(Volume 26, No. 6)
Presidents Soapbox
This summer is heading up to be a busy season for the Model Railroad Club; the city downtown party (no current plan for participation) will be in a couple of weeks and then the Tautphaus Park event on the Fourth will give us a couple of chances to meet the public and promote greater participation. These events, plus the great amount of work remaining on the Club layout will be a challenge to us all since we all find or impose limits on our “Model Railroad Time”. Construction on the Silverbow extension is progressing very well and we expect to be laying track on the first phase very soon. Members should be cautioned that test cars should be limited to unpowered models only until some landscaping material is in place to protect someone's expensive model from taking the “Big Ride” to a concrete floor.
I sense a noticeable increase of interest in our activities coming from both new members and some former members of the club judging from the number of membership applications received so far this year. It appears very likely that we will soon have an N-Scale layout along the west wall. This should be a welcome addition to our HO modelers and will create even more operational possibilities.
Almost all of the remaining benchwork and railroad extension will be two level so anyone having experience in this type of layout is welcome to demonstrate their expertise. Just like the spline roadbed being a “learn as you go” project, the same may be said for the two level layout. The preliminary plan drawn for Silverbow proper ensures the necessity for a helix to be utilized to take the track down to the level of a return loop.
The spline roadbed has proved to be very easy, albeit a bit sticky during construction, but we are pleased with the results. We are now at the point where we can have a crew working on track, another on scenery and we can find something for everyone to do providing the necessary material is at hand.
See you at the work on the layout.
An additional footnote to last months article on Super Elevators; the facility near Mountain Home that was mentioned is actually an “unloading facility” for Simplot feedlots in the area. It is operated basically the same as a loading elevator in that it is designed to handle trains up to 100 cars. The facility has its own engineer, who was hired specifically to operate at the elevator. The engineer was enrolled in the Union Pacific trainmen school in Ogden before beginning his job at the elevator, and the facility uses motive power supplied by Union Pacific.
Leo Harker
Timetable
· June 6 Business Meeting
· June 13 Work Night
· June 20 Work Night
· June 27 Work Night
· June 27 - 29 PNR Convention, Regina
· July 4 Settler's Fair
· July 4 Holiday, No Meeting
· July 11 Business Meeting
Because we have taken down the modular section of the layout, all meetings will be work nights until further notice.
Idaho Falls Settler's Fair
We plan to display and let the public operate a layout at the Settler's Fair on July 4. If you are available for part of the day, please let us know so we can have some relief. Some of us have been there all day in the past, and it would be good to have someone to 'spell' us occasionally.
Doug Herrmann
American Orient Express
Schedule, 2002
The American Orient Express will be here in Idaho Falls again this summer. If you want to see it, these are the times it will be here based on the schedule published this year and furnished by Ben Ostenson. It typically arrives in the morning after breakfast and departs on the next day before dinner.
Arrival Date Departure Date
May 27 May 28
May 31 June 1
June 10 June 11
June 14 June 15
June 24 June 25
June 28 June 29
Arrival Date Departure Date
July 8 July 9
July 14 July 15
July 24 July 25
July 28 July 29
August 7 August 8
August 11 August 12
August 21 August 22
August 25 August 26
September 5 September 6
September 9 September 10
September 19 September 20
September 23 September 24
October 3 October 4
October 7 October 8
Schedule furnished by Ben Ostenson
American Orient Express Pictures
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| Motive Power | Train Cars |
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| End of Train |
Photos by Steve Spring
Saint Anthony and National Park Railway Company, Limited
The Saint Anthony and National Park Railway Company, Limited, was a railroad which was incorporated in eastern Idaho by local businessmen from Saint Anthony. They knew the Upper Snake River Valley residents needed a rail line to be able to prosper, and supported the construction of a rail line to Saint Anthony. The articles of incorporation for this proposed railroad were filed with the state of Idaho on August 11, 1898 by the following Saint Anthony businessmen: C. H. Moon, president; S. R. Findley, secretary; G. C. Baker, C. P. Bartlett, R. J. Costley, and M. E. Jamison, treasurer, along with M. J. Kerr of Ora, a small townsite 2 miles to the west of today's Ashton townsite. Authorized to issue $350,000 in capital stock, the line was to be built from Sand Holes (sic) on the Oregon Short Line (present day Hamer) to Saint Anthony through Edmunds, Egin, and Parker. The estimated length of the proposed line was 30 miles, and $30,000, or the minimum of $1000 per mile, had been subscribed by these men when the articles of incorporation were filed.
Significantly, Charles Moon, president of the proposed rail line, had been the first settler in 1887 when he claimed land along the Henrys Fork of the Snake River at what is now Saint Anthony. The name Saint Anthony was given to the falls by Moon, because they reminded him of the Saint Anthony Falls in Minnesota. Saint Anthony became the county seat of the newly formed Fremont County in 1893.
The railroad did not perform any construction, and it is not known if any surveying was performed. The population of Saint Anthony precinct in 1900 was only 859, and most of the settlers were simply trying to make a living and there was little money to invest. With so few people and so little money available locally the businessmen obviously thought the including ‘National Park’ in the railroad's name might help them raise other funds elsewhere, but they were apparently unsuccessful.
The St. Anthony Railroad was organized only a year later, on May 18, 1899, with the backing of the Oregon Short Line, to build through the Upper Snake River Valley from Idaho Falls. This line was completed to Saint Anthony in the following spring, and the operations were immediately taken over by the Oregon Short Line.
The Saint Anthony and National Park Railway Company articles were forfeited in 1912, although it was obvious that the line was never going to be built as soon as the Saint Anthony Railroad was incorporated. It was only one of the many proposed rail lines in Idaho which never got beyond the proposal stage, although the fact that it was incorporated indicated the need the local businessmen felt to have a rail connection with the ‘outside world’.
Thornton Waite
Spline Roadbed Trial
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| Initial Spline Roadbed Placement | The completed spline |
The initial work on spline roadbed is going well, as seen in the pictures. Leo and the gang have worked on the splines, and have developed the technique to the point that they can put down the roadbed fairly rapidly. The initial area is ready for the tracklaying, as soon as the top of it is smoothed off. This has been a learning process for everyone, and anyone interested can take part. We are all here to learn.
Doug Herrmann
Modeler's Tips
I recently purchased some Life-Like Proto 2000 GP7s. Fortunately, Phil Hartung had given me a tip that the trucks of this locomotive were packed with excess grease. I took the trucks apart and found grease everywhere - even coming out of the truck in some places. The electrical connections were covered in some cases. I had to remove the grease and relubricate the trucks with a more normal amount of grease. Phil had electrical problems after a while with his, and he had to remove the excess grease.
This is an excellent locomotive, well detailed, but the trucks have excess grease. This is not true of other Life-Like locomotives - only the GP7. So be warned if you have these that you may need to clean the gears and start over with lubrication.
If you have other cases where you have found a tip like this, let me know so we can let other club members know. That is one of the functions of a club.
Doug Herrmann
Material Needed
If you have material for a future Eagle Tracks, please send it to the Editor. We need to have more of a selection for future issues. It would be really nice to have an excess of material to choose from. While we have several contributors this month, it isn't enough to fill the newsletter. I would like to have a bigger choice of material.