THE ABTO GAZETTE
March, 2015
Volume 23 Number 3
Mailing address: P.O. Box 50428, Mesa, AZ. 85208
Visit at: www.azbigtrains.org
Cardon Children’s Medical Center
Photo by Don Sorenson
IN THIS ISSUE
President’s Message
March Meeting Information
Spring Open Houses
Module Event
ABTO Tentative Meeting Schedule
THE ABTO GAZETTE
President’s Message March Gazette
We had a good turnout at our early “steam-up” at last month’s meeting. This was the first time we ran steam engines on our new layout, and
they all ran well. Stan Cornforth ran his remote-controlled Snow Plow engine; Ginny Morris ran her remote-controlled Mimi (Ruby) engine, and I
ran my Accucraft Fairymead engine. I attempted to run three other mode
of power in this hobby (track, battery, and steam) all at the same time on
the same track loop. That effort failed because my Mikado electric ignition
would not restart the flame in the fire box. Stan, the coordinator of this SIG, reminded me later that I could
have restarted the fire box by lighting it through the smoke stack. Well, anyway, I will try it again.
A lot is going on in our club this month with the modular track setting up and running at Falcon Field March
7th, our regular club meeting at Helen Rabbitt’s layout on the 21st, and the Spring Open Houses March 28th
and 29th. Some of those hosts could use some help, so if you have some extra time, please volunteer by contacting Mike Quaintance.
Next month instead of our usual meeting, we will have our annual ABTO picnic and auction at Adobe Mountain RR Park. The food is provided at no cost to the members. There are a lot of items available for sale at the
auction, including a magnificent 8’ bridge. You may bring additional items to sell the day of the auction.
The deadline for paying membership dues has passed. We have a strong core of active members; overall
membership is now at 72. The board appreciates when members step up and help.
There are some fun and exciting events coming up this fall, so I hope you are around to attend. Remember
that the National Garden Railway Convention will be in Denver, July 6-11, 2015. This convention may be one
of the best ever.
Hope to see all of you on March 21st.
Chief Engineer
John Meyers
CALENDAR OF EVENTS:
Friday,
Saturday,
Saturday,
Wednesday,
Saturday,
Sat. & Sun.
Wednesday,
Saturday,
March 6
10:00am
March 7
9am-2pm
March 7
2:00pm
March 18
6:00pm
March 21
10:00am
March 28 & 29 10am-2pm
April
15
6:00pm
April
18
10:30am-2pm
SETUP Module at Falcon Field, Mesa
RUN trains at Falcon Field
TEARDOWN Module
Board Meeting location TBA
Membership Meeting at Helen Rabbitt’s residence
Spring Open Houses
Board Meeting
ABTO Picnic & Auction-Adobe Mountain RR Park
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THE ABTO GAZETTE
CONTENTS
President’s Message...……………………………… 2
Treasurer’s Report……………………………………..3
Dues are Past Due…...………………………………..3
February Meeting Minutes………...……………..4
March Membership Meeting Info….…………..5
General Meeting Tentative Schedule………...5
Spring Open House Listing...……………………...6
Thank You-Durango Historical Society……….6
Barneys Beans (Ennis Thompson..…………….7
Module Event…………………………………………...7
Cheap Radio Control………………………………….8
February Meeting Photos………………………….8
April Bar-B-Q and Auction………………………...9
EMAIL ADDRESS CHANGE:
Ennis and Marcia Thompson
[email protected]
CHANGE OF ADDRESS:
Brian and Rebecca Casull
4634 E. Bajada Road
Cave Creek, AZ 85331
Phone: 490-628-8924
Email:
[email protected]
WELCOME NEW MEMBER:
Tim and Nancy Csabanyi
282 Kerry Drive
Santa Clara, CA. 95050
Mobile: 408.248.7846
Email: [email protected]
2015 DUES ARE PAST DUE:
Please mail your check to :
Mike Temenski
ABTO
P.O. Box 50428
Mesa, AZ. 85208
$35.00 Dues Deadline Past Due
Make checks payable to Arizona Big Train Operators
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THE ABTO GAZETTE
ABTO MEMBERSHIP MEETING MNUTES--SATURDAY, February 21, 2015
held at John and Pat Meyerses' Residence
John Meyers, President, opened the meeting at noon.. John held a short demonstration of three ways to operate engines-track power, battery and live steam. The live steam track was a donation. There is also a bridge in the back of the property
that will probably be sold at ABTO April Auction that you can view prior to leaving. Don't forget to pay your dues by February
28th. After that date, you will not receive the Gazette or any other information and the cost goes to $35.00.
OLD BUSINESS:
A. Minutes were approved as noted in the February Gazette. Approved by Jack Johnson and Steve
Lewis.
