PEMRC Newsletter Aug 2019

In this issue:     

NEWSLETTER August 2019

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Editorial Committee Layout visits planned Recent layout visits Miniatur Wunderland is expanding, again...

Big Boy 4014 and 150th Transcontinental Railway anniversary Heritage Railway News

PEMRC NEWSLETTER August 2019 # 4/2019 Editorial Dear Member and fellow hobby enthusiast, The previous issue and the first by your new editor was exciting to produce and I will do my best to keep it current and relevant. Your input and contributions will assist that I will be an editor and not sole producer.

Kindly let me have your contributions by the next issue. Email is preferred.

15th of the month, otherwise it will be held over for the

Regards Roel

Committee: Chairman:

Mike Smout

Treasurer:

Attie Terblanche

Clubhouse: Mike Parsons

Email:

ma.smout@mweb.co.za terblalc@telkomsa.net

Tel:

041 365 3456

Shop:

Mike Smith

mwsmi5@iafrica.com

Layouts:

JP Kruger

juanpierrekruger@gmail.com

Librarian:

Carel van Loggerenberg

annie3@telkomsa.net

Editor:

Roel van Oudheusden

roelvanoza@gmail.com

Workshops: Graham Chapman

chapman22@telkomsa.net

Subscriptions for 2019 are R300 for the year and any unpaid subscriptions are now overdue.

Bank account: Port Elizabeth Model Railroad Club FNB Walmer Park, branch code 211417, Account no. 623 861 2205 7

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Layout Visits Planned: 14 September

J.P Kruger

6 Corrice Road Charlo

082 321 2233

12 October

Charl Du Plessis

26 Richardson Street Summerstrand

082 450 7052

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Graham Chapman

118 Adam Road Charlo

072 103 4625

November

December no layout visit

Port Elizabeth Model Locomotive Society, Londt Park “Layout visit” on 4 August 2019 The first Sunday each month is the open day for the PEMLS when train rides are offered to the public who are welcome to spend the day picnicking on the grounds. When the weather is good as it was on the 4th August, they are extremely busy.

I have not before seen so many live steam miniature locomotives in operation on the same track as that day; even a double header was seen driven by Justin Woods and Gerhard du Preez.

Mike Smout brought the “smaller” exhibition layout to the PEMLS Club House for all to enjoy and invite interested members of the PEMLS or the public to interact with the PEMRC members present with a view to take up the hobby and/or join the PEMRC. The public were able to see both sides of the layout and observe the operation.

Port Elizabeth Model Locomotive Society post on Facebook 4 August: “From the PEMLS management, committee and volunteers we would like to extend a huge thank you to the public that came out to ride on our steamers and diesels. Today you guys broke all attendance records, never in the history of PEMLS have we had todays numbers, the queue nearly went out the gate and it was a pleasure to carry you all around our track. Once again, thank you,

thank you, thank you.”

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Layout visit on 10 August 2019 – Etienne Terblanche, HO scale, American A lot has happened since our last visit!

The integration between the various elements and model interests, air force, cars, memorabilia and of course trains, works well.

Lots of fine detail, pot plants, crime scene, harbour with the “Bermuda triangle” which is square!

“Etienne, ‘thank you’ to you and Mariette for hosting the Club members last Saturday. It’s always great to re-visit a layout and see what has changed and the mirror you installed on your layout has given me a great idea. There is always something to learn when visiting a layout. Again, many thanks” Mike Smout.

Thank you for the images Antenie!

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Wunderland is expanding, again...

The twin brothers Gerrit and Frederik Braun, founders and owners of Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg, point to the building across the Kehrwieder canal where they plan to be opening an n exciting addition to the current exhibition.

“The problem has been omnipresent for years: we have too little space. In our current building, every corner is being used, so it was clear that we would have to move away if we wanted to continue building.

In March, the long-awaited lease agreement for our new area was finally signed. On the other side of the canal, 3,000 more square meters will be connected to the Wunderland. f Wunderland

As the last section of the existing building, Monaco and Provence are currently under construction.

