Untitled Document

August 2005

GATS becomes GWAATS!!
***

During the week of July 11-17, Great American Train Show vendors received a letter from Moe Geoghegan, owner of GATS Ltd, notifying them that both he and his wife, Kathy, had retired as of July 1st. The letter stated that GATS Ltd. has turned over operation of the remaining shows to Hobbies Unlimited, a new company headed by John Geoghegan.

Three events will be occurring over the next few months. First, three shows, in Modesto, CA (Oct 1-2), Mesa, AZ (Oct 8-9) and Louisville, KY (Dec 10-11) have been cancelled. Second, four shows scheduled for Indianapolis, IN (Oct 15-16), Denver, CO (Nov 5-6), Puyallup, WA (Nov 19-20) and Collinsville, IL (Nov 26-27) will be taken over by the Great Train Expo (GTE). Third, the remaining Great American Train Shows (GATS) will be renamed Great Western & Atlantic Train Shows (GWAATS).

The same letter gave the new address of GWAATS as P.O. Box 489, Kernville, CA 93238 and the phone number of 760-376-2682. Trolleyville has attempted to secure and interview with new Hobbies Unlimited CEO, John Geoghegan but as of the date of this issue, we have been unable to do so!
____________________________________________________________

The Great Train Expo!
..coming in 2006...

In a recent development that will benefit many train lovers and model train vendors, the birth of the Great Train Expo (GTE) was officially announced this month. This new show, under management by the same staff that brought us the fabulous World's Greatest Hobby on Tour shows in late 2004 and earlier this year, will launch it's main schedule of shows in 2006. The current Greenberg Toy & Hobby Shows will also become Great Train Expo Shows.

All these shows will be managed by CIA Incorporated. Key managers of CIA include Kurt Jablonski and Dave Swanson. GTE makes it emphatically clear that they have absolutely no connection with GATS, Ltd, the former Great American Train Show, Moe and Kathy Geoghegan and the announced show policies emphasize this even further!

If you are a model train vendor, you will love the GTE shows. First of all, they all will feature broader advertising to the general public using the proven successful techniques of the four 2004-2005 World's Greatest Hobby on Tour shows. GTE has attempted to correct many of the deficiencies in current model train shows; (1) Vendor booth sizes will be increased slightly to accommodate four 8 ft tables; (2) Floor plans will be provided in advance to vendors to ease the move-in and set-up process; (3) Vendors who appear at multiple GTE shows will also be able to obtain permanent locations within the various halls; (4) There are also financial incentives for vendors who exhibit at many shows; and (5) hours for these shows will be from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM both Saturday and Sunday, reflecting the change in the demographics of the train-loving public and vendor set-up will be available from 2:00 PM to 7:30 PM on the preceding Friday.

For the foreseeable future, to minimize miscommunication, the same show management person with which a vendor discusses their reservation, will be the same person that is the show manager on site. Trolleyville has very detailed knowledge of the major players at GTE and know what type of show that they can provide. So if you can participate, please do. You will NOT regret it and you will probably enjoy yourself.

In 2006. GTE has announced the following 22 show schedule for the first three months, so there are many more to be announced. GTE will becoming to the West Coast before the end of 2006:

January 7-8, Timonium, MD, Maryland State Fairgrounds
January 7-8, Indianapolis, IN, Indianapolis St Fairgrounds
January 14-15,Columbus, OH, Ohio Expo Center
January 14-15, Sacramento, CA, Cal Expo Center*
January 21-22, York, PA, York Expo Center
January 21-22, Kansas City, MO, American Royal Complex
January 28-29, Tampa, FL, Florida State Fairgrounds
(*originally scheduled as a Great American Train Show)

February 4-5, Norgross, GA, North Atlanta Trade Center
February 4-5, Council Bluffs, IA, Mid-American Center
February 11-12, Monroeville, PA, Pittsburgh ExpoMart
February 18-19, Fitchburg, MA, Royal Plaza Trade Center
February 25-26, Upper Marlboro, MD, Prince George's Equestrian Center
February 25-26, Denver, CO, National Western Complex

