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March 2012 Meet Report and Contest Recap




March 2012 Meet Report



Invite a new friend to come to the next Meet, and see what we're all about!

We had many beautiful models displayed again for all of us to enjoy.  We had our usual model contests, photo contest, and fun was had by all.  Thank you to *all* the participants who entered and put on such a good show for the rest of us;  we hope you enjoyed our deep admiration and appreciation for your sharing your beautiful work with us.

A special thanks this quarter to Keith Wandry and Steve Wesolowski, who ran the Model Contest / Photo Contest table as John Sing was out of town on business.  Great job, guys :-).

Click on the links below to see the:
Model Contest
Show and Tell  
Clinics
Switching Contest
Photo Contest
Volunteers and People

Click here to see the upcoming Coast Division Model Contest and Photo Contest categories for future meets
 
You can click on any of the thumbnails below, to see a larger photo of the absolutely beautiful models presented at the March 2012 Meet.


Model Contest

Our March 2012 Model Contest had these two superb models.  Congratulations to our winner in the Popular Vote Model Contest for March 2012:
Category 1st Place 
2nd Place 3rd Place
Caboose

"1968 NMRA San Francisco Convention Caboose"

by Steve Wesolowski


 














                  

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Freight Car
"Nn3 Pacific Coast Railway Tank Car"

by Tom Knapp



Resin molds used to make the model:

Maintenance of Way
  (no entries)


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Thank you to all who participated - we love seeing your wonderful models.   

In the end, NMRA contests are not solely about winning. They include the enjoyment of participating, of sharing your Pride and Joy models and photos, and of Making Something YOU Want to Make. More satisfaction comes from sharing your enjoyment and inspiration with the rest of us, thereby, hopefully, re-inspiring yourself.  We all love to see your Pride and Joys and enjoy encouraging you to make more. For all these reasons,  You Always Win just by participating.  
      
Thank You to *all*, you put on a great show and inspired the rest of us.   We hope you enjoyed our admiration of your work.  

So for the next Meet, bring an entry and participate!  Bring something to share, and enter for the Fun of it in the Coast Division Model Contest.  Click here to see the upcoming Model Contest categories.  :-)

Model Contest and Show and Tell Chair: John Sing
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Show and Tell  at March 2012 Coast Division Meet

At the March 2012 Meet, we had a superb Show and Tell display. Thank you to all who brought a model for us to enjoy! 

The displays included:

MC Fujiwara brought his beautiful "Summer Shunting Shelf Project" N scale layout to display, see more info and a step-by-step how he built it, at Model Railroad Hobbyist:



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Alvin Ho's N scale 1950's Rock Island hybrid Alco RS-2m #453, these were re-engined with EMD 16-cylinder 1500 HP 567C's in 1957:

      


This great model was awarded the March 2012 Railroad Model Craftsman Kitbashing Award, and also received awards at NMRA Nationals X2011 West last year in Sacramento.
Alvin is off to a great start in life - he's 16 years old this year.

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We also had:

Alvin Ho's Yard Tower in N scale:   

Frank Markovich's shorty Westside Logging Company caboose in On3:   


Tom Vanden Bosch's UTLX nitric acid Tank Car in HO:  

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The Silicon Valley Free-MoN N scale modular layout was on display, head-honcho'd by Steve Williams: 

Thx, all, for sharing and inspiring us, and for your participation.  

Participate by bringing a model is simply for the fun and joy of it all!   Come on out at the next Meet and share with us something that you would like to share with us, to share the beauty you've seen in it- we look forward to it!   We love to see what you're up to! We want to share and enjoy your modeling fun !

Coast Division Model Contest and Show and Tell Chair: John Sing

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Clinics

We had our Clinics and Model Railroad Roundtable as we do at every Coast Division meet.   At the March 2012 Coast Division Meet, we were fortunate to have:

1)   Exploring Resin Casting

Presented by:  Tom Vanden Bosch

Exploring Resin Casting

by Tom Vanden Bosch

Tom Vanden Bosch, the Nationals 2011 winner of 1st Place, Diesel:



 will show us his techniques, tips, and tricks for using Resin Casting as a modeling tool.
Tom is a long time member PCR / Coast Division member and prolific modeler.  His work has been
featured in our quarterly Coast Division meets consistently.   Tom is currently building
models for his son's basement-size 40' x 60' HO layout in Kansas City - great father/son combination.

