Reminder about Meeting Dec 14th

Just a reminder about our meeting on December 14th.  See the post below for times and directions.  At the meeting we will announce details about our first meet in 2014 on February 8th. 

Next Meeting December 14th

December 2013 Meeting

DATE: Saturday, December 14, 2013, from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm followed by a layout tour.

9:00 am to 10:00 am - set up and sign-in

10:00 am to Noon -- meeting

Noon - 12:30 pm -- clean up

Location: Midlothian, Virginia at the

Episcopal Church of the Redeemer (in Pender Hall)
2341 Winterfield Road, Midlothian, VA 23113

Clinics: Two mini-clinics:

(1) Another Angle on a Peninsula Layout - by Keith Pritchard (layout tour will be at Keith's layout)
(2) Square Corners on a Building - by Ken Montero

Contest (previously announced): Any small on-line structure.


Please spread the news, as there is not much time before the meet - and be sure to mark your own calendar with the date.

Ken Montero

Dates Set for Next Years MARPM

The Mid-Atlantic Railroad Prototype Modelers Meet will next September 13-14, 2014.  Registration is now open for this meet and details.  www.marpm.org

Jim Fitzgerald Passes Away

Jim Fitzgerald passed away in the last week at age 90.  Jim was a pillar and glue to the N Scale Community for many in years with a focus on the NTrak community.  He believed that model railroad needed to be brought to the people and the way to do it was by modules at public venues including shows. This editor wishes to express his thanks to Jim for all the work over the years in promoting the hobby.  Our condolences to his family

C&P Junction 2013: Some Thoughts and Observations…

C&P Junction 2013: Some Thoughts and Observations…

Gerard Fitzgerald

The annual MidEast Region (MER) convention was held over Columbus Day weekend in Rockville, Maryland from Thursday evening October 10th through Sunday morning October 13th.  C&P Junction was co-hosted by two of our closest neighboring NMRA divisions, the Chesapeake Division and the Potomac Division. Featuring over 45 home layout and club tours within easy driving distance, in addition to 40 clinics, a white elephant room, contest, and banquet, the MER convention was one of the most interesting and entertaining NMRA events I have ever attended. Those of us lucky enough to take part owe a great deal of thanks to the organizers and volunteers who put together such a wonderful event. This was my first NMRA regional convention, and in all honesty, I was somewhat apprehensive going in. However this meet was superb from start to finish and I have already made tentative plans to attend the 2014 MER convention in Hagerstown, Maryland. While it was impossible for anyone to see and do everything on the crowded schedule, I will briefly recount my convention experience and overall impression.

I arrived late Thursday afternoon in anticipation of not only the opening of the convention, but also modeler Steve King’s two-part Train Order and Time Table (TT&TO) super-clinic (it even had a lab!). Mr. King, who is well known as one of the foremost operations based modelers within the hobby and one of the long time leaders the NMRA’s Operations Special Interest Group (OPSIG) provided a rigorous introduction to the intricacies of TT&TO operations through a two hour PowerPoint presentation followed by an operating session “lab” at his home the next day. Aside from being a very nice person, Mr. King has a pedagogical knack for taking very complex material and making it accessible and relatively easy to understand. He is also the co-author with David Sprau of a new OPSIG book, “19 East, Copy Three”: The Art and Practice of Time Table and Train Order Operations for the Railroad Historian and Model Railroader, which I highly recommend to anyone interesting in finding out more about this form of prototype based operations. (For more information about the benefits of membership in the OPSIG and to ordering 19 East, Copy Three go to their website. While I count myself at very best a newbie—OK I really know nothing!—when it comes to TT&TO operations, I look forward to learning more both through study and hands on experience in future op sessions on other model railroads. Mr. King’s clinic was a great way to begin my convention experience.

After two hours of intense note taking on Form 19 applications, I talked my friend Brian Good from the Philadelphia Division, who I earlier spied in the lobby, into helping me carry my Biscuit Run module from my car to the convention layout display room. My primary reasons for attending the convention were to give a clinic and to also operate and display McCook’s Landing, the sectional O-Scale Civil War layout I helped build with modeler extraordinaire Bernie Kempinski.  Bernie would arrive early the next morning with the other 4/5 of the layout but I wanted to get my module set up because it looked like the rain was only going to get worse. And it did. But, more on that later. 

