[Music] Hey welcome to River Cities the show by the great river cities of Newport and st. ballpark I'm your host John LexA and today we're back at the Greater East area Model Railroad Club and we're checking out their model train display [Music] [Applause] joining me again is Edie Petrie the chair of the greater east area Model Railroad Club thanks for being with us again to this nice to be here so what do you guys do here it's a little obvious boat well what happens in this room well what we're trying to do is model a particular railroad so we have what we call staging yards in the basement our North staging is representative of Duluth so we come down the tracks through playing city into st. Paul and then from there we go down to Milwaukee tracks through Newport and down along the river to little claret that's the part that we're modeling we're trying to do it prototypical so we all have a way bill and card card system so it'll tell you where that particular car goes as far as what industry what town so it'll come into a yard from our staging and then the yardmaster there we'll look at that car put it on the correct train that's going to switch that particular time so that's what we're trying to do here so you kind of run it like a real railroad correct yeah we don't just orbit the world although we do that once in a while just to test things officer but otherwise we actually spot the cars pick them up just like a real Road so for somebody that's never been here before where are you guys located we're located in Newport next to the Newport town hall this is the old town hall of Newport that was saved by the city and we managed to take over the interior of it so there's a lot of different trains a lot of different models here what are we looking at what what type of trains are you guys running well we run passenger trains through freights Way freights the way freights they switch the tones through Freight so go from point A to point B for instance and then the passenger trains of course they'll stop at the various stations to simulate picking up passengers dropping them off the area up here is we're trying to model a representative of downtown or lower town st. Paul with the Depot and First National Bank building which are some of the more prominent buildings that people would recognize and then we have a little area down here that's gonna be a truck transfer rail like the Milwaukee had down below it a bluff stone it's in st. Paul and what scale are these models this is a troll there's n gage whimsy gage which is smaller and then there's ask gage and ol gauge that's larger and G gauge which is uh considered a garden railroad type but we're in the H old scale here so how did this organization come to be well we organized it as a non-profit educational club and that's why with the tower which we saw before we like the public to come in and we explain how they control the trains and the same thing here we have kids come we have Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts have visited working towards their badges in that and we explain how the railroads Iran and we can show them how we switch cars and so forth to physically show them how the real railroad did it at least close so we're a nonprofit organization and educational so this really isn't just a bunch of toys - right this is no I'm serious business in this is this is big boys toys we don't just run trains around in a circle and that we try to simulate things to represent like those lower tone of st. Paul we have each locomotive has what we call a decoder in it and we can program that to whatever number is on the locomotive or a different number and then that we dial add into our throttles and then we can control that we can blow a whistle [Laughter] we're gonna ring the bell turn the headlights on and off different things like that so downstairs I understand that it's kind of the the mainframe of all of the wealth downstairs we have what we call staging yards so it's just a lot of tracks where we store our trains well I'm really looking forward to seeing the rest of the place could we go downstairs and maybe check out the setup down there sure but before we do that let's head over to st. Paul Park where a family brightens the neighborhood each year during the holidays well starting right after Halloween I start to pull everything down out of the Attic and I start to create the winter wonderland this is probably my sixth year doing this the first year I did it I just put lights up around the house and I had no yard decor whatsoever it was just lighting the house and the kids got such a joy out of it that it has expanded every year since then my PVC Hoopeston those are some of the probably my most fun that I enjoy making and then you got your youngest can you tell them to spin the pole this stuff is kind of expensive when you buy it in the store so you know I like to look on the internet and find creative ideas that other people have done on their own yards with PVC or or lattice or other items that they use and so I take kind of creation from those and then just incorporate it into my own set year after year the two new slaves this year I just built that tree yesterday in the rain and built that out of PVC and some hooks I just what you can buy in the store I just linked a 10-foot stick together made a hoop and then twisted I'd free drilled all the holes put hooks in it and then just loop them through I left the kids this year actually decide where a lot of the yard decor was gonna go so as they pulled it out of the garage I'm like go place it somewhere in the yard and tell me where you want it and so the neighbor kids and my kids alone this year kind of helped place where everything was gonna go this year we have Detroit the owl that way up there it's actually very high up I always think of that is not as some waterfall I kind of think of it as a moving spider most part we should get a Santa that goes in there this is that he'll be flying the Floyd I enjoy lighting the house the same way but when it comes to the yard the yard is a blank canvas every year and items end up in different spots every year the big one for the year linking the two yards together and this whole block will be ready to go here and in full holiday cheer and get power right there all right coming down and I got power running to the cord [Music] I do it because I love the joy it brings to the community you know as I set this up neighbors walk by and they they take a look at it I like oh that's a new piece this year or oh you did that different this year I mean I just love kind of the a joy and tension it brings to the holiday season and I really really enjoy the joy it brings us as people drive by the house and they slow down and they look in awe at just how lit up this yard really becomes it's just pretty destroyed too my brother and my sister me my mom my dad my dog sometimes comes out and he barely can see any lights but he still likes it especially with having young children now and the joy and magic that they get out of it every year seeing the house light up seeing the inside of the house light up and then just the joy that they get when they they see the presents under the tree Christmas morning is it's worth its weight in gold you can check out the sizin family home which is located about an 808 Portland Avenue we're back at the greater East area of Model Railroad Club with Edie Petrie and so tell me again Edie what's going on in this room well this is our in our lower the basement of our club room on this side is our what we call our North staging this is going to be our East staging which represents like Milwaukee or Chicago the other one would represent in being in Duluth because that's the part of the railroad that we're modeling sure so this is where we store most of our cars and then we'll have waybills and card cards down here that we make up trains through trains we'll go up to the yards up there and drop off blocks of cars and that yardmaster will locate it the car where it's going and he'll put it on a the specific train that's going to switch that tone and spot it at that industry so that's kind of an important question then - so how do these go from downstairs all the way upstairs well we go through what we call a helix but we first will go out through this opening here on a bridge and get into the main level of the floor upstairs and we go through a helix and we come into what we call Newport at Newport we can determine whether it's an eastbound train westbound train if it's gonna come out in Pine City or if it's gonna come out and st. Paul or if it's gonna come out and go Clair which is different parts of the railroad so that's what we're modeling part it there is a lot of electrical work that's got to go into this I yes there is and if you notice all the switches along here each track has an on and off so it if we have a train sitting there and we don't want it idling or the lights on or whatever we can turn the power off for that particular track all right you got me curious now can we go take a look at the the power station yes we can awesome which way you lead to it we'll go down here alright Wow this is this is something so what is how does this work what is this all these are the power supplies that take 110 volt convert it to DC then these are boosters and these are PM 42 now each one of these has four districts so on the railroad we have 40 different districts so each section is broken down so if you get a short in one it doesn't shut the whole thing down it keeps the rest of the railroad keeps running so for you guys upstairs building these things you do not only have to know how to do modeling but you have to know a little bit about electricity what do you have to what else do you have to know well we got a hit no electricity we have to know scenery leh how to lay track is it laying track is very particular because you have expansion and contraction with your bench work so you have to allow for that on the track otherwise your tracks gonna either go like this or it's been a bowl whichever so it's very particular I know how you you have to know how to do it and then putting down the scenery and people making buildings people making the trees so there's something for everybody because each one doesn't have electrical talents and some of them don't have track-laying talents so there's something for everybody to do on a layout like this well I've seen quite a lot of cool stuff I think I'd love to take a shot at driving one of the trains would that be alright it would be fine awesome whoa yeah well we'll go do that but first let's head over to st. Paul Park and meet the newest City Council member the duties of the office of council member of the city of st. Paul Park of the city of st. Paul Park in the county of Washington in the county of Washington in state of Minnesota in state of Minnesota to the best of my judgment and ability so help me God to the best of my judgment and abilities so help me God great thank you so much you're in Iram a small town in Missouri and Missouri not much sorry Zira and I think it's just important to know about your community I think it's important to contribute and selfishly I want to learn a little bit more about my community as well as equally give back to the community so it's kind of a balance I've lived in st. Paul Park for 21 years I've been on the Public Safety Commission for several years I chaired it I've just enjoyed the topics that our Commission has dealt with for the last few years I'd like to see more more housing and more businesses so I'd like to see a few more mom-and-pop stores in the area I think it's gonna be a good experience for me and I really am it's not a cliche but I really am looking forward to this I've had to give up something for to be on the council because I'm a member of my church's handbell group and I have to give that up because we practice on Monday nights so that was a tough decision but I don't regret it and I think this will be well worth that's sacrifice if you will foot took over for Jennifer Cheeseman who resigned from the council in August now let's head over to the studio for our mayor's message with mayor sandy Dingell hi I'm sandy Dingle mayor in st. Paul Park I want to thank all of those who got out to vote on November 7th and allowed me to continue as mayor for the next few years I'm humbled and grateful so thank you as mayor I'm asked to attend a lot of fun events there celebrations like Veterans Day at the Legion and there are fundraising events like the spaghetti dinner that benefited our local food shells or serving soup and bread to families that benefit feed our starving children and siwash co-chairs and then there's banging groceries that come food that raised money to help the friends that need food shells there's also an opportunity to present awards most recently I attended a ceremony at Altman junior high where the new park lions honored the seventh grade winners and runners-up of the new park Lions peace poster contest it was an honor to award the first two place winners Brielle Hamilton and Archie O'Brien each received a $50 gift card the runners-up were EJ Li and Maddy sand the winners will have an opportunity to compete regionally and nationally the winning artwork will be used for greeting cards for promoting peace there's a new Explorer tab on our website you can find all kinds of information on our local businesses parks volunteer opportunities and even snow adventures check it out often as it's always being updated the Park and Rec Commission has been pretty busy they're planting all sorts of fun events for the coming winter months on December 28th they're planning another glow-in-the-dark sledding event on the hill behind City Hall from 5 to 7 p.m. there will be free glow sticks and refreshments in the fire hall where families can warm up on January 12th February 16th and March 16th these are all tentative Bunco nights times and locations are yet to be determined now I participated in the past and it was a ton of fun and I met many new folks so you'll definitely want to check out our website for those great events as well Winter Fest is planned for January 27th at Whitbread Park again this year in the warming house from 1 to 3 there will be lots of fun skating and free refreshments even if you don't have skates come anyway there's a number of loaner skates available in the morning house in January the Park and Rec Commission is planning to kick off their adopt a park program at City Hall the exact date and time is yet to be determined but again check out our website often all of these events will be listed there and updated as needed now a couple of housekeeping items that I want to remind folks about is there's a winter parking ban from November 1st until April 1st from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. so please don't leave your cars parked in the street or you'll get a ticket also our City Hall office hours have changed we are open from 7:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. now please note that the offices will closed at 11:30 on Friday December 22nd and they'll be closed December 25th for the Christmas holiday also January 1st for the New Year's holiday now I want to wish each of you a very wonderful holiday season and a very happy new year thanks Mary Dingle while we're back at the railroad Club and this is gonna be the really fun part now we get a chance to to play around with some of the stuff right we're gonna show you how to run so yeah tell me how it works ok first of all this is your throttle it's a wireless but we have to plug it in to program okay so we'll dial in this sampans would be a locomotive number 28 okay so I'll dial in 28 and I plug it in here sir pushing a button to capture when I get the green light this is okay and I have got that locomotive program to this straddle okay so now this is forward that's rate reverse middle is neutral okay and so all you do is turn this dial to start it out awesome so what type of what type of engine is driving today this particular one is a steam locomotive to a toll it's called a consolidation so when you say to a tow what does that mean for somebody to is a small dry small wheels in the front which kind of guide it and then there's four drivers on each side so it's an eight wheel driver driven wheels so this is a hoc ale model right which we talked about before yho versus some of the other sighs well each oh isn't you can get a lot in a room and yet it's big enough for operation where you can uncouple because we use a little