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For those of you coming to the National Train Show in Sacramento, CA, July 8-10, or any other get together (Stammtisch, auf Deutsch), some from of identification should be on you rolling stock, locomotives, etc. One standard started was the Bolster pin color chart. This can be found under the "Files" section in many of the Z scale forums for reference, However, the Master is only maintained by Rob Kluz at Ztrack Magazine (ztrack@...) and can be viewed at the following link: http://www.ztrack.com/resources/Bolster_Pin_ID_Colors.pdf It will be posted in a day or so as it was just updated. Jeff SF Bay Area Z [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Jeff, I have posted the new version. I like the descriptions you added. :) Rob Ztrack Magazine Ltd. Distributor American Z Line www.ztrack.com www.ztrackcenter.com www.ztrackresale.com 6142 Northcliff Blvd Dublin OH 43016 (614) 764-1703

The 2011 Central Coast Railroad Festival in San Luis Obispo, CA, again will feature free, self-guided tours of model railroads, including modular railroads, as part of the festival activities. I have been asked by Festival Director Curtis Reinhardt to organize this year's tour program as I did last year. The festival will take place on October 6th through the 10th. While five modular layouts from three groups were featured on last year's tour, we would like to have even more modular railroads on this year's program. Plans are being made to secure additional venues for modular club layouts in the greater San Luis Obispo area. If your modular railroad group is interested in participating or has any questions before committing to the tour, please contact me. My contact information is below. Thank you for your assistance. Bob Chaparro Moderator Model Railroads Of Southern California http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Model_Railroads_Of_Southern_California/ Hemet, CA chiefbobbb@... Additional Information: The Central Coast Railroad Festival is a broad based festival which focuses on railroading of many types with an eye towards the beauty of the Central Coast of California. The Festival is designed to attract the attention of avid and casual rail fans as well as curious folks from across the Western United States. The Festival features historical, educational and recreational events. Model railroad activities also are included. Website: http://ccrrf.com/ Photos From Last Year's Tour (8 Pages): http://tinyurl.com/3crzr5a

The 2011 Central Coast Railroad Festival in San Luis Obispo, CA, again will feature free, self-guided tours of model railroads as part of the festival activities. I have been asked by Festival Director Curtis Reinhardt to organize this year's tour program as I did last year. While eighteen layouts were featured on last year's tour, we would like to have even more model railroads on this year's program. The tours will take place in an area ranging from Paso Robles to Santa Maria on October 6th through the 10th. If you have a home layout and may be interested in opening it for the tour or have any questions before committing to the tour, please contact me. If you know of a layout owner who may be interested, also please contact me or pass this message on to them. My contact information is below. Thank you for your assistance. Bob Chaparro Moderator Model Railroads Of Southern California http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Model_Railroads_Of_Southern_California/ Hemet, CA chiefbobbb@... Additional Information: The Central Coast Railroad Festival is a broad based festival which focuses on railroading of many types with an eye towards the beauty of the Central Coast of California. The Festival is designed to attract the attention of avid and casual rail fans as well as curious folks from across the Western United States. The Festival features historical, educational and recreational events. Model railroad activities also are included. Website: http://ccrrf.com/ Photos From Last Year's Tour: http://donn.smugmug.com/Trains/Central-Coast-Railroad/14152677_rBARk#1044130884_NxB8Z

Attention all Z Scalers. FIVE months until NTS. In approximately ONE month, NTS will inform us about our layout space. Then we can either accept what they give us (meaning less than I asked for) or fight to get back to some respectable level. THEN, I can work on sorta finalizing 2 layout options (plan A and B - and nothing is final until we setup as there are always obstacles, unplanned events etc.). NOTE: I STILL have NOT received pictures of Jerry Craig's modules. I have seen others and I know a lot of you, especially the ZoCal guys, are cranking out more modules. We VERY likely will NOT be able to fit them all in, HOWEVER, it will give us greater flexibility. Just make sure the have ABSOLUTELY been "show" tested which means you have actually run dozens of times across them and the wiring validated. We SERIOUSLY need at least another 4-way 'cross' or at least a Tee - Don ;) For DCC users, the BAZ BoyZ modules will be in the middle-ish and supply up to 5 Amps. However, mainlines are normally limited to 1-2 Amps (programmable) to avoid serious damage do to the inevitable unattended trains. There are almost no modules with turnouts so we should have the least of an issue for protection EXCEPT for Rob Ray's Pair-o-Dice module and Dave Lancaster's End module. Rob's module will be isolated an locally protected so in case of any derailments in the turnouts, we don't take down 36' of mainline with other trains running on it. Dave Lancaster also has a 5 Amp Power Pro system that can be isolated into a Booster if needed but either way, he will absolutely need to isolate his module from the mainline and, provide 4 circuit breakers to protect the 2 mains and all the parallel tracks. We CANNOT have people putting trains on the active powered tracks and/or moving rolling stock or locos 'accidentally' onto the mains and taking down 78' of mainline ! This is going to be SOooooo much fun ! Jeff M SF Bay Area Z

