Division 8 Has completed its stop in Poolar, Gerorgia

It was a beautiful sunny day in the low country of South Carolina and Georgia as Division VIII of the Southeast region of the NMR a gathered at Lovezollaz in Pooler, Georgia. The meeting was billed as one of our quarterly meetings, but it was a one-day mini clinic attended by 26 members and guests. Unfortunately, our superintendent, Rick Fulkerson, was ill and could not attend. Neither could our treasurer and I, the secretary, was delayed by a traffic backup on I-95. The assistant superintendent, Rick Scott, took charge of the meeting and started the first clinic at 10:30.

Clinic 1, Lloyd Bloom

The Charleston & Western Carolina RR.

Lloyd presented an update on his Charleston & Western Carolina Railway and vertical lift. Lloyd models in HO scale the railroad that, at one time, transected Division VIII at its waist. He presented the railroad before but wished to provide us with an update today. The prototype Charleston & Western Carolina ran from Port Royal, through Yemassee, and northward eventually with a branch reaching Spartanburg, South Carolina and another reaching Anderson, Georgia. At one time the station at Yemassee was a very busy place, as new Marine recruits for the Parris Island training base would be dropped off there and then transported to Parris Island. The Marine barracks still stands in Yemassee, but the recruit traffic ended in 1965.

Lloyd has built a two level, point to point, layout of this railroad. Instead of using a helix, Lloyd has chosen to use a vertical lift. He paid homage to Carl Blum, another division member, and his nine-level vertical left for his three rail O scale layout. Lloyd noted that Carl utilizes stepper motors to operate his lift. Lloyd has chosen a more simplistic system with the manual pull lift utilizing one line and a cam cleat. Limit switches help him achieve alignment as the levels are moved.

Lloyd also brought the removable bridge that he utilizes at the entrance to his layout. He noted that his bridge is somewhat unusual in that he has four turnouts on the unit. It is constructed of ½ plywood. Lloyd chose to use the MP4 switch motor on the unit. These units are made in Czechoslovakia and are available through Seith Newman’s Model Railroad Control System. Lloyd liked these units as they are very low profile, especially when compared to the Tortoise Switch Machines that many of us use. He reported some problems with mechanics on some of these units and contacted the manufacturer. There was a problem with the tolerances on an internal CAM, which has been corrected. The manufacturer is now shipping the improved models and offering replacement CAM’s to customer who may be having problems with their units. It should be noted that MP4 is not a stall motor switch but instead controlled by the cam, which turns the internal motor on and off.

Clinic 2, Nate Stone

DigiTrax, Looking Back him, Looking Forward

Nate Stone presented the next clinic concerning DigiTrax. As you may know, Nat is a technical help desk resource for DigiTrax. Nate gave a history of the development of the DigiTrax command systems, from their inclusive command station and boosters to the more modern modular command stations and separate boosters. He also provided a brief explanation of the LocoNet wiring system, explaining that it is a six-wire cable that utilizes RJ 12 connectors. Nat proceeded to discuss wireless DCC and some of the problems that have been experienced. Natt explained that the NCE wireless system operates via a simplex transmission system, like a walkie-talkie. This caused some initial conflicts at conventions where both NCE and DigiTrax systems were utilized. DigiTrax elected to solve this problem by going to a duplex system, which is more like a telephone system. Duplex systems operate on a different band width than simplex systems, per the FCC. He pointed out that the earlier UR-92 and the current UR93 are both duplex receivers.

Clinic #3, Doug Scott

The Colorado Model Railroad Museum

Riding the Durango & Silverton Railroad

Doug presented slides of his recent visit to Colorado. Doug stated that his primary interest is photography and that he enjoys photographing trains. He was requested to photograph a wedding that s to take place on the Durango and Silverton Railroad, and this was the source of his presentation.

The first portion of Doug’s presentation was of some of the prototypes that are present at the Colorado Model Railroad Museum. He noted that the station there is very reminiscent of the old Atlas railroad station model. He went on with a wonderful slideshow, set to music, of the museum.

Next, Doug presented another slideshow set to music of the beautiful vistas that can be seen while riding the Durango and Silverton Railroad. Doug stated the wedding he was there to photograph occurred at the most scenic vista on the line, and unfortunately, he couldn’t get photos of that site and the wedding.

Clinic #4, Chris Dills

Adventures in 3D-Printing

Chris presented his work on printing an EMD gas turbine engine and generator, from the blueprints that he was able to obtain. The unit was never produced. He brought his 3D printed model of the generator that was associated with the turbine. Chris had to improvise this part, as no plans of the generator exist. He went on to discuss some of the challenges of 3D printing and explain the difference between additive construction versus resin construction.

Chris utilized the help of his son, who was also present at the meeting. They are utilizing a Creality 3D printer. While I did not ask model it appeared to be one of the Creality K-1 models, which are designed for higher print speeds. Of interest were some of the print settings Chris utilized. He reported that their final settings had a filament feed of 300 mm/s and a layer width of .08 mm. He added that you are somewhat locked into Creality’s filament, if you wish to print at this speed. These settings did produce a very smooth finish to the models he brought. He went on to state that a lot of those choices were made by trial and error.

Clinic #5, John Macllroy

Getting people involved in Model Railroading

John presented his efforts in getting new blood into model railroading, especially youngsters. He had a wonderful display of Alco RS-3 in all scales from T scale (1:480) to G scale (1:22.5). This was the same locomotive, the same paint job, but in the different scales. He also presented a Z scale layout that is set in a giant pizza box. He stated that when his display was at the Hilton Head library people call it the pizza railroad. He also had a small pizza box that had an oval made with a T scale track.

John then showed a layout that he had made using Lego Dupo track, the larger size of Lego blocks. A small engine had an auto reverse and was run by battery. The layout was set up as a wye, demonstrating how the direction of a train can be changed utilizing a wye.

Upon the conclusion of the clinics, some comments were made. In particular, to save the date for the May 10, 2025, train show at the Georgia State Railroad Museum in Savannah.

The meeting concluded at approximately 2:40 PM, after a full day of clinics. Afterwords there were two layout tours available. The first was Nat Stone’s layout and the second Chuck Elmore’s layout. Both are in the Savannah area.