Together with his team, Gerrit is trying to develop a completely new technology. The vision is to use scalable magnetic fields to create a miniature Formula 1 race. Whether this will really work is still not known. After the airport, the dream of a miniature Formula 1 race is the most technically demanding project in the history of Wunderland so far. The developers still have a little time left. The opening is planned for end of 2020.

Even before that, a small but very detailed section of 9 m² will be opened: a new fun fair. The previous fair, which was built in 2001 for the opening of the Wunderland, is now completely revised and more than doubled in size. New rides, around about 100,000 LEDs and many technical gadgets will be the highlights in one of the original sections of Wunderland. In November 2019, the new fair is supposed to be officially opened.

But by far the most spectacular project is without a doubt the crossing of the canal. Originally, England was planned on the other side of the canal. This idea has now been replaced by the greatest adventure in the history of Wunderland: In summer 2017 the vision was born to build South America together with a great and wonderfully crazy South American family. This new section is intended to make South America an authentic experience for our visitors. Therefore, we are very euphoric not only to let the "European perspective" determine the new layout are, but - thanks to the Martinez family - also to be able to plan, build and design from a South American point of view.

For one year now we have been working together with the Martinez family in a suburb of Buenos Aires on the most daring project in the history of the Wunderland. Together with a team of 15 South Americans, model builders from Wunderland are creating the new, spectacular section. In the first construction phase, 200 - 220 m² are planned from the Amazon to the Andes, to Rio and to 6

the Antarctic. This section is to be shipped to Hamburg in 2021 and opened in the new storage facility at the end of 2021.

Parallel to the South American section, another very special section is being built in Hamburg. On their way to the new building the visitors may view the world from a bird’s perspective. In the exhibition "The World from Above" we will reconstruct the most beautiful places in the world from the perspective of a low-flying airplane. A total of around 10 million Euros will be invested into the new sections over the next few years.

A very exciting time is starting for Wunderland. In recent years we have been building and enlarging our exhibition section after section.

Now we are traveling new roads and embarking on a great adventure.

Nobody can tell us whether everything will work out the way we have dreamt it to be. But it has always been our aspiration to outperform ourselves and to surprise our visitors. In order to accomplish that, we probably have to leave the road well-travelled and explore new paths into the unknown.

We are beyond excited to see the outcome and can hardly wait.

Read more at https://www.miniatur-wunderland.com/news/future-wunderland/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Miniatur Wunderland breaks its own world record With the connection of 315 additional meters of track, Wunderland's track system is extended to a record-breaking 15,715 meters. And because Guinness World Records was just around for this festive occasion, we registered another record attempt: That's why Miniatur Wunderland receives another record title for the largest cross-scale model railway layout.

For many years now, Miniatur Wunderland has officially been the largest model train set in the world.

With the new section of Monaco & Provence being connected, the layout will be extended by a further 315 meters, and the existing world record will be increased. The connection of the new track was solemnly completed on the morning of 14 August 2019 in front of the press and in the presence of the record judge Lena Kuhlmann of Guinness World RecordsÂŽ. Miniatur Wunderland has thus not only expanded its own existing record from 15,400 meters to 15,715 meters, but has also set another record: As of today, we can also call the title of the world's largest cross-scale model railway our own.

What does that mean? There are model railways worldwide in many different scales. Some build almost lifelike, some in just a few millimetres. They are all comparable due to the standardized scale that refers to the real world. With 1,367.21 kilometres of "real length", Wunderland can now call itself the world's largest model train set across all scales.

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UNION PACIFIC BIG BOY No.4014 https://www.up.com/media/releases/190509-transcon150.htm 9 May 1869: East and West shaking hands at laying of the last rail of the Transcontinental Railroad at Ogden, Utah

Tapping a ceremonial Golden Spike from left are Sandy Dodge, descendent of Gen. Grenville Dodge; Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, Union Pacific Chairman, Lance Fritz, Utah Congressman Rob Bishop, Margarat Yee, a descendent of a Central Pacific employee, and Scott Moore, Union Pacific senior vice president 8

Newly restored Union Pacific Big Boy 4-8-8-4 No.4014 arrives at Ogden Union Station in Utah on 9 May 2019 for the first day of the company's year of celebration marking 150th anniversary of the first Transcontinental Railroad.