March 4-5, Edison, NJ, New Jersey Expo Center
March 4-5, Novi, MI, Novi Expo Center
March 11-12, Fort Worth, TX, Fort Worth Convention Center
March 18-19, Fort Washington, PA, Fort Washington Expo Center
March 18-19, Collinsville, IL, Gateway Center
March 25-26, Allentown, PA, Pennsylvania Expo Center at Lehigh Valley
March 25-26, Cincinnati, OH, Cinergy Center

April 1-2, Wilimington, MA, Shriner's Auditorium
April 8-9, Westminster, MD, Carroll County Agricultural Center

Watch this column or check with www.greattrainexpo or www.gtexpo.com for more information

_______________________________________________________

Trolley Talk Under New Ownership!!
***

Trolley Talk magazine, the bi-monthly "bible" for most model traction fans, acquired its third owner during July. His name is Peter Weiglin of Amelia, Ohio. Peter obtained the magazine from Drew Sack, who has published the last was unable to continue due to health problems. Trolley Talk was the creation of Birdella Wagner and she published issues 1 through 220. Issue 220 was released at the end of 1993. The magazine was acquired by John Vieira of Novato, CA and he published only two issues, namely 221 and 222, during 1994 before Drew Sack acquired the magazine and published issue 223 in April 1996. Drew went on to publish 52 issues of the magazine through 2004. Almost every issue arrived on time as expected. The Trolley Talk internet site, www.trolleyville.com, has been updated to provide the latest information available.

By the time you read this, it is expected that Trolley Talk #276 should be in print.
_______________________________________________________

Southern California Traction Club Featured in Railmodel Journal!
***

The Southern California Traction Club was featured in the June 2005 issue of Railmodel Journal. Pages 52-54 showed several of the modules and both Pacific Electric Interurban and Philadelphia Light Rail models. The article also lists all the lessons currently in the Trolleyville Schoolhouse. These lessons could be very helpful to fledgling traction modelers.

Trolleyville Evaluates the IHP PCC cars
***

Custom Traxx obtained two of the three new Imperial Hobby Products HO scale PCC cars at the East Penn Meet in May 2005. The Southern California Traction Club evaluated both cars as they were prepared for service on the club modules and shared their observations with the Times.

Both of the cars tested have some interest for California traction fans. The 87118 Air-Electric PCC car can be used to model the Los Angeles P-1 (3001-3095) class and the San Diego 501-528 class. With some advanced modeling techniques, the shell can be converted to a Los Angeles P-2 (3096-3125) class PCC car. The 87127 ex-Kansas City PCC model can be used to model those boomer Toronto cars 1180-1190, that were used briefly in San Francisco during BART construction in the 1970's.

