PIEDMONT DIVISION

TIMETABLE VOLUME 14, NUMBER 15

EFFECTIVE ON JULY 14, 2015

C O N S I S T FEATURES Division Point 1 By Peter Youngblood, MMR Proposed Elections Bylaws Change 2 By Chuck Hoesch GETTING WIRED: Power Supplies 11 By Tom Gordon SER Banquet Attendees Hear about Local Railroads 10 By Alan Mole ________________________________________________ DIVISION REPORTS Calendar of Events 17 July - August - September

BSA Program 4 By Howard Goodwin, MMR

Shop Notices 5 News from our Retailers

Good and Welfare 6 By Chuck & Mary Ann Hoesch

Piedmont Achievers 7 Achievement Program report, AP Dispatches

Welcome Aboard! 7 New Members & Visitors

National Train Day 8 By Walt Liles

2015 Model Train Show Another Success 9 By Joe Gelmini, MMR

Division Doers 10 A. J. Welch introduces youngsters to Model Railroading

ROCKET CITY RAILS

The Mid-South Division is proud to host the 2016 Southeastern Region Convention

June 10 and 11, 2016 Huntsville, Alabama

Visit the Rocket City Rails website to register and get more Information on the clinics, prototype tours, layout tours,

operating session, non-rail activities, and schedule.

http://midsouthnmra.org/convention.htm

Piedmont Division

BULLETIN

Abbreviated Timetable At the suggestion of several members of the Board and the Superintendent, we are going to put this issue of the Timetable out with only the infor-mation about the Division’s business that members need to know. At a later date, a supplement will follow with many of the articles and features and photos that you’ve come to enjoy in your Piedmont Division Timetable.

And Speaking of by-laws… On Page 2 you will find an article and other infor-mation regarding a proposed change in our by-laws that will permit members who are absent from the November meeting (when we usually have elections for officers and the board) to vote by absentee-ballot. Please read the information thoroughly so that you are prepared to vote at the July meeting. Of course, if you have any questions, you can bring them up before the vote.

Congratulations… ...are in order for our Superintendent, Peter Youngblood, MMR, for his election to the At-Large North American Director position on the NMRA Board of Direc-tors. Joe Gelmini, MMR was re-elected as the Eastern District Director. Our Division and our Region are gain-ing representation at the national level.

Please give these gentlemen every support you can, and remember them in your prayers, especially!

RPM needs volunteers The upoming “Metro Atlanta Railroad Pro-totype Modelers Meet” is scheduled for Fri-day and Saturday, September 18th and 19, 2015. It will be held

at the Southern Museum in Kennesaw, Ga. Anyone who would like to present a clinic, or just help out in general, please contact George “Ike” Eichelberger at geichelberger@bellsouth.net. At this time, the Division does not have a for-mal role in supporting the Meet, so volunteers and clinicians cannot apply any time spent at the Meet towards their NMRA A.P. certificates. Still, these are our fellow railroad modelers, and it helps to spread the word about the Division, the Region and NMRA to those who could be, and by rights ought to be, members of the NMRA and the Piedmont Division.

Sat. August 15, 1:00 - 4:00 p.m.

"Learning to judge in the Achievement Program & Division Contests."

First Presbyterian Church, 189 Church Street, Marietta, GA 30060

For current NMRA members only. The Train In' Camp is free.

Piedmont Division Timetable Piedmont Division Timetable

Our favorite hobby is evolving, changing. Pick up a 10, 20, 30, even 40 year old copy of Model Railroader or Railroad Model Craftsman, thumb through it and you’ll see what I mean. The older the magazine, the fewer the color photos, the longer the articles, the greater the page count, product prices in adver-tisements…not even close to to-day’s. There are as many rea-sons for this as there are opinions. The sure bet is it won’t, can’t, stop chang-ing. Some will opinion-ate that mod-el railroading is dying a slow and painful death; others proclaim it’s better and healthier than ever. Me, I’m not sure enough to take sides. See, I’m old enough to have become enamored with model railroading not long after the extinction of dinosaurs (well, almost). Back then HO track had brass rail, flex track had fiber ties (there’s a story there). Amber tinted Ambroid wood glue, clear Duco Cement and Testor’s Plas-tic Glue in a tube were adhesives de rigueur. CA we knew only as an ab-breviation for California, 5 Mi-nute Epoxy an unsubstantiated rumor concocted in some lab’s chemical womb. Structure kits were wood or Strathmore (a dense paper product), steam locomotives, kits from Mantua, Varney, Model Die Casting, Penn Line or Bowser. My novice attempt at assembling a Varney 2-8-0 “Old Lady” kit with valve gear almost caused me to give up the hobby. Freight cars we assembled as wood kits from, among others, Binkley, Silver Streak, Mainline Models, or in die cast metal (zamac) from Roundhouse and Ulrich. Heavyweight passenger

cars were kits in wood, stamped metal sides, zamac ends and detail parts. My favorites were Walthers Santa Fe prototypes. DC power supplies were made by Scintilla, Marnold and Model Rectifier. Decoders we thought of as highly skilled per-sons employed to decipher en-crypted messages no one else

could possi-bly under-stand. Coupler types were all over the place until NMRA’s X2F (horn hook) design be-came, for its time, an adopted “standard” second to none in non-prototypical ugliness.

Truck frames were often skewed and wheel sets mostly round, with deep, sharp flanges capable of slicing ham. Paints were solvent-based lacquers or enamels whose un-ventilated fumes effectively encouraged every resident creepy-crawly to seek haven in someone else’s basement. May God help you if you smoked! So where am I going with all this? Challenged by the very hobby that captivated us, we evolved; we changed. What we couldn’t buy, or afford to, we found ways to build. We en-joyed sharing discoveries, tech-niques, and materials with fel-low hobbyists, and they with us. Magazine articles or simply photographs taught and inspired us. I eagerly awaited every new Varney ad photographed by John Allen on his incredibly de-tailed layout, often including his whimsical humor (i.e. the “Sore Feets Gang”). Many years later I visited John and his legendary Gorre & Daphetid Railroad sev-eral times. It left me awestruck then and recollections of it still do today. Joining the NMRA for the first time, I read every word

DIVISION POINT

Peter Youngblood, MMR Superintendent

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JULY - AUG 2015 PAGE 2

“I eagerly awaited every new Varney ad photographed by John Allen on his incredibly detailed layout, often including his whimsical humor…”

Proposal to Amend Piedmont Division Election Procedures to

allow Absentee Ballots.

Submitted to the Board on May 19, 2015

1. At the monthly Board Meeting held on April 13, 2015, Superintendent Peter Young-blood, MMR announced the for-mation of an Nominating Com-mittee, under the leadership of Chuck Hoesch, to review the Division’s election procedures with respect to the introduction of Absentee ballots and to make recommendations to the Board for its review and approval. 2. The Nominating Committee, Chuck Hoesch (chair), Matt Cole-man, Rick Coble, Perry Lamb, David Gelmini and Alan Mole met at Perry’s home on April 23rd to prepare this proposal. 3. History: Present election procedures per Art. VI, para. 7 of the ByLaws requires that: “Voting shall be by individual Members only, and no Member may cast more than one vote per candidate. Proxies will not be recognized.” The By-Laws also state in para. 2 that elec-tions will be held at the Divi-sion’s November meeting. Up until now, these procedures have been interpreted to mean that only those Members pre-sent at the November meeting may vote for the slate of candi-dates for the Board vacancies. 4. Proposed change: Amend the By-Laws to allow Absentee bal-lots to be submitted for those members that are unable to attend the November meeting.

(NOTE: This change in procedure is not intended to introduce proxies or change the existing election process for those attending the November meeting). 5. Absentee ballots: Absentee ballots will be made available to members upon request. The process will require advance registration and member will be sent a numbered ballot. (See paragraph 2 (d)) 6. Ballots:

a. Ballots (Regular and Absen-tee) will provide a list of open positions and name(s) of can-didates against each one. The ballot will be given to Mem-bers of an NMRA membership type that allows voting and is in good standing. b. Ballots will be numbered sequentially. Regular ballots without a prefix and absentee ballots with the A prefix. c. Numbered ballots will be handed out at “Voter Regis-tration” upon arrival at the November meeting. d. Specially numbered absen-tee ballots (A1, A2, A3,….) will be issued upon request by email or mail to the Nomi-nating Committee chair or his designee. The Absentee ballot will be sent to the requesting member who should com-plete and mail the ballot to the address provided on the form by the cut-off date. (One week prior to the November meeting)

Proposed Elections Bylaws Change

Proposal to Amend Piedmont Division Election Procedures to allow Absentee Ballots

Submission to the Board on May 19, 2015 On Tuesday, May 19, 2015, your Board of Directors voted unanimously to allow absentee ballots for the election of officers and directors-at-large. In the past, one could vote only if they were present at the No-vember meeting.

With your vote to approve the By-Law change you will be now be able to vote in the general elections if you know you won't be able to attend the November meeting. The documents for the Elections By-Law change and the election procedures are provided below.

The vote will take place during the Regular Division Meeting on July 14, 2015.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the Nominating Committee,

Chuck Hoesch Nominating Committee Chair

Continued on page 3 Continued on page 4

Piedmont Division Timetable Piedmont Division Timetable

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Southeastern Region’s DONATION

SALE

Model Railroad Educational DVDs

Narrated by

Dr. Joe Nichols, Sr., MMR #1 Building a Timber Trestle

#2 Adding Sound to Model Railroad Scenes

#3 Scratch Building Industrial Styrene Buildings

#4 LED’s and their Application in Model Railroading

All are available for a donation to the Southeastern Region, NMRA

(A 501(c)3 Nonprofit Corporation)

$10.00 each Set of 4 for $35.00

Shipping

$3 for up to 3 DVDs $6 for set of four

To Order, contact

Mrs. Sally Bando

sbandogeorgia@comcast.net

or pick some or all of them up at the next

Piedmont Division meeting!

You Should Go.

Division Point Continued from Page 1

in the monthly NMRA Bulletin (printed in black and white), purchased a blue binder contain-ing a set of NMRA Data Sheets which I updated periodically, even built freight cars from an-nual car sides. These are only memories now, but that’s okay. Our hobby and we evolve and change. Non-existent materials or products inconceivable in the past are commonplace today. DCC, com-puters and other electronic mar-vels have revolutionized the way we operate our trains. Our mod-el railroads run more reliably, more realistically, and we can build and enjoy them faster than ever before. Print media slowly gives way to reproducing itself in electronic format, a change my generation, to some degree, resents. Yet, when we accept change, we often discover that what we want is already there; just a few computer key strokes away. Change, too easily feared, shouldn’t be. It can be welcomed as an opportunity to grow, to evolve. Model railroading and our amazing, growing, evolving Pied-mont Division which brings us all so many good things, is in great shape. Believe it. I certainly do. I also know I’ve evolved to where I can build that Varney 2-8-0... valve gear and all.

e. Incomplete or erroneous ballots may be invalidated by the Nominating Committee chair.

7. Absentee ballot cut-off: Bal-lots received after the cut-off dates will not be accepted. Ab-sentee ballots may NOT be de-livered at the election meeting. 8. In-meeting election proce-dures:

a. Upon arrival at the Novem-ber meeting, members will register to vote and receive a numbered ballot. b. All registrants will be checked against the latest Piedmont Division member roster to ensure that (1) they are members of an NMRA membership type that allows voting, (2) is in good standing and (3) that an absentee ballot was not received. c. The Nominating Committee chair will be responsible au-thenticating the election re-sults, which time permitting, may be announced at the end of the meeting. d. While the Nominating Com-mittee does not intend an-nouncing the number of votes for each candidate, such in-formation will be available from the Nominating Com-mittee Chair upon request.

9. Any member of the Nomi-nating Committee running for office in the election will recuse him/herself from the ballot counting and authentication process. Quorum 10.In light of the present aver-age attendance of 145 at Divi-sion meeting, we recommend that the Board revise the pre-sent quorum for all meetings from 25 to 60 (By-Law change) Action Timeline/Timetable 11. May meeting Present to the Board for Approval of By-Law amendments and Election Pro-cedure changes. 12. May meeting If approved by the Board, Superintendent or Committee Chair would present to membership for their infor-

mation prior to their approval. 13. May/June Proposed changes are printed in the Timetable. 14. Meeting after Timetable is published. Membership votes to approve. 2/3 of those present majority required. 15. August/September Nomi-nating Committee announce-ments for upcoming Board vacancies. Nominees to provide short candidacy bios prepared for Nominating Committee chairman (which should also be in Timetable and on website). 16. October meeting Candidates will be invited to introduce themselves at meeting.

Proposed Motions

I. Art. VI. Para. 7 of the By-Laws shall be amended to allow Ab-sentee Ballots by the addition of the following sentence: “Absentee Ballots will be ac-cepted under procedures ap-proved by the Board of Directors”.

II. Art. VI Para 6 to be amended to conform to NMRA Membership types as follows: “Only current Members of the Division and of a NMRA Membership type that allows voting shall be eligible to hold office or to vote.”

III. Art. IX. Para 4 (Quorum) be amended from a quorum of 25 to a quorum of 60.

IV. That the Board accept/approve the “Piedmont Division Election Procedures” as presented in the attachment.

Proposed Bylaw Change Continued from Page 3 BSA Program is Moving Ahead

By Howard Goodwin, MMR Scout Program Coordinator

By now, most of you have heard that John Stevens has resigned as Scout Program Coordinator for the Division. He has much on his plate from National and just can’t devote the kind of time and attention that the program needs. I know you will join with me in heartfelt thanks for all the years he has given the BSA program, getting it launched in 2002 and for all the years of dedication to the program. Our program would not be where it is were it not for all of his efforts. As much as his are big shoes to fill, I have agreed to take on the Duluth program (at the South-eastern Railroad Museum) in addition to the Kennesaw program. Twice the workload, twice the responsibility but at least at twice the salary…… yeah, right!

We need Volunteers! It is no secret that the success of the BSA program relies on our great volunteers. Our space problem at the Southern Museum has been solved and it looks like we will again have a full class judging by the response and registrations. So it won’t come as a surprise that I again ask for help with the upcoming class in Kennesaw on July 25th. It is im-perative that we have enough counselors to man (or woman) all of the stations, especially the switching layouts.

Continued on Page 5

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SHOP NOTICES

Bull Street Station is “home” in Savannah In a bucolic neighborhood on the east side of Savannah, at No. 307 Kentucky Avenue, sits an unassuming ranch house midsts live oaks dripping with Spanish Moss. This is the home of Ellie Tardif, and it has al-so been the home of her famous

Savannah hobby store “Bull Street Station” for the better part of a decade. And contrary to some reports, Bull Street Station is very much alive and well and only a little less organized than it was when it was in downtown Savannah. Ellie tells us that she does a thriving on-line business these days, but appreciates actual flesh-and-blood customers, so you should plan to stop by whenever your plans call for you to be in Georgia’s First City. You can find BSS on the web at www.bullst.com. Bull Street needs Web-site help Ellie is looking for day-to-day help managing her web site. Anyone with any skills in that area and interested in doing good while doing well ought to email her at bullst@bellsouth.net or call at 912-236-4344. You needn’t live in or near Savannah to apply! Meanwhile, in Beautiful Downtown Buford… TrainMaster Models has announced that on June 25, 2015, Jennifer Camp began handling all Management duties for TrainMaster Models, while Brian Bragg became responsible for all Service and Sales duties at the store. Store owner Kathy Devaney was hospitalized over the weekend of the 20th, and is now home but on bed rest until further notice. She is answering her emails, however, so she must be well on her way to recovery! Earlier in June, someone hacked TrainMasters ac-count and sent out emails that said the store was going out of business. Kathy nipped that one in the bud quickly, and turned the tables on the scally-wag by posting a revised version of the nefarious email that read “TrainMaster Models is Going ALL Out FOR Business!” around the store. And we say, “Well played, TrainMaster!”

