to see this again in March 2014.



Santa Rosa Fair Another Santa Rosa County Fair is behind us now. It was the 22nd Fair and we succeeded in getting 22 G scale tracks down all operating with running trains. We had the usual spot in front of the stage. Used the stage for the upper level trains. The SkyTrack ran with its two back‐n‐forth eggliners.

Santa Rosa County Fair Large Scale Train Exhibit

2013 - pic by Paul Weston

The RR Museum info board was there. We did not use the N scale layout or the Riding Train cars, this time. We talked with lots of visitors about the RR Museum and its available facilities. We still heard the usual "I did not know you all were over there." A tired and well‐worn phrase.

The Fair folks awarded us the Best In Show ribbon. We are collecting a good assortment of award ribbons and plaques.

Set up started early on 1 April, Monday, with Ed hauling over rugs and supplies from his house and the RR Depot. Tuesday continued the logistical moving efforts along

with the final placement of rugs into our allotted space. We were the usual depth and had 75' length for trains. Plus, we used the empty space behind the Master Gardeners for storage and work tables. Given that vendors paid $450 for a little 10'x10' space, we certainly had some expensive real estate. Thankfully, we were able to use the adjacent mens room "for storage" instead of the port‐a‐potties down the way or the hallway restrooms. We did set up about six storage tracks in a yard right in front of the mens room. Watch your step, guys.

The Fair crowds were plentiful. There was not a people‐jam in front of the train exhibit as in years past, but the Fair folks reported 15,000 folks attending the Fair. Not a record, but a very good and refreshing number of folks coming to the Fair. So, given everyone came in by the train exhibit and passed by again when they went out, I estimate that about 20,000 to 25,000 folks passed by in one direction or another. Quite a total of folks. And the crowds this year were much better behaved. Not so much of "Don't touch the trains, please! Thank you!" That was a thankful situation.

Fair folks admiring the trains

The set up crew worked hard and long. They included Ed, Jack Grill, Paul Weston, Bill Carrington, and Frank Paine. These guys joined by Stephanie Carrington, helped staff the train exhibit during the run of the Fair.

Hobo camp

The weather was great for the most part. We had the planned Fair closing on Monday and Tuesday, which were much enjoyed. Thursday brought the strong threat of severe storms forcing the Fair to



evacuate the large outside tents of animals and vendors' wares. Fortunately, the storms were not as severe as expected but the Fair did close Thursday (THANKFULLY!!) on its expected least busiest day. All was back together for the final two days of the Fair and it was a busy, busy place.

Lew-e The Clown and The Crew – with noses to the

grindstone – pic by Paul Weston

One returning person was Lew‐e The Clown. He took extra interest and attention in the G scale trains. He much enjoyed seeing the trains running. Lew‐e would stop by for a short visit, then interact with some kids quickly, then off again into the Fair crowds. Expect to see him, out of costume, at the Jordan Lot sometime in the future.

The Favorite Train Voting got lots of attention, especially the kids. We got lots of "What do you call that train?" questions. The top vote getter was Paul's Cartoon

Train, with his new Donut and Cupcake cars.

Paul now shipping delicious looking donuts and

cupcakes

Second favorite train was Ed's Coal Train. A close third was Jack's Santa Fe Freight Train. Everyone had a great time with the voting.

And I did get total trackage measured this time. We had a total of 1,110' 8" of track on the floor and operating, including the yard tracks. We had lots of different tracks. The largest curve was the 16.5' dia.

curves on the outer oval. The smallest were the 4' dia. circles. Plenty of opportunity to try your trains on different sizes of tracks. Total of four back‐n‐forth tracks. The cloverleaf ran with a few different types of trains. Two large ovals encircled the outer edges of the exhibit. Several medium sized ovals on the inside plus several tiny 4' circles. All of it made for plenty of activity and action.

Lots of pack up was accomplished Saturday night. Some of the vendors packed up at 8 PM and were gone in short order. We stayed running until the planned 10 PM and started packing up the trains. The building was busy with vendors packing up until 1:30 AM. And opened back up early Sunday morning. Ed, Jack, Paul and Frank took the train exhibit apart Sunday morning. The Sunday rains were steady and persistent. We moved 8 vehicle loads of things back to the Depot in the unending downpour. Everyone ended up soaked before the day was done and we were leaving the Fair building for the last time. We were one tired bunch of worn out guys. Thanks to Jack, Bill, Paul and Frank for all of their hard work before, during and after. Thanks, Guys.