Imperial Hobby Products Air-Electric PCC car is a product welcomed by most trolley modelers of the 1930-1940 era. Some of us still can remember the "splash" that these cars made when they started appearing on the scene in 1936. The Times had acquired a completed model from IHP at the East Penn Meet for evaluation. The Air-Electric PCC one-piece shell is a urethane casting based largely on an earlier brass import of the 1936 Brooklyn 1001-1099 series PCC. In the opinion of the Times, there has not been a brass HO scale PCC model produced that captured the correct front and/or rear curves of the PCC car. So this shell inherits some of those deficiencies. The best part of this model is that the shell has been made to allow modeling the many variations of the Air-Electric PCC, such as leaf or blinker doors, full or partial anticlimbers, bubble or full trolley pole base shroud. The full trolley pole base shroud, while modeled as a shroud that fits over the existing trolley roof boards a la the prototype, could be vastly improved if the front and side vents had been added. It also would have been great if the top windshield visors, which distinguished the 1940 and later Air-electric PCC cars had also been provided. Our only real criticism of the shell is the rather clumsy method used to attach the flutings over the side windows. IHP manufactured their own cast floor for the car due to the front platform dimension differences of the Air-Electric versus the All-Electric PCC. But this new cast floor was designed to accept the fine-running Bowser 125100 mechanism. The new cast floor with the Bowser 125100 power train weighs 5.7 ounces versus the Bowser 125141 PCC floor weight of 3.7 oz, which is a distinct advantage of the new floor. The detailed Air-Electric PCC car shell weighs only .8 oz so the total weight of the entire combination is 6.5 ounces. After adding printed circuit strips to the underside of the roof, for internal wiring, a Miniatronics two-pin connector, the A-line 20040 flywheel kit, and NorthWest Short Line nickel-silver wheels, the entire car with cast floor weighed 7.0 ounces. The 87118 unpowered kit is available at $120.00 from IHP. The car is available R-T-R at $225.00. Custom Traxx has a limited number of the 87118 unpowered kits available. The Bowser 125100 mechanisms, A-line 20040 flywheels and operational trolley poles may also be obtained from them. Call 310-990-5422 for special pricing of all four items. Our sample car was painted as Philadelphia Transportation Company (PTC) 2508 in the first green paint scheme with the gray roof (1942-1953) with a fabricated windshield visor and signed for service on Route 13, the second Philadelphia route to get PCC cars. By the way the car runs and looks great

Both the 87127 Kansas City PCC and the 87128 Pittsburgh 1700 series PCC (not tested) have a much improved shell over the earlier issue. Both shells are based more on the Bowser PCC shell than the Bachmann and have been made to accept the Bowser 125141 PCC mechanism with floor with no modification. The basic unfinished Kansas City car was also shown in the June issue of the Times. The Times had acquired a completed model of the Kansas City PCC from IHP at the East Penn Meet for evaluation. The Kansas City PCC is noteworthy because they were the only post-war all-electric PCC cars built without the characteristic standee windows. In 1940, Kansas City Public Service ordered their first PCC cars, 24 Air-Electric cars. At that time, the newest cars in the city were 19 years old and the average age of a Kansas city streetcar was 32 years. Naturally, they were a hit. When the order was placed for 75 post war cars in April 1945, the body used for the All-Electric PCC car featured the now famous standee windows. KCPS President Powell C. Groner told Saint Louis Car Co that he would have "none of those little apertures" on his cars, hence the Kansas City car was born with its larger windows. Only 160 cars were built of this design and all for Kansas City. When Kansas City abandoned streetcars in 1954, these cars found service in Philadelphia, PA (40), Toronto, Ontario (30), Tampico, Mexico (10) and San Francisco. 79 cars were scrapped and the electrical and mechanical equipment purchased by Brussels, Belgium for use in constructing cars there. This car uses the 125141 Bowser PCC mechanism with floor, which weighs 3.7 ounces. This new shell seems to have been based more on the Bowser shell than the Bachmann shell, which alone makes it more correct. The new shell weighs only .8 ounce. We installed the A-line A20040 flywheel, a trolley pole bushing, one Miniatronics two-pin connector, two printed circuit strips to the underside of the roof for internal wiring, two 1 ounce weights underfloor between the two trucks, and NorthWest Short Line nickel silver wheels. Now the entire assembly weighed 7.2 ounces. Both the KC PCC and the Pittsburgh PCC are available R-T-R from IHP at $175.00 but the shells are available at $43.00 each. Our sample KC car was painted as PTC 2260 in the 1953-1968 green paint scheme signed for Sunday service on route 3.

Both cars were given the Custom Traxx Bowser break-in procedure. First, if the unit has been given no lubrication at the factory, lubricate both motor bearings and the brass gear at the top of the gear tower. If the unit has been lubricated at the factory, remove as much of the lubrication from the non-metallic gears as possible. Run the unit for fifteen minutes. Then lubricate all the non-metal gears in the power truck and (very slightly) lubricate the axle bearings and run for another fifteen minutes. After another hour of running. the unit will quiet down, almost to a whisper!