Friday dawned very wet and windy (monsoon like actually) and I began Day Two by meeting Bernie in the layout display room. Within about 45 minutes, we had unloaded the other four sections from his car, assembled McCook’s Landing, attached our red, white, and blue bunting, and were operating a short train. Much like the Atlanta NMRA National, our Civil War layout quickly attracted a crowd of interested onlookers. We had people taking photos and asking questions pretty much continuously until we took the layout down late Saturday afternoon. We shared the layout room with two other much larger modular layouts, the HO scale Meade Area Model Railroad Society (MARRS) from nearby Laurel, Maryland and BANTRAK, the Baltimore N-Track group.

With the three major scales represented (or at least I think they are currently still the three leading scales?) convention attendees, not to mention various hotel guests and hotel staff, were able to observe passenger and freight trains running from early each morning until the about ten each night. Having operational modular or sectional layouts at the convention hotel makes any model railroad meet much more user friendly to those who are new to the hobby or are perhaps unaware the hobby exists at all. I spent a good deal of time operating McCook’s Landing and answering questions and while I am big fan of static RPM model displays, it seems to me the best way to reach out to the public, not to mention other modelers, is to have trains moving. Both MARRS and BANTRAK ran long consists including various steam and diesel prototypes. The MARRS layout featured not only some very long C&O and Pennsylvania RR coal drags, but also some interesting European prototypes not to mention a set of Harry Potter modules that included a gigantic scratch built replica of the Hogwarts campus. Taken together the layout room created a dynamic meeting space to observe operations, talk about model railroading, or just chat about the convention.

Aside from, hopefully, seeing operational modular layouts, the two major activities at an NMRA regional meet are clinics and layout tours. Unfortunately, because of general time constraints, tours and clinics are usually scheduled simultaneously. Thus, in order to maximize their convention experience, well-prepared attendees make careful decisions prior to their arrival about how best to spend their time based on their interests. Or in my case, upon arrival just sort of fly by the seat of your pants depending on the schedule and weather conditions.

On the one hand Bernie and I were somewhat constrained, as we had to operate McCook’s Landing and needed to spend much of our time in the layout room. However we agreed in advance to divide our layout responsibilities depending upon what the other wanted to do. On the other hand, one of the great things about bringing a layout to a convention is people come to you and it is a really great way to meet other modelers and find out what they are doing, which is something I would highly recommend! In addition, to give ourselves a bit more flexibility, we also decided to forgo the type of formal operating sessions for guests that were very popular at the Atlanta NMRA because the layout would only be up and running for two days instead of five. Bernie kicked off the Friday afternoon session after lunch by giving a clinic entitled “Introduction to Modeling Railroads of the American Civil War.” If you enjoy Bernie’s articles, his amazing RPM modeling, and his award winning blog, you will find his live clinics a real treat.

And it was not just Bernie. The overall clinic schedule at the MER was excellent, thanks to Marty McGuirk who as clinic coordinator put together a stellar group including Andrew Dodge, Paul Dolkos, Steve King, Tony Koester, and Fred Lango, among others. Marty also somehow found the time to give a clinic on “Modeling the Central Vermont Railway of the 1950s” and hosted an op session with two days of open houses. Also in attendance was Neil Bescougloff, the editor of Model Railroader who gave a much-anticipated talk entitled “What’s New at Model Railroader Magazine.” Finally, although he did not give a clinic, NMRA President Charlie Getz also attended the MER convention and spoke briefly at the banquet. I first met Mr. Getz at the Atlanta NMRA and previously communicated with him at length via e-mail. He is a very sharp person, has a broad vision for the NMRA’s future, and is extremely open to listening to all NMRA members about the present and future direction of the organization. He is working on any number of initiatives to make the NMRA a better, stronger, and more efficient organization (including hopefully curbing the tomfoolery present at the division level in various locales) and, in my humble opinion we are very lucky to have him.

