Another month has gone by with construction accomplishments completed on schedule. The drain pipe for Glacier Yard and new track laying is progressing. But, we have very little activity on run days. I don’t know the reason for the light turnout, except for maybe the weather forecasts, but that would only affect one or two days at the most. My feelings about run days is – a great opportunity to test your equipment – entertain your family or invite some friends out.—if you don’t use these opportunities it is somewhat of a waste as the club facility is for the entire membership and these run days are just a few days out of the whole year. When I drive by the golf course, Troy Burne, on a beautiful Sunday morning heading into our track, and not seeing it utilized, I wonder why, the people that have homes there are paying for it, just like us, and it too, is being wasted.

The following pictures were taken 9/5/09 of the new track being laid on the 1-1/2” line that was disrupted by the drain project.

Note – the second track to the right in these photos is being used to haul ballast and is temporary.

The picture shows the work involving the new 1-1/2” access track for loading and unloading the big irons. In the background, they are loading ballast into side dump cars to be used on the new track that is being laid on the north end of Glacier Yard. The loading access will be a separate spur that will lead directly to the Glacier yard and/or the roundhouse spur just for 7-1/2 inch gauge equipment. The idea is to speed up the loading and unloading process as it is in addition to the present access to the steaming bay.

This month of September is primarily devoted to getting ready for our big Fall Meet. Here is this months schedule -- Sept. 6 & 7, member run days; Sept. 12, work day; Sept 13, family clean, feed and fun; Sept. 19, work day & Board Meeting @ track; Sept. 20, Choo Choo Bobs; Sept 24-27, Fall Meet; Sept. 26, General member meeting and Board Election; Sept. 27, Public Run noon to 5:00 PM. There are just a few days to finish up any projects, clean up the grounds, check out the tracks and all the other facilities for running trains so the four days of the meet are flawless as far as operations. Also, we must organize meet activities; set up registration of attendees, make all the arrangements for food, banquet night, Broken Spike Award, conduct elections to the board, provide classes, special programs, boiler inspections and new member packets, etc. I hope I have covered most of it. We are fortunate to have Rich Krueger, a very good meet coordinator, who really does it all and well. Here is his agenda ---

St. Croix Railroad Annual Fall Meet
September 24, 25, 26, 27

Meals
September 24 Breakfast at 9:00am $5.00 Dinner at 6:00pm $5.00 per person
September 25 Breakfast at 9:00am $5.00 Dinner at 6:00pm $7.00 per person
September 26 Breakfast at 9:00am $5.00 Dinner at 6:00pm $10.00 per person
Note: We will need help cooking breakfast

Registration and other fees
Registration $5.00
Propane 25.00 per tank

St Croix Railroad
The railroad is located on 9 acres and includes three railroad lines - Elevated 2.5, 3.5, 4.75-inch gauge track, 4.75 and 7.5 ground level tracks.

Contact Information
If you plan to attend please send an E-mail to richardkrueger1@comcast.net or mail to St. Croix Railroad PO box 11527, St Paul MN 55111-0527 and indicate the meals you will attend. Phone at tracks is 715 386 1871 E-mail http://.stcroixrr.org and info@stcroixrr.org

Accommodations
Local motels and their phone numbers:
Hudson House 715 386 2394 -- Fairfield Inn 715 386 6688 -- Super 8 Motel 715 386 8800
Comfort Inn 715 386 6355 -- Holiday Inn Express 715 386 6200

Railroad Location
The railroad is located at 325 Cove Ridge Rd. off South Cove Road, Hudson WI 54016

Train Order Operations
On Friday we will run using train orders for a couple of hours.

Conductor and Engineer training – to be posted

Activities
The following members will be available to answer questions during Friday and Saturday from 1:00 -
2:00 pm under the tent.

Rich Krueger - Electrical
Tommy Cebulla - switch construction and switch machines
Bob Pappa, Fred Wright - machine parts
Steve Muscato & Tim Olson - car & engine brakes
Steve Muscato - powder coating
Fred Wright - building a steam engine

Grant Research
We need members that have the ability to research grants and submit the necessary documents to obtain funds for the following projects: Car barn for the 1.5-inch trains, Station, Yard building for switch  signal control plus other projects.
Note: There will be additional discussion at the meet.

