June 2015 - Lawrence Model Railroad Club

Lawrence Model Railroad Club Newsletter
June 2015
The Editor’s Notes
Last month, I posted pictures from the 2015
Lawrence Model Railroad Club Train Show and Swap
Meet. This month, I have pictures from the Three
Rivers Museum in Muskogee, Oklahoma. This was a
Saturday trip while spending a weekend during a
business trip to Pryor, Oklahoma. The Three Rivers
Museum is not a destination point, but if you are
traveling south on US Route 69, it is definitely worth
a stop. Besides the diesel switch locomotive
(pictured), the museum collection includes 40 to 50
HO-scale models of steam and diesel locomotives in
Missouri, Kansas and Texas (M-K-T) Railroad paint schemes. Other railroad items include: two largescale models of Midland Valley diesel locomotives, furniture and woodwork from the M-K-T Railroad
station, a model railroad, and lots of other railroad items. The museum is housed in the Midland Valley
Railroad Station in downtown Muskogee. I’ve placed some additional pictures and a short description
later in the newsletter.
Last month, we agreed to make some changes to the HO-scale layout including: replacing a small
module with a lift out section, going to one staging track, and associated track work and rearrangement
of the modules to make this work. The agreement was to have weekly work sessions on Tuesday
evenings in the shop area of Steve’s Place. Of course, I haven’t made any of these sessions, thus I can’t
report the progress. I was informed that people have been showing up to aid in the club’s endeavor.
The goal is to get all this work done in time to have the HO-layout operational for the 2016 Lawrence
Model Railroad Club Train Show and Swap Meet.
Again this month, I received a letter from someone wanting to sell some model railroad items. I’ve
listed the items and contact information in the newsletter. We need to have a discussion at the next
meeting whether these unpaid solicitations should be published in the newsletter.
The June meeting will feature a business session, a talk by Randy Van Schmus, and a work session.
Gregory Ohlmacher
Newsletter Editor
Next Meeting: June 9, 2015, 7:30 P.M. at Steve’s Place drive east on 31st Street from Iowa Street (see map)
Lawrence Model Railroad Club Executive Committee
President:
Vice President:
Secretary:
Treasurer:
Webmaster:
Newsletter Editor:
June 2015 Newsletter
Steve Meseraull
{vacant}
Jon Ardahl
Everett McGaugh
Richie Kennedy
Gregory Ohlmacher
Page 2
Three Rivers Museum, Muskogee, Oklahoma
The Three Rivers Museum is located in the Muskogee Station for the Midland Valley Railroad. Below are
a few pictures of the outside of the station.
I didn’t get any pictures of the collection inside the museum.
Behind the museum in an area that must have been a train yard
at one time, the museum has an Alco S2 from the Midland
Valley Railroad Co., Kansas, Oklahoma & Gulf Railway Co. and
Oklahoma City – Ada – Atoka Railway. It is located in a fenced
enclosure, but the docent let me and another couple in to have
a closer look at the switch engine. The museum had repainted the locomotive and the general condition
was good for a locomotive that is sitting outside. Below are a few pictures of the locomotive.
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Page 3
June 2015 Newsletter
Page 4
Across the street from the Three Rivers Museum is the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. The Hall is
housed in a Frisco freight station with caboose behind the building. Below are some pictures of the
freight station:
N-Scale Items for Sale
I received a letter from Bill Semanko of Junction City who is selling a number of N-scale items (listed
below). Please contact him, if you are interested: 1107 W. 20th Circle, Junction City, KS 66441,
(785) 762-2812, or wksemanko@outlook.com.





MRC Prodigy DCC power supply and hand held controller (New)
Digitrax (DC50) Zephyr DCC Command Control (New)
Terrain for trains layout sections (track, switches, bridges installed –
http://www.terrainfortrains.com/)
o High Sierra (48 x 30)
o The Town of Rocky Ridge (48 x 30)
o The Quarry (48 x 30)
Rock Island - engine and 5 passenger cars
Amtrak – 2 engines (one powered & one dummy) and 4 passenger cars
June 2015 Newsletter
$150.00
$100.00
$175.00
$150.00
$150.00
$60.00
$60.00
Page 5
Program and Map
Business Meeting: The discussions will include:

HO-scale layout revisions – A report on the progress of the revisions will be presented. Three
working sessions occurred on Tuesdays last month. The work area was cleared, and some
modules were moved from storage.
 Rolling containers – We have an estimate. We need to check the diagrams to make sure that all
modules will fit in a container. We would like to have one of the general containers made
before having the others made.
 Website domain – We will discuss renewing the website domain with Go Daddy
Presentation: Randy Van Schmus will present a talk on his efforts to improve his HO-scale layout. Randy
has been redoing the wiring and doing several modifications to remove the need to crawl under the
layout. His goal is to make the layout portable, possibly to a future train show. He will share some tricks
he discovered to make model railroading easier.
Work Session: After the business meeting and presentation we will adjourn to the work area to continue
work on the HO-scale layout.
June 2015 Newsletter
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Lawrence Model Railroad Club
The above pictures are of the Topeka Model Railroaders’ HO-scale layout at the 2015 Lawrence Model
Railroad Club Train Show and Swap Meet. The Topeka Model Railroaders have graced our show with
their layout since the first Train Show in Lawrence. More information on the Topeka Model Railroaders
can be found at: www.angelfire.com/ks3/juggelfire/tmrr.html. Let’s extend kudos to the Topeka Model
Railroaders for their help with the 2015 Lawrence Model Railroad Club Train Show and Swap Meet.
Their aid was greatly appreciated. The photographs were taken by Jack Rosenfield.
nd
LMRR Club meets at 7:30 P.M. on the 2 Tuesday of the month.
Lawrence Model Railroad Club
c/o Gregory Ohlmacher
409 Cattleman Court
Lawrence, Kansas 66049