Both cars will be a great addition to any 1940-1980 era trolley layout!


August 2005

GATS becomes GWAATS!! * During the week of July 11-17, Great American Train Show vendors received a letter from Moe Geoghegan, owner of GATS Ltd, notifying them that both he and his wife, Kathy, had retired as of July 1st. The letter stated that GATS Ltd. has turned over operation of the remaining shows to Hobbies Unlimited, a new company headed by John Geoghegan. Three events will be occurring over the next few months. First, three shows, in Modesto, CA (Oct 1-2), Mesa, AZ (Oct 8-9) and Louisville, KY (Dec 10-11) have been cancelled. Second, four shows scheduled for Indianapolis, IN (Oct 15-16), Denver, CO (Nov 5-6), Puyallup, WA (Nov 19-20) and Collinsville, IL (Nov 26-27) will be taken over by the Great Train Expo (GTE). Third, the remaining Great American Train Shows (GATS) will be renamed Great Western & Atlantic Train Shows (GWAATS). The same letter gave the new address of GWAATS as P.O. Box 489, Kernville, CA 93238 and the phone number of 760-376-2682. Trolleyville has attempted to secure and interview with new Hobbies Unlimited CEO, John Geoghegan but as of the date of this issue, we have been unable to do so! ____________________________________________________________ The Great Train Expo! ..coming in 2006... In a recent development that will benefit many train lovers and model train vendors, the birth of the Great Train Expo (GTE) was officially announced this month. This new show, under management by the same staff that brought us the fabulous World's Greatest Hobby on Tour shows in late 2004 and earlier this year, will launch it's main schedule of shows in 2006. The current Greenberg Toy & Hobby Shows will also become Great Train Expo Shows. All these shows will be managed by CIA Incorporated. Key managers of CIA include Kurt Jablonski and Dave Swanson. GTE makes it emphatically clear that they have absolutely no connection with GATS, Ltd, the former Great American Train Show, Moe and Kathy Geoghegan and the announced show policies emphasize this even further! If you are a model train vendor, you will love the GTE shows. First of all, they all will feature broader advertising to the general public using the proven successful techniques of the four 2004-2005 World's Greatest Hobby on Tour shows. GTE has attempted to correct many of the deficiencies in current model train shows; (1) Vendor booth sizes will be increased slightly to accommodate four 8 ft tables; (2) Floor plans will be provided in advance to vendors to ease the move-in and set-up process; (3) Vendors who appear at multiple GTE shows will also be able to obtain permanent locations within the various halls; (4) There are also financial incentives for vendors who exhibit at many shows; and (5) hours for these shows will be from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM both Saturday and Sunday, reflecting the change in the demographics of the train-loving public and vendor set-up will be available from 2:00 PM to 7:30 PM on the preceding Friday. For the foreseeable future, to minimize miscommunication, the same show management person with which a vendor discusses their reservation, will be the same person that is the show manager on site. Trolleyville has very detailed knowledge of the major players at GTE and know what type of show that they can provide. So if you can participate, please do. You will NOT regret it and you will probably enjoy yourself. In 2006. GTE has announced the following 22 show schedule for the first three months, so there are many more to be announced. GTE will becoming to the West Coast before the end of 2006: January 7-8, Timonium, MD, Maryland State Fairgrounds January 7-8, Indianapolis, IN, Indianapolis St Fairgrounds January 14-15,Columbus, OH, Ohio Expo Center January 14-15, Sacramento, CA*, Cal Expo Center January 21-22, York, PA, York Expo Center January 21-22, Kansas City, MO, American Royal Complex January 28-29, Tampa, FL, Florida State Fairgrounds (originally scheduled as a Great American Train Show) February 4-5, Norgross, GA, North Atlanta Trade Center February 4-5, Council Bluffs, IA, Mid-American Center February 11-12, Monroeville, PA, Pittsburgh ExpoMart February 18-19, Fitchburg, MA, Royal Plaza Trade Center February 25-26, Upper Marlboro, MD, Prince George's Equestrian