I decided to try seeing some layouts Friday afternoon. While those of us who live near or drive through the greater Washington metropolitan area on a regular basis often shake our heads at the traffic, the heavy population density provides a home base for a very large number of serious model railroaders, many with operational home layouts. Many of these model railroads are already well known through feature articles in mainstream hobby publications in addition to others whose owners maintain an active online presence. Unfortunately, there were two factors beyond NMRA control that prompted me to limit the scope of my layout travels to destinations close to the convention hotel. First, the weather continued to be terrible with heavy rains making the roads problematic if not a bit scary. Second, a group of out of town protestors was planning on shutting down I-495 Friday-Sunday for reasons that made sense only to them. The possibility of both conditions led me to only two layouts, but these were both more than worth the trip. For the record, the protest fizzled but the rain was steady.

As a Chesapeake & Ohio Railway modeler, I met John Glabb a while back. Over the years I have seen John give talks at the C&OHS and shopped at his Peach Creek Hobby store, although, somehow, I never saw his layout. John, not surprisingly, is a BIG C&O steam fan and his HO C&O Peach Creek Division is a 20 x 29 layout that recreates operations between Hinton and Prince, West Virginia. The railroad features handlaid track, handlaid turn-outs built in place, brass locomotives, scratch built bridges and structures, MRC DCC wireless control, and a marvelous track plan and design that uses track height, mountains, and view blocks to place operators deep within West Virginia coal country. John and his wife were very gracious hosts and John’s den reminded me of the archive at the C&OHS, although John may in fact have more material on hand. John is like me as he models the C&O in the pre 1947/48 “For Progress” logo world, a distinction that makes for a more interesting railroad, in my opinion. John also oversaw a five part, multi person super clinic series called “The Steel Track.” The clinics, which took place in one room all day Saturday, were designed for those interested in all aspects of modeling steel production.

My next stop was to Andrew Dodge’s 1897 Colorado Midland Railway, a Proto-48 layout that reflects Mr. Dodge’s abilities as a master craftsman. The plan for the Colorado Midland was featured in the 2013 issue of Model Railroad Planning and has only been under construction since the beginning of this year. His previous effort, an On3 version of the Denver South Park and Pacific, was featured in the 2007 issue of Great Model Railroads. His new layout, which occupies half of his large basement and is still under construction (although he works fast!), features a fleet of scratch built Proto-48 locomotives which have to be seen operating in person to be fully appreciated. The track work, rolling stock, structures, scenery, and attention to historical detail embrace the aesthetic beauty and mechanical reliability only made possible by adhering to the exceptional standards of Proto 48. At one point during my visit, I spent a good fifteen minutes just studying the trucks and couplers on one of the boxcars. Suffice it to say, the layout not only looks great but literally runs like a Swiss watch. He was also a very nice host and answered all of my incessant questions. I look forward to seeing what his basement looks like a year from now. Wow!!!!

Upon leaving the Colorado Midland, I braved the rain to return to the hotel for my evening clinic although in the back of my mind, I contemplated taking up stamp collecting in the future. I returned to McCook’s Landing, caught up with Bernie, had dinner with Bernie and Marty, and prepared for my clinic, which involved a quick look at my slides and a test of the projector. My 7PM clinic on the history of water softening technology on the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway is one I have given before and usually attracts a small core audience of steam enthusiasts. I had 35 people in my Atlanta audience (which was a record) and about 12 at the MER, which was pretty good considering it was relatively late in a long day. The talk seemed to go well as the audience was very knowledgeable about the topic.

Following my clinic, I went down the hall to see my old friend Tony Koester give his “Update on the NKP” clinic. Tony, aside from being one of the most famous people in the hobby, is also one of the most thoughtful and entertaining. His clinics are always fun to attend. He has made a lot of progress scenery wise on his gigantic Nickel Plate Cloverleaf District home layout and his photo of the new roundhouse complex at Frankfort, Indiana (well new to me at least!) was very impressive. Tony also showed some very interesting slides of how to model very large Midwestern soybean, wheat, and cornfields. This may sound boring—which is not the case—but it is really difficult to model large scale agriculture scenes. Yet, he and his colleagues seem to have finally solved that particular scenic puzzle. Apparently, we can look forward to an update on the Cloverleaf Division in Model Railroader in 2014. Tony will also be speaking in a few weeks at the New Jersey RPM meet. That RPM meet follows on the success of the recent Mid-Atlantic RPM meet that was held last month within JRD territory in nearby Stafford, Virginia.

After a late night chat in the lobby with Tony and Layout Design SIG founder Doug Gurin about various issues in the hobby, I limped off to bed to ready myself for the next day of the convention.