Spring Swap Meet

The Old Fashioned Tailgate Swap Meet was held on Saturday, 20 April 2013. The weather was absolutely fantastic. The Friday rain was soaking all day Friday, but it did not leave soggy grounds around the RR Museum for the Saturday Swap Meet. Thank You, Mother Nature!!!



Swap Meet sellers and buyers in the very sunny

Courtyard

We had about 31 sellers. Most had heeded the advertising flyer and pre‐registered for a seller spot outside in the Courtyard or inside the Freight House. Still we had a few "Drive‐Ups" that we were able to accommodate. Advertising was a lot of work and resulted in decent coverage. Even Channel 3 put an item in their Community Calendar during their Friday evening broadcast, which is how some sellers and buyers found out about the swap meet.

All of the folks rated the swap meet as a success. All of the worry and work paid off.

Jack Grill (light blue jacket) set up at his usual

Loading Dock spot

Preparations started Friday afternoon with marking off the 16 parking spots in the Depot Courtyard. Tables were staged for easier access on Saturday. Dave Ramirez of Trains By Johnson set up his two tables late Friday afternoon. Saturday morning started at 5 AM with picking up three dozen freshly

baked Krispy Kreme donuts (all eaten by mid‐morning; dang, I did not get one). Then preparations continued at the Depot with the coffee pot set up by Art, parking lot ropes, opening buildings and more table staging. Sellers started showing up at just before 7 AM and kept arriving all morning.

Tom Walkup and Keith Rapley also on the Loading

Dock

All of the 16 parking spots in the Depot Courtyard were filled for most of the entire morning. Plus, we had folks on the Loading Dock, outside the Depot Building, in the Freight House, and in the Baggage Room. Things wrapped up mostly by 1 PM. Everyone seemed satisfied, both sellers and buyers.

Paul Karzcewski and Orlando Gomez. See the new

1/8 scale flatcar on right?

The next swap meet is expected to be in the Fall on the third Saturday of October. When the date is locked in, it will be posted on the ECGRC and WFRM event calendars. Stay tuned.



Bagdad Festival

Back on 16 March, Frank Paine and Ed set up a small G scale display at the Bagdad Community Festival. We got two small loops of track down under the picnic pavilion where there was flat concrete.

Frank's logging train passing my his lumber mill

The G scale trains got lots of attention. The News Journal photographer got an excellent picture of Frank's locomotive, a Mogul 2‐6‐0, along with the two running trains in the background.

Bagdad train exhibit

It was a busy day since we also had the RR Museum Board meeting and G club meeting. Frank and Ed wrapped up around 4 PM at the Bagdad Community Festival. Thanks, Frank.

Events

Mar 2 – Lumberjack Conclave, Milton PSC campus

Mar 14 – Milton Scratch Ankle Festival

Mar 16 – Club meeting

Mar 16 – Bagdad St. Patrick’s Arts & Antiques Fair

Apr 5-13 – Santa Rosa County Fair

Apr 20 – Swap meet

Apr 20 – Club meeting

May 11 – National Train Day

May 18 – Club meeting

June 5-9 – 29th National Garden Railway Convention, Cincinnati OH

June 15 – Club meeting

June 15 – Big Bend Train Show

July 12-13 – Beach Air Show, Pensacola Beach

July 20 – Club meeting

July 20-21 – Heart of America Garden RR Show, Olathe KS



Herb Kern Final Departure

Most of the Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club folks did not know Herb Kern personally. Herb was the main work force planning and organizing and working the Fairhope Train Show. Herb suffered from a brain tumor which got worse and worse over the past two years. Herb passed away quietly in his sleep on 5 March 2013 on his 72nd birthday.

Herb Kern showing off the O gauge trains at a local

Mobile AL train exhibit

Last year, at the Fairhope Train Show it took eight SWARM folks to do all of the jobs that Herb did by himself year after year. They sure found out that Herb's shoes were very hard to fill.

