| Volume 40 Issue 11 | Ju1y 2001 |
| Volume 40 Issue 11 | Ju1y 2001 |
I want to start out this month by thanking all those who were open for the Father’s Day open houses in June. Fred Schneider, Dave Holl, Dick Sine, Frank Hughes, Denny Lamusga, and Frank Klatt were all open for our viewing pleasure. I managed to make it to three of the six layouts - my apologies to Frank, Denny, and Frank for not making it to their layouts. I’ve seen Denny’s and Frank Klatt’s before, but I’ve never been to Frank Hughes’ before - I hope to arrange a private tour sometime in the near future!
Thanks also to Jim Ziegler for arranging our meeting place at the Springfield Masonic Home and to Mark Stiver for arranging the layout tours and providing the maps.
The turnout for this year’s tours was a little on the light side, although I understand that Denny had over 80 people come through his garden. I suspect some of the light turnout was due to the beautiful weather we had. As an aside, something that Division 7 does is arrange for a layout tour in conjunction with every meeting - is there any interest in doing this? If so, please tell a BOG member!
In July, we’ll be back at the Greene County Historical Society. The presentation will be “Building Ward’s Sawmill,” by Sam Swanson. This model won the Gold Award at the 1997 Madison National Convention, with 124 out of a possible 125 points. Sam’s presentation tells of his research into the sawmill prototype, and how he translated that information into the model. It goes into many of his award-winning building and scenery techniques and shows you details of the model construction that are guaranteed to amaze you. Keep in mind that the meeting date is pushed back a week to July 22 to accommodate the National Convention dates of 8 to 15 July.
As I write this, I’m trying to balance the conflicting requirements of managing the 2002 Convention Committee (see the report elsewhere in the Callboard), preparing models for entry at the National Convention, and packing our house for our impending move across town. As I mentioned a couple months ago, we were looking for a new house. We’ve found one, and we close next week as of this writing. The actual move should take place shortly after I return from the National Convention.
The new house will allow me to triple (at least) my layout area, and I’m now looking at design options. Part of the problem is how to fit in the existing layout sections, as well as the section of the V&O that I purchased a couple of months ago. I’m hoping to confer with members of the layout design SIG out in St Louis to work on the problem. That’s one of the benefits of participation I referred to last month - the ability to get together with several of the top minds in layout design to work out problems is unique to events like the NMRA national conventions.
Another benefit is the learning opportunities that are available that allow us to improve our modeling. After talking with Marty Vaughn and Sam Swanson at length on how they do parts casting, I’m now working full speed on interurban models for the Dayton and Troy Electric Railway. Marty’s clinic on resin casting got me started, and Sam turned me on to Micromark CR-300 casting plastic. The CR-300 is ultra-thin when you’re pouring it, and the reproduction capability is superb.
Because those two sources of information and instruction combined with my own modeling skills, I’ve managed to build side and end masters for several pieces of rolling stock. I’ve built masters and molds for the D&T 115 freight motor, D&T combination cars 110 to 150, and the D&T passenger and freight trailers that were rebuilt from ex-New York elevated trailer cars. Without the guidance provided by Marty and Sam, I probably never would have attempted this project - if I had, it certainly would have taken much, much longer to accomplish.
Another learning opportunity presented itself at the 2002 Convention Committee meeting in June, hosted by John Smith. After the meeting, John invited us down to his basement, where he is working on the first section of his Chesapeake and Ohio layout. He is using the foam board technique pioneered by Bill Darnaby on this section, and what he’s done so far is very interesting, even though he has yet to lay a single foot of track. There is a huge difference in reading about something in a magazine and seeing it in person. It has given me something else to think about as I consider how to fill the new layout space.
I also expect that the ability of the Division to provide hands-on education will increase dramatically with the start of the Dayton Historical Model Railroad Project. I spoke with Brian Hackett, Directory of the Dayton-Montgomery County Historical Society recently, and we expect to have a meeting with the museum planners sometime in late July or early August to discuss the layout project.
We also discussed briefly that we need to codify the relationship between Division 3 and the Museum. My personal opinion is that the Museum should have its own distinct model railroad group/club. Although I think we should be involved, I don’t want the Division to get bogged down with management of the railroad project. Our board meetings are full as it is. I would prefer that the club be a 100% NMRA organization, and that the Division 3 Superintendent (whomever that might be) should have a seat on the board of that group.
It’s a very exciting time for Division 3 right now - there are a lot of new layouts being constructed in the area by some extraordinary modelers. We have a regional convention here next year. We will hopefully start construction on a new club layout at the museum in late 2002 or early 2003. There will be a national convention in Cincinnati in 2005. This is all in addition to our normal operations of monthly meetings, model contests, clinics, layout tours, and the November Train Show.
Happy Modeling!
Ray
© 2001 Division 3, MCR, NMRA