1870 Ground broken for Northern Pacific Railway near Duluth MN Sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train. o o o o o o o . . . ______________________________ o _____ || | .][__n_n_|DD[ ====_____ | | >(________|__|_[_________]_|____________________________| _/oo OOOOO oo` ooo ooo 'o!o!o o!o!o` -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

1889 1st trainload of fruit (oranges) leaves Los Angeles for the east 1968 Pennsylvania Railroad/NYC Central merge into Pennsylvania Central Sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train. o o o o o o o . . . ______________________________ o _____ || | .][__n_n_|DD[ ====_____ | | >(________|__|_[_________]_|____________________________| _/oo OOOOO oo` ooo ooo 'o!o!o o!o!o` -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

1840 Housatonic Railroad opens 1877 US railroad builders strike against wage reduction Sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train. o o o o o o o . . . ______________________________ o _____ || | .][__n_n_|DD[ ====_____ | | >(________|__|_[_________]_|____________________________| _/oo OOOOO oo` ooo ooo 'o!o!o o!o!o` -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Hearing no objections, continuing the history lessons: 1935 Pennsylvania RR begins passenger service on new streamlined electric locomotive Sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train. o o o o o o o . . . ______________________________ o _____ || | .][__n_n_|DD[ ====_____ | | >(________|__|_[_________]_|____________________________| _/oo OOOOO oo` ooo ooo 'o!o!o o!o!o` -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

1815 NJ issues 1st US railroad charter (John Stevens) 1891 1st great train robbery by Dalton Gang (Southern Pacific #17) 1951 "Broker Special" train crashes in Woodbridge NJ, killing 84 Sometimes, the light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train. o o o o o o o . . . ______________________________ o _____ || | .][__n_n_|DD[ ====_____ | | >(________|__|_[_________]_|____________________________| _/oo OOOOO oo` ooo ooo 'o!o!o o!o!o` -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

WARNING : Contains minor adult language !! Sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train. o o o o o o o . . . ______________________________ o _____ || | .][__n_n_|DD[ ====_____ | | >(________|__|_[_________]_|____________________________| _/oo OOOOO oo` ooo ooo 'o!o!o o!o!o` -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ "A lawyer with a briefcase can steal more than a thousand men with guns." MARIO PUZZIO Now, for your history lesson today........... Railroad tracks. The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That's an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used? Because that's the way they built them in England, and English expatriates designed the US railroads. Why did the English build them like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used. Why did 'they' use that gauge then? Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they had used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing. Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing? Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England , because that's the spacing of the wheel ruts. So who built those old rutted roads? Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (including England) for their legions. Those roads have been used ever since. And the ruts in the roads? Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome , they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing. Therefore, the United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot. Bureaucracies live forever. So the next time you are handed a specification/procedure/process and wonder "What horse's ass came up with this?", you may be exactly right. Imperial Roman army chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the rear ends of two war horses (two horses' asses). Now, the twist to the story: When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at their factory in Utah. The engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains, and the SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses' behinds. So, a major Space Shuttle design feature of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse's ass. And you thought being a horse's ass wasn't important? [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

when I look at the pictures of the standard I get the idea that connecting the left front inner track to the right back outertrack and visa versa is not alowed but there is not actualy written anything about it. the same goes for the end modules, the other tracks and inner tracks loop but nothing is written about alowing the front tracks and back tracks loop. finaly the y and x modules the tracks keep following the edges but again nothign is written about alowing the tracks to cross or turnout. are alternative track connections alowed provided you keep taps on the directions?

A few years ago I was shown a UP yard in Ft Worth. I was wondering if anyone from the Dallas/Ft Worth Z Group could provide some directions on any yard viewing opportunities in FW. Thanks in advance Larry Donsbach San Antonio

The Twenty-Sixth Annual Sn3 Symposium ( http://www.sn3-2011.com/ ) will take place in Monrovia, CA, in February 2011. The Symposium will feature modeling clinics, presentations, exhibits, vendor sales and layout tours. I'm organizing the layout tours. If you have an operating layout in ANY scale (Standard or Narrow Gauge) I'd like to have you display it as part of this event. We are especially looking for quality layouts with prominent narrow gauge, mining or logging elements. The tour area will cover Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura Counties. Tour dates and times are: Feb. 17 (Thursday) - Afternoon and evening Feb. 18 (Friday) - 12:00 to 6:00 Feb. 19 (Saturday) - 12:00 to 6:00 Feb. 20 (Sunday) - Morning and afternoon Owners would be expected to display their layout for four hours (more if they so wish) on any day or days above. This layout tour will be sponsored by the Symposium and my Yahoo group, Model Railroads of Southern California. This will be the twenty-third tour sponsored by my group since 2006. The usual format used by my group will apply, that is, the tour will be self-guided and free, and I'll provide the publicity, schedules and maps. If you interested in having your layout on this tour, please contact me OFF LIST at: chiefbobbb@... If you have any questions before committing to the tour, please feel free to contact me. I hope you'll join with other area layout owners and show your layout to your fellow model railroaders. Thank you. Bob Chaparro Moderator Model Railroads of Southern California http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Model_Railroads_Of_Southern_California/ Hemet, CA