Here's a few shots of Tom's recent modeling contributions to our Coast Division Meet.   Come here what Tom has to say about Resin Casting!

          

Thank you, Tom, for presenting!

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2)  Capturing California Gold

Presented by: Dave Biondi

Capturing California Gold

by Dave Biondi
 


Very popular clinic by the ever popular Dave Biondi - he's will back to take us through the art of "Capturing California Gold"  
 a painting exhibition.    Dave is a member of the Layoutbuilders.com 
custom layout team, and is well known in San Francisco Bay area as having done backdrops on 
many major layouts both here and afar.   

Here's shots of Dave doing a backdrop clinic for us in December 2010: 

   

Check out this painting that Dave did right in front of us at a recent 1 hour clinic:


  Thank you, Dave, for presenting!
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3)  And of course, our ever popular Model Railroad Roundtable, moderated this time by Howard McKinney, substituting for Jerry Littlefield.

Got an idea for a clinic?   Want to see what's coming up?   Contact the Coast Division Clinics chair:    John Marshall

Thanks again to all who participated, and we look forward to seeing you at Model Contest and Show and Tell in upcoming Meets.  Bring something that you would like share - a model(s), display about your current project, a work in progress, it's up to you, as any category is always welcome for Show and Tell.   We love to see what you're up to!

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Results of the March 2012 Switching Contest :  

Here are our March 2012 Allen Fenton Switching Contest results.

Winners in the Brakeperson category (5 car problem)!

First Place Second Place Third Place
  Stan Keiser, 5:43
  John Sutkus, 7:01
   
  Chris Drome, 10:15   

Our winners in the Senior Brakeperson category (6 car problem)!
First Place Second Place Third Place
 
   Tom Crawford, 4:38
 
  Steve Wesolowski, 5:41 
       
  Tom Van Horn, 6:00 

A special thanks to our Coast Division Switching Contest Chair:  Steve Peters, who keeps the Allen Fenton Timesaver
switching puzzle running smoothly and staffs the TimeSaver for us.   Thx, Steve! 
Here's a picture of Steve: 

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Feel Free to stop and say a special Thank You to our Coast Division Switching Contest Chair:  Steve Peters, who has kept the Allen Fenton Timesaver switching puzzle running smoothly between and at our meets for a couple years now.  During those years, Steve has also staffed the TimeSaver for Coast Division at Train Shows, where Steve has shown a real talent for 'luring' First Timers into/under the TimeSaver's spell.  

News!   Steve is moving back to Colorado later this year, so Coast Division is looking for someone to take over for Steve as Timesaver Switching Contest Chair. Please Stop and Ask Steve if you have any questions and interest in volunteering when Steve leaves. One Big Benefit is taking the Allen Fenton Timesaver home between Public Appearances, where You can enjoy & improve by playing it whenever you want!  :-)

Thank You, Steve Peters, for all the TimeSaver fun you've shared with us! We hope your job brings you back often to enjoy the Allen Fenton Timesaver again after you move.

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Thanks to all who participated, it's a blast.    Remember... it's not about winning, it's about you and your switching.  You have to give it a try :-).

What is the Timesaver ?  (click below to find out!)



It is a fun, devilish little switching puzzle devised by the late, great model railroader, John Allen. 

Click on  these links above to learn more about the Timesaver, about John Allen, or his world famous HO Gorre & Daphetid model railroad, which inspired an entire generation of model railroaders worldwide.   John Allen lived in Monterey, California, and was a long time member of the Coast Division until his passing in 1973.

Allen Fenton was a long time member of Coast Division AND Operator on John Allen's Gorre & Daphetid RR who also served as Coast's Switching Contest Chair and Custodian until Allen Fenton involuntarily "retired" in 2002. ( I like to think Allen Fenton has since resumed playing the Switching Contest with John Allen again. -- Steve Wesolowski)

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Results of the March 2012 Photo Contest :    (Congratulations to all who participated!)

The theme was:  "Railroad Structures".

There were many artistic, noteworthy, and creative entries, and every one is worthy of award and mