Greater Cincinnati Garden Railway Society

Latest News - April 2008 - More Details & PICTURES in Gandy Dancer

It is mid-April and many things have been happening at EnterTRAINment Junction as we work towards the goal of a Summer opening. Furnishings and decorations are arriving. Being Springtime, Depot Street is bursting with colorful blooms and the trees and shrubs have leafed out. Unfortunately all the new flora was quickly subjected to a massive attack of what appears to be tent worms. Soon Junction Cafe will be fully equipped to feed the throngs of visitors the Opening promises to bring. A platoon of technicians have descended upon the maze area and have begun to set up the haunt which will make its diabolical debut when Summer winds down. The Museum of American Railroading is in development and promises to be both an entertaining and educational experience for both young and old. Hopes are high for the successful acquisition of some rather unique and impressive exhibits. The hobby shop remains vacant as the search goes on for a tenant with the necessary ingredients to make this important feature of the facility what it needs to be. As for other aspects of the facility, the outdoor pump car ride for kids is planned for installation and landscaping ASAP. Imagination Junction, the train-themed children’s activity area, which will have an HO Thomas the Tank Engine layout being developed by Bachmann It is mid-April and many things have been happening at EnterTRAINment Junction as we work towards the goal of a Summer opening. Furnishings and decorations are arriving. Being Springtime, Depot Street is bursting with colorful blooms and the trees and shrubs have leafed out. Unfortunately all the new flora was quickly subjected to a massive attack of what appears to be tent worms. Soon Junction Cafe will be fully equipped to feed the throngs of visitors the Opening promises to bring. A platoon of technicians have descended upon the maze area and have begun to set up the haunt which will make its diabolical debut when Summer winds down. The Museum of American Railroading is in development and promises to be both an entertaining and educational experience for both young and old. Hopes are high for the successful acquisition of some rather unique and impressive exhibits. The hobby shop remains vacant as the search goes on for a tenant with the necessary ingredients to make this important feature of the facility what it needs to be. As for other aspects of the facility, the outdoor pump car ride for kids is planned for installation and landscaping ASAP. Imagination Junction, the train-themed children’s activity area, which will have an HO Thomas the Tank Engine layout being developed by Bachmann The GANDY DANCER 1 APRIL 2008 The BIG TRAIN PROJECT VOLUNTEER’S NEWSLETTER Vol. 2 No. 2 APRIL 2008 On the first good day in March the first sign was put in place over the main entrance to the building adding a bit of “officiality” on the way to the Grand Opening this Summer. Just at the time the flora on Depot Street reached full bloom it was severely attacked by a case of bagworms. Or maybe itʼs protection from an early Spring frost. (Actually itʼs to keep the dust of layout construction off of them.) Trains. It is also in need, among other things, of a quality, interactive “Lionel” Train layout. The Great Train Expo room, which is currently being used as the big layout’s workroom will need to be transformed to meet its intended purpose - that is to house quality layouts in all the popular model railroading scales - Z, N, HO, S, O and Lego as well as provide space for special exhibits. One such exhibit consists of the operating consoles that came from CSX’s Queensgate Yard Hump Tower when it was upgraded to more sophisticated computer control a number of years ago. A capable person or persons is being sought to complete the reassembly of these items and evaluate the possibilities for bringing them to some degree of life as viable museum exhibits.

stain to some pieces destined for a bridge husband Lee and she are building. (Renee Dane and Paul Hulsman prepare poultry wire in the background.) Sonjaʼs husband, Lee, checks a bridge drawing above right. Lee and Sonja spend several hours per week in the evenings after their day jobs, on Saturdays and even some vacation days working on buildings, bridges, tunnel portals and a number of other things. Leeʼs specialty is scratchbuilt scale model wagons as you see pictured at right. Wheels are from Ozark Miniatures and Grandt Line Products. As for the BIG TRAIN PROJECT, the layout continues to develop thanks to the efforts of a core group of dedicated volunteers supplemented by “sometimers” who take every opportunity to push the work forward. Thanks to a number of folks who responded to the call to prepare the poultry wire for hanging, this phase of the work is rapidly drawing to a close.

