I recently received this press release from the offices of GERN CEO Charles "Cookie" Gibson:

Hello Flux Fans and Greetings From GERN

For Immediate Release:

GERN Corporation is pleased to announce a new addition to the GERN family of fine
products: New FluxKote Rail Dressing, now available in Roll-on. Goes on Smooth and
Hangs on Tight!

In completely independent and unbiased, arms-length testing, GERN Scientists found
FluxKote to be 3% less bubbly than other brands. And, rolling stock rolled .72% more
smoothly! That means less bruising when shipping soft metals, cheese and delicate
undergarments.

Discerning railway magnates agree... It just has to be FluxKote Rail Dressing!

Yours etc.

Cookie Gibson

Shortly thereafter, I received this correction:

A GERN Press Release was inadvertently sent out in which the posterior idler arm on
the roller lift cage mechanism was shown if the gone or missing condition. FluxKote
roller spindles cannot be operated with the arm in the gone position. For safe
operation in either the apply or lift mode please ensure that the idler arm is in the
not gone position and securely fastened with the appropriate Dressler Nut (#12), an
inside banjo bolt, or a ukelele pin (flux dipped finish).

We regret any inconvenience or injuries to live stock which may have resulted.

Cookie Gibson

...followed by this:

We regret the spellling errors in are prevous correction. It hsould have read:
Correction
A GERN Press Release was inadvertently sent out in which the posterior idler arm on the roller lift cage mechanism was shown in the gone or missing condition. FluxKote roller spindles cannot be operated with the arm in the gone position. For safe operation in either the apply or lift mode please ensure that the idler arm is in the not gone position and is securely fastened with the appropriate Dressler Nut (#12), an inside banjo bolt, or a ukelele pin (flux dipped finish).
We regret any inconvenience or injuries to live stock which may have resulted.
Cookie Gibson

Regardless, here's the accompanying advertisement:
   

Copies of this ad have been forwarded to all Divisions, world-wide, of GERN.

Wayne

Im ready to strangle 2 cats..... Nah but ready to do something other than that. Any ideas from you guys on how or what to use to keep em off the layout??

We are planning to go to the NMRA Convention in Milwaukee this summer.
Is anyone else planning to go?

This is less of a bash and more a rescue/upgrade.

A couple years back I found a pair of old wood gons with the girder underframes in need of serious help, and fell for them on the spot. Just a few months ago at the big train show in Puyallup I found a third car, almost certainly from the same builder! These cars came from the same vendor who always has a good supply of estate sale cars (from whence I found my Gibraltar hopper, built by Milt Moore).

I have been to HO Seeker's database and identified them as Silver Streak cars. I've got to get to work now, but later today I'll take a few pictures and post them.

Galen

This question is almost non-train related!

My family and I are thinking of vacationing in Prince Edward Island this June/July. Both my wife & I have been there before but it was some 15-20 years ago. We’re not sure if we will drive there (it’s close to 1,000 miles) or take a VIA train to Moncton, then rent a car from Moncton. Only concern, the trip from Toronto (where we live) to Moncton is over 23 hours, so that could be tiring. On the other hand, kids can often ride for free on VIA during the summer (one child per adult).

If we drive, we also hope to visit Exporail (a Canadian Railway Museum) just south of Montreal. Amongst other things, I'm really looking forward to seeing "Dominion of Canada," a British "Mallard class" steam engine that was sent to Canada because of its name/connection.

Just wondering if any Gauge members have vacationed in PEI recently and have any suggestions regarding accommodation & how or organize or plan the trip. We’ve hardly begun our research and time is running out!

Thanks,
Rob

We have moved the website to it's own domain:

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Thank you if you visit
Harold

I’ve made a small 3x5’ layout out of insulation foam board that I bought at Home Depot. The layout is simply set up on a portable table in the basement and I’ve operated the layout this way for the past 8-10 months. (It's a British 00 layout, which is similar to HO.)

Is it necessary to create a frame around (& under) the layout? I’ve been thinking of doing this but haven’t got around to it. This would obviously give the layout more support and strength. And, if so, what’s the minimum thickness of a sheet of plywood that I could get away with (for underneath the layout)?

The layout seems fairly sturdy as it is, so I’m still wondering if this extra step is necessary or not.

Thanks in advance.

Rob

Since I don't really post a whole lot on Big Blue I thought I would increase my quota with some pics of recent and ongoing projects of the Horribly Oversized kind.

First up is a kitbashed woodchip hopper used exclusively on Grande Valley trackage.



The car is a TYCO with the stock trucks with the couplers cut off and replaced with KaDee #58sThe extenstion is scratchbuilt with sheet styrene and Evergreen plastic strip stock.There are 3 more in the works ,one will look just like this one and the other two will be slightly different.

I typically love going to train shows, not just for the fact of a day out enjoying the hobby in a way other then building or weathering or the usual but in part for the hunt. The search for that elusive locomotive, or set of passenger cars.......hum sound like anyone we know..
Lately more often then not when I go to train shows there seem to be more and more vendors with tables full of non train related stuff. I've seen RC toys, doll house stuff, toy cars and a whole pile of useless junk. How about you guys when you go to a train show do you want to see train only stuff no matter what the scale and maybe the memorabilia stuff or the rail fan aspect of the hobby or do you even care that they are more like flea markets then trains shows .