B. Treasurer's Report was amended after Mike Temenski, Treasurer, stated a correction to the
Report as reported in the February Gazette. The correction is changing the storage amount of $442.00 to
$442.20. Treasurer's Report approved by Jim Snyder and seconded by Steve Lewis.
C. Calendar Change: was reported by John Meyers that the June 20th Meeting needs a location.
Don Sorenson residence was reported in error as the location for the June Meeting. The July meeting may
have to be cancelled due to no speaker. Mike Temenski mentioned, if any member is interested in a certain topic to be presentated at a membership meeting, please contact a Board Member.
D. Spring Open House Report: The Open Houses are scheduled March 28th & 29th from 10am2pm each day. There are 16 homes and Cardon Medical Center.
E. March Membership Meeting: Will be held at Helen Rabbitt's residence. More information in
the March issue of the Gazette.
F. Falcon Field: Jim Kangas mentioned that there is a sign up sheet available if you would like to
sign to help set up the module, run trains and help tear down the module, Jim also passed out parking
passes for those planning to come on Saturday, March 7th. More information in the March Gazette.
NEW BUSINESS:
A. Dennis Busby: spoke about the Durango Railroad Historic Society and a possible contribution of $2000.00 from
ABTO to refurbish a project of a D&RGW Refrigerator Car. The Society had found cars and wants to purchase 2 reefers which
one is a Refrigerator Ice Box Car. The membership was asked If ABTO approves the contribution, the society will give us a
plaque stating that ABTO helped with a donation and also will offer two life memberships which will be given out at the Christmas dinner each year to two members of ABTO. A motion was made by John Maxzzoli, 2nd by Vince Simpson and the ABTO
membership approved the donation.
B. Auction and Bar-B-Q-will be held April 18th at Maricopa Live Steamers.
C. Photo Contest: Mike Quaintance said that the topic will be Holidays or nighttime photos or both. Please send photos by jpg or a hard copy. Roger Crooks suggested that the deadline be at the April meeting and the membership voted yes.
ITEMS FROM THE FLOOR:
Vince Simpson showed a cheap radio control. Price is approximately $4.50. See more information in the March Gazette.
Roy Towne spoke about making vents.
Ennis Thompson spoke of a new SIG called Holiday Display of Studio 54 Buildings. There are over 200 buildings stored
in Mike Temenski's garage. Rich and Shaaron Hull donated 35 to Ennis and Marcia Thompson to display at their Christmas
Open House display. Roger Crooks suggested getting a store and setting the buildings up in the store.
Jack Johnson has items for sale on the front driveway of the Meyerses’ home..
Auction information was discussed. Members can have ABTO sell their items for them at a small charge. Also, you can
donate your items and receive a donation receipt.
Glenn Saber mentioned he had a $1.00 off coupon for the Armory Sale on February 28th. This will be the last year to
be held at the Armory.
Door Prizes: Vince Simpson, James Ingram, Amanda Jeffrey and Jim Snyder
Raffle Prize: Amanda Jeffrey
The meeting was adjourned at 12:55pm by a motion by Gen Majaski and seconded by Mike Temenski
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THE ABTO GAZETTE
ABTO MARCH MEMBERSHIP MEETING INFORMATION
Please email
Ken Hawkins @
knkdesertrail
@cox.net
623-640-6446
By Wednesday,
April 18, 2015
ABTO General Meeting & (Other Events) Tentative Schedule 2015
March 21
March 28 & 29
April 18
May 16
June 20
July 18
August 15
September 19
October 17
November 21
November 7
December 6
Helen Rabbitt
(Spring Open House)
ABTO Picnic/Auction - Adobe Mountain RR Park
Ryan House (Breakfast at First Watch Downtown Phoenix)
Need a location
CCMC – Speaker
CCMC – Speaker – John Meyers
Stan & Sherry Cornforth (Flagstaff)
Mike Lewandowski
Mike Temenski & Lynne McClure
(Phoenix Round-About to host Tucson TGRS)
(Christmas Banquet)
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THE ABTO GAZETTE
ADD
Terry and Carolyn Fields
19020 N. 12th Place Phoenix, AZ 85024
10:00am-2:00pm 10:00am-2:00pm
Thank you……………
On behalf of the Durango Railroad Historic Society I would like to thank the membership
of the Arizona Big Train Operators for its most generous contribution to our D&RGW Refrigerator Car project. Your contribution, along with those of several large private donations, including two of your members, will allow us to purchase and relocate the two
“reefers” to Durango for display and future restoration. One reefer body will be sold, and
its revenue used to support restoring the other reefer. After restoration the car will be
displayed in the Silverton Railroad Historical Park along with several other cars that have
been or will be restored. The informative sign that will be next to the car will include your
club as a donor to this unique project. In appreciation, we are including two lifetime
memberships to the DRHS that I understand will be shared with the members of ABTO.
Thank you again for your support and we hope to see you in Durango and introduce you
to our many projects.