Latest News - February 2008 - More Details & PICTURES in Gandy Dancer

BUILDING PROGRESS

Various aspects of the building are being finalized. For instance, most of the the kitchen equipment has arrived and has been put in place. The gift shop and ticket window counters and cabinetry have been installed with the computers for ticket and other sales to be installed soon. Depot Street will soon see benches and greenery and other fixtures. The tuning of the HVAC system is progressing; the second half of the layout lighting is being put in place; and the suspension system for the lighting and sound systems has been installed in preparation for the set up of the three mazes starting in April. Imagination Junction, the children’s play area, is slowly working toward completion. In the meantime, the “Museum of American Railroading” has been placed in the hands of Brain Sells, a husband and wife design firm who are enthusiastically working closely with the EnterTRAINment Junction management as well as the Cincinnati Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society, which by the way, is making great progress in establishing its home here at EJ. The new bookcases are in place in the library and the shelves are just about filled with the chapter’s collection of railroad books and other research materials.

LAYOUT PROGRESS

As for progress on the big layout…. As of this writing, an informal tally shows that about 100 volunteers have been spending anywhere from an hour or two a month for some and up to 40 or more hours a week for others working on various aspects of the layout. I regret that I cannot acknowledge each and everyone’s contribution in this limited space. Here are some of them… Ray Hughes, assisted by Tom Breon, George Etesse, Joe Gerstemeier, Frank Kammer, Chuck Miller, Allan Pantle and Dennis Thompson have about 95% of the roadbed constructed - only one part of one high line remains to be built. The track crew consisting of Steve Carr and Tim Watson have approximately 85% of the track down. The Infra Structure crew (a.k.a. Roadbed crew) also has about 80% of the mountains framed. Working under the supervision of Mike Crone, Dick Grace, Jim Kuschill, and others have approximately 40% of the mountains covered with poultry wire with about 30% having been foamed. Many others have taken a “stab” at scenery carving. Dan Sheedy, Ken Wagner, and many others have been plugging away hot-meltgluing the fiberglas veil to the poultry wire. Jeanette Kuschill and Jim Pugh have been busy carving and painting the foam. Don Maxwell, Chris Lockwood and Ray Murdock IV from the Ashland, KY/Huntington, WV area came by for a visit and hung some poultry wire over a two day period. Tom Bartsch and the team from the Miami Valley Garden Railway Society - Gordon Carlson, Gordon Havens, Jerry Humston, Jack Wilson, Wil Davis and others have been in and out many times laying out right of ways, the modern city and other areas as well as beginning construction in various places within the Modern Period area.

Latest News - November 2007 - More Details & PICTURES in Gandy Dancer

Tempus continues to fugit! Here it is November already. Well, needless to say the contractors did not complete as of the date previously stated. As a matter of fact they are still winding down. Most have left but that doesn’t mean they are finished. There is a very long punch list yet to be dealt with. The HVAC contractor, as a matter of fact, has gone out of business, leaving us with a computerized system that no one knows how to control. A new outfit has been hired but they’ve not yet figured it out for themselves, or if they have, they’re not talking. The good news is the system is putting out heat in the layout area. We do have operational restrooms. Speaking of opening… the projected opening is still June ’08. In the meantime, we are operating under a Temporary Occupancy Permit. The offices have been furnished and Don Oeters and Watson’s partner, Jim Kathmann, have both moved in. Operations Manager Bill Balfour and your editor have also taken up residence. Many have asked about the times when volunteers will be able to access the building. At present, Don Oeters, and/or Bill Balfour, and/or Larry Koehl, and/or Ray Hughes will have the door open and will be present Monday through Friday from at least 9 AM to 4 PM. Ray Hughes, who is away until December 3, usually opens the door at 6:30 AM. Starting November 19 volunteers will have access on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings until 9 PM. Saturday hours - 9 AM to 4 PM will begin November 17. The building will be closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. Other open hours or changes to the hours given above will be posted at the building with as much advanced notice as possible. Construction has progressed steadily. To date all the roadbed and track is in place in the Early Period area of the layout. The Coal Mine area of the Middle Period is also complete in that respect as well. Construction crews have moved on to the Middle Period Engine Service Facility and Modern Period Mainline. The track for the Subway under the Modern City has also been put in place. Spray foam is beginning to appear in the Early Period area at the higher elevations as well as along the stream and lake bed. Mountain framing is complete in much of the Early Period and in the Middle Period Coal Mine area. Preliminary work has begun on train control wiring. As-Built drawings are being prepared for Early Period areas. Once complete and reproduced these will greatly facilitate wiring and other aspects of layout construction.

Latest News - August 2007

Construction of the facility with the exception of the train layout has entered the final stages. The projection is the contractors will essentially be finished on or about September 1st, about three weeks from this writing, leaving things to the volunteers to continue with the construction of the layout. The target date for opening the train layout to the public is June 2008. The lights are on in some areas and there is power in the electrical outlets in many locations. The new lighting in the workroom has greatly improved working conditions, unfortunately, although the power has been turned on the HVAC has not, and will not be until the contractors are practically finished. We are still operating with two porta potties out in the parking lot. Restrooms, we are told will not be useable until just before facility completion about September 1. Doors are being hung and paint applied everywhere. The parking lots are taking shape. Large amounts of earth have been moved and removed, storm sewers are in, curbs are being poured, gravel spread, etc. The east side of the building where the dock doors were is now officially the front as opposed to the north side which is being downgraded to an emergency exit. As for the big train layout, even more infrastructure has been erected by the contractors with mountain framing and roadbed being added to two areas by Ray Hughes assisted by both volunteers and contractors. The location of the stream and tracks has been laid out on the Early Period peninsula with roadbeds and mountain structure to follow soon. The first level of benchwork framing for all areas should be complete just about the time you receive this issue. The mezzanine has finally been built, the control room framed and drywalled and power is being run into it. The signal tower has steps are in place and finish work is going on there, too. The “paving” of Depot Street is to begin very soon.

Latest News - June 2007

The fire proofing issue in reference to the layout infrastructure has been solved. The metal bench work structure will be topped with fire retardant plywood and will have sprinklers installed below the first level and under the mountain peaks. Four sections of bench work have been erected - the Early Period Sawmill/Mining/Logging area, the Early Period Peninsula with the “lake”, the Early Period Coke Ovens/Middle Period Coal Mine area, and the Middle Period City area. Each of the four pedestrian tunnels have been framed up. The plywood has been applied to the first Early Period area and Ray Hughes has begun laying out track locations in preparation to building the framework for the upper level tracks. The Layouts and Collections Room has been secured and is in the process of being transformed into a temporary volunteer’s workshop. Various pieces of woodworking and other equipment have been acquired and are being set up. As for the non-layout aspects of the facility are concerned, the office area continues to move rapidly towards completion, the meeting rooms are shaping up as well as the food area. Windows are being installed in many places as well as siding and trim on building facades. The installation of the wiring is being pursued vigorously. The steel for the mezzanine is finally showing up. Excavation of the east side parking area was to begin this week but has been delayed by the hospitalization of the operator. The restroom which has be reported as being less than satisfactory has taken a decided turn for the worse due to the midnight blue ceiling paint over-spray that fell through openings left by missing ceiling tiles. A Volunteers Open House is being planned for Saturday July 7. An the next issue of THE GANDY DANCER, coming out soon, will have the details.

Latest News - March 2007 - More Details and PICTURES in Gandy Dancer

The permit was finally received on Tuesday, March 27 and the construction activity has be furious ever since. Walls are going up in all areas, drywall being hung and finished. No sooner are the stud walls up and the electricians and plumbers move right in. As of this writing, the inside of the outside main building walls have been or are being furred, rough wired, insulated and drywalled; the children’s activity area partition and the hobby shop walls are up except for part of the back one near the old marginallyfunctioning restroom. The inside depot walls are framed up waiting for the arrival of the roof trusses. The new layout and meeting room restrooms are all framed up, rough plumbed, and electricals roughed in. The meeting room and food area walls have to wait until the HVAC work, in progress, is done overhead. Meanwhile, in the back 30, the main stud walls are in place around the seasonal maze, the office, and layouts and collections areas with drywall going up on them. As soon as the ductwork is in place in the office area the inside walls will go up in there. HVAC work is being
done on both the the top and undersides of the roof. Some of the mezzanine steel has gone up as well. All the contractors are doing their best to clear the way for the construction of the first layout benchwork so track laying can begin at the earliest possible time - which should occur in a few weeks. The carpenters wanted to begin framing up the two early period pedestrian tunnels but were persuaded to hold off until the walkway can be diamond honed in these areas first. The Early Period area floor preparation and ceiling and hobby shop wall painting are to occur within days with the start of benchwork construction beginning about April 26.

