2018 Fall Event
 
 
The format for this years’ Fall Event will be somewhat different than in the past.  We are very fortunate to have Mr. Ken May and his HO portable switching layout available to us at the Event.  Ken is a past president of the North East Region, NMRA, and has been involved in our great hobby and the NMRA for most of his adult life.  Ken and several of his modeling friends from the Nutmeg Division, will set up his switching layout at the Stratham Fire House in our Event room.  Ken’s layout is a 2 ft x 24 ft switching layout.  One side of the layout is a mirror image of the other side, so there will be an opportunity for 2 crews to work simultaneously on their respective assignments.  Each crew will consist of an engineer and a conductor.  The switching assignments should take no more than 20 to 30 minutes to complete.  Ken uses NCE equipment to operate this layout and a car card system to keep track of car movements.  We will have a sign up sheet at the meeting where you and a buddy can sign up to be a part of this and enjoy some great operating experience.
 
 
If you have never had the opportunity to be involved in layout operations, this is the Event that you don’t want to miss!
 
If you have never had the opportunity to use DCC to control your model trains, this is the Event that you don’t want to miss!
 
Also during the Event, while the layout is in operation, we will be having a clinic/panel discussion about "Improving Your Modeling Through The NMRA Achievement Program.”  This panel discussion will consist of two of our Master Model Railroaders (MMRs) and two other members who have been trained as AP evaluators, as the panel.  We all want to improve our modeling.  We see outstanding layouts, structures, or rolling stock built by fellow modelers and wonder how we get ours to look as good.  That is where the Achievement Program (AP) comes in.  Maybe you have thought about the AP in the past but put it off or decided that it was too hard or time consuming.  Here’s the opportunity hear about AP from modelers who have been through it.
 
One of our MMRs, Larry Cannon, describes it this way:

“The purpose of the program is to help people sometimes work outside their comfort zone.  It is not supposed to be a series of contests, but personal development and expanded involvement in the hobby.”

Additionally we will have the “Show & Tell & Ask” segment, the “For Sale” tables, and the raffle/door prize event.
 
This will also be a great opportunity to bring any of your modeling friends who may be interested in joining our group.
 
So please save the date and plan on joining us at the Fall Event in Stratham, NH, on Saturday, October 13, 2018 at 10:00 AM.

 

Meeting Report for the Summer Event

Location:        The Great Falls Model Railroad Club

                        144 Mill Street, Auburn, Maine 04210

 

Date & Time:             Saturday, July 14, 2018

 

The Summer Event began at 8:30 AM with the quarterly Board of Directors meeting.  The details of this meeting will be reported separately.  The General Event began promptly at 10:00 AM with opening remarks from Tage Erickson.  There were no new members or guests in attendance.  Our membership chairman, Lou Champagne, spoke briefly about our membership numbers (178) and some things each of us could do to possibly recruit some new faces.  Shortly, Lou will be publishing a separate article that discusses membership opportunities and those things that we can do, in detail, to promote the hobby by membership in the NMRA and our Seacoast Division.

After outlining the program for the day, Tage then asked Rick Mills, our Division Secretary to speak about the new ground rules for the “Show & Tell & Ask” segment.  Rick will be coordinating this segment in the future, as required.  The new rules were published in the Event Notice that was sent out to all members.  Right after that, Larry Cannon spoke about the “Figure Swap” that he was coordinating during the meeting.

The first presentation of the day was done by Mr. Victor Hand.  Victor is a published photographic author, lawyer, lifetime railroader and life-long modeler.  He spoke about and displayed many of his “Provisional Structures” that he has on his layout.  Most of these looked good enough to be permanent structures on most layouts.  As he was going through each structure in detail, he was telling us about where the structure was located on the layout and what its purpose was, and how was constructed.  Now retired, Victor spoke briefly about his career in the Railroad industry and in particular his relationship with Conrail during its existence.  This was a terrific presentation and Victor was kind enough to volunteer to give us another presentation at one of our future meetings.  Thank you, Victor.  Well Done!

The second presentation of the day was a clinic provided by Dr. George Carhart, Ph.D.  Back by popular demand, George repeated his presentation that he gave at the Winter Event, on the Portland, Maine Rail Network.  Again, George presented a number of maps, plans, and aerial photographs that depicted the development and then the eventual disappearance of the rail network and railroads that served the City of Portland, Maine.  George’s presentation was outstanding and we really appreciate all his efforts and his willingness to provide us with accurate historical information.

It was then time for our lunch break.  I would like to take a moment to thank Dave Kotsonis, our Division Treasurer, and also Seacoast Division member Terry King from the Great Falls Model Railroad Club, for preparing and serving lunch.  These guys did a wonderful job!  I would also like to say a very special thank you to my wife, Lois, who made the chili and cole slaw.  Thanks, Honey!

Following the lunch break, member Jerry Clark gave us a presentation on his layout construction progress.  Jerry discussed in detail his benchwork construction using sectional pre-ordered benchwork, track work using Micro-Engineering track and #5 ladder turn-outs, and Berrett Hill Shops touch toggle switches.  He also went into detail about his wiring techniques.  This was very informative and generated many questions from the other members.  Thank you Jerry, for a very well done presentation!

The final event of the day was the “Show & Tell & Ask” session.   Bob Bennett showed us why he is one our premier modelers with an On30 gauge open tourist passenger car that he had built from scratch.  Bob used plans that he saw in a magazine.  The car was constructed primarily of styrene and he used wood screws to hold the deck to the styrene.  Bob used HO scale passenger trucks for this car.  Nicely done, Bob!

The consensus on the new format for the Show & Tell & Ask was that we should continue with this.  So we will!  Once again, as it was last year, the attendance for the Summer Event was 32 members.  Thank you for your participation and your dedication to our great hobby!

Following the Event, about 7 members showed up to Larry Cannon’s Layout Tour.  The layout is looking very good, these days, with the additional scenery.  Thank you very much Larry, for hosting these Division Members.

The next Quarterly Event will take place in Stratham, New Hampshire, at the Fire House on Saturday October 13, 2018.  Please save that date and plan on joining us!

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Tage Erickson

VP - Director

Maine Event Coordinator