waybill win 10 - midwest region, nmra...midwest region nmra waybill winter 2010 page 2 the...

WaybillMid West Region NMRA –Winter 2010

President’s ReportBy Bill Litkenhous, President, MWR

I travel along the former Monon Railroad main line severaltimes every week. As I have written in previous letters theCSX Railroad is storing surplus cars at various pointsalong the line. It has been interesting to watch thechanges that a stationary car goes through. The blackhopper cars start out with the dark sheen of cars that areregularly used. As time has gone by the cars have devel-oped a light patina of a dark red rust color. The cars thatrun consistently seem to shake this patina off but thesestationary cars just hang on to these natural changes. Inow wonder how long it is going to be before the vegeta-tion starts invading the spaces between the cars. So far Ihave not noticed any encroachment by the trees and bush-es but I kind of expect it if CSX lets these cars rest muchlonger.As I have mentioned in previous letters, I work at theSalem, Indiana depot railroad museum on a regular basis.I am one of six volunteers that regularly work on the layoutin the basement of the museum. It is interesting to notethat while the layout models the Monon Railroad inWashington County of Indiana, none of the volunteers livesin Washington County. We all enjoy working on a themelayout and especially enjoy the comments that visitorsmake while viewing the layout. It is also interesting to hearpeople talking about what has been added to the layoutsince the last time they visited.I am sure that most of you know of San Francisco’s historicstreet car line, the “F” line. Bowser has been importingmodels of all the versions of the PCC cars in service.Finally, in their third run they are bringing out the versionpainted for the Louisville Railway Company. Louisville, KYbeing my home town, I am very interested in this model.The Louisville Railway Company ordered 25 PCC carsafter World War II. Fifteen of the cars were delivered toLouisville, but only one or two were actually unloaded.One was run around the main car barn and then reloadedonto the flat car it came to town on. It seems that the cityfathers were determined to eliminate street cars and hadthreatened to pull the franchise from the Louisville RailwayCompany if they didn’t cease operating street cars. The

LWC determined that they could get a better price on thecars if they were brand new so they reloaded the cars andsent the 15 delivered cars and the ten cars still at the man-ufacturing plant on to the new owner, Cleveland. The Louisville Railway Company continued to run thestreet cars without the PCCs until Derby Day in May of1948. The company was not certain that they could handlethe Derby Day traffic without the street cars, so they usedthem to take the crowds out to Churchill Downs and thenparked them. The buses handled the crowds after theraces and the street cars were never operated again. It was my good fortune to have a mother that wanted herchildren to experience a ride on the streetcars of Louisville.She took me and my sister, along with several of theneighborhood kids on a trip the week before operationsceased. The line that we rode on was the same one thatwent by the Churchill Downs and then on to private right ofway out to one of Louisville’s largest city parks. We are fortunate to have a company like Bowser to repro-duce something as interesting as the San Francisco streetcars. Also Bachmann has released a street car of notewith the Peter Witt car. Many similar cars were built andoperated around the country, including the city of Louisville.I will be painting a pair in the Louisville Railway Companycolors, even though they are not like Louisville’s. But whatthe heck, they’re close enough. I have visited several train shows this fall and supportedthem by having sales tables to help thin down my collec-tion of equipment. In August, the Jeffersonville ModelRailroad Club held a show in conjunction with theSellersburg Celebrates (Sellersburg, Indiana). We had ourmodular HO layout on display along with another clubs HOlayout, Bob Johnson’s Lionel layout, and the Kentucky Livesteamers with a display. We also had about two dozensales tables. It was a successful show for the club and I.I also participated in the Columbus, Indiana MR club showin September in conjunction with the heart nut festival inthe Johnson County Park. Again a very successful show.And then last month, October, I went to Danville, Indiana toparticipate in the CID fall show. A free show (no admis-sion) with multiple layouts and dealers tables. Also a suc-cessful show.

Midwest Region NMRAWaybill Winter 2010 page 1


The WAYBILL

Editor David J. Leider MMR601 N. Elmhurst Rd.

Prospect Hts. IL 60070847-253-7484

[email protected] Editor

Jim Osborn

The WAYBILLis published quarterly by the MidwestRegion of the National Model RailroadAssociation Inc. for the benefit of the

model railroading community.

