Potomac Division Joint Meet with James River Set for November 5th 

 

The Potomac Division’s annual Joint Meet with James River will take place on Saturday, November 5th at the Battlefield Baptist Church in Warrenton, Virginia, starting at 9 AM. 

 

There will be door prizes, a white elephant table, model judging and a popular vote contest with the theme of Maintenance of Way (MoW) cars — coincidentally, also our Division’s Challenge category for the December-January Flyer issue. The centerpiece of the event will be clinics. The following are already scheduled:

 

​Ken Wilson on Rolling Stock Brake Systems

​Brian Sheron, MMR, on Making An Operational Grade Crossing Signal

​Norm Reid & Jeffrey Fleisher on Model Railroad Photography 

​George Gaige on Building an Operating Water Tank

​Phil Taylor on SoundTraxx Blunami 

​Ernie Little on Decoder Pro

Entry is free as is the parking. We will pass the hat to take up a donation for the church. Past donations from the Joint Meet have helped build a kids camp for inner city children and a feeding program for children in the U.S. and around the world. 

The Church is located at 4361 Lee Highway in Warrenton. 

There are also two layout open house visits scheduled in the afternoon:

 

Jim Rogers, Aldie, Virginia:  Let's call it the B&O Cheat River Sub.  It is HO, point-to-point, Baltimore to Cincinnati (staging), with main yards in Grafton, WV and Clarksburg, WV.  A papermill is served from the Clarksburg yard.  The Charleston Sub goes from Grafton to Charleston, WV, where there is an interchange track with the NYC.  There are 3 NYC trains coming from Toledo to service Charleston.  We use card waybills and Dispatcher control of the main line.

 

Phil Raymond, Gainesville, Virginia: The Pennsylvania and Allegheny Midland Railroad (P&AMRR) is an HO Scale railroad centered in the general Altoona, PA, region. The layout covers trackage from Harrisburg through Altoona, over the Horseshoe Curve to Cresson; and it includes an eight stall roundhouse (photo above), a coal mine, a coke facility, a limestone pit, a steel mill, a limestone pit, and a river float. The layout is contained within a 24’ by 18’ room with point-to-point trackage. The bench work is complete but the scenery is nascent with initial focus on Altoona.  

 

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Joint Meet Schedule – Potomac & James River Divs.

 

 

8:00 am -- Set up for Staff, White Elephant tables, etc.

9:00 am — Open for Registration — Gym Entrance

9:20 am — Greeting and Announcements by Superintendents

​        Pastor Greeting, Prayer, Passing the Donations Bucket — Main Auditorium

9:40 am — Clinics, First Session

​Room 105: Ken Wilson, Rolling Stock Brake Systems

​Room 107: Brian Sheron, MMR, Making an Operational Grade Crossing Signal

​Room 111: Norm Reid & Jeffrey Fleisher, Model Railroad Photography

10:25 am — Break for Coffee and White Elephant Shopping — Gym

10:40 am — Clinics, Second Session

​Room 105: Phil Taylor, SoundTraxx Blunami

​Room 107: George Gaige, Building An Operating Water Tank

​Room 111: Ernie Little, Using Decoder Pro

11:25 am — Break for Coffee and White Elephant — Gym

11:45 am — Final Assembly — Main Auditorium

12:00 — Popular Vote Results, Raffle (Door Prizes), Closing — Main Auditorium

12:45-1 pm — Clean-up (volunteers) — Everywhere

1 pm —  Off to Lunch — On Your Own

1:30 pm-4 pm — Layout Visits — To Be Determined  

 

Here are short descriptions of the clinics:

​Brian Sheron, MMR has a clinic on how to build an operational railroad grade crossing  (automatically detects approaching train, starts crossbuck flashers and warning bell, lowers gates, and then automatically stops flashers and bell, and raises gates once last car passes the crossing). Included with this clinic is an operational HO scale model of a grade crossing that demonstrates how the gates work, how and where the detectors are located, and how everything is electrically connected.

​

George Gaige, who developed the prototype for the Broadway Limited Operating Water Tank will show you how to build your own in HO, though the process can be used in any scale. Come and see how to add interest and animation to your layout. This animation is useful for an operations-oriented layout to set the time for how long a water stop lasts during an Ops Session. The accompanying sounds add to the ambiance during the process.

 

​Ernie Little, MMR has a clinic on the JMRI DecoderPro application. The clinic will cover the use of the JMRI DecoderPro application to program Digital Command Control decoders and will include a demonstration of the use of the application.

 

​Norm Reid & Jeffrey Fleisher will present a clinic on "Model Railroad Photography". In this clinic, you will learn how to compose effective photos, what equipment you may want to use, techniques for creating clear, in-focus photos and videos, and some post-processing techniques to enhance your photos.

  

Ken Wilson’s clinic will provide participants with a clearer understanding of brake systems for both freight and passenger equipment. The way train brakes work, and what all the parts, pipes, and rods are will be demystified using diagrams and photos. Information will be provided to help modelers acquire the parts necessary to super detail cars, or at least upgrade older cars that only have minimal representation of brake equipment.

 

Philip Taylor’s clinic will focus on the new Soundtraxx Blunami -- a device that marries a 2nd generation Bluetooth Radio Control Circuit to a Soundtraxx Tsunami 2 DCC Decoder.  We will explore how this unique blend allows control and sound in straight DC, DCC and Dead Rail environments or if you choose some combination of the three options with or without a DCC Command System. There will be a demonstration of how to program the Bluenami and operate it using a phone or tablet with 2 to 3 locomotives.

 

“White Elephant” Sales Notes:

 

Who may sell: 

​Only NMRA members may conduct a sale in this White Elephant sale. 

​Sellers may sell only railroad-related items (model or prototype).

 

Table Reservations: 

​Tables are 72” x 30”.  Reservations must be requested no later than Wednesday, November 2. You can ask for more than one table.

​Requests should be sent to Kenneth Montero by email to:va661midlo@comcast.net. Confirmation will be sent by Thursday, November 3. Questions: Call Ken Montero at 804-794-5704 and leave a message or by email.  

 

Sale staffing: 

The member requesting one or more tables will have to staff his/her tables (set-up, sales, close-out), either alone or with the help of one or more fellow attendees.

Sales:

​Sellers will handle all aspects of their own sales.

​Sellers are responsible for the security of items brought for sale. 

​Neither the James River Division, the Potomac Division or any of its members assisting with the sale accept any liability for items brought to themeet.

​If away from one’s tables, such as during a clinic, a seller may want to use a table cloth to cover sales items to indicate the seller is away.

 

Sales Times:

​The sales area will be closed during the opening and closing portions of the meet. Doors to the gymnasium will be closed.

​It will be open before the opening portion, during clinics, and after the closing portion.

 

Close-out:

​The sales area will remain open after the closing portion of the meet.

​Sellers arerequired to pack up any unsold items, then fold up and return to storage all tables by 1:00 pm

 

Special Donated Items to Benefit the Potomac Division:

 

The high quality metal railroad posters have been donated for sale to support the Potomac Division’s activities. The posters have adhesive materials so they can be attached to walls without nailing or drilling. Both are priced below original cost. We’ll be asking $50 for the Mikado and $25 for the Old Engines. 

 

Old Engines Poster Size: 12 1/2" x 18”                     Mikado Poster Size: 19” x 26”   

 

                                                 

Do you want to reserve one or both of these items before the Nov. 5th Joint Meet? If so, send an email to Potomac-Flyer@potomac-nmra.org with your selection ASAP.