Center February 25-26, Denver, CO,* National Western Complex March 4-5, Edison, NJ, New Jersey Expo Center March 4-5, Novi, MI, Novi Expo Center March 11-12, Fort Worth, TX, Fort Worth Convention Center March 18-19, Fort Washington, PA, Fort Washington Expo Center March 18-19, Collinsville, IL, Gateway Center March 25-26, Allentown, PA, Pennsylvania Expo Center at Lehigh Valley March 25-26, Cincinnati, OH, Cinergy Center April 1-2, Wilimington, MA, Shriner's Auditorium April 8-9, Westminster, MD, Carroll County Agricultural Center Watch this column or check with www.greattrainexpo or www.gtexpo.com for more information _______________________________________________________ Trolley Talk Under New Ownership!! * Trolley Talk magazine, the bi-monthly "bible" for most model traction fans, acquired its third owner during July. His name is Peter Weiglin of Amelia, Ohio. Peter obtained the magazine from Drew Sack, who has published the last was unable to continue due to health problems. Trolley Talk was the creation of Birdella Wagner and she published issues 1 through 220. Issue 220 was released at the end of 1993. The magazine was acquired by John Vieira of Novato, CA and he published only two issues, namely 221 and 222, during 1994 before Drew Sack acquired the magazine and published issue 223 in April 1996. Drew went on to publish 52 issues of the magazine through 2004. Almost every issue arrived on time as expected. The Trolley Talk internet site, www.trolleyville.com, has been updated to provide the latest information available. By the time you read this, it is expected that Trolley Talk #276 should be in print. _______________________________________________________ Southern California Traction Club Featured in Railmodel Journal! * The Southern California Traction Club was featured in the June 2005 issue of Railmodel Journal. Pages 52-54 showed several of the modules and both Pacific Electric Interurban and Philadelphia Light Rail models. The article also lists all the lessons currently in the Trolleyville Schoolhouse. These lessons could be very helpful to fledgling traction modelers.	Trolleyville Evaluates the IHP PCC cars *** Custom Traxx obtained two of the three new Imperial Hobby Products HO scale PCC cars at the East Penn Meet in May 2005. The Southern California Traction Club evaluated both cars as they were prepared for service on the club modules and shared their observations with the Times. Both of the cars tested have some interest for California traction fans. The 87118 Air-Electric PCC car can be used to model the Los Angeles P-1 (3001-3095) class and the San Diego 501-528 class. With some advanced modeling techniques, the shell can be converted to a Los Angeles P-2 (3096-3125) class PCC car. The 87127 ex-Kansas City PCC model can be used to model those boomer Toronto cars 1180-1190, that were used briefly in San Francisco during BART construction in the 1970's. Imperial Hobby Products Air-Electric PCC car is a product welcomed by most trolley modelers of the 1930-1940 era. Some of us still can remember the "splash" that these cars made when they started appearing on the scene in 1936. The Times had acquired a completed model from IHP at the East Penn Meet for evaluation. The Air-Electric PCC one-piece shell is a urethane casting based largely on an earlier brass import of the 1936 Brooklyn 1001-1099 series PCC. In the opinion of the Times, there has not been a brass HO scale PCC model produced that captured the correct front and/or rear curves of the PCC car. So this shell inherits some of those deficiencies. The best part of this model is that the shell has been made to allow modeling the many variations of the Air-Electric PCC, such as leaf or blinker doors, full or partial anticlimbers, bubble or full trolley pole base shroud. The full trolley pole base shroud, while modeled as a shroud that fits over the existing trolley roof boards a la the prototype, could be vastly improved if the front and side vents had been added. It also would have been great if the top windshield visors, which distinguished the 1940 and later Air-electric PCC cars had also been provided. Our only real criticism of the shell is the rather clumsy method used to attach the flutings over the side windows. IHP manufactured their own cast floor for the car due to the front platform dimension