SUBSCRIPTIONSElectronic delivery is free to all members

of the Region. Go to http://www.mwr-nmra.org/region/waybill/waybill.html to

subscribe or to change your e-mailaddress. Regular mail subscriptions are$6.00 per year; $12.00 for two years. Tosubscribe, complete the applicable sec-

tions of the NMRA MembershipApplication at http://www.nmra.org/.

CONTRIBUTIONSArticles, photographs and artwork areencouraged in either hardcopy or elec-

tronic form. The editor uses Quark 4.1 ashis publishing software on a Mac. Word

documents are also acceptable, butplease send the photographs as an

attachment. Copy is due by the 10th ofFebruary, May, August and November andshould be sent to the editor at the above

address. Submitted material will bereturned upon request.

ADVERTISINGDeadlines for camera ready adds are thesame as for the copy deadlines. Pleasesubmit by email to the editor as a TIF or

.jpeg. We accept only railroad relatedadds. Advertising rates are:

yearly or per issueFull page $100 $35Half page 75 25 Quarter page 50 20Business card 25 15

Please send payment to Bryan Lemonds6325 Bent Pine Drive

Bloomington, IN 47408(812) 334-8841

[email protected]

Editor’s Column

Summer is over. and with itsummer (warm-weather) rail-fanning. This year I was ableto see some great prototypeequipment and to finish offmy collection ofKodachrome slide film. Yes,I still shoot slides, in additionto video and digital.

It began with a visit to theHesston Steam Museumand a ride behind narrowgauge Shay #7, as well as1/4 scale and 1/8 scale loco-motives.Next was a visit to the MonticelloRailroad museum for the dedication ofSouthern 401.Finally, I was fortunate to get a tour ofthe Janesville Roundhouse of theWisconsin Southern as part of theC&NWHS fall meet. For more photos,see page 11.

With winter here it time tovisit train shows and openhouses. There are severalnoteworthy ones comingup. One I enjoyed last yearwas the Lake Shore ModelRailroad Association at theCalumet Park Fieldhouse inChicago. The address is9801 S avenue G,the times are Dec 3:5-9Dec 4 and 5 11-4www.lakeshoremodelrr.org

This issue has more pages than usualbecause it is the annual election issue.Please take a few moments to fill outthe ballot on page 7 and return it toDon Cook. Remember, the region anddivision officers are all volunteers and itis nice to show them support for theircommitment.

It is a shame that the Waybill isprinted in black and white,because it is full of colorphotos. Why not check itout on the internet? In fact,why not make the internetyour primary means ofreceiving the Waybill? Youwill save money and get itin living color? See page 5for details.

Make plans now to attendthe spring region conven-tion in Madison. Full detailsare on pages 4 and 6.

Hesston Indiana, July 5, 2010

Wisconsin Southern ShopsOctober 2, 2010

Biker bar on the LakeshoreModel Railroad Association’s layout

Midwest Region Achievement Program Reportby Marvin Preussler- MWR AP Manager

I am happy to report that there has been a lot of activityfrom our members. Members continue to take part in theAchievement Program all over the Midwest Region. It isalways fun to help answer questions and to guide ourmembers in the AP. Take a look at the following:

The following members received AP Certificates:

James Osborn, McHenry, IL Author MWR Certificate # 881James Osborn, McHenry, IL- Volunteer MWR Certificate # 882Tim Kleimeyer, Sleepy Hollow, IL Volunteer MWR Certificate # 883Leif Hansen, Mt. Prospect, IL Volunteer MWR Certificate # 884

There is even more good news! We now have one moreMaster Model Railroader in the Midwest Region! He is:Ronald Lane: Master Model Railroader # 447

Ronald is from Columbus, IN . Ronald is an excellentmodel railroader and is very active in the NMRA in his divi-sion.

If you know Ronald personally or see him at your next trainshow, be sure to congratulate him on his achievement.Ronald’s MMR story was in the past issue of the NMRAmagazine. Great job Ronald and congratulations! Perhapsthe National convention got some of our members motivat-ed to finish off projects and fill out the paperwork.Deadlines are not always a bad thing! As always, work withyour division Achievement Program Manager first, and ifthere is a problem, feel free to contact me. Thanks!

