Northeast Iowa: Museum to host toy show

From Owelwien Daily Register: Museum to host toy show
OELWEIN - The Hub City Model and Toy Show will be held Saturday, Aug. 20, in conjunction with Oelwein’s Railroad Days, Aug. 20-21.

The show will have model trains, tractors and trucks to buy, sell or trade.

It will be held at the American Legion, 108 First St., and at the Hub City Railroad Museum, 26 Second Ave. SW, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Spaces are still available for vendors. Contact the Museum at 319-283-1939 for more information.

And what are the Oelwein's Railroad Days:

Oelwein Railroad Days slated for August 20 & 21

Oelwein Railroad Days this year will be Saturday August 20th and Sunday August 21st from 9:00 am until 4:00 pm. There will also be a die cast truck and tractor show. On Saturday, an amateur radio club will be there as well.

From their website
OUR MISSION, AND OUR HISTORY

The objectives of the Hub City Heritage Corporation are to encourage and promote the preservation and restoration of railroad memorabilia as pertinent to the Oelwein area. To establish, furnish and maintain a railway museum for the education and enjoyment of the general public.

The town of Oelwein was laid out in a cornfield purchased from G .A. Oelwein in 1872 on the coming of the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Minnesota Railroad. It was later called the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad usually referred to as the Rock Island.

Hub City Heritage was formed in early 1987 and opened the railway museum on June 14, 1987 and by 1989 we first acquired the Railway Express building. Hub City Heritage later acquired the two-story yard office building and the 75-foot dispatchers' tower, which is the last of the CGW dispatchers' towers and the last tower in the State of Iowa.

On a continually basis Hub City Heritage acquires railroad equipment. Some of the largest railroad rolling stock that has been preserved a Chicago, St Paul Minneapolis & Omaha SW1 #55 switch engine with its cast steel frame built in 1940, an Chicago Great Western EMD FP7 “F-unit” locomotive repainted in its original factory Chicago Great Western EMD colors, a 40' CGW steel box car built in 1944, a CGW covered hopper plus other rolling stock. The Rock Island 17958 caboose was built in 1914, the CGW 637 bay window caboose was built in 1963. Our latest motive power acquisition is the Minnesota Transfer 62 S1 diesel switcher locomotive built in 1941.

The Railway Express building was originally the home of Wells Fargo and Company Express in 1912. Shortly after WWI in 1918 the structure was acquired by the American Express Company and in 1930 became the Railway Express Agency. The original building was one-half of what it is now and the cost to build it was $4,146.56.

Through this shipping agency many things were transported, including live animals, furniture and machinery. Many horses were shipped from this area.

Please keep in mind that if you would like to make a donation to the organization, whether it is railroad memorabilia or monetary, we are a 501(c)(3) non-profit, educational organization.

Train News, Japan: China's train accident unthinkable here: expert

From The Japan Times: China's train accident unthinkable here: expert
Japanese expert who analyzed video footage of Saturday's fatal bullet train accident in China said Sunday it was an accident hard to imagine happening here, even though one of the trains involved appears to be one modeled on a domestic shinkansen.

A JR official said shinkansen systems have been equipped with automatic train control devices since they were inaugurated in 1964 because of the understanding that it would be difficult for the driver to rely on visual traffic confirmation of the need to apply the brakes on the high-speed service.

The ATC automatically stops a train if another is detected ahead.

If the system fails or power is lost, the brakes are applied automatically.

Shinkansen trains operated by Japanese railways have been designed using the concept that they should stop whenever an anomaly is detected, the JR official said. Since their launch, no collisions have happened, according to the official.

Given the logos on the carriages, the train that rear-ended the other one appears to be a CRH2 model manufactured on technology from Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., while the one that was rear-ended is assumed to be a CRH1, based on technology from Canada's Bombardier Inc.

A public relations official of KHI said, "No comments can be made because the cause of the accident remains unknown."

A source at the company, however, said it has long been concerned about the Chinese approach of prioritizing speed at the expense of safety.

The CRH2 is based on the Hayate bullet train that runs on the Tohoku Shinkansen Line operated by East Japan Railway Co. Based on technology supplied by Kawasaki Heavy, Chinese state-run company China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock Corp. took the lead in developing the CRH2. A total of 120 trains and 960 cars have already been delivered to the Ministry of Railways.

Their maximum speed is set at between 200-275 kph to ensure safety. China, however, started commercial operations at a maximum 350 kph on some routes.

After learning this, Kawasaki Heavy said it had secured a written guarantee from China that the Japanese company "would not be held responsible" if an accident was caused due to speed.

At the moment, it is unknown whether the accident was caused by factors relating to operations or faulty vehicle components or both. Kawasaki Heavy said it is not involved in the running of the trains in China.

Train News: Canada: Rail crash means Bombardier buying opportunity

The Globe and Mail: Rail crash means Bombardier buying opportunity

Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B-T5.780.122.12%) shares were down about 4 per cent on Monday afternoon, following the weekend news that a deadly high-speed train accident in China had involved a model built by Bombardier through a joint venture. Cameron Doerksen, an analyst at National Bank Financial, thinks the selloff doesn’t make much sense, though.

For one thing, the limited details on the accident so far suggest that there was no fault with the trains involved, but rather signalling equipment or human error. While Bombardier has provided signalling equipment in China, it didn’t provide the equipment on the line where the accident occurred.

For another, China is actually a pretty small market for Bombardier at this point. Mr. Doerksen believes that less than 10 per cent of Bombardier’s transportation division revenues come from China, and that’s after factoring in the delivery of Zefiro high-speed trains in 2012. For all of Bombardier, high-speed rail accounts for less than 5 per cent of total revenue – with the bulk of sales coming from Europe.