Sincerely,
George Niederauer
President
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THE ABTO GAZETTE
REQUESTED RECIPE
" Barney's Beans "
MODULE EVENT
Some time ago, I asked Rich Hull for a good recipe for some
baked beans. This past general meeting for ABTO at John
& Pat Meyer's home, Marcia and I took the freshly baked
beans to the meeting. Several people asked for a recipe to
the dish, so here it is:
1-Can of Kidney Beans
1-Can of Pinto Beans
1-Can of French Style Green Beans
1-Can of Pork & Beans
3/4 Cup of Brown Sugar
1/2-1 tsp. of Liquid Smoke
1/2 Bottle of Chili Sauce
Fry in Margarine - These 3 Products
1-Chopped Onion
1-Chopped Green Pepper
4 or 5 slices of Chopped up bacon
Drained
Drained
Drained
Not Drained
Put everything in a baking dish or pan, put fried products
into the pan, then all of the beans, brown sugar, smoke
and Chili Sauce. Stir well until smooth, removing the lumps
of sugar if there are any.
Bake at 350 degrees for an hour or longer at a lower temp.
Add water if needed. This dish freezes well.
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THE ABTO GAZETTE
EL CHEAPO RADIO CONTROL
PHOTOS FROM FEBRUARY MEETING
As presented at the 2/21/15 ABTO meeting, it is possible
to build a very simple, very inexpensive remote speed controller
for your G scale engines. While this unit lacks the “bells and whistles” of fancier systems, it does provide the basic needed functions
of start/stop/faster/slower.
The heart of the system is a “LED single color dimmer
available from multiple e-bay sources (trustelc, katewu, magicguyshop,etc.) for about $5 to $8. Look for the black box unit with a
key fob remote and 12-24 volt input range.
Other parts required will be a protective diode (1N5400 or
equiv) and a set of pluggable leads to facilitate easy connection to
your engine (about $2 total from www.mpja.com).
Any battery pack could be used. For my track cleaning rigpulled by an Aristo “critter,” I use a 4-cell battery holder with
#18650 lithium ion rechargeable in series. The resulting 14.8 volts
provides over 2 hours run time. A set of 4 batteries with charger
and a holder can also be found on e-bay for under $15.
A photo of all the components is attached. For a complete
operational description, go to www.trainelectronics.com and click
on “articles” then “inexpensive radio control.”
Vince
Simpson
Photos by Jim Snyder
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THE ABTO GAZETTE
ANNUAL ABTO BBQ PICNIC AND AUCTION
All Aboard For ABTO “Railroad Affair”
At Popular Adobe Mountain Railroad Park
By Mike Lewandowski
The ABTO Club is looking forward to spending a fun-filled day at the Maricopa Live Steamers
(MLS) Railroad grounds on Saturday, April 12 from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event will include BBQ lunch and our annual auction. Also, scenic train rides along several track routes in
the beautiful wildlife preserve will be available. The park is located on 43rd Ave., in North
Phoenix, just south of Pinnacle Park Road, and only 20 minutes from Central Phoenix.
MLS is a popular spot for birthday parties, reunions, company picnics, meetings and a host of
other gatherings.
Sign up now and come out on April 12 to experience the thrill of live railroading in a 1/8 inch
scale miniature operational environment.
BOXCAR PARTY PAVILION
SCENIC TRAIN RIDES
Just a few suggestions to follow:
1. Wear comfortable clothes with flat shoes. No open toe shoes. Bring a hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, and a light jacket. No alcoholic beverages are allowed due to safety and insurance regulations.
2. We will be located in the Boxcar covered party pavilion which has tables for relaxing.
You also can bring your own chairs. Restroom facilities are available at the clubhouse.
2015 DUES
ARE
PAST DUE
SWAP MEETS
March 21-Adobe Mountain Model
Train Show/Swap Meet
22822 N. 43rd Avenue, PHX. AZ
April 25—Grand Canyon MiniSwap Meet– Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church-1212 Glendale Ave.
Phx., AZ
Tucson Garden Railway Society
2015 Rails in the Garden
March 7th & 8th 10am-5pm
Visit some or all of the 16 garden
railroads throughout the Tucson
area on a self guided tour.
Please visit 2015 Rails in the Garden
Tour website for maps, etc.
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Arizona Big Train Operators
1633 E. Lakeside Drive
Unit 1
Gilbert, AZ 85234
ARIZONA BIG TRAIN OPERATORS
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 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 purchased for $7 each.
ABTO CONTRIBUTIONS
ABTO BOARD MEETINGS
Members are encouraged to contribute articles,
letters, illustrations and/or photographs related
to garden railroading for inclusion in the newsletter and/or posting on the club web site.
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
Members who have hobby-related items for sale
or trade may submit an advertisement for publication and/or posting at no charge. Please limit
each ad to a maximum of four lines. Accompanying photos will be considered for publication as
space allows.
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