Volunteers Needed At The meet
Please indicate the day, hours and area listed below that you will be able to help and send Email to richardkrueger1@comcast.net Station; Registration; Steaming Bay; Round House
Meet Chairman
Richard Krueger

Fall Meet elections of board members. This year we will be filling only three seats on the Board instead of four. The present members that will be stepping down, unless re-elected, are: Tim Olson, Tim Kirby, Steve Muscato, and Mike La Susa. Any current member is eligible as a nominee. He/she must be nominated by another member or can be self-nominated, by notifying the election chairmen, Bill Schimmelman or Fred Wright, or any board member. He should provide a short bio and a picture and his/her reason to become a board member. The term is for three years and it is expected that the candidate will be available for all the board meetings and devote extra time as needed. All of the Bio’s and pictures (we will take one if necessary) will be posted from the beginning of the Fall Meet. Nominations will close at the start of the meet; balloting will be open Thursday morning and closed some time on Saturday. We can hand out ballots when people register.

Electrical Committee
Tommy Cebulla was busy last winter building new signals for the 1.5 inch railroad which is a key element in upgrading the system. The team was able to have the signals installed prior to the Spring Meet and are in the process of rebuilding the tunnel signal circuits which we should have completed by the Fall Meet. The signals were installed this year with help of the electrical team Jack Kobler, Bob Bump, Tommy Cebulla, Chuck Park and Rich Krueger. This team has installed a new power supply which will provide the power for the switches in the new yard and will work on installing lights in the tunnels. Richard Krueger

SOUP TO NUTS
By Fred Wright

Hello everyone, I want to write about grounds, not coffee, but the appearance of our railroad property as it may appear to visitors. I’m sure some of us have thought about this subject and there have been complaints from a few, complaining has not done much good. The appearance of the property varies with the seasons as far as litter and missed place stuff goes.

At times the roundhouse is downright embarrassing, especially when you happen to show it off to visitors. I know we all have excuses that some areas can’t be kept up all the time, however, the things I’m talking about is the accumulation of litter, because we don’t pick up after ourselves. Could it be that we all are too busy, or maybe we just don’t care? Litter such as pop cans, rags, could be picked up and put in the trash, more trash cans could be set out, so it is handier to throw stuff away.

I wonder what a visitor might think if he or she saw a row of empty beer bottles lined up on the workbench or a plastic tarp just stuffed in a corner. It is my opinion that there is very little initiative to pick up after one’s self and even less after someone else. This reminds me of an individual I knew where I worked, who claimed that he wouldn’t pick up a penny off the ground, because it wasn’t worth the effort.

What I’ve said here may not bode well and may cause people to think about my intentions, which are well meaning. We need to think about how we, the St. Croix R.R., appear to visitors, because it is what they see that impresses them and if it is enough of a stimulant he or she may or may not make a donation.

So, remember, it is the image that we leave, more than the things we build or the great rides we give, that will be instilled.

Note: This editorial appeared in the Connecting Rod for Sept. 2005 and is reprinted here, as it is an appropriate message while we prepare for our 2009 Fall Meet. Lasting impressions are more than just the trains. Ed

Note: Fred Wright’s workshop will be closed on Monday, September 14, 2009, just for one day.

The Connecting Rod

An internet newsletter for the St. Croix Railroad

Issued monthly, April - October

Editor

Fred B. Wright – f.b.wright@worldnet.att.net

Assistant editor

Michael Dorin - bsddorin@gmail.com

Send all contributions to Fred Wright – f.b.wright@worldnet.att.net as an MSWord attachment
Contributions received by the last Monday of the month will appear in the next month’s issue
Publication will be on or about the first day of the month.
To subscribe, free, be a St. Croix RR member and send your e-mail address to Tim Kirby –
trk@kirbys.org

September was a busy month at the St. Croix Railroad completing projects, planting trees, and getting ready for the fall meet. Tom Cebulla kept his promise and got the new inch and a half main line yard by-pass completed. Small sections of one inch track were repaired and some old turnouts were replaced, as well. Some building materials were relocated to move them out of sight. The propane tank was relocated to an area behind the coal shed near the road and main gate. The water tower was relocated to a place near the big one inch bridge and the 1-1/2 inch main line. It really shows up nice and I’m sure many would think it was new. A lot of work was done that isn’t noticed when you just show up for the meets, because it always looks that way, right? The great tent was set up and it must have paid for itself by now. Everybody pitched in and that got the jobs done.


