Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad Show, 
October 5, 2002

by Dave Freshwater

The Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad ran one of their typical, tremendous open houses on October 5th and, once again, were one of the best hosts for a layout. The little bit of extra work needed to haul the layout upstairs on the elevator was worth the effort once the open house started and the kids arrived. The layout was a little smaller than in past years, perhaps affected by the Altoona trip and the MER convention that were also held that weekend. But, we had a lot of returning club members who know how much fun running trains for a fascinated crowd can be.

We actually had a good mix of town and country scenery modules for this show. The early challenge was trying to arrange them so that the scenes matched up. Nick Sklias had his Nicksville and Mantua Gap modules anchoring one side of the layout with Mat Chibbaro’s Furlow Canyon. Brian and Stephanie Chibbaro had the Pipsqueak Division installed under that side of the layout. James Altobello had Junkyard Corner and his new city-themed modules on one end of the layout. Even though the POFF is still a work in progress, I overheard one of the visitors telling James that she recognized the scene, having grown up a few blocks away. Jeff and Christian Peck had their POFF on the opposite, narrow end of the layout. The final parts of the layout included the large trailer corners, Griggs’ Crossing from the large trailer, my OLI Tower, a 3 and 1 foot bridge substitute for a POFF.

Cliff Enz was on hand to help with the set-up of the layout before heading to other things. Under the direction of Bill Baldwin, our QM General and former combat engineer, the layout ropes were reinforced to protect the Pipsqueak Division. Bill also created an Operation Lifesaver theater with some extra chairs to one side of the layout. Sly Fox and Birdie taught the kids about safety around trains. And, we drove a few parents crazy as they tried to figure out how the tape was rewinding and starting. (We had the remote control for the VCR over at the layout.)

In Semper Gumby spirit, we had a couple of electrical challenges to overcome. After scrounging enough fuses to run the layout with Aristos, I had the Lindsey set up just in case the phantom electrical problem we were having blew any of the fuses. If I had plugged the Lindsey in right away, we would have found the electrical problem immediately. During set-up, the Blue and Yellow lines on one module had been crossed. People had much better control of their trains after that was corrected. And, courtesy of the Rescue Squad, we actually came home with more Aristo fuses than we started with.

Despite proving once again that I am not really an electrical engineer, we had the layout up, all trains running, and all the bugs worked out when the first kids showed up 5 minutes before the official start of the open house. From then on, we always had people around the layout, even when the Park Police Rescue helicopter landed and took off. A few of the kids will probably be club members some day. They had become fascinated with trains at a previous show and were telling us what we were doing wrong or discussing the merits of engines and cars from different manufacturers. One kid pointed out that Rapido couplers were more reliable than the couplers on some new Intermountain cars that I had. Given the covered hopper RIP track that I accumulated, I tend to agree.

The end of the show part of the show did not mean that the fun ended this day. While the Rescue Squad provides food for all during the show, they also provide dinner, complete to QM General type beverages, for all the volunteers who worked that day. For the second year, everyone also got T-shirts for working the Open House. With NVX-1 reloaded and attached to Bobby Richesin’s MTV, every one headed for home with another successful show completed. I would like to thank everyone who brought modules and trains and who came to help with set-up. Those of us on the Maryland side of the river do not try to keep this one a secret; it is great fun. I would also encourage those of you who have not attended this show to give it a try next year.

photographs by Dave Freshwater

Please note that the center picture, bottom row, is of our Operation Lifesaver activity.  Between Operation Lifesaver and the other safety sessions, a lot of public education took place at this event!!!