Marvin Preussler, MMR

Frugal Modelerby John Wolfe, introduced by David Nelson

Many southeastern Wisconsin modelers have visited JohnWolfe's very nicely done Chicago & North Western"Allendale Division" themed HO scale layout, complete witha most impressive working block occupancy signal system.John has graciously agreed to author this "guest" FrugalModeler about his source of inexpensive speakers formodel railroad sound purposes. We take no responsibilityfor any weight gained while gathering the necessary mate-rials, nor for the tantrum caused by destroying a child'sHappy Meal toy just to get at the speakers! Take it away,John ....

A Source for Cheap SpeakersA quick look for speakers to use in DCC sound decoderinstallations turns up prices around $10 for a basic speak-er. A less expensive alternative is using speakers from

McDonalds'Happy Meal toys.Each series oftoys usuallyincludes at leastone toy that emitssounds, voices,or noises. Thesetoys are equippedwith a smallspeaker that istypically 3/4-inchdiameter andrated at 16 ohms.Their size makesthem a good fitfor use inside adiesel hood orsteam tender.You can use thespeaker as-is, oryou can use themin pairs. If youplace them inseries, they workwith decodersrequiring a 32-

ohm speaker. If wired in parallel, they work for 8-ohm sys-tems. Having harvested dozens of speakers this way, Ihave found that some of the speakers in the smaller toysare a 1/2-inch in diameter. I have also found some varia-tions in ohms,with a few being8-ohm or 32-ohm.Fortunately, eachspeaker isstamped on theback with its rat-ing so there is noguessing.The most difficulttask is opening upthe toy - they areassembled withtri-point screws.Most people don'thave a tri-pointscrewdriver [DN'scomment: tri-pointscrews areincreasingly used


Happy Meal toy from the GoldenArches. Held together with "tri-point"screws, but can easily be opened witha quick hit from a small hammer.

After judicious use of the hammer, thetop splits open to reveal the circuitboard with batteries and the speaker.In this case, a 32-ohm speaker approxi-mately 3/4 of an inch

in certain hi-tech games and products such as Wii cases,Gameboy cases, and some makes of digital cameras andcell phones, so you might already have a good reason toacquire one or two tri-point screwdrivers], but the plasticcase can be cracked open fairly easily by rapping it firmlywith a small hammer [DN's comment: certain nut crackersmight also be suited to this task]. Please be careful whenopening the toy as the plastic can crack with sharp edges.A screwdriver can be used to pry it open all the way andthen the speaker will drop out of its housing.If you have kids (or grandkids), you may already be visit-

ing McDonalds, so why not be frugal and pick up somecheap speakers too?

Region NewsThe Badgerland Express 2011April 15, 16 & 17 2011

All Aboard! The Badgerland Express..

The Badgerland ExpressMidwest Region Convention is

just around the corner, April15, 16 & 17, 2011 at theRadisson Hotel on GrandCanyon Drive in Madison,WI. We have a lot of great

events planned and I believeyou will find many things to

set your interests into high gear.Here are some examples.

Friday evening we start out with the following operatingsessions: Bill and Rose Weber’s Union Pacific, BarbRothwell’s Concord Valley and Western, Ken Honjacki’s

Ontario and Western, Ned Ferguson’s C & O and BobWundrock’s Soo Line just to name a few. Of course theseare first come first serve but if you want to operate on aspecific railroad then on your registration form put thename of the layout president in the area of “I want to oper-ate with ..” .

Friday is also the beginning of layout tours and clinics allweekend long. Ned Ferguson has received commitmentsfrom at least one clinician in each division from theMidwest Region (MWR) and more.

Youth group: Our South Central Wisconsin Division youthgroup will be displaying their club layout and will be con-ducting a make and take clinic for youth from 8 to 18. Inaddition to the layout in this room there will be a time saverswitching layout for the kids of all ages.

Non-Rail: We have lots of non rail clinics ready including amaster gardener, a bonsai expert, jewelry making (extrafare), CPR class (non certification) and Astronomy. Please note: The jewelry clinic will be two hours and willhave an extra fare of $35.00 for your supplies. Minimumregistration will need to be least at five people to do thisclinic. If interested, please send a separate sheet of paperwith your name on it and the words Jewelry Clinic alongwith your fare to our registrar. If you have already regis-tered, send the information, fare and your registration num-ber to the registrar.

In the early part of 2010, a Train Team from the SouthCentral Wisconsin Division built a G scale layout at thenew Madison Children’s Museum. We are offering areduced price ticket for admittance into the museum to seethe layout and the rest of this fine place for kids. Even ifyou’re not a youngster, this museum in downtown Madisonis worth the time to go through it.