Latest News - March 2007

Things are beginning to happen at the EnterTRAINment Junction building in West Chester. Demolition has been underway the last couple of weeks. A large percentage of stuff in the building that needed to be removed has been removed. Much of the electricals have been removed including about 80% of the lights. Some temporary lighting has been installed. The carpenters have marked wall locations and have materials stockpiled. The plumber has marked the floor and has completed saw cuts. The trenches are waiting to be opened. The floor has been cut for the foundation of the inside depot, the floor opened and the footer is being dug. Insulation etc. has been stripped from the outside walls. The calking in the joints between outside wall panels is being removed in preparation for replacement, unneeded sprinkler piping has been removed, etc. Unfortunately, the most important thing has not happened - the permit has not yet been received. The wheels of government turn ever so painfully slow. The carpenters are ready, the electricians are ready, the plumber is ready - all that’s needed is the permit - it is hoped that it will be received by the end of this week. As for the layout, the general method for making the basic scenery has been pretty much determined - Urethane foam over poultry wire supported by steel studs. Progress on the layout model is being delayed because Mike Crone is otherwise preoccupied for a while with the passing of close friends who have no relatives - it’s all in Mike’s hands. Raodbed & Track leader Ray Hughes has ideas for roadbed that are waiting for the availability of materials to create some test sections. The bulk of the track will be arriving soon. Jack McLaren is doing a fine job of getting the bridge crews down to business. I will be contacting buildings people and scenic details people very soon to get both started on specifics. Ray Hughes is also working on compiling a list and doing shopping to equip an onsite workshop for layout construction. Gary Hilgeman is working on ideas for train control, etc. Tom Bartsch is doing a great job in developing a study model of the MVGRS group area of responsibility.

Latest News - January 2007

At the time of the last issue of THE BRANCH LINE - late November 2006 - the architectural firm of FRCH was wrapping up the drawings for the Enter- TRAINment Junction facility. Since then the plans have been completed, the building permit applied for, and the contractors on the bid list have picked up their copies of the prints. The contractors are working up their bids now and should be submitting them very soon. Also back in November an open house for volunteers was in the planning but hadn't been nailed down so it couldn't be announced at that time. On Wednesday, December 27, the ENQUIRER ran an article in the business section on the project with information about the open house to be held January 6, 7 and 9. If you missed the article you can still access it at the web address at the bottom of this page, or you can do a GOOGLE search on "Enter- TRAINment Junction" and it should be the first on the list of results. Your editor was also interviewed by Bill Whyte of B105 which aired at 8:15 on Tuesday January 2nd. The purpose of the open house was to show volunteers and other interested parties the status of the project to date and to give an idea of the arrangement of the layout. The aisle ways and prominent features of the layout were taped out on the floor, the pedestrian tunnels were mocked up with furring strips and tarps, and various exhibits set up in appropriate places throughout, including a 1/2" scale model of the layout which is still in development. Eighty-seven volunteers signed up during the two day and one evening open house event. There are now 212 names on the volunteer list. Out of the total of 212 volunteers 145 attended the open house - 67%. Volunteers will be contacted soon with updates and meeting announcements.

Latest News - November, 2006

The Site Plan has been approved by the City of West Chester. The architect is just about finished with the plans. The building permit will be applied for shortly and contracts put out for bid. Halloween Express has vacated. The remaining demolition has been completed. The Volunteers event has been delayed until early January. There are 126 volunteers officially signed up. Great progress is being made, it will be obvious soon!