Nov 18, 2010 I have the NTS2011 Layout application packet in hand. First in. first accepted* (NTS applicaton says) I need ALL modules planning to show in a data base NOW so I can draw up some example layouts NOW for submission. Just reply to this post IF you ARE coming WITH a module AND the size/shape of the module. We can discuss this all later in the main NTS 2011 thread. There is 35,000 SF, divided into roughly Four 80x80 and Two near half sizes and a lone smaller size. To ask for 80x80 isn't going to fly and neither is 40x40 for us. So I need to defend with the largest variations I can make. This is NOT the final layout, only window dressing for the application. I will submit 3 variations to fit "square", rectangle and L spaces (but not their E or H choices :) Preliminary layout allocation plans will be sent out by NTS in April, 2011 I will post more info Friday. Just reply to this post IF you ARE coming WITH a module AND the size/shape of the module. We can discuss this all later in the main thread. Everything will be considered and the debates about this and that will be in the main threads. Please keep this thread to only those bringing a module(s). Thanks, Jeff SF Bay Area Z

Why not show your railroad to other model railroaders? Model Railroads Of Southern California will sponsor another free, self-guided layout tour on Saturday, November 20. This will be our twenty-second tour. If you live in the following cities and have an operating layout in any scale (including modular railroads) you are invited to display your layout on this tour: Alta Loma Arcadia Charter Oak Claremont Etiwanda Fontana Guasti Irwindale La Puente La Verne Mira Loma Montclair Ontario Pomona Rancho Cucamonga Rialto San Dimas Upland The usual format will apply, that is, the tour will be self-guided and free, and I'll provide the publicity, schedules and maps. If you are interested in having your layout on this tour, please contact me OFF LIST at thecitrusbelt@.... If you have any questions before committing to the tour, please feel free to contact me. I hope you'll join with other area layout owners and show your layout to your fellow model railroaders. Thank you. Bob Chaparro Moderator Model Railroads Of Southern California http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Model_Railroads_Of_Southern_California/ P.S.: Don't forget to attend Layout Tour #21 in the San Luis Obispo area (Oct. 7-11) and Layout Tour #23 in Southern California (February 18, 19 & 20, 2011).

Our apologies for the delay, but it was well worth the wait! See the pictures that I've just put up from the 75th NMRA Convention & National Train Show 2010. Everything was there: historical clubs, displays, vendors, manufacturers and layouts; all scales T to O including some narrow gauge. You can see the Metro Milwaukee Z Scale Layout at the show as well as Mister Dave's Golden Blackhawk & Central City Layout in addition to the new Z scale Car from Intermountain. See for yourself what the show was all about! Check out: hobbycraftsnmore.com Just go to the green Shows and Expos button at the top and then go to the 75th NMRA Convention & National Train Show 2010. OR copy and paste this link to see the show: http://www.hobbycraftsnmore.com/Show%20&%20Expo%20Pages%20&%20Galleries/Show%20&%20Expo%20Galleries/Train%20Show%20Galleries/2010/75th%20National%20Train%20Show%202010.htm Kevin Hobby Crafts N More website: hobbycraftsnmore.com Email: hobbycraftsnmore@...

Our apologies for the delay, but it was well worth the wait! See the pictures that I've just put up from the 75th MNRA Convention & National Train Show 2010. Everything was there: historical clubs, displays, vendors, manufacturers and layouts; all scales T to O including some narrow gauge. You can see the Metro Milwaukee Z Scale Layout at the show as well as Mister Dave's Golden Blackhawk & Central City Layout in addition to the new Z scale Car from Intermountain. See for yourself what the show was all about! Check out: hobbycraftsnmore.com Just go to the green Shows and Expos button at the top and then go to the 75th MNRA Convention & National Train Show 2010. OR copy and paste this link to see the show: http://www.hobbycraftsnmore.com/Show%20&%20Expo%20Pages%20&%20Galleries/Show%20&%20Expo%20Galleries/Train%20Show%20Galleries/2010/75th%20National%20Train%20Show%202010.htm Kevin Hobby Crafts N More website: hobbycraftsnmore.com Email: hobbycraftsnmore@...

Randy just renamed the 2008 NTS Yahoo list to: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Z_NTS2011/> He will give us moderator status, and we can start using it to coordinate the X2011 NTS Show. We have been using that list for years when coordinating modules for the NTS, renaming it for the show year. -Robert Ray

Hello is anyone there? Just kidding. But, Since one of our mentors Bill K. passed. There seems to be [along with a lousy Economy] a deafining silence in Z Bend! Or, is it my active imagination? I still see lots of activity in Yahoo's other Z groups. I am tying to get off my duff with Z scale. I have been lurking around since 1985, but until retirement [and even then] I am just getting back into action. I live near Concord NH and would be interested in getting in contact with anyone in NH that is into Z Bend, or Z. Thanks, Terry C.