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Size comparison of UP Big Boy to a Boeing 747, Diesel loco, school bus and standard sedan.

Prototype: Union Pacific Railroad (UP) class 4000 "Big Boy" heavy freight locomotive. Version with the road number 4014, cooling pipes, and authentic weathering. The locomot ive looks as it did around 1948. Maerklin Art 37995 Union Pacific Big Boy 4014 HO scale:

Assemble a Big Boy Steam Locomotive & Tender with this 1:87 Scale Plastic Model Kit 02165 from Revell.

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On E-Bay: Rivarossi HR2753 Union Pacific Steam locomotive #4014 "Big Boy" anniversary edition Price: EUR 398.50 Approximately ZAR 6,815

UP_4014_Friesland,_WI_By Loewe from Huntley, IL

Mark

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HERITAGE RAILWAY Issue 255 July 2019 On page 12 there is this horrendous news but fortunately it ends with a silver lining. I had not imagined this type of behaviour in England.

The scene of devastation inside the sports hall where intruders destroyed the contents of a model train exhibition. This was the stand of trader P & D Marsh which supplies a range of accessories.

Paul Andrews/P & D Marsh A worldwide response to a vandal wrecking spree at a model railway exhibition saw more than GBP100,000 donated by appalled and angry members of the public, including GBP10,000 from

rock singer Rod Stewart.

A lifelong model railway enthusiast who spent 23 years building his own layout, the star pledged the money to the Market Deeping Model Railway Club in Lincolnshire, 48 hours after the wanton

overnight damage at their exhibition in Welland Academy’s sports hall in nearby Stamford left a trail of damage estimated at GBP80,000.

A neighbour alerted police to the break-in at the Academy at about 4am on Saturday 18 May and four boys aged 15 and 16 were arrested but later released on bail pending further investigation.

Club Chairman, Peter Davies, said that grown men were in tears at the scene of “total wanton destruction of the highest order”. Some of the models had taken 25 years to build and some members would not be able to replace them within their lifetime. “A hurricane would have done less damage”.

The club had been overwhelmed by the public generosity. In a defiant response, just 6 days after the damage, members displayed a model railway layout at the Deepings Literary Festival, filmed by the BBC One Show .The club plans to return to the sports hall for its annual exhibition next year where it had been exhibiting for the past 12 years without incident. It hopes to use some of the money raised to help other societies maybe with adding extra security measures that had not been budgeted for.

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South Africa receives some valid bad press on page 18:

In a new blow described by one South African enthusiast as another “nail in the coffin” of main line steam in the country, a five-day rail tour headed by North British locomotive 4-8-2 No..1535 with passengers on board from around the world, was called off on its second day due to an overgrown and rock strewn track In the latest incident of embarrassment to SA steam, No. 1535 was booked to start the Reefsteamer’s high profile sleeper rail tour on 12 April from Bethlehem to Modderpoort via

Ficksburg.

However, due to an overgrown and slippery track, the train only reached Ficksburg where it stayed overnight, 38 miles short of its planned destination.

Far worse was still to come for the passengers and hardworking footplate crew of the 1919 built class 12AR. In the original schedule, the train was due to run on the second day from Modderpoort to Bloemfontein and Reefsteamers hoped to reach this destination as scheduled, albeit starting at Ficksburg.

Sadly for everyone involved, that hope was soon shattered, for after much slippage, No.1535 ground to a halt only a few miles out of Ficksburg, due to the track being heavily overgrown with sapling growing out of it , while the ballast was eroded.

No through road: Shortly after departing from Ficksburg, Class 12AR No.1535 is only a few miles from being brought to a standstill due to an overgrown and rock-strewn track that was declared unsafe. The North British built 4-8-2 was two days into a five-day sleeper rail tour with 45 passengers from around the world, but the trip was terminated later that day due to the state of the track. John Titlow

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