Good and Welfare By Chuck and Mary Ann Hoesch & Staff

Chris Haon welcomed his new niece, Savannah Elizabeth Haon,

into the world on May 25th. She is the first child for his brother Marc and wife Katie, and all three are doing well!

I.D. Jackson was in the hospital for minor surgery during the latter part of February and has recovered nicely. Dottie Maiuro was admitted to the hospital and had some heart blockage removed. She recov-ered at home and was back on her feet quickly. Joe Gelmini reports that he has been diagnosed with Stage III lung cancer. The cancer is con-tained to his right lung, but be-cause of the size and position of the tumor, his oncology team does not think surgery is a good option at this time. Back in May he began a combination of chemo and radiation therapy that will last into mid-July. Fur-ther scans will then determine what additional treatment, if any, is warranted. Joe and wife Kathy were seen carousing at the SER Convention in Greenville early in June with big smiles on their faces. We hope that is indicative of good things to come. James and Sally Bando report that their oldest daughter,

Cheryl Harton, who has been in the hospital for the past three months in extremely critical condition is now, thankfully, recovering. Due to miraculous events, she should be out of the hospital in another month or so. Recovery may take a year or more, but she will live. The Ban-dos offer their thanks to every-one for their thoughts and pray-ers. Charlie Crawford, MMR suf-fered the loss of his mother as well as his mother-in-law in quick succession. Robert Dodd lost his mother as well. Diane Kittendorf, wife of Del, lost her multi-year battle with cancer and congestive heart failure. She has been struggling with this for a while and finally is at peace. A celebration of Diane’s life was held at the Southeastern Railway Museum in Duluth on May 9th. In the spirit of Diane’s volunteerism, her family asks that contributions of time and resources be made to local high school band programs, church youth groups or the Atlanta Chapter-NRHS. The Good and Welfare Com-mittee asks that our member-ship please keep us abreast of your news. Unfortunately most of the time all we hear about is the sad news but we welcome good news and accomplish-ments as well. Please do not hesitate to e-mail us your news at hoesch@brmemc.net.

BSA Program Continued from Page 4

My scout grandson Brady has agreed to help; perhaps you know other scouts who could use some “service time” to help us as well. If you can help at Kennesaw and/or you know a Scout who can, please let me know immediately. If we are to keep this program running, I will need your ongoing sup-port, help and participation. Let’s keep what John started running strong!

FYI: The Fall BSA Program will be held at the Southeastern Railway Museum in Duluth on

September 26th.

Piedmont Division Timetable Piedmont Division Timetable

AP Report April — June 2015 The Division Members listed here have been presented with one or more AP certificates in the past three months. You too can be on this list; contact Ran-dall Watson or go to the AP section of NMRA.org to find out how! Master Builder - Cars Howard Goodwin Stephen Funsten Master Builder - Scenery Thomas Roskelly Master Model Railroader

Howard Goodwin MMR No. 556

Howard received his NMRA Achievement Program Certifi-cate as a Master Model Rail-roader on May 19, 2015. An NMRA member quali-fies as a Master Model Rail-roader when he has obtained at least seven of the eleven Achievement Certificates pro-vided that he has earned at least one Achievement Certifi-cate in each of the four areas of the Regulations. Howard has earned eight of the eleven AP Certificates. Earning the title of Master Model Railroader is the ulti-mate goal for many participants in the Achievement Program. Howard earned the follow-ing AP Certificates:

Master Builder - Cars

Master Builder - Structures

Model Railroad Engineer - Civil

Model Railroad Engineer - Electrical

Engineering & Operation - Chief Dispatcher

Association Official

Association Volunteer

Model Railroad Author

New Members

April ‘15 - June ’15

Eddie Farmer Conyers Howard Perell Lilburn Jim Bell Blairsville Michael Carney Peachtree City Robert Caskey Lawrenceville Keith Hardman Powder Springs Crew Heimer Atlanta Ronald L McLendon Kennesaw Victor Silverman Sandy Springs Raymond J Stewart Jasper Chip Taylor Marietta

Welcome Aboard, Y’all!

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PIEDMONT ACHIEVERS

Randall Watson, Achievement Program Chairman Facebook Photo Contest This years’ photo contest winner is Raymond Stewart with this photo of Norfolk Southern’s SD40-2 No. 3567 in Columbus, GA. Raymond won a $25.00 Gift Certificate from Blue Ox Trains in Roswell,GA . Special thanks to all who entered the contest. It was tough this year with lots of entries. It was a busy National Train Day week. Hope everyone had a good time getting out and taking photos!

National Train Day By Walt Liles

Photo by Raymond Stewart

One of the Editor’s favorites from the contest is this photo by Matt Coleman, who included this description with his entry: “Away from the crowds, on the quiet of a moun-tainside, a Civil-War era tunnel is a reminder of how railroads shape our lives.” Matt took the photo just west of Chattanooga, Tenn. Imagine trying to fit modern trains into THAT hole!

On Amtrak Train Day, the Division brought trains of all sizes to Amtrak’s Peachtree Station in Atlanta. We had HO-scale Amtrak passenger trains, Southern and Seaboard trains, and a freight train in the station. Chris Haon brought his G-Gauge trains and had them running in the John R. Martin Garden adjacent to the building. Everyone who came had a great time, and we hope to be there again in 2016.