probe to go between the couplers town couple of cars okay you can use magnets but we don't have them on our layout and scale is pretty small for operation you get a lot more in the room okay jeunesse gauge our nice operating size but you need a lot of space for them because they're larger so each row is a very popular what are we looking at right here this looks like this part of the line right these switches control these tracks so we can turn them on and off this is the controller for the turntable oh wow and then we have we'll have switches for the locomotives to come out of the Roundhouse I'm just blown away at the level of detail of these these models I mean this one in particular here it's making noises it Wow yeah it's sitting there and as the steam pressure builds up it releases it on the pump there's a pumped on it if you push on this one you can ring the bell nice and push it again to okay then if you push the number three that'll blow a whistle Wow then this is a short whistle okay so when you come to a crossing you blow too long a short and along two ons short sure it and along no you gotta hold it down there you go you gonna like cool all right I think I think I know how it all works oh I'm dialing this to go forward yep all right I think I'm ready to take it for a spin is that Alright all right see this is like a childhood dream coming true I hate to drive a steam train here we go edie thanks a lot for letting me try this out I appreciate it you're welcome there's a lot more to show here from the railroad Club but first let's head over do a piece that Anne Simpson produced about the history of gray cloud island in the 1830s about 40 families of the metal Washington Native American tribe moved to a place they named spirit wood the treaties of 1837 by which the Dakota ceded their lands east of the Mississippi to the United States required that all Dakota villages be moved so the tribe moved to Pine Bend in Dakota County the bark houses they left behind were taken over by the families of fur trader Hayes and Moors and his son-in-law Andrew Robertson Robertson renamed the island gray cloud for his mother-in-law Margaret Morris whose Dakota name or it's gray cloud woman Moors and Robertson built log cabins along the river and started growing crops which they sold to the kitchens at Fort Snelling that same summer another fur trader Joseph Renshaw Brown moved his family on to the southern part of the island they were soon joined by several others mostly former voyagers of french-canadian heritage and employees of the American Fur Company Brown and Moors were both elected in the counties first election in 1840 Brown is Register of Deeds treasurer and surveyor and Moors as a county commissioner in 1856 Joseph Brown st. Paul banker Truman Smith and lumbermen William Gallagher planted gray Cloud City on the site of Browns Farm gray Cloud City was advertised as having four hundred Lots a good steamboat landing large store warehouse and blacksmith shop but few settlers moved there the panic of 1857 which was a financial crisis in the u.s. that caused the stock market to plummet businesses and banks to fail appeared to put an end to great Cloud City while this settlement didn't materialize there was an early industrial site in the township along the river there was a great cloud Limekiln which dates back to it least 1846 it burned limestone rock to produce quicklime used for mortar plaster and fertilizer in 2014 the historic lime kiln partially collapsed due to storms today the township remains a rural area with about 300 people calling it home the County Historical Society has lots of great information so check out their website to learn more we're back wrapping up the show here at the Model Railroad Club tell me a little bit about the display has it changed over the years yes originally we were modeling The Rock Island between Esther Ville Iowans who fall South Dakota with the tracks running up to Worthington and Pipestone and but we had a lot of duck hunters and with fast old guys we decided that things had to change so we are modeling a different area which I explained earlier and we got rid of all the duck hunters so we really rebuilt the center section totally so this is a really great thing for people here in South Washington County to come check out what are some opportunities for them to come out and take a look well we're very fortunate that we have this space that the city allows us to rent it met it's a beautiful space and it's worked out really great for us we've been here since about 1981 and we're open on Mondays and Fridays from 7:00 to 9:00 usually mondays are kind of our work nights Friday would be the best time for people to come from the public to view the railroad or if they're interested in joining we can explain what we do and what what it is that it costs to join but Friday night would be a good night and it seems like the guys that are working here have a lot of fun being a part of this group why do you think it's such a great organization well everybody gets to show their talents in scenery or laying track or programming a locomotive or painting cars and so forth building buildings so they can express their capabilities have fun running the trains and it's been so much fun being in here this month and being out last month checking out the the tower thank you so much for for all of us yeah you're welcome we'll see you next month from the Great River cities of Newport and st. Paul [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] you