The Miami Valley Garden Railway Society
Dayton, Ohio
Enter"TRAIN"ment Junction
EnterTRAINment Junction aka The Big Train Project
The Greater Cincinnati Garden Railway Society is very excited about an opportunity that has presented itself to us and to all railroad enthusiasts in the Greater Cincinnati and surrounding areas. GCGRS member Don Oeters, half owner of Watson’s, has proposed the idea of creating an indoor public entertainment and educational facility devoted to railroading, currently being referred to as “The Big Train Project”.
Attractions
G-scale Train Layout - 20,000+ square feet, heights of 20 feet, involving many operating trains.
Railroad museum displays
Children's activity center
Seasonal maze
Children’s birthday banquet facility
Snack bar, gift shop, specialty retail shops including a hobby shop, and meeting rooms.
Future plans may include other model railroad layouts in different scales created by other participating clubs, other related hobby events such as R/C auto racing, etc.
A voluntary effort is required to make this a viable venture. We are asking you to lend your expertise, modeling skills, talent, and time toward the construction of this G-scale layout.
Photo's from 2-4-08
Photo's from 2-25-08
Photo's from 3-14-08
Photo's from 4-1-08
The New Enter"Train"Ment Junction Sign has been installed on the front of the building.
Photo By: Jerry Humston
The Greater Cincinnati Garden Railway Society is very excited about an opportunity that has presented itself to us and to all railroad enthusiasts in the Greater Cincinnati and surrounding areas. GCGRS member Don Oeters, half owner of Watson’s, has proposed the idea of creating an indoor public entertainment and educational facility devoted to railroading, currently being referred to as “The Big Train Project”.
Attractions
G-scale Train Layout - 20,000+ square feet, heights of 20 feet, involving many operating trains.
Railroad museum displays
Children's activity center
Seasonal maze
Children’s birthday banquet facility
Snack bar, gift shop, specialty retail shops including a hobby shop, and meeting rooms.
Future plans may include other model railroad layouts in different scales created by other participating clubs, other related hobby events such as R/C auto racing, etc.
A voluntary effort is required to make this a viable venture. We are asking you to lend your expertise, modeling skills, talent, and time toward the construction of this G-scale layout.
Photo's from 2-4-08
Photo's from 2-25-08
Photo's from 3-14-08
Photo's from 4-1-08
The New Enter"Train"Ment Junction Sign has been installed on the front of the building.
Photo By: Jerry Humston
Upcoming Events
BTP Volunteer....
The mountains are practically all framed up and a large amount of poultry wire has been hung and all of the initial shipment of spray foam has been applied.
The next shipment of foam is expected tomorrow or the next.
Poultry wire preparers and hangers are still needed.
Should these operations be manned with four volunteers each on a steady basis, this phase of construction could be completed in a couple of weeks.
By steady I mean someone working all the time but not the same people working all the time.
Come weekdays, weekday evenings and/or Saturdays.
We will be having tree making sessions this Saturday morning 9-12 (3/29) and Monday morning 9-12 (3/31) but you can come other times, too.
From Thursday 3/27 through Sunday 3/30, the area of the building that has stamped concrete floor - the entire street area and the front office hallway - will be strictly off limits.
The floors are being scrubbed, and scrubbed again, and rinsed to remove all dirt and dust. Late Saturday a crew will come in and apply a sealer to this entire floor area.
The fumes from the sealer as it cures are dangerous and no one is permitted in the building for at least 24 hours.
It should be safe to enter the building Monday morning 3/31.
On Thursday, Friday and Saturday entry/exit will be through the very last door on the new front of the building - the warehouse door - the one to the left of the small garage door.
More later...
Larry
The mountains are practically all framed up and a large amount of poultry wire has been hung and all of the initial shipment of spray foam has been applied.
The next shipment of foam is expected tomorrow or the next.
Poultry wire preparers and hangers are still needed.
Should these operations be manned with four volunteers each on a steady basis, this phase of construction could be completed in a couple of weeks.
By steady I mean someone working all the time but not the same people working all the time.
Come weekdays, weekday evenings and/or Saturdays.
We will be having tree making sessions this Saturday morning 9-12 (3/29) and Monday morning 9-12 (3/31) but you can come other times, too.
From Thursday 3/27 through Sunday 3/30, the area of the building that has stamped concrete floor - the entire street area and the front office hallway - will be strictly off limits.
The floors are being scrubbed, and scrubbed again, and rinsed to remove all dirt and dust. Late Saturday a crew will come in and apply a sealer to this entire floor area.
The fumes from the sealer as it cures are dangerous and no one is permitted in the building for at least 24 hours.
It should be safe to enter the building Monday morning 3/31.
On Thursday, Friday and Saturday entry/exit will be through the very last door on the new front of the building - the warehouse door - the one to the left of the small garage door.
More later...
Larry
HELP HELP HELP
Dear Big Train Project Volunteer
We are now in great need of help in preparing poultry wire for hanging on the layout.
Roadbed and track construction and mountain framing will very soon draw to a close.
The crew that has been heavily involved in these aspects will soon turn their attention to hanging the poultry wire in preparation for the spraying of foam.
In order for the wire hanging to proceed at optimum speed, it will be necessary to have a large stockpile on hand. Production needs to begin immediately.
The preparation of the poultry wire consists of stretching a very thin "veil" of fiberglas (pulls off a roll) onto a 4'x8' table. Cut the veil to length with a utility knife (takes maybe two seconds).
Stretch the poultry wire over the veil and weigh it down with chunks of 2"x6" lumber.
Cut the wire to length with an aviation snips.
Then hot melt glue the wire to the veil with spots about every 10 to twelve inches in both directions.
In a few moments when the glue cools, loosely roll the combination and throw it on a pile and do it again.
All the work is done in a standing position. There is little or no heavy lifting involved. No bending.
There are many of you who said that you would help wherever you could.
Here's your chance.
We're open from 7:00 AM until at least 7:00 PM Monday through Friday, from at least 9:00 AM through at least 4 PM most Saturdays and possibly as late as 9 PM on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Frequently, lunch is provided.
Drinks, cold or hot, and snacks are always available.
Hope to see you soon,
Larry
We are now in great need of help in preparing poultry wire for hanging on the layout.
Roadbed and track construction and mountain framing will very soon draw to a close.
The crew that has been heavily involved in these aspects will soon turn their attention to hanging the poultry wire in preparation for the spraying of foam.
In order for the wire hanging to proceed at optimum speed, it will be necessary to have a large stockpile on hand. Production needs to begin immediately.
The preparation of the poultry wire consists of stretching a very thin "veil" of fiberglas (pulls off a roll) onto a 4'x8' table. Cut the veil to length with a utility knife (takes maybe two seconds).
Stretch the poultry wire over the veil and weigh it down with chunks of 2"x6" lumber.
Cut the wire to length with an aviation snips.
Then hot melt glue the wire to the veil with spots about every 10 to twelve inches in both directions.
In a few moments when the glue cools, loosely roll the combination and throw it on a pile and do it again.
All the work is done in a standing position. There is little or no heavy lifting involved. No bending.
There are many of you who said that you would help wherever you could.
Here's your chance.
We're open from 7:00 AM until at least 7:00 PM Monday through Friday, from at least 9:00 AM through at least 4 PM most Saturdays and possibly as late as 9 PM on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Frequently, lunch is provided.
Drinks, cold or hot, and snacks are always available.
Hope to see you soon,
Larry
Latest News February 2008
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
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.