I last saw Herb at the SWARM January 25 monthly meeting in the Derail Diner. I gave a briefing on the ECGRC and WFRM. Herb was there, had problems getting around, but everyone was glad to see him there.

Herb will be greatly missed.

Also, another significant SWARM member, George Nelson's wife passed away 11 January after a long illness. George dearly misses her but knows she is in a better place.

LGB Wolfgang Final Departure Wolfgang Richter passed away back on Thanksgiving eve of November 2012. Wolfgang and his brother created LGB in the 1968 timeframe. Under Wolfgang's guidance, LGB became a very strong G gauge model manufacturer producing many high

quality and very durable locomotives and rolling stock.

Many publications have already reported on Wolfgang's many achievements and his frequent participation at many, many train shows over the years.

Jim Campbell Estate Jim Campbell's unexpected passing was a few months ago. And he is still missed. His handiwork is still prominent on the Jordan Lot Garden Railroad.

Jim Campbell at the Jordan Lot

I helped Pam Neblett, Jim's sister, with inventorying and boxing up Jim's G scale trains. It was a massive stack of trains.

Just some of Jim's trains all boxed up

Jim's estate was stuck in probate, last word I heard. When things change and break free, I will let folks know about the disposition and handling of Jim's trains.



Jim running his M&M train for the first time

Estate Planning The recent and sudden passing of Jim Campbell, along with the final departures of R.A. Caraway and Dennis McDermott, brought emphasis to our own prudent estate planning needs. At least for the empire of trains we all have in our closets, garage, storage, under the bed, in the kitchen, filling the spare bedrooms and not to mention the attic.

The very least needed is an up‐to‐date inventory along with location. Got an off‐site storage place? The inventory needs a tally of what it is, description, brand, and identifying numbers or marks. Metal wheels or plastic? Road number? Brand? Box or no box?

Is there a file(s) of train purchases with dated receipts?

Got a notebook of trains loaned to other folks? Or things borrowed from them?

Pictures add a whole lot of info. Think 'a picture is worth a thousand words.' Does not need to be all six sides, although that would be nice. Just a simple, yet clear picture will be so useful.

A big step forward from a simple inventory (a lot of work by itself!) is values of the train items. When purchased and where? What its full retail or MSRP price was, or is? Street value? Not a simple effort and certainly not a trivial effort. But it will help those who come after with handling and dispositions.

Plus, insurance settlements may be enhanced with such an inventory, especially with pictures and valuation data.

Don't make me come over there and say "I told you so!"

Lost Gnome Violet Gnomeville is bustling with anxious activity because of the missing precious little Violet. She has been lost in the forest for days and days. Her exact whereabouts remain unknown. Aerial photos from a reconnaissance drone platform seemed to capture hints that Violet was alive and seemingly well. But, the drone platform could not tell where the photos were taken in the vast forest territory.

Possible sighting of Violet

Closer view of possible Violet sighting



Close up view of a little gnome in the woods with

striking similarity to the missing Violet

Violet's mother and father reported the missing child gnome after they extensively searched high and low all over the land. They searched Violet's favorite places and all of Violet's friends and neighbors places. However, all of the search efforts were unsuccessful in finding Violet or any clue as to where she had traveled or gone.

It is highly unusual for any gnome child to become lost from their home area. Gnome children have always stayed close to mother and father and never ever venture out into the wild forest. Gnome elders were at a loss to explain the situation. Not even the forest elves had any

information or any ideas of where to look. The elusive fairies were also lacking in any concrete insight into poor little Violet's whereabouts or her welfare.

After much excited and animated discussions, a search party was rapidly organized. Albeit a bit more disorganized than organized since gnomes have never handled such a situation before. Eventually, the assembled troops marched out into the forest with grim determination to find Violet and find her safe and sound.

Gnomeville search party

The point lead gnome in the search party was Birdfellow, the gnome aviary caretaker, with his trained homing dove. It was hoped that the trained dove would be able to take to the air and help in the search for little Violet. However, once released for the first search flight, the dove went and returned back to the Gnomeville Aviary, its home roost. After that calamity, the search party steeled itself with resolute determination to continue onward into the forbidding forest. Nothing was going to deter them from their ever pressing goal to find poor little Violet.