Saturday began…wait for it…with heavy rain but amazingly enough the weather finally cleared up by mid-afternoon. Bernie started the day at 9AM with his other Civil War clinic, “Aquia Harbor Line: Modeling a Civil War Layout.” That clinic focuses on his home layout, a model railroad that also has to be seen in person to be fully appreciated. It is sort of an IMAX-3D approach to American Civil War model railroading sans the funny glasses and the popcorn. In any case, I started running McCook’s Landing while Bernie was gone and remained in the layout room for most of the day save one layout visit. A large number of people swung by the layout, asked questions, made suggestions, which was a really nice way to spend the day. All the children who came by seemed fascinated by the layout and especially the steam locomotives.

In the late afternoon I went off to see Steve King’s Virginia Midland layout, a model railroad I have wanted to see for many years. I even wrote about it in the Layout Design Journal but had never seen it in person. Suffice it to say, this layout was worth the wait. Additionally, Steve and his wife were very generous hosts. I had the opportunity to take a train over the layout, a process which Steve feels is the best way to understand what he is doing. Mr. King is of course VERY interested in operation, which explains why he may be a little behind in his scenery. However since his layout is sort of an ongoing graduate seminar in operations, a few missing trees does not really matter in the bigger picture. After two hours of taking notes on his approach to layout design and operations, I made my way back to the hotel. After a few more hours of operation, Bernie and I quickly dismantled McCook’s Landing and helped close out the layout room. Later Bernie went home and I stuck around to go to the post banquet awards ceremony.

Overall it was a very fun and not too exhausting model railroad weekend. Aside from meeting old friends and making some new ones, I even accrued points for the AP Volunteer program for giving a clinic and bringing the layout. Not too shabby. Needless to say, the organizers and volunteers did a wonderful job. My clinic room was all ready to go and all I had to do was bring my thumb drive. Also, and this may seem minor—but it isn’t—because I am sure it took a tremendous amount of work, the layout tour directions not only contained directions on how to get TO the layout (not to mention house to house directions) but also instructions on how to get BACK to the hotel. This may seem obvious, but it was really helpful with all the heavy traffic and rain. These directions were very detailed and PERFECT, which was especially important, as the weather was so problematic it made the GPS spotty. Thanks!

On Sunday morning I dropped by Bernie’s house on the way back to Charlottesville where I saw Paul Dolkos, Doug Gurin, Neil Bescougloff (who is a super nice guy) and soon Bernie put me to work until dinner making trench “duck boards” for his HO scale World War I model railroad project. But that is a story for another day…

MER Part 1 of 8

MER Part 1 of 8
by Gerard Fitzgerald

 McCook's Landing attracted an audience of young and old alike.

The W.H. Whiton switches the D.S. Barmore Sawmill and Shipyard in 1864.

MER Part 2 of 8

MER Part 2 of 8
by Gerard Fitzgerald

The N-scale BANTRAK modular layout featured a nice coal facility

Tony Koester discusses model railroading with the BANTRAK guys

MER Part 3 of 8

MER Part 3 of 8
by Gerard Fitzgerald

The HO MARRS modular group featured a corner module containing a very detailed scratch built module of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

MER Part 4 of 8

MER Part 4 of 8
by Gerard Fitzgerald

The Hinton Yard on John Glabb's HO scale Peach Creek Division layout features handlaid track and turnouts built in place which capture the smooth flowing geometry of prototype track.

 This scratch built bridge on John Glabb's layout reflects the engineering expertise needed for West Virginia mountain railroading.

Wide aisles and superior layout design are one of the hallmarks of John Glabb's approach to replicating C&O operations in the mountains of West Virginia.

MER Part 5 of 8

MER Part 5 of 8
by Gerard Fitzgerald

On the other side of the tunnel we find some nifty hand laid track

Tunnels are used as view blocks on John Glabb's C&O layout and also act as a geographic signature of the region.

MER Part 6 of 8

MER Part 6 of 8

by Gerard Fitzgerald

With track operational and scenery in place scratch built structures are the last item needed for the completion of Busk near the Continental Divide on the Colorado Midland.

The yard throat at Arkansaa Junction on Andrew Dodge's Colorado Midland illustrate the possibilities of fine scale handlaid turnouts in Proto48. 

One of a series of scratch built Proto48 steam locomotives in the Colorado Midland fleet constructed in O-Scale by Andrew Dodge.

MER Part 8 of 8

MER Part 8 of 8

by Gerard Fitzgerald

A Virginia Midland caboose anchors a train in staging before heading out on Steve King's TT&TO layout.

MER Part 7 of 8

MER Part 7 of 8

Gerard Fitzgerald

The arrival of the train in Arkansaa Junction brings out others to move material on the Colorado Midland.

One of the many super detailed pieces of Proto48 rolling stock on the Colorado Midland.

MER Clinic:Chemistry and the Iron Horse

Chemistry and the Iron Horse: Water Softening and Engineering Practice on the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway, 1900-1945

Description:    This clinic will be given at the MER NMRA convention in October 2013 Most modelers are aware that the hills, mountains, and valleys of the nation created a seemingly never ending series of civil engineering challenges for railroads as the country embraced industrialization during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is less well known that as steam technology evolved, the water powering locomotives presented railroads with mechanical engineering and infrastructure problems that were just as complex and which were often solved by railroad chemists. The history of American railroad approaches to water softening, chemistry, and chemical engineering will be reviewed against a detailed study of how the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway adopted a more scientific and economic approach to water softening during the first decades of the 20th century.

CIvil War Road Show at the MER

Did you miss the JRD Civil War open house this summer? Built by Gerry Fitzgerald and Bernie Kempinski If you did not then you will have a chance to see it at the MER and learn more about Civil War Railroading from Bernie Kempinski and his talk about the Aquia Line.

MER Convention coming up

Two Weeks to the C & P Junction Convention. Hop aboard!

                On Columbus Day Weekend, October 10-13, the annual—and big--C & P Junction Convention gets underway. People regret most the things they don’t do. So make the call now and ensure that you’re not going to miss an outstanding event. This convention has three things going for it: substance, timing and location. Substance introduces you to some of the nation’s best clinicians, layouts, operations call boards and contests, capped with a Banquet and Auction. Timing gives you a long weekend to enjoy the convention and an extra day to savor Location: the attractions of Washington and Baltimore.  With 250 registrants from 15 states plus Canada we’ve added more operations layouts and a B&O Museum tour (both require advances registration), a hosted DC sightseeing excursion, and a manufacturer tour. So even if you’ve registered early, it’s not too late to add to your registration. And if your schedule is unsettled, walk in and register the day of the convention! C & P Junction, Crowne Plaza Hotel (www.cprockville.com) with a free shuttle to the Metro and other points. Visit our website: google C & P Junction-Comcast.net or http://home.comcast.net/~CandP2013/. For questions, email CandP2013@comcast.net.
 

Rooms available!

                The Crowne Plaza Hotel has notified us that it has been able to free up some double and King rooms previously reserved for another group.
 

Help Make the Convention Fun!

                In keeping with the tradition of ensuing quality door prizes, we are asking those who are planning to attend or support the Convention to donate new (or –as-new) engines, rolling stock, structures or other items of value to the Mid-Eastern Region. We’ll pick the very best donations for door prizes. Being a nonprofit organization, a tax deduction is appropriate for each donation. Donors of items should email Clint Hyde (chyde@cox.net) in advance of the Convention; when you give your donation to Clint in the Auction/White Elephant Room at the Convention, he will give you a receipt for tax purposes.
 

Call for Volunteers!

                With a nod to the U.S. Marines, C & P Junction, the coming MER Convention in Rockville, Maryland, over Columbus Day Weekend, October 10-13, 2013, is looking for a few good men—and women.  In past conventions, men and women have volunteered to help staff the registration desk, the Contest Room and the Company Store with its accompanying White Elephant Room.  Shifts would be four hours in length or less and only once per convention. Virtue will be your only reward, although a handsome certificate will attest to serving your Region. If you are interested, please contact Bill Day of Potomac Division, billday22@verizon.net or 703/406-4112.

Marshall Abrams, Potomac Division, co-chairman

Kurt Thompson, Chesapeake Division, co-chairman

RPM Part 2

After a delay included below are some more pictures from the first RPM meet held in the JRD. Thank you to Gerard Fitzgerald for the following photos.

Norm Wolf

Norm Wolf

Mike Hart

Mike Hart

Making Trees

The New Jersey Model Railroad Layout Design and Operations Event

The title for this 2 day event November 2nd & 3rd is a mouthful but so is the content of the two days.  Well known names are giving clinics in their areas of expertise.  The full clinic list still is being finalized as of this posting but should give additional food for thought to those who attended the RPM meet in VA last weekend. 

The event is an all day clinic on Saturday and layout tours on Sunday. The tours make the event worthwhile by themselves with many well know layouts.  Look at the list and if you don't know the list then you are truly missing out.  Cost for the 2 days is $10 and a list of local hotels is provided on the web site.  Registration is by mail at the moment.

The event is sponsored by the Garden State Division, NER, NMRA with an LDSIG tie-in.

Link to the website

Mid Atlantic Prototype Modelers Meet Part 1

Friday the 13th and Saturday the 14th of September saw the inaugural Mid Atlantic Prototype Modelers  Meet being held in Stafford, VA.  This was the first RPM meet in Virginia and the first in the JRD.  Several JRD members were present and JRD member Gerry Fitzgerald was a presenter.  The Saturday presentations were all solid and a good report was heard about Bernie Kempinski's Civil War talk on Friday.

The venue had its challenges with a boat storage house being used as the clinic room.  There was plenty of space here and the weather was fantastic.  Here the closing clinic is giving and overview of using LED lighting in theory and practice.

Of course, there were more challenges than just the size.  The interruptions were the most unusual ever experienced at an RPM meet.

Yes, the loading and unloading of boats is probably a first for an RPM meet.

Of course, with every bad interruption there are good ones.

All photos are courtesy of Gerry Fitzgerald, text by Philip Taylor

End of part one

Civil War Roadshow Open House for the JRD

 American Civil War comes to Charlottesville

The Civil War Roadshow came to Charlottesville on August 11th thanks to the Bernie Kempinski and Gerry Fitzgerald.  The JRD was invited to the home of Gerry Fitzgerald and Gabriella Petrick where there was not only a world class layout but a delicious spread of summer food.

The roadshow was most recently featured at the NMRA National in Atlanta.  A most appropriate venue for a Civil War Roadshow.  The Roadshow is scheduled for several other appearances later this year.  Stay tuned for more news as it becomes available.

So Charlottesville was for a few hours occupied again by Union forces commanded by our two intrepid builders.  The level of workmanship on the modules is museum grade.  There is always a new previously unseen detail when looking over a scene each successive time.

The display broke down in a few minutes and Bernie Kempinski was able to load his sections in the back of his vehicle.  Pictured above is the loading crew (from left) of Bernie, Gerry, Gabriella, Rick, Phil and Ken (who also manned the door as greeter).

Thanks to everyone who made the day great for the approximately 26 visitors.

JRD's George Gaige wins 3 prizes in photo contest at NMRA National

George Gaige reports that three photos of his layout took First, Second and Third place in the black & white photo category at NMRA National. Way to go George!!

NMRA Atlanta National: My First Three Days… pt 1

The last three days have been a whirlwind as I have… Driven from Charlottesville to Atlanta, given two clinics, attended five other clinics, helped assemble the Civil War Roadshow for display and guest operations, pitched in to assemble the rest of the displays brought by other members of the Civil War RR SIG for our SIG room, driven all around greater Atlanta on the Layout Design SIG home layout tour, drove to a local Michaels to buy supplies and glue, attended the LDSIG annual business meeting, caught up with old friends, made plenty of new friends, visited the NMRA contest room, made photocopies of my clinic handouts, not slept much, eaten too much pizza, and just had a great time.

This was originally going to be a Wordless Wednesday Blog post but if I just posted pictures with captions (and yes our blog page will get better) it might seem a tad under contextualized. To make a long story short…the Civil War Roadshow seems to be a big hit as people have been stopping by all day and night to see the layout, operate the layout, or just watch others operate the layout. This is in addition to all the NMRA convention attendees who have wandered over to the Civil War RR SIG room are looking at all the other models, equipment, artifacts, models, slide shows, videos and whatever else we have laying around the Civil War RR SIG room. We brought all of this wonderful stuff to Atlanta to entice those who have yet to be exposed to the wonders of mid 19th century model railroading that this not only educational, but lots of fun!

NMRA Atlanta National: My First Three Days… pt 2

As far as giving clinics, I had two 90 minute clinics back to back and showed 235 Powerpoint slides to two slightly overlapping audiences of apparently intrigued model railroaders (?) on two very different topics. In my first clinic, “The Delicate Stomach of the Iron Horse:Water Supply, Purification, and Water Engineering Practice on the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway, 1918-1948,” I explained the importance of university trained chemists hired by the railroad to successfully respond to the a quest to lower locomotive and operating efficiency costs by avoiding mechanical breakdown due to hard water. To be honest… it is more interesting than it sounds! In my second clinic “‘Going to War with the Railroad You Have:’ Designing and Operating the Chesapeake & Ohio’s Olby Branch in 1944,” I explored the possibilities of designing, operating, and building a C&O layout during WWII using the industrial expansion of the American chemical industry to diversify/complicate operations through increased traffic density. I had 30-40 in the audience through both sessions and received some very nice comments. As far as being a clinic audience member, I attended a number of different clinics in the last 48 hours and especially enjoyed two by Tony Koester on double deck layout design and another on the limits of kit bashing in addition to a great presentation by master modeler John Wilkes’s on the evolution of Appalachian coal tipples from the 1940s through the 1980s. I think I learned more form Mr. Wilkes in 60 minutes than I have by reading any number of books and magazine and journal articles in the past few years.

Let me sign off (for the moment) by noting that there is so MUCH to say about the layout tours and the models in the NMRA contest room…and as time is short…I will just provide you with some photos and captions.

More to follow,

Gerry

Gerard J. Fitzgerald
Charlottesville, Virginia

Civil War Roadshow Update

The Civil War Roadshow proved to be very popular this week from early morning until the SIG room doors were locked at 10:30PM.  Here volunteers, along with a crowd of  visitors who crowded around to watch, run an operations session with scale link and pin couplers in O-Scale.

 














The Civil War RR SIG Room has been a busy place all week demonstrating to model railroaders the possibilities of modeling railroads during the war in various scales among a number of prototypes.

by Gerard Fitzgerald

Kitbashing by Tony Koester

Tony Koester gave a wonderful clinic on structure kitbashing on Wednesday evening that featured models from his home layout and examples from other layouts across the country.

by Gerard Fitzgerald

NMRA Contest Room

The NMRA contest room featured many interesting and highly detailed models including structures, locomotives, and rolling stock.

by Gerard Fitzgerald

Military Loads in the Contest Room

As someone who models the C&O during World War II, I found the military loads train built by modeler Bruce Smith down in the Contest room to be a clinic all by itself. Dr. Smith also gave a regular clinic on the topic this week in Atlanta.

 

 By Gerard Fitzgerald

Young Engineer

The engineer in this photo, who wandered in and was given the Roadshow throttle after showing some interest, demonstrates that model railroading’s future (which for some always seems to be in doubt) will be just fine. 

by Gerard Fitzgerald

Brian Rudco’s Pender Street Mills

One of the most interesting displays in the contest room was Brian Rudco’s Pender Street Mills, a Gn15 layout. Gn15 is G scale industrial/narrow gauge using HO standard gauge track. The portable layout replicates a very highly detailed manufacturing plant with various visual and acoustic effects.   

Courtesy of Gerry Fitzgerald

Philip Stead’s 30’ x 52’ O/On3

The LDSIG layout tour featured the Philip Stead’s 30’ x 52’ O/On3 layout which replicates operations on the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (Pueblo Division, Alamosa/Chama Subdivision) on September 23, 1949. Brass K-36s, bridges, and mountain scenery make it a great place to visit and operate.    

Courtesy of Gerard Fitzgerald

The W.H. Whiton blows her whistle and officially commences operation of the Civil War Roadshow at the 2013 NMRA Atlanta Convention. Huzzzzahhhh!

Bill Welch and Gabriella add a finishing touch to the Civil War Roadshow

Paul Dobbs mans the main desk at the American Civil War Rail Road Historical Society table in the Civil War SIG room.

The Civil War Road show layout that Gerard Fitzgerald built with Bernie Kimpinski was assembled and operational in less than an hour with the help of a few friends and a cordless drill.