Photo by James Bando

Howard “HOrn” Goodwin with his Master Model Railroader plaque.

Photo by Matt Coleman

Photo by Chris Haon

Piedmont Division Timetable Piedmont Division Timetable

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We enjoyed another successful model train show over the March 14-15 weekend. Attendance for the two days was just under 4,000, and this show was our most financially successful show ever. All of our vendors left happy as sales were brisk throughout the show both days. Though it takes a lot of hard work, I remain confident we are on track to attain our goal of establishing The Model Train Show as the premier train show in the southeast. In addition to the full array of vendors, show attendees were treated to some great display layouts, including the North Georgia Lego Club, North Geor-gia Modurail, the Atlantic Coast S Scalers, Atlanta Interlocking Group, and the Athens Bend Track N scale modules. The O Scale Club of Atlanta once again provided a “hands-on” Lionel layout that was wildly popular with the younger set. We were also able to provide space for the North Georgia Live Steamers display and for a pro-motional booth from the Ten-nessee Valley Railroad Museum. Our own Piedmont Division membership booth was also very busy over the weekend. As usual, we provided hourly door prizes, made possible by the many generous donations from our attending vendors. As with previous shows, our “white elephant” tables were open to anyone - not just divi-sion members - to sell their wares. This was quite popular, even though it is not heavily advertised. Bill Zawacki spear-headed this operation with lots of help from James Bando and numerous division volunteers. On behalf of the Train Show Committee I want to thank all Piedmont Division members who stepped up to volunteer their time and energy. Special thanks to all those who came in Friday to assist with vendor move-in, and to all who stayed late Sunday to help with vendor load-out. Our ven-dors continue to be amazed at

how much help we provide and how smoothly things go. We have (justifiably in my mind) earned the moniker of “the vendor-friendly train show” around the vendor network. Way to go, y’all !! Lastly, my heartfelt personal thanks go to the members of the Train Show Committee – Charlie Crawford, David, Heather and Tyler Gelmini, Sally Bando, Gary Jarabek, Scott Povlot, Chris White and Bill Zawacki. Thank you for your efforts throughout the year in making this show so successful.

Raffle Layout Won by Willy Perry

The raffle layout this year was a nicely done N scale layout con-structed by members of the North County Interchange Op-erating Group (NCIOG). A DCC control system, a decoder-equipped locomotive and an array of freight cars were includ-ed in the package. Many thanks to Digitrax and all of the NCIOG members for their generosity in donating materials for this lay-out. Ticket sales for this year’s raffle were at near record lev-els , so excitement mounted as the 3:00 PM Sunday drawing neared and folks scrambled to get their last-second entries in the raffle box. The lucky winner was Willy Perry, of Smyrna, GA. We wish Willy and his family many wonderful years of model railroading. And special thanks to Randall Watson and Bob Wheeler for giving a quick “clinic” for the Perry family on how to set up and use the lay-out and controls. After a little time off, we will begin the process all over again for the 2015 Train Show! Please let me know if you’d like to help out in the planning stages. We can always use new energy and ideas as we go forward. Thanks again to everyone who helped make this show a huge success.

2015 Model Train Show Another Success By Joe Gelmini, MMR Train Show Manager

The speaker at the Saturday night banquet was Steven Hawkins, Presi-dent of Greenville & Western (G&WR) and Aiken Railways (AR). Steven gave a very informative presentation of the two short-line Class III railways that he manages to provide service for customers to the connections with main lines that were deemed unprofitable by pre-vious owners.

The Greenville & Western Railway operates 12.74 miles in Anderson County between Belton, SC (connects to Pickens Railway/NS) and Peltzer, SC (connects to CSX). G&WR was purchased from CSX in 2006 and has enjoyed steady growth in traffic over the past 9 years,

primarily due to growth in the shipment of ethanol. Other commodities include scrap metal, limestone, fertilizer, feed products, plastics and paper. They currently operate two EMD GP9 locomotives painted in a fine green and white livery. They offer service to customers 7 days a

week. The Aiken Railway operates on 18.90 miles in Aiken County between Oakwood and War-renton, when it connects to NS. Principle commodities shipped include Kaolin, lime-

stone, sand, dolomite, Borate and various fertilizers and agricultural products. AR operate two GP30 locomotives in a two-tone green livery. Of particular interest was their front-end loader (Komatsu) facility in William-ston, SC, which was opened last November. The facility is a spur with a ramp to drive onto the flat cars. Of note was the fact that these front-end loaders did not come with buckets as they are usually made to order and shipped separately. An important fact for prototype modelling! Additional information about these and other short-line railways in South Carolina can be found at: http://www.wcrscorp.com/railroads.html http://scrailroads.org/

In Greenville, SER Banquet Attendees

Hear about Local Railroads By Alan Mole SER Vice President

Joseph C. Hinson

Clarke W. Sutphin

PIEDMONT DIVISION DOERS

Alpharetta youngsters discover Model Railroading On Saturday, March 22, A. J. Welch presented a clinic for beginning model railroaders at the Dr. Robert E. Fulton Library At Ocee in Al-pharetta. He was assisted by Direc-tor of Programs Walt Liles. A. J. made his presentation to 25 young people who ranged in age from 6-to-13. A. J. was grateful for the assis-tance provided by Walt. “I can't thank Mr. Liles enough for his time and support,” he said.