Annual Fall Meet

The fall meet has come and gone. Once again, many members of the SCRR put a lot of work, heart and soul into making the meet a success. Friday had to be the best operating day with perfect weather. Trains ran well into the early morning hours of Saturday. It would be impossible to write even a short article about the meet without mentioning how good the food was. A big thanks goes to Jack Anderson. The results of the hard work of cooking and grilling were excellent. One last big job that I know many people do not look forward to is cleanup. I am sure we all appreciate the effort of the crew who tore things down.

The SCRR was blessed with visitors from many parts of the US, Canada, and even the U.K. It was very nice to see so many friendly faces and interesting equipment.

A short business meeting was conducted and elections for the board were completed. Three seats needed to be filled and the following were elected. Rich Krueger, Bob Pappa and Jack Anderson. A lot of work is required to serve on the board which is appreciated by all the members. In addition, those members who volunteered to run for the board who didn’t win should still receive our thanks and appreciation.

What follows are a few pictures. As we are already late going to press, please don’t expect too many captions. However, I am sure you will agree from seeing these pictures that a good time was had by all.
Bob’s 0-4-0 is nearly ready!

Looks good, Bob!

By Michael Dorin

This was the first meeting I have ever attended in my life. It was very heartwarming to see so many people come from so far to participate. Everybody was very friendly and I was able to talk to live steamers from all over the country. I was also able to meet some brand new members. I now know for sure there are those of you who have projects going. Send some pictures; everybody is interesting in seeing what you are doing.


A note from Bob Bump –

Robert and Randall Bump need help with a Little Engines 0-4-0 switcher, all the help we can get to finish the boiler and get it running hopefully for the spring meet. Thanks, R & R B northernpacificsteam@yahoo.com 612-801-2489



My shop!!

Fred Wright’s shop is open to all SCRR club members on Mondays, from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm. You can bring your project and use my tools. We can provide help and teach you how to use a lathe and vertical mill, along with other tools, such as, drill press, band saw, brake, roll and shear. I prefer that participants do the work. Call Fred for directions if you don’t know where his house is. Come in the garage entrance and go down to the basement.


A Note From Dave –

With the spotting of a bear near the track, It is always important to realize that we are in the woods and that it is a shared place. The bear was seen only once and was probably just traveling through the area. A possum was spotted about a mile from the track. There are many opportunities to see wildlife and yet enjoy the beautiful site that the SCRR has.

When you look at the tremendous amount of work that we have done in this last few years, obviously we have made this track a work of love. When you next come to the track, look at the wonderful work that has been done on both major track scales and look at the beautiful setting. We are very fortunate to have people working as hard as they are and the club has quality facilities for our great hobby. I am glad that I can be a part of it all.

The Connecting Rod

An internet newsletter for the St. Croix Railroad

Issued monthly, April - October

Editors

Fred B. Wright – f.b.wright@worldnet.att.net

David Gust – dgust@usfamily.net

Contributing editor

Mike Dorin - bsddorin@gmail.com

Send all contributions to Fred Wright – f.b.wright@worldnet.att.net as an MSWord attachment
Contributions received by the last Monday of the month will appear in the next month’s issue
Publication will be on or about the first day of the month
To subscribe, free, by sending your e-mail address to Tim Kirby – trk@kirbys.org

October 2007

From the Presidents Desk

Well, the end of another running season is upon us, and time to winterize! If you have equipment remaining at the SCRR for the winter please make sure you have taken all precautions in terms of dealing with freezing through the winter and the pervasive moisture in the spring - large pieces of metal in the roundhouse (locomotives) will stay cold when the air warms up and starts carrying moisture, and there will be condensation to deal with.

