THE ABTO GAZETTE June, 2013 Volume 21 Number 6

Visit at:www.azbigtrains.org

IN THIS ISSUE

President’s Message

June Supplementary Meeting Information

Library Module Event

Calendar of Events

Treasurer’s Report

Glenn Saber Casa Verde Railroad

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THE ABTO GAZETTE

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Hello Garden Railroaders, I hope that all of you had a chance to see Glenn Saber’s home and railroad. To say that he had quite a series of “collections” is to make a massive understatement. Glenn’s collection of locomotives and rolling stock covered almost the entire spectrum of collectables in the larger scales of the hobby. Glenn proved to be a gracious and patient host and I for one, would not say no to a return engagement. There’s simply is too much to see and appreciate for one visit. Thank-you Glenn for hosting the club! I would like to just take note of an ABTO member who has been flying under the radar as to his contri-butions with the module’s dioramas. As most of you know, we have been upgrading the dioramas that enhance the module display. As the module is important to our 501 (c) 3 status, this person’s efforts are multiplied in importance to us. I’m speaking of Jim Gardner, who was instrumental in preparing and painting the Flagstaff Depot diorama backdrop as well and the long row of facades that Ennis rebuilt for the club. Jim has painted the details (along with Don Sorenson) on the back side of those false front buildings. The back of the facades is visible when the module is set up for viewing from both sides of the framework. Jim has also been painting some of the cars used on the CCMC RR at the Cardon Children’s Medical Center, as well as the entire backdrop for that indoor G-scale railroad. Now, in his spare time, he isn’t hesitant to contract out a little wall mural work for ABTO members who aren’t ready to tackle that task themselves. Jim also provides new member services along with Daryll Smith (who is our membership chairman.) But here I see, that as is so typical with our club, to give praise to one person, inevitably gives rise to praise for several others. The club is not about just one or two people, but about the rich interweaving of skills and abilities, the very reason why a person would join our club in the first place. So while I say “Good Job”, to one of our members, I’m really saying it to all of our members. It is on that note that I am encouraging those of you who haven’t yet become active with a leadership position to consider offering yourselves to Rich Hull as candidates for our fall election of board officers. We are winding down the two year term of the current board and we are actively soliciting some of you to consider adding “ABTO Board Member” to your resume. You will meet and direct the day to day ac-tivities of the club as well as receive input from the other club members. The time demanded isn’t much and the rewards can be more enjoyable than you might think. So I encourage you to get involved and talk to Rich Hull. In closing, I am sorry to inform you that the June meeting will not be held at Brian Casull’s. He has had to cancel the operating session and the general meeting entirely. This came rather unexpectedly and we hope that all will be well with the Casull’s. Ennis Thompson is scheduling a replacement activity for this month. We will get the word out to you as soon as we finalize the details. Bob Rauperstrauch

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CONTENTS

President’s Message.…………………....…….2

Treasurer’s Report……………………..……....3

Module Event @ Library...…..……………...3

May Membership Minutes…..………….....4

May Meeting Photos……………...…………..4

June 15th Supplement Mtg.………….......5

Train Day………….………………………………...6

Ed Hook’s For Sale.…….…………...………...7

Calendar of Events.….………………………...7

THE ABTO GAZETTE A.B.T.O. TREASURER’S REPORT

May 1 thru May 31, 2013

INCOME

Train Day Donation $28.77

Misc. Donations 2.00

Raffle 32.00

Mdse. Sales (Rail Clamps) 146.00

TOTAL INCOME $ 208.77

EXPENSES

Name Badge. $5.37

Post Office Box Rent 72.00

Trailer Insurance 25.00

Modules 137.73

CCMC 100.60

Shipping 2.03

TOTAL EXPENSES $ 342.73

NET INCOME - $133.96

Dates have been set for the Mesa Downtown Library Module Display!

Setup: Saturday, July 27, at 9am. (Display will not be open to the public on

this day).

Run Schedule: July 29-August 3: Monday thru Thursday 10am until 6pm;

Friday 10 am until 4:30 pm;

Saturday 10am until 3pm with teardown

starting at 3 pm.

Signup sheets will be available at the June and July meetings.

Thanks in advance for your support.