Gnome search party travelling supplies

The gnome search party was followed up by the Gnomeville pantry quartermasters Harold Browncap and Neal Bluebonnet. They brought along an ample supply of flower petal snacks to sustain the gnome search party for many hours of searching efforts. The heavily laden wheelbarrow left a



definite rut in the ground as the search party proceeded carefully into the dark forest territory.

As of press deadline, no word had yet been received from the search party members. Twitter was very uncharacteristically silent on the Gnome search party. Facebook remained uninformed regarding the missing Violet and the efforts to find her. Wireless Wi‐Fi coverage is unreliable in the forest territory which may explain the lack of detailed email status reports from the Gnomeville search party. Their smart phones and tablets were fully charged at the beginning of the search. Authorities are investigating the possibility and feasibility in establishing a team of amateur radio operators with hopes of providing radio relay stations that may allow status reports of the search party progress back to the anxious Gnomeville residents waiting on word about poor little Violet and all in the search party.

Health and Welfare Jim Niedermayer: "I stubbed my toe and I'm still hitched (42 years). Oh, also a little slower these days. Thank you for asking. Jim"

Paul Weston: "Healthy but my right foot is in a brace. I strained the tendon on the back of my foot about 8 weeks ago playing trains. It should be ok in about a month."

Stephanie & Bill Carrington: "Bill is on a kayak

fishing trip with his brother Steve and our son Billy.

Left Steff at home with the dog."

Frank Paine: "Nothing new here."

Tom Walkup: "I'm getting old and have bad knees.

LOL Tom"

Mike Stokes: Returned from York recently.

Jack Grill: Bought new home for his mom.

Andy & Beth Sloan: Are due back from St. Croix in

May. And then they are off again across the country

and may visit the National Garden Railroad

Convention.

Ed Dice: Still unhitched, unhinged and unemployed.

Looking for work but liking the sort‐of‐retired

world. Stubbed my toe and dang that hurt. Staying

busy with all sorts of different activities.

NEW MEMBER: Christopher & Tiffany Morris with

son Anthony joined 30 March.

NEW MEMBER: George Provan of Pensacola

joined on Friday, 25 April 2013. He was at the April

swap meet and came back for more fun. George has

a few pieces of G scale trains with more on the way.

Welcome aboard, George.

Birthdays and Anniversaries April 20 ‐ Mary Caraway birthday

May 13 ‐ Lorene Fasnacht birthday 22 ‐ Andy Sloan birthday 26 ‐ Angie Gomez birthday

June 15 ‐ Stephanie & Bill Carrington anniversary 23 ‐ Ethel Couturie birthday 23 ‐ Keith Rapley & Bobbie Dorner anniversary

July 4 ‐ Pat Stevens birthday 6 ‐ Stephanie Carrington birthday 11 ‐ Orlando Gomez birthday 12 ‐ Bobbie Dorner birthday 14 ‐ Bob Fasnacht birthday 15 ‐ Bill Carrington birthday 20 ‐ Anne Kashynski birthday 24 ‐ Bob Cope birthday

August 7 ‐ Dee Miller birthday 17 ‐ John & Anne Kashynski anniversary 24 ‐ Bob Berghage birthday



This year the WEST

FLORIDA RAILROAD MUSEUM is OFFICALLY part of the fun for National Train Day

Copied from www.nationaltrainday.com

Trains take us where we need to go, want to go. They remind us of what other lives seen only out the window look like. They employ our townspeople, bring passengers with a few extra dollars to spend into local coffee shops, draw activity to sleepy downtowns, attract funds to the roads and buildings around the stations. They bring us to school, to work, to visit a friend in need. They connect our towns together. They connect us to each other. They tell the American story.

And that is why trains matter to us all.

Join us on May 11, 2013 at the sixth annual National Train Day to show that trains matter to you, your town, and your community. Attend an event around the country, host your own, and until then, spend some time on this site to learn more about the ways trains impact our daily lives.

From Publicity Officer, Ed Dice

http://www.nationaltrainday.com/s/#!/

events/west‐florida‐railroad‐museum‐train‐day

Documents

Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club · 2013. 4. 30. · Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club WFRM - 3 - March - May 2013 The dining car looks to be well booked for the month of May, so