Piedmont Division Timetable Piedmont Division Timetable

Power Supplies Your layout runs on electricity, right? All you have to do is just plug a wire into the wall, let it feed some sort of converter, and then run the leads to a con-trol box. OK, if that’s not it, you just run a plug from the trans-former to the wall, and you’re done. Easy, right? As time goes on, though, you’ll find the need for more and more power supplies. I have about a dozen plugs supplying varied types of juice to the layout. A custom made, multi-outlet, multi-drop, large gauge ‘extension cord’ was created to allow a single plug to fully dis-connect the entire layout. Something like that is a good idea, but let’s talk about those thingies that plug into the wall and convert the 110v house power to power that won’t elec-trocute you (hopefully) when running the trains. There are three basic types of power supplies that you will encounter: Simple wall-wart transformers, plug in regulated power supplies and switching power supplies. The wall-wart transformers are the least expensive, and can cause the most problems. They are rated at, let’s say, 15v. That means that when you plug it in, it will convert the wall voltage to something north of 15v. North of 15v you say? Yes! As you load down the transformer, it will generally read somewhere around 15v, and as you reach, or exceed its rated output, it’ll be somewhat lower than the 15v. Transformers work in a range. Voltages start high, and drop lower as the load increas-es. That’s why you don’t want to use a 6amp transformer to power a half amp load. You might get 2 or 3 volts more than you wanted. So what, you say? Well, we live in a digital world, and trans-

The Piedmont Division meets at 7:00 o’clock in the evening on the second Tuesday of each month at:

Holy Innocents Episcopal Church 805 Mt. Vernon Highway Atlanta, Georgia 30327

Division Meetings are open to everyone,

so why not join us and see what Model Railroading Fellowship and Fun is all about!

We hope we’ll see you at our new location!

INFORMATION

APRIL - MAY 2015 PAGE 11

PIEDMONT DIVISION

TIMETABLE VOLUME 14, NUMBER 15

The TIMETABLE is published quarterly by the Piedmont Division of the National Model Railroad Association for the enjoyment of Members and Friends.

STAFF CONTRIBUTORS

Doug Alexander Editor Tom Gordon Bob Wood Associate Editor Alan Mole James Bando Photo Editor Chuck and Mary Ann Hoesch Lotta B. Essen Customer Service Howard Goodwin, MMR Joe Gelmini, MMR Peter Youngblood, MMR

D E A D L I N E for submissions to the

October - December 2015 TIMETABLE:

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12TH

Send Articles, Letters, Photos and Gossip to timetable@piedmont-div.org

formers are great for analog devices. Digital devices aren’t very forgiving, and when a digi-tal circuit wants 12v, it wants TWELVE VOLTS. It does not like 11 volts, or 13 volts. It wants 12.0 volts! Digital circuitry is designed to work at its best at its rated values. If you let the supply drift high or low, things might not work quite as well as you’d like. OK, solve the problem with regulated, benchtop power supplies, right? This works, if you have unlimited funds. Those babies are quite pricey, and you may need several. It would be OK to do this, but not economical. The bank of lit me-

ters under the layout might look cool, though! Alright, now for a reasonable solu-tion: Switching Power Supplies (Which are some-times called regu-lated power sup-

plies when they have not meters or controls.) Many of these are very affordable, but can hog large numbers of 110v power outlets. Check your box of old wall warts (you have one, don’t you?), and see if some say ‘regulated’ or ‘switching’. If a wart has one of these words, the output voltage will likely be very, very close to the rating. The higher quality the device, the better the regula-tion. With that in mind, it is a good idea to check the voltage with a volt meter to make sure you don’t have a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Not that vendors would swap out a transformer for a regulated wall wart. That would never happen….. But, you say, I will need 5 of the 12v wall warts to power lighting and control panel bulbs, plus 3 or 4 plugs for DCC boost-ers – who has that many plugs? There is another solution, and it does require some work. You can recycle old computer power supplies, and route the juice around the layout. The price for these is often right! Computers are very picky about the voltage they receive, so you can generally rest as-sured that the voltage of a switching supply output very close to its rating. Computer

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Piedmont Division Timetable Piedmont Division Timetable

B & B Hobbies 1142 Athens Highway, Suite 107 770-972-2328 Grayson, GA 30017 http://www.bandbhobby.com/

Blue Ox Trains * Steve Funsten 425 Market Place 404-312-6467 Roswell, GA 30075 www.blueoxtrains.com

Free Time Hobbies 4167 East First Street 706-946-1120 Blue Ridge, GA 30513 www.freetimehobbies.com

HobbyTownUSA—Duluth 3360 Satellite Blvd. 770-418-0850 Duluth, GA 30096 www.hobbytown.com

HobbyTownUSA—Kennesaw 840 Barrett Lakes Blvd. 770-426-8800 Kennesaw, GA 30144 www.hobbytown.com

Legacy Station Toys Trains and Hobbies * 4153 Lawrenceville Hwy, #12 770-339-7780 Lilburn, GA 30047 www.legacystation.com

Riverdale Station * Bob Branin 6632 Georgia Hwy 85 770-991-6085 Riverdale, GA 30274 rivstatinc@aol.com

Trainmaster Models * Kathy Devaney 601 East Main Street 678-546-3600 Buford, GA 30518 www.trainmastermodels.com

BRANCH LINE SHOPS

Limited-Service and/or Stocked Hobby shops in the Piedmont Division Area * Indicates an NMRA Member-Owned Business