Latest News - August 25, 2006

Since the last update in mid-July progress has continued to be made. The final zoning approval scheduled for August 21st, however, did not take place because the county did not complete its review of the traffic study in time to bring the issue up for a vote at the August 21 Council meeting. BUT the Good News is the county is recommending to the City of West Chester that the findings of the traffic study be accepted - that is, a turning lane on Kingsgate is not required. Knowing this, Don Oeters now has a high enough degree of confidence that approval is on the way and has subsequently authorized the architect to proceed with the plans for the facility. The site plan will be up for approval in October. The plan for the layout benchwork will be submitted very soon thereafter in order to obtain a preliminary permit to begin construction on that phase of the project. If all goes as presently planned layout construction will be under way in January. In the meantime the planning of the big layout is proceeding. The early period areas have been worked and reworked and are close to solidification. The middle period area is in process of refinement with the modern area well into development. The upper level above the museum has received some prelininary attention and will be the last to be refined. Although we missed the August 21st target for the submission of the benchwork plan to the architect, the planning is going well, and that date has been moved back to mid-September, still in time to begin construction at the earliest possible date. With progress continuing at it’s present pace all phases of layout construction should be in full swing during the winter months ahead. I never thought I’d ever look forward to winter! Part of the track plan has progressed to the point where lists of train equipment, structures, bridges, scenic details, etc. can begin to be developed. Once we have these lists for the initial areas we will have something for section gangs to get their teeth into. We are not quite ready to pick the date for the general volunteers meeting to present the layout plan, the map of the construction process that lies ahead, and partial lists of specific items for various section gangs on which to go to work. As it appears now the event will likely be scheduled for late September or early October. Keep your eye looking down the track... The train’s coming...

August 2006

Don Oeters is quite optimistic about the final vote on the zoning for EnterTRAINment Junction project to be taken by the West Chester governing body on August 21. In the meantime, about every Tuesday or Wednesday evening, the layout planners continue to press their pencils to the colorful 4x6 foot printouts with last week's additions, changes and deletions. At the present time each area of the layout is in a different stage of planning. In some areas the track plan is close to being finalized with the basic topography being determined. On the other end of the spectrum track diagrams at present are very generalized suggestions. Assuming the zoning vote is favorable on the 21st, the goal is to have the topography ready for the architect by Sept. 1 as was reported last month. At a recent planning session a Bachmann Shay and a Climax were tested on four and six percent grades with a ten car train - result: like the grade wasn't there. An unexpected finding was a Bachmann skeleton log car will be rendered temporarily unusable when dropped from a 4.5' height to a concrete floor.

Latest News - June 2006

The brainstorming for ideas for the things that could be represented on the big layout was completed and the process put into the hands of a planning committee. The group consisting of Larry Koehl, Ray Hughes, Scot Rogers, Gary Hilgeman, Mike Crone and Neil Helwig has taken the many ideas and have begun to draw lines, write numbers and make notes on big sheets of paper. The location of general time periods and the types of railroading to be represented have been determined and very general track diagrams have been drawn. At the same time many other aspects such as viewing angles and elevations have been discussed and the all important element of accessibility for construction and maintenance is being factored in, and a bunch of other stuff too. The group took a behind the scenes tour of Cincinnati In Motion at the Museum Center and learned many things. The next step is to take was has been drawn so far and begin to refine the many scenes and track configurations. A intermediate plan should be available in a few weeks to present to the all those interested. Meanwhile on another front, the City of West Chester held the first of three open hearings and voted 5-0 in favor of the project. The next hearing is scheduled for Tuesday June 13 which will deal with the traffic study and parking issues. The third will be a month after that. Assuming successful outcomes of the three hearings, it will then be time to submit the architectural drawings to the City of West Chester as part of the permit application process. Those among us who just can't wait to jump in and start building need to exercise patience - the government is involved and we can only make haste slowly.

Status Report

The acquisition of an 80,000 square foot building on I-75 at the Tylersville Road exit, the former Oak and More furniture store, has been accomplished. The building is presently being readied for it’s new and exciting purpose. Its location is easily accessible to the public and provides free exposure to 140,000 passing vehicles each day.

The City of Westchester is excited about the prospect of a family entertainment facility coming to their community.

Promotional efforts will have the goal of placing this quality facility among the top eight Greater Cincinnati family entertainment destinations.

The Big Train Project will be financed primarily by Mr. Oeters. Corporate sponsors have been contacted and an additional investor has been secured.

A contractor will be selected to complete the bench work and supporting structures so track laying can begin as soon as possible.

The organization of the volunteer work force to build the centerpiece train layout is an integral part of this project and must be in place and ready to go to work.

A soft opening is projected for September 2007 with the grand opening in November 2007.

Latest News - February 2008 - More Details & PICTURES in Gandy Dancer