From Qube at AMR I am sorry to report that at 4am GMT on 23rd November 2008, Shamus passed away in his sleep.

The doctors and nurses at the charity run Telford Hospice did an excellent job in making his last few days as comfortable as possible.

At loosing my father I am devastated, but a part of me is comforted that he is no longer suffering.

If any members in the UK would like to attend the funeral I will post details when I have them.

Shamus, Dad, you will be sorely missed.

Robin (Matthyro)

May 18, 1937 ~~~ October 17, 2005

This Forum is dedicated to his loving memory, by his peers,
those that learned from his kindness and his work...

The Members of The Gauge

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Robin George Matthysen

With immense sorrow we announce his quiet passing on October 17, 2005.
His loving wife Letty was by his side as she had been for 46 years.
He leaves his daughters Kim (Buddy), Cindy (Peter) and his son Dale (Kristine)
to carry on his example.

Grandchildren Darby (Tabitha), Letitia (Josh), Nadine, Candice, Dalen, Janelle
and Trevor will miss him greatly as will his Great granddaughter Nevaeh.
Robin came to Canada in 1956 from his native country South Africa.
He leaves his sister

Caryl (Des) and niece Mandy and family in South Africa, and nephew
Wayne and his family

in England. After a short time in the Canadian Air Force he moved on to his career in
Retail Managament- S.S Kresge Co., K Mart, ultimately retiring after
a successful career

with Eatons. Ever the perfectionist, Robin excelled in balancing his work,
family and hobbies.

He chronicled his family and then his children's families with his masterfull photography.
He spent magical time with his wife and children in home- built boats and sail boats.
Always willing to share experiences, his children and grandchildren were welcome
to join him in his travels coast to coast across Canada. He created wonderful paintings
and filled his home with lovingly constructed wooden furniture. He fostered a global
group of friends with his interest in model railroading and computers.
Within his hometown of Georgetown, he leaves behind a community well served by
his thoughtful efforts with Meals on Wheels and Friendly Visiting.

Robin (Matthyro)

May 18, 1937 ~~~ October 17, 2005

This Forum is dedicated to his loving memory, by his peers,
those that learned from his kindness and his work...

The Members of The Gauge

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Robin George Matthysen

With immense sorrow we announce his quiet passing on October 17, 2005.
His loving wife Letty was by his side as she had been for 46 years.
He leaves his daughters Kim (Buddy), Cindy (Peter) and his son Dale (Kristine)
to carry on his example.

Grandchildren Darby (Tabitha), Letitia (Josh), Nadine, Candice, Dalen, Janelle
and Trevor will miss him greatly as will his Great granddaughter Nevaeh.
Robin came to Canada in 1956 from his native country South Africa.
He leaves his sister

Caryl (Des) and niece Mandy and family in South Africa, and nephew
Wayne and his family

in England. After a short time in the Canadian Air Force he moved on to his career in
Retail Managament- S.S Kresge Co., K Mart, ultimately retiring after
a successful career

with Eatons. Ever the perfectionist, Robin excelled in balancing his work,
family and hobbies.

He chronicled his family and then his children's families with his masterfull photography.
He spent magical time with his wife and children in home- built boats and sail boats.
Always willing to share experiences, his children and grandchildren were welcome
to join him in his travels coast to coast across Canada. He created wonderful paintings
and filled his home with lovingly constructed wooden furniture. He fostered a global
group of friends with his interest in model railroading and computers.
Within his hometown of Georgetown, he leaves behind a community well served by
his thoughtful efforts with Meals on Wheels and Friendly Visiting.

Just checking to see if I can post a pic here....

...for Accurail cars. I'm not sure if these will apply to all Accurail cars, but they work for the various 40' boxcars, in all styles.
If you don't use the Accumate couplers supplied with these kits, you'll find that the coupler pockets are not quite deep enough to accommodate the bronze centering spring used with Kadee couplers:

   

Attaching the coupler cover snugly will crush or distort the protruding parts shown, resulting in poor coupler performance. The solution is to build-up the sides of the coupler pocket, using strips of Evergreen .010"x.020" styrene, as illustrated:

   

I cut the strips a little longer than necessary, then trim them to length after the cement has hardened.

   

Another area that can be improved is the weight. Some folks glue them in, using solvent cements which continue to "work" after the car is in service, eventually resulting in deformed (and sometimes un-useable) floors. Silicone sealant will work for a while, but, eventually, the bond will give way, especially if the car is stored in its box, laying on its side. My solution is to hold the weights in place, using commercially-available strip styrene.
Since the weights are .080" thick, .080"x.080" strip works well. First, ensure that the weight is flat by attempting to rock it, with each side up in-turn, on a flat surface. Straighten as required. Next, centre the weight side-to-side on the floor:

   

Now, add short lengths of strip, as shown, "trapping" the weight in place ( the ends of the car will prevent any movement lengthwise):

   

Use more of the same strip, cemented in place with solvent cement, as shown. I clamp it until the cement has set:

   

   

For some cars, such as reefers and single sheathed boxcars, the floor is not wide enough to allow the method used above. For these, simply cement the short pieces in place as shown below. Make sure that they're .080" below the ledge upon which the floor sits:

   

When the cement had dried, drop the weight in position, as shown, then snap the floor in place:

   

Wayne

How big a file size are we allowed for posting pics?

...from the lense of Barney Secord.

The shops at Lowbanks, approached from the west:






And another pass, from the east:




"Interesting" how the right-hand one third of the picture gets chopped off.

Wayne

Since a monorail doesn't fit in any of the other categories, I'll stick it here...
Blue monorail at Disneyland.

Those that are into off road racing will know that Dakar 2008 was cancelled due to terrorism threats. Dakar 2009 will be run in South America. Has anybody been able to determine what channels will carry coverage for North America next year and when? The race starts January 3rd and finishes, I think, the 27th. It looks like Versus will have coverage but not till April. I'm hoping to find same day video coverage but it's not looking good.

How this for an opening post in the HO Forum?

Post some photos and information about some of your favorite HO models.

I will start with my custom painted and decaled Atlas U23B locos. By the time these locos were built in the real world the Lehigh & New England no longer existed having gone out of business in 1962. In the world of the Ridley Keystone & Mountain it still does. In the mid to late sixties the L&NE needed newer locos. Since the L&NE (in the real world) was an all ALCO diesel road I figured that once ALCO was gone they would continue with ALCO’s defacto successor; General Electric. The paint scheme is based on the scheme the L&NE used on their real diesel locos.