Buford Junction (O-scale & Tinplate) Tom White 359 W Shadburn Ave. 678-772-7949 Buford, GA 30518

Lindy’s Trains See web site for details Multiple Locations www.lindystrains.com

MAIN LINE SHOPS Full-Service Hobby shops in the Piedmont Division Area

* Indicates an NMRA Member-Owned Business

SUPPLY DEPOTS train-related merchandise stores

in the Piedmont Division Area

Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History Gift Shop 2829 Cherokee Street (770) 427-2117 Kennesaw, GA 30144 http://www.southernmuseum.org

Southeastern Railway Museum Gift Shop 3595 Buford Hwy. (770) 476-2013 Duluth, GA 3009 www.southeasternrailwaymuseum.org

REPAIR DEPOTS Independent Model Train repair & Services

in the Piedmont Division Area * Indicates an NMRA Member-Owned Business

\American Flyer Repair Jack Shaw

165 Primrose Pass / Newnan, GA 30265 678-230-3184

Atlanta Locomotive Company * Ovidiu Trifanescu

HO & N-scale Electrical & mechanical repairs piko7403@yahoo.com 3204 Timbercreek Cir / Roswell, GA 30076-8810 678-230-3184

HiRail Train Repairs John Lischke

Repair of Lionel & American Flyer 404-376-1316 1001 Riverstone Court, Woodstock, GA 30188 jlischke@comcast.net

Lathbury Electric Train Sales & Service Johnathan Lathbury Authorized Lionel Service Center (404) 892-3113 959 Highland Terrace NE #6, Atlanta, GA 30306 jdltrain@aol.com

APRIL - MAY 2015 PAGE 13 RETURN TO CONSIST

APRIL - MAY 2015 PAGE 14

Wired Continued from Page 9

power supplies generally pro-duce +12v, +5v and +3v. The amperage rating for each is often huge (5-20+ amps typical-ly), so you must be very careful in building one of these devices. Doing so is not for the faint of heart, but it’s not too difficult either. There is a web reference to how this can be done at: http://2railoscale.blogspot.com/2011/09/how-to-convert-used-pc-power-supplies.html. You can also do a web search to find other descriptions on how to convert old computer power supplies for other uses. Just be forewarned, read ALL the instructions on how to do this, and absolutely fuse ALL connections to the supply. (Purchase a fuse block to hold all the fuses.) If you short a 15 amp 12v line, you’re pulling down 180 watts, and if the power sup-ply is rated for that, it will be more than happy to deep fry whatever is connected. Also, it is not advisable to ever open the metal box that contains the power supply circuitry. Residual charges can exist on the capaci-tors for very long periods of

time, and can be most danger-ous. The resulting magic smoke may be your own. One more caveat: If you are using old computer power sup-plies, be prepared for them to eventually meet their maker. Don’t wire them permanently into layout. Create some sort of means to replace them. If you are worried about using an old device, buy a new one. They are often on sale. Hopefully this simplified expla-nation resolves some of the power supply mystery, and might help you save some bucks too. Happy electrification!