As we shut down services for the winter, a plea - if you turn something on, remember to turn it off afterwards. Over the years we have seen high electric bills and broken water pipes from people leaving things turned on...

The Fall Meet was, I think, a resounding success. Thanks to Jack Anderson and crew for catering to the masses; thanks to all those who worked so hard to get our rails ready to run. Thanks to all our guests for coming and running on the rails!

Last I heard we pretty much broke even on the meet, which is always a relief for the treasury. The tent has now paid for itself and the tables secured by Doug Fine as a donation have pretty much wiped out any rental needs.

Thanks to Bill Schimmelman and Ken Miller for their service on the board in the past few years; both stepped down this fall. In the election for new members, Bob Pappa and Rich Krueger were returned and Jack Anderson came back for another session on the board after a few years R&R (that's Rail & Road, I don't think there was a lot of R&R in the usual sense!). Welcome back, Jack. Bob and Steve were also the recipients of the Broken Spike this year - thanks for all the work, guys!

At the end of October, we had the election of officers, at which Tim Kirby was returned as President, Dan Bissonnette as Vice President, Doug Fine as Treasurer and Steve Muscato stood up to take a swing at the Secretary role - thank you to all for your service!

We had some fairly heavy rains this summer, I'm delighted to see that the parking lot remained where it is supposed to be. The landscape is slowly recovering and we already have new members who never knew it any other way.

There are a couple of Fall/Spring projects around the property; we have fencing to put up, we have been digging out around the Lawson Building to try and address the water problems therein and we are going to extend the Johnson Tunnel (the short 7-1/2" tunnel) to the west by some sixteen feet as an alternative to building a heroic retaining wall to replace the failing ties. The culvert is on site, the work will most likely be done in the spring.

There should be a hard copy newsletter out yet this year with a current roster ... there will be some switch building over the winter, and some cars that need brakes installed. Expect to hear something from the people running all these projects for ways you can help.

For now I'll sign off and wish all the compliments of the upcoming seasons - we'll be in touch again soon!

Tim

Jottings
By Fred B. Wright

This summer has had its difficult days due to the weather, but if we look back, it probably wasn’t any worse than previous summers. Our public run days, the last Sunday of the month from April through October, are days that help pay for our club operation. Our main income opportunity through donations. We do very well when the weather is nice. Ask our Treasurer and I am sure he will tell you that if averaged out it would compare to past seasons.

This past October public day turned out to be great. The weather was perfect, the public turned out, 514 individuals and the donations exceeded $ 1000.00 dollars. The people that come seem to love it and are willing to stand in line for a ride. It is an amazing day and it is up to us to make it go better as it is our thing! That little miniature railroad south of Hudson, WI!

Every Saturday is a workday at the track. Projects are posted and generally, you’ll find something to do that you can do. Most of us just pitch in and get the job done. A side note to Saturday workdays is that when you participate you could learn new skills and get future credit on renting storage space for being there. Renting storage space has not materialized yet, but it may this next year.

Sundays if not designated can be run days, however, there must be two members or more present as a matter of safety. Weekdays are also popular with the retirees for work or play. Most of us know about all the run days and safety rules and in reading this are wondering why I’m mentioning the general routine that we most all take for granted. The problem is the lack of communications. If you don’t plan to have your friend join you in running your engine on an off day, you may end up making a trip for nothing, because you assumed that someone would be there and because of the safety rule. Do not work or play alone.

The lack of communications affects other things too. What you are doing, hobby wise, in your shop maybe ho-hum to you, but fascinating to someone else. Especially a new member or someone who needs to learn about the way you jacketed your boiler or even the type of paint you like to use. We need to share what we do in this hobby with our fellow members much more than just showing the finished product at a meet or hear what this editor is doing. Michael Dorin, contributing editor to this newsletter, and myself continually tell about the opportunity to use a shop and invite you to participate. Here is a way to tell others your story, maybe your techniques you used to solve hidden problems in building the caboose you have dreamed about, or the steam engine you’ve been working on. A construction type of hobby is an individual thing. We all live private lives and maybe we think that nobody cares what we are doing. The St. Croix RR is a group of hobbyists devoted to a very specific theme. Railroading. Miniature – Real – Imaginary, whatever! We think it, work at it, talk it, but we do not write about it! Why? This newsletter is a way you can tell us what you are doing. Or, just a helpful trick or two. Take a picture to show what you are doing or of your workshop, for instance. For this newsletter the material does not need to be camera ready to be printed in a major magazine. We can fix up poor photos and correct grammar and spelling.