differences of the Air-Electric versus the All-Electric PCC. But this new cast floor was designed to accept the fine-running Bowser 125100 mechanism. The new cast floor with the Bowser 125100 power train weighs 5.7 ounces versus the Bowser 125141 PCC floor weight of 3.7 oz, which is a distinct advantage of the new floor. The detailed Air-Electric PCC car shell weighs only .8 oz so the total weight of the entire combination is 6.5 ounces. After adding printed circuit strips to the underside of the roof, for internal wiring, a Miniatronics two-pin connector, the A-line 20040 flywheel kit, and NorthWest Short Line nickel-silver wheels, the entire car with cast floor weighed 7.0 ounces. The 87118 unpowered kit is available at $120.00 from IHP. The car is available R-T-R at $225.00. Custom Traxx has a limited number of the 87118 unpowered kits available. The Bowser 125100 mechanisms, A-line 20040 flywheels and operational trolley poles may also be obtained from them. Call 310-990-5422 for special pricing of all four items. Our sample car was painted as Philadelphia Transportation Company (PTC) 2508 in the first green paint scheme with the gray roof (1942-1953) with a fabricated windshield visor and signed for service on Route 13, the second Philadelphia route to get PCC cars. By the way the car runs and looks great Both the 87127 Kansas City PCC and the 87128 Pittsburgh 1700 series PCC (not tested) have a much improved shell over the earlier issue. Both shells are based more on the Bowser PCC shell than the Bachmann and have been made to accept the Bowser 125141 PCC mechanism with floor with no modification. The basic unfinished Kansas City car was also shown in the June issue of the Times. The Times had acquired a completed model of the Kansas City PCC from IHP at the East Penn Meet for evaluation. The Kansas City PCC is noteworthy because they were the only post-war all-electric PCC cars built without the characteristic standee windows. In 1940, Kansas City Public Service ordered their first PCC cars, 24 Air-Electric cars. At that time, the newest cars in the city were 19 years old and the average age of a Kansas city streetcar was 32 years. Naturally, they were a hit. When the order was placed for 75 post war cars in April 1945, the body used for the All-Electric PCC car featured the now famous standee windows. KCPS President Powell C. Groner told Saint Louis Car Co that he would have "none of those little apertures" on his cars, hence the Kansas City car was born with its larger windows. Only 160 cars were built of this design and all for Kansas City. When Kansas City abandoned streetcars in 1954, these cars found service in Philadelphia, PA (40), Toronto, Ontario (30), Tampico, Mexico (10) and San Francisco. 79 cars were scrapped and the electrical and mechanical equipment purchased by Brussels, Belgium for use in constructing cars there. This car uses the 125141 Bowser PCC mechanism with floor, which weighs 3.7 ounces. This new shell seems to have been based more on the Bowser shell than the Bachmann shell, which alone makes it more correct. The new shell weighs only .8 ounce. We installed the A-line A20040 flywheel, a trolley pole bushing, one Miniatronics two-pin connector, two printed circuit strips to the underside of the roof for internal wiring, two 1 ounce weights underfloor between the two trucks, and NorthWest Short Line nickel silver wheels. Now the entire assembly weighed 7.2 ounces. Both the KC PCC and the Pittsburgh PCC are available R-T-R from IHP at $175.00 but the shells are available at $43.00 each. Our sample KC car was painted as PTC 2260 in the 1953-1968 green paint scheme signed for Sunday service on route 3. Both cars were given the Custom Traxx Bowser break-in procedure. First, if the unit has been given no lubrication at the factory, lubricate both motor bearings and the brass gear at the top of the gear tower. If the unit has been lubricated at the factory, remove as much of the lubrication from the non-metallic gears as possible. Run the unit for fifteen minutes. Then lubricate all the non-metal gears in the power truck and (very slightly) lubricate the axle bearings and run for another fifteen minutes. After another hour of running. the unit will quiet down, almost to a whisper! Both cars will be a great addition to any 1940-1980 era trolley layout!