“Even if 100 per cent of all Chinese high-speed rail-related revenue was to disappear for Bombardier (an extremely unlikely scenario), we estimate the earnings-per share impact at only $0.03,” he said in a note.

“We think the share price reaction to the potential for a slowing Chinese market for high speed rail is a major overreaction. The fundamentals for Bombardier Transportation remain robust and there is no change to our view that the division will make steady progress towards its goal of achieving 8 per cent EBIT [earnings before interest and taxes] margins. Business jet market fundamentals, which are the key driver for Bombardier Aerospace earnings growth, continue to improve while we would argue that with recently announced orders, the prospects for the CSeries have improved in recent months, not worsened.”

He is maintaining an “outperform” recommendation on the stock, along with a price target of $8.50.

Keep in mind, though, that Bombardier shares had already hit a soft patch well before the Chinese train crash. So far in July, the shares have fallen about 16 per cent, likely over a combination of concerns about rising competition from Boeing Co. (BA-N70.47-0.19-0.27%) and a softer global economy.

Model-train exhibit encourages restoration of 1912 locomotive

From AZCentral.com: Model-train exhibit encourages restoration of 1912 locomotive
An intricate display of lifelike model steam engines chugging around a loop may help the Save Our Train committee gain some traction in their drive to restore the 1912 locomotive that continues to sit behind a metal fence at Mesa's Pioneer Park.

Model-train enthusiasts such as Michael Temenski of east Mesa and Jim Ruiz, who loves the 100-year-old locomotive, will come together for a unique train lover's exhibit at the Mesa Public Library in August.

"It's model trains but there's some heft to them," said Temenski, president of the Arizona Big Train Operators, who also built a more-detailed permanent exhibit at Banner Children's Medical Center.

"We love our trains. We like to show them off to everybody," he said, but the weeklong exhibit represents a chance to discuss trains and educate people about their role in Arizona history.

Temenski said the traveling exhibit will feature two or three trains running on a large loop at the same time, including steam engines and diesels with sound effects. He said the display will not be quite as detailed as the one the group operates at the children's hospital in west Mesa.

The group hopes to add dioramas of Arizona scenes that would depict trains passing through various parts of the state, including such historic railroad towns as Winslow, Holbrook and Flagstaff, he said.

The free exhibit will run Aug. 1-6 in the Saguaro Room of the Mesa Public Library, 64 E. First Street. It will spotlight the history of rail in Arizona, librarian Larry Lee said.

"I want to keep the history alive," he said. Those who attend the free exhibit could obtain two free tickets to ride The Grand Canyon Railway to the Grand Canyon.

For Ruiz, the exhibit represents another chance to show off the whistle, light and bell that his group has painstakingly renovated at a cost of $8,000. The group has $30,000 left, but needs to raise another $35,000 to $40,000 to move the train to a more high-profile location.

The committee would like to move the train to the southwest corner of Pioneer Park, where it would be visible from Main Street and the Metro light-rail extension planned to open through downtown in 2016.

Engine 2355 has delighted Mesa children since it was donated to the city in 1958 by the Southern Pacific Railroad. Many residents tell stories about playing on the train, but that is no longer allowed because of fear of injury. The old steam engine also contains asbestos.

The engine made trips for decades between New Mexico and California, but no records are available to document whether it passed through Mesa or other parts of Arizona during its journeys.

"Both groups are interested in bringing awareness to trains, large and small," Ruiz said. "It goes hand and hand that both groups participate."

Keep a Lookout on August 6-7: Lots of Model Train Displays Going On

If your city has any kind of model railroad club, looks like the weekend of August 6-7 there's bound to be some kind of activity in your area.

--Turkey Creek Division Model Train Show in Lenexa, Kansas

--The Great Train Expo in Orlando, Florida

--The Northwest Jersey Train-O-Rama in Dover, New Jersey

--The California Express Railroadiana & Transportation Show in Beuna Park, Californa

--The Reading Society of Model Engineers is having its open house in Reading, Pennsylvania

Ogden, Utah's Hostlers Model Railroad Festival

I'm busy working on my website, adding train clubs and train festivals to the appropriate pages, so going through old model railroad news.

On March 5, 2011, the Hostlers Model Railroad Festival took place at Ogden Utah's Union Station.

Here's the railroad for the club: http://www.hostlers.info/

They are going to attend another railroad show on August 5-7, 2011 - only this time, it's going to be in Evanston, Wyoming.

Who Are We?

The Hostler Model Railroad Club was founded in February 1988 in Ogden as an all scale group. By June of ‘88 the club had grown to fourteen members.

Monthly meetings were held in member’s homes. Within a year, an HO module group was formed to promote model railroading at local train shows. The Hostler modules have been shown in Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and Idaho.

While all scales are represented, HO is the primary scale of most members. The club has grown to nearly 180 members in 2004, mostly from the Wasatch Front area of Utah. They generally meet once a month at the Ogden Union Station every third Wednesday. New members are welcome anytime.

Under the long term leadership of president Mike Murphy, the club has gained in reputation and leadership among model railroad clubs in the west. Our annual model train festival the first weekend of March draws upwards of 8,000 people during a 3 day show.

The Hostlers also has a strong public service record through donations of monetary gifts to several local charities, the Ogden Union Station and participation in the annual Ogden Christmas Village at the Ogden Municipal Park.

Near Lenexa, Kansas? Save the day: Sat, 6 August

I'm busy creating a companion website to this blog,and one of the features it will have is a calendar of events, both for model trains and for historical/new trains.

Here's what's happening 6 August in Lenexa, Kansas:

Turkey Creek 2011 Division Meet and Train Show
Lenexa Community Center
13420 Oak Street
Lenexa, Kansas
www.tc-nmra.org/TC-Meet/TC-Meet-2011.html