Piedmont Division Timetable Piedmont Division Timetable

OFFICERS

Superintendent Peter Youngblood, MMR (2016) santaferailway@aol.com

770-966-1661

Operations Walt Liles (2015) wliles.crrman@gmail.com 678-896-6311

Finance Joe Sullivan (2015) jwsullivanjr@aol.com 404-705-9465

Administration Chris White (2016) chrisgwhite22@gmail.com

770-594-2618

Membership Royal Bruce (2016) paul_r@mindspring.com 770-849-9659

DIRECTORS AT-LARGE

Matt Coleman 706-253-2770

(2016) mattjcoleman@netscape.net

Chuck Hoesch 828-837-9686

(2015) hoesch@brmemc.net

Perry Lamb 770-218-9744

(2016) Perry_Lamb@mindspring.com

Norman Lundin 770-251-8035

(2015) elkriver@numail.org

Joe Maiuro 770-920-9030

(2016) joedottiem@aol.com

Alan Mole 770 813-1769

(2015) alanmole@bellsouth.net

Joe Nichols, Jr. MMR (770) 552-0347

(2015) alpinerr@mindspring.com

Jim Travis 770-289-2020

(2016) jgtravis@comcast.net

SUPERINTENDENT EMERITUS

Charlie Crawford, MMR

PIEDMONT DIVISION LEADERSHIP ACHIEVEMENT PROGRAM

Randall Watson 770-831-5736

randallvwatson1@bellsouth.net

______________________________

ADVERTISING

Gary Jarabek 770-509-6941

gjarabek@bellsouth.net

______________________________

PRODUCTION

Peter Youngblood, MMR 678-920-8818

santaferailway@aol.com

______________________________

APPAREL / DIVISION STORE

Gary Jarabek 770-509-6941

gjarabek@bellsouth.net

______________________________

AUCTION

Howard Goodwin, MMR 770-529-2103

horn69@bellsouth.net

______________________________

BOY SCOUTS MERIT BADGE

Howard Goodwin, MMR 770-529-2103

horn69@gbellsouth.net

______________________________

COFFEE COORDINATOR

John Falk 678-361-4458

jwfalk@bellsouth.net

______________________________

GOOD & WELFARE

Chuck & Mary Ann Hoesch 828-837-9686

hoesch@brmemc.net

______________________________

LIBRARY — BOOKS

Stephen Leydon 770-338-4966

sleydon1@bellsouth.net

______________________________

LIBRARY — VIDEO

David Gelmini 770-707-5019

atcgel@bellsouth.net

______________________________

MEMBER AID

Ovidiu Trifanescu 678-230-3184

piko7403@yahoo.com

NAME TAGS

James Bando 770-928-2135

horailroader@comcast.net

______________________________

OPERATIONS EXPERIENCE

Milt Burge 678-344-7500

eecircus@aol.com

______________________________

PIEDMONT PILGRIMAGE

Gary Jarabek 770-509-6941

gjarabek@bellsouth.net

______________________________

RAFFLE LAYOUT

I.D. Jackson 770-926-4261

idj49@bellsouth.net

______________________________

REFRESHMENTS

George Masak 770-945-6488

gmmasak@charter.net

______________________________

SOUTHEAST RR MUSEUM LAYOUT

A. J. Welch 770-663-7893

trustthelord247@gmail.com

______________________________

SPECIAL PROJECTS

Scott Chatfield 678-467-6480

blindog@mindspring.com

______________________________

Newsletter

Doug Alexander 404-272-2986

timetable@piedmont-div.org

______________________________

Train Show

Joe Gelmini, MMR 770-460-8873

papagel@comcast.net

______________________________

VOLUNTEERS

Walt Liles 678-896-6311

wliles.crrman@gmail.com

______________________________

Webmaster

Scott Povlot 770-569-4678

spovlot@yahoo.com

PIEDMONT DIVISION COMMITTEE, PROGRAM & ACTIVITY

CHAIRS / CONTACTS

To get involved, contact Gary Jarabek at 770-509-6941 or by email at gjarabek@bellsouth.net

To be Part of the 2015

Piedmont Pilgrimage!

APRIL - MAY 2015 PAGE 15 APRIL - MAY 2015 PAGE 16

RETURN TO CONSIST

Tues, July 14th PIEDMONT DIVISION MONTHLY MEETING Holy Innocents Episcopal Church 7 - 9:30 pm Clinic: How to do Graffiti on 89’ Autoracks 805 Mt. Vernon Hwy Clinician: Walt Liles Sandy Springs, GA Bring’n’Brag: Your Favorite Vacation Railroad Pictures ,models or brochures from these possible destinations Sat, July 18th The Southern Museum presents RAILROAD RENDEZVOUS The Southern Museum 9:30 am - 5 pm A family-friendly event. Fun for Kids of All Ages! 2829 Cherokee Street, Kennesaw, GA

Sun, July 19th Layout Open House Dr. Paul Schenk’s Boston & Maine Railroad 1 - 4 pm 4487 Village Springs Place / Dunwoody, GA 30338

Sat, July 25 Boy Scout Merit Badge Program The Southern Museum 8 am - 5 pm Contact: Howard Goodwin, MMR 2829 Cherokee Street, Kennesaw, GA 30144 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Sat, August 8 49th Atlanta Model Train Show North Atlanta Trade Center 9 am - 4 pm For more info: http://www.gserr.com/shows.htm 1700 Jeurgens Court, Norcross, GA 30093 Tues, August 11 PIEDMONT DIVISION MONTHLY MEETING Holy Innocents Episcopal Church 7— 9:30 pm Clinic: How Short Lines manage car inventory and requirements 805 Mt. Vernon Hwy Clinician: David Brooker Sandy Springs, GA Bring’n’Brag: Short Line railroad cars -- Active roads or fallen flags Sat., August 15th TrainIn’Camp: Learning to judge in the AP & Division Contests First Presbyterian Church 1 pm to 4 pm For Current NMRA Members Only 189 Church Street To Register, Contact Perry Lamb Marietta, GA 30060 Sun, August 16th Layout Open House Bill Robertson’s Southern Pacific Mountain Park Division 1 pm to 4 pm 114 East Lake Drive / Roswell, GA 30075 August 23 — 29 NMRA National Convention “Portland Daylight Express” http://www.nmra2015portland.org/ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Tues, Sept 8 PIEDMONT DIVISION MONTHLY MEETING Holy Innocents Episcopal Church 7— 9:30 pm Clinic: Building and Rebuilding Plastic Structures 805 Mt. Vernon Hwy Clinician: Dr. Joseph Nichols, Jr., MMR Sandy Springs, GA Bring’n’Brag: Plastic Structures Bring a structure you have recently built or are building Sun, Sept 13th Layout Open House Tom Gordon’s Seaboard Air Line - West GA Subdivision 1 pm to 3 pm 1866 Anjaco Rd. NW , Atlanta, GA 30309 Sat, Sept 26 Boy Scout Merit Badge Program Southeastern Railway Museum 8 am - 5 pm Contact: Howard Goodwin, MMR 3595 Buford Hwy, Duluth, GA 30096 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Tues, Oct 13th PIEDMONT DIVISION MONTHLY MEETING Holy Innocents Episcopal Church 7— 9:30 pm Fall Model & Photography Contest 805 Mt. Vernon Hwy Sandy Springs, GA Clinic: Building a Plate Girder Bridge Clinician: Charlie Crawford, MMR Bring’n’Brag: Po Pori -- Bring a favorite model _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Be sure to check www.piedmont-div.org for the latest Schedule information.

PIEDMONT DIVISION

NATIONAL MODEL RAILROAD ASSOCIATION

S C H E D U L E

JULY — SEPTEMBER 2015