Jim Kangas 480 659 1756 jkangasat@cox.net

PLEASE NOTE:

JUNE MEETING IS CANCELLED

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THE ABTO GAZETTE

Photos by Don Sorenson

Membership Meeting Photos ABTO MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES-05/18/13

held at Glenn Saber's Home Bob R. opened the meeting at 10:35am. The minutes were accepted as written in the May Gazette. Dennis Busby, Treasurer, read the treasurer's report with a correction that was in the May Gazette Treasurer's Report . The Spring Auction corrected amount was a total of $1548.00. Glenn Saber spoke about his railroad. Three years ago, Glenn had purchased Gerry Pfeiffer's track and redid it to fit his yard. He has both inside and outside layouts. Glenn also mentioned that the Beat the Heat Swap Meet will be held August 17th in Prescott. Once again the bus will be available, please contact Glenn for further information. Daryll Smith is taking over the Dioramas from Roger Crooks. Daryll will have the diorama builders have their work completed by June 15th. National Train Day was a success with 2103 visitors attending. Bob R. spoke about the Mesa Library with two locations and the board will de-cide the location of the event. The Christmas Dinner will be held Sunday, December 1st with a location an-nounced at a later date. Ennis Thompson spoke about the Christmas Open Houses and that this will be his last year as chairman of the Open Houses. The dates for this year will be December 7 & 8 and December 14 & 15th with the option for Friday's. The hours will be 5:30pm-8:30pm. We hope to have Dennis Sirrine again this year. Brian Casull spoke about the Operating Session that will be held Saturday, June 15th prior to the membership meeting at 11:30am. More information in the June Gazette. Brian Casull and Daryll Smith presented Jim Kangas with the Snuffy Award. The new Show Coordinator for the Spring and Christmas Open Houses, 2014 will be Mike Quaintance. Bob R. is looking for members who would like to join the Cardon Children's Medical Center Railroad SIG. OPEN to all members. These members will need to be active on the layout in some fashion, cleaning track, maintaining equip-ment, doing scenery details, etc. Soliciting members for new board for 2014. Please contact Rich Hull if inter-ested in running for an office. Raffle was won by Jack Johnson. Door prizes were won by Ginny Morris, Bob Rauperstrauch and John Meyers. Ed Hook had brought items from his collection for sale prior to the meeting. The Roundabout, tentative date is November 2nd and the East Valley Railroads will be open for viewing for the Tucson Club. Bob R. closed the meeting at 11:35am Submitted by Ginny Morris for Tony Vacek, Sectretary

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THE ABTO GAZETTE

JUNE 15th SUPPLEMENTARY MEETING

Due to health reasons, Brian and Rebecca Casull had to cancel the general

meeting at their home with the annual running session and general meeting.

Rebecca is recovering from a total knee replacement and is in “rehab.” With

this open date on June 15th we have scheduled a joint meeting for our Modules-

Diorama Sig and the ABTO Open House Shows.

Everyone interested in participating in either of these two Sigs are welcome to

attend. This club get together at the JJ North’s Country Buffet on Scottsdale

Road & McDowell Road, Scottsdale for a breakfast starting at 8:00AM on the

15th of June.

We welcome all input into meeting about the scheduling, organization and

goals for both groups. We’ll put a time schedule on each group, so we can cover

both groups goals in the “Tea Party” discussion meeting.

Final location & costs will come through with a “blast” from Ginny, but please

forward your attendance number to Ennis Thompson by June 7th, so we can

plan for the group.

His email is: egtrailroading@wbhsi.net and we’ll look forward to everyone’s

participation in these activities. Remember, it’s your club and let’s always show

good to the public promoting Garden Railroading & ABTO. A little help is better

than none.

Thanks,

Ennis

Jim Kangas

Daryll Smith copied from a 1996 magazine

REMINDER::

Bob R. is looking for

members who would

like to join Cardon

Children’s Medical

Center Railroad

SIG.

OPEN to all Mem-

bers. These members

will need to be active

on the layout in

some fashion, clean-

ing track, maintain-

ing equipment, doing

scenery details, etc.

EMAIL AND ADDRESS

CORRECTIONS:

Ennis Thompson email:

egtrailroading@wbhsi.net

Fred Olds, Sr.

205 S. Higley #78

Mesa, Az. 85206

thingsmadeof-

wood@yahoo.com

Daryll Granger

271 South Longmore Street

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THE ABTO GAZETTE NATIONAL TRAIN DAY AT ARIZONA TRAIN MUSEUM

MODULE EVENT

National Train Day was held at the Arizona Train Musuem in Chalfont. The attendance was 2103. Our members enjoyed running their trains and talking to the people. The following members helped with the: Set Up: Run Trains: Tear Down: Jim Kangas Jim Kangas Jim Kangas Ginny Morris Ginny Morris Ginny Morris Daryll Smith Daryll Smith Daryll Smith Steve Lewis Darryl Granger Bob Rauperstrauch Dennis Busby Bob Rauperstrauch Steve Lewis Jack Johnson James Ingram Dennis Busby James Ingram Ken Hawkins (Club train) James Ingram Don Halver Brian Casull Ken Hawkins Darryl Granger Brian Casull (Honorable Mention— Wesley Schriver Roger Crooks for Tim Georgvich bringing the Vince Simpson Laminated plank James Riddle for the Lift Bridge) Last but not least: The latest Snuffy Award Nominee: Jim Kangas was distracted and drove his Rail bus into a stalled Caboose (belonging to Ginny Morris) - due to coupler failure—causing the Caboose to fall off the track and split open’ Fortunately, the Conducter and Brakeman were not in the car at the time of the accident. No pictures were taken of the accident scene but there were several witnesses, including a person attending the event who offered his business card to Jim, who heard people yelling for Jim to hit the “Stop” button before the fateful event. The individual who offered im his business card works for a Railroad and would like Jim to teach his Engineers where the “Stop” button is on their full-scale trains. I think this event went very well and we had excellent Club support for Set Up and Tear Down. It would have been just “that much better” if we had a few more trains to run (for variety reasons) to give the attendees something different to see throughout the day. (People really like steam Locos). Looking back at the high number of kids present, we should think about running Tho-mas the Train at scheduled times. Perhaps we can tie-in some type of Dona-tion Train Car where the kids (or their parents) would hail Thomas to stop in front of them to make a donation to the Club. As for dioramas, I’m as guilty as the others for not having mine completed. If Roger wouldn’t mine, I will “throw my hat in the ring” to head-up the Diorama Crew to try and motivate the other Modelers to move their project along or concede that they over-committed and pass the task on to other members. We can discuss this at the Board meeting on Wednesday. Regards, Daryll Photos by Daryll Smith

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THE ABTO GAZETTE

TRAIN INVENTORY AND ACCESSORIES FOR SALE——CHEAP

Engines—-$100.00-$150.00 Rolling Stock—-$45.00-$95.00

Track——-$2.00 foot Fine collection of framed train pictures

Edward N. Hook, PhD. 1005 N. Revere Street (Country Club near Brown)

Mesa, Arizona 85201

Telephone: 840-833-2724

email address: illinilad3357@yahoo.com

Here are some photos of club member Fred Olds, Sr.’s new layout and what you can do with less than 100’ of track and a little woodworking and a pond. It’s not prototypical but it is functional.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS:

Saturday, June 15 8:00am Supplementary Meeting (more information at a later date

as a BLAST

Wednesday, July 17 6:00pm Board Meeting at Rauperstrauch’s home

Saturday, July 20 8:30am Membership Meeting at Cardon Children’s Medical Center

Saturday, July 27 9:00am Set-up Module at Mesa Library (see page 3 for more info.)

Mon.-Thurs. July 29-Aug. 1 10am-6pm Operate trains at the Mesa Library

Friday, August 2 10am-4:30pm Operate trains at the Mesa Library

Saturday, August 3 10am-3:00pm Operate trains at the Mesa Library

Saturday, August 3 3:00pm Teardown module

Wednesday, August 14 6:00pm Board Meeting at Rauperstrauch’s home

Saturday, August 17 8:30am Membership Meeting at Cardon Children’s Medical Center

PLEASE NOTE:

JUNE MEETING IS CANCELLED

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ABTO MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

The renewal fee is $30.00 per year and the new

membership fee of $35.00 per year entitles you

to attend all meetings and events, to receive the

monthly newsletter, and to have one name badge

created for you. Additional badges may be pur-

chased for $7 each.

ABTO CONTRIBUTIONS

Members are encouraged to contribute articles,

letters, illustrations and/or photographs related

to garden railroading for inclusion in the news-

letter and/or posting on the club web site.

Members who have hobby-related items for sale

or trade may submit an advertisement for publi-

cation and/or posting at no charge. Please limit

each ad to a maximum of four lines. Accompany-

ing photos will be considered for publication as

space allows.

OBJECTIVES

Membership in Arizona Big

Train Operators (ABTO) is open

to anyone with an interest in

gardening and the creation &

operation of large scale model railways. At our

meetings, items of mutual interest associated

with the hobby are discussed and demonstrated.

Meetings are typically held at member’s homes,

where they have the opportunity to showcase

their railway creations. General meetings are

usually held on the third Saturday of the month.

ABTO BOARD MEETINGS

Board meetings will be held on Wednesday prior

to the general meeting of each month. Board

meetings are open to members who are current

on their dues and have an item for the agenda.

If you plan to attend, call a Board member to

confirm location, time and date

ARIZONA BIG TRAIN OPERATORS

Arizona Big Train Operators 1633 E. Lakeside Drive Unit 1 Gilbert, AZ 85234