Members showed up this past Saturday to finish up and get the place ready for winter. Bob and Janine Schimmelman took care of the concession stand. Bill Hanson, Bob Pappa, Doug Fine, Tim Olson, Bob Bump, Bob Helwig and Fred Wright completed the Lawson Building project, seal the West wall from water seepage. This required excavating the length of the building down to the footing; replace the drain tile that was found to be clogged with earth, installing a new membrane on the foundation and then back filling and recontouring the surface so surface water would flow away from the building. This was a big job that needed to be done and everyone helped in some way to get it all done in one day. Dan Bissonnette brought out a sand blaster and cleaned off the rust on his trailer so he can paint it and haul out 1280. Rich Krueger, Dave Gust and Jack Kobler worked on the signal system and Don Akins installed a new culvert at Summit. Bob La Favor and son John helped on the Lawson project and then tended to their own locos. Cold weather is coming, so the locomotives that are to be stored in the roundhouse will need winterizing very soon. As the picture indicates, we have decided to replace the rotted tie walls at the Johnson Tunnel West Tunnel portal with a metal culvert extension in lieu of key stone walls. I was told that the cost is about the same and we don’t have to handle those heavy stones. Therefore, there is a spring project ready to go.

Soup to Nuts

By Fred Wright

Last summer my wife and I took a short trip to Duluth, MN to take in the comings and goings of the big ships at the harbor entrance. This mid-week trip found the freeway to be uncrowded and a fair amount of shipping activities. We like Duluth and have enjoyed seeing all the things it has to offer.

Some of you, I am sure, know about the Duluth Railroad Museum, but for those that do not it is a real treat. There is a good display of engines and cars, including the first engine to operate in Minnesota [William Crooks] and the largest engine used in Minnesota. There are also two displays of live steam models made by SCRR members, Ralph Andres and Don Strom. The museum has many other things of interest to offer.

Getting Into the Game

by Michael Dorin

I am sure most of you feel the same as me that this summer went way too fast. I knew some weekend I was going to make it to the track, but the summer ended and I actually spent very little time there. I shall endeavor to do better next year.

My 0-4-0 continues to remain in many small parts vs. one large part. The boiler is insulated and the jacket is ready to be primed. As you may recall, the chassis was running on air a few weeks ago. Now, "all" that is left is to prime and paint, test the boiler, re-attach the boiler and a little plumbing! Then I need to procure a riding car with brakes and I will be on my way.

Because I have been so productive on my other projects, I acquired parts for a simple CNC router from the internet. This machine is in not as many pieces as my 0-4-0, but close to it. My hope is that it will easily assemble and I will be able to cut a beautiful wooden cab for my 0-4-0 with my "expert" programming. The results of this will have to wait until spring.

Participating in the Connecting Rod does not take too much energy and is fun. We would like to encourage others to submit a bit of material, written or photos.

I wish everybody a relaxing Thanksgiving, a wonderful Christmas and New Year.

That is all for now.

-Mike Dorin

bsddorin@gmail.com

The Connecting Rod

An internet newsletter for the St. Croix Railroad

Issued monthly, April - October

Editors

Fred B. Wright – f.b.wright@worldnet.att.net

David Gust – dgust@usfamily.net

Contributing editor

Mike Dorin - bsddorin@gmail.com

Send all contributions to Fred Wright – f.b.wright@worldnet.att.net as an MSWord attachment
Contributions received by the last Monday of the month will appear in the next month’s issue
Publication will be on or about the first day of the month
To subscribe, free, by sending your e-mail address to Tim Kirby – trk@kirbys.org