We are also offering the contest area as always and anauction after the Banquet Saturday evening. We in theSouth Central Wisconsin Division are looking forward towelcoming you and you family to Madison Wisconsin andthe Badgerland Express 2011.Paul Mangan Badgerland Express Co-Chair


Different toys can have different speaker sizes and ratings.Most are 16-ohm 3/4 inch. However, 32-ohm and 8-ohmare also found often. Sizes are usually 3/4 inch, but will occasionally be 1/2 inch.

The GRASSHOPPERStatic Grass Applicator

Battery powered model- $40.00 postpaidBattery or AC model-$55.00 postpaid

David Leider601 N Elmhurst Rd

Prospect Hts, Il [email protected]

See you atMadisonSoo Line Booth


Next Board Meeting

Radisson HotelMadison, Wisconsin

April 17, 2011; 10:00 am

Waybill Delivery

Postal Only

Did you receive this issue of the Waybill by postal deliveryonly? The web version is in color and is provided at nocost. To receive an e-mail notice whenever a new Waybillis added to the Region website, please provide your e-mailaddress by going to http://www.mwr-nmra.org/region/waybill/waybill.html.

Postal & E-Mail Notice

Did you receive this issue of the Waybill by postal delivery& e-mail notice? In the future, save the $6.00 annual sub-scription fee by not subscribing to the Waybill when yourenew your NMRA membership.


Midwest Region 2011 Ballot

(This ballot is for use only by resident members of the Midwest Region)

President (Vote for/Check One)

[ ] Bill Litkenhous

[ ] Write-In _______________________________

Vice President (Vote for/Check One)

[ ] Paul Mangan

[ ] Write-In _______________________________

Director-At-Large (Vote for/Check Three)

[ ] Fred Henize

[ ] David Leider

[ ] Jim Allen (Incumbent)

[ ] Write-In _______________________________

[ ] Write-In _______________________________

[ ] Write-In _______________________________

To validate your ballot, please print your:

Name ________________________________________

NMRA No.* ____________________

Division _____________________ or Division Code* 28 / _____

* From your membership card.

If you do not provide the above information, your ballot will not be counted.

Return to Midwest Region Election Committee, c/o Don Cook, 2500 Tenth St, Waukegan, IL 60085-7050. Your ballot must be received no later than February 28, 2011.

Midwest Region Election CommitteeC/o Don Cook2500 Tenth StWaukegan, IL 60085-7050

Midwest Region ElectionCommitteeC/o Don Cook2500 Tenth StWaukegan, IL 60085-7050

FOLD HERE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

FOLD HERE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

PlaceStamp Here

Bend Under

Bill Litkenhous, PresidentI am currently

serving as yourPresident andseeking re-elec-tion for a 2ndterm. I joined theNMRA in 1961and have been acontinuous lifemember since.My active NMRAinvolvement start-ed years ago,when someonefrom the C.I.D.asked if we wouldhost a train showin Bloomingtonand I became theco-chairman of

that show. Since becoming involved in the C.I.D., I haveserved as superintendent and on the Board of Directors. Ihave served as chairman of various committees and havebeen active on the Regional Conventions committees atAnderson and Noblesville, IN. I served as Chairperson ofthe 2007 Regional Convention in Muncie. I am also thechairman of the committee for the joint Kiwanis Club/C.I.D.train shows at Bedford. I have done this for 14 years now.

In addition to NMRA activities, I am active in the Salem,Indiana Depot Museum helping to build an operating HOlayout depicting the Monon Railroad in the WashingtonCounty area. I usually volunteer there two days a week.

My modeling interests are focused on The BedfordIndustrial Railroad, a small switching layout to keep meoccupied while I am planning my ultimate layout. I modelthe L&N and C&O with an interest in all of the railroadsthat operated into Louisville, KY, my hometown. Theseinclude the Southern, B&O (which is my son’s favoriteline), Illinois Central, the New York Central, thePennsylvania and last but not least the Monon RR. I havebeen recently remarried and currently residing in Bedford, IN.

Paul Mangan, Vice-President

Currently Iam nearing the endof my first term asthe National ModelRailroadAssociation’sMidwest Region’s(NMRA-MWR) Vice-President. It hasbeen a very enjoy-able experience towork with ourregion’s, PresidentBill Litkenhous andthe entire Board ofDirectors. I would certainly look forward to serving anotherterm if re-elected.

I’m in my fourth term as the Superintendent of theSouth Central Wisconsin Division and I always bring a pos-itive attitude and “can do” spirit to the table. I will continueto work with the NMRA-MWR’s board of directors, do mybest to represent you and do my part to handle what everchallenges are put before the board. I will continue workingto ensure that the hobby remains enjoyable for all mem-bers. I truly believe that this is “The World’s GreatestHobby”.

Thank you very muchPaul


Annual Meetingof Members

Radisson HotelMadison,

Wisconsin

8:00 pm, Saturday,April 16, 2011

Jim Allen I have beeninvolved in modelrailroading on andoff for more than50 years. It startedwith a battery-operated tinplateset, progressed toAmerican Flyerand settled withHO with a dabblingin On3 and G.My career path asan IndustrialDesigner hasallowed me to notonly work in corpo-

rate and consulting offices but to also run my own free-lance business. I have been involved in the designs ofeverything from small consumer products to heavy earthmoving equipment. As a freelance designer I have beenable to combine my passions for design and model rail-roading. Alco Models, McKeen Models, Overland,Walthers, Circuitron, Magnuson Models, and GCLaser arejust a few of the companies in the Model Railroad Industrythat I have done design, drafting, pattern work, modelbuilding and diorama design and construction.

As a NMRA member I have participated in andplaced in a number of National and Regional Conventionmodel contests. I have achieved an AP Certificate forModel Railroad Author and Master Builder – Motive Power.Articles that I have authored have appeared in ModelRailroader, Railroad Model Craftsman and MainlineModeler.

My wife and I retired in 2008 and I now have thetime to start building the model railroad that I have beenplanning for the past 6 years. The 13’x19’ layout will be aChicago based theme concentrating on IC and CSS&SBoperations. Of course this all depends on the length of mywife’s honey-do list. My other interests include restoring a1956 Penn Yan 14’ cedar strip runabout, architectural pho-tography, and researching heavy industry.

Fred Henize

I have been a member of the NMRA since April of1988, at least this time around. I have been active in theDuPage Division most of that time as clerk, assistantsuperintendent, superintendent, and as division newslettereditor. As division superintendent I also served on theRegion Board of Directors. Currently I am serving onceagain as division assistant superintendent. For the pastfour years I have also served as the NMRA National BallotCommittee Chairman.

I model inN-scale, having alayout about 18 x28 feet on two lev-els. It is about80% complete interms of the finalscenery. No modelrailroad is totally"complete" as longas you are able tocontinue workingon it. I am alsovery active in theHeritage N-trakGroup, and have 14 modules that are part of a large layoutwe take to many shows each year.

As assistant superintendent, one of the most diffi-cult jobs is lining up enough clinics and speakers for ayear's worth of programs. I have often wished there was aspeakers bureau, perhaps on a Regional level, of every-body who had programs, clinics, etc. that they would bewilling to share.

David J. Leider MMR I live in ProspectHeights Illinois andhave been a mem-ber of the NMRAsince 1995. I gotmy MMR in 2007. Ihave been a train-master for the FoxValley division for 6years and am theeditor of theMidwest Region'sWaybill. I model inHO and am work-ing on a depiction of Waupaca Wisconsin as it existed in1947. I enjoy research and have written several books andnumerous articles for the Soo Line magazine about varioussubjects. I have also written articles for all the model rail-road publications and had my layout featured in ModelRailroader. I enjoy giving clinics and have been a presenterat Naperville for the Prototype Modelers for a number ofyears as well as several divisions of the NMRA.

I am secretary for the Soo Line Historical andTechnical Society as well as Chairman of the fundraisingcommittee for its archives. I am also a member of theChicago and Northwestern and Milwaukee Road HistoricalSocieties, The Railway and Locomotive Historical Societyand the Lexington Group. When not chasing trains I like togarden. I am married to my wife Audrone and have a stepson.


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Above: Monticello Railroad Museum, Monticello IllinoisLeft: Steam generating plant at Hesston, IndianaBelow: Wisconsin & Southern 4003 on the turntable atJanesville Wisconsin

My wife bundled up at the Santa Train in Plymouth,Wisconsin December 2008.

Ron Scharping6145 Plymouth St Downers Grove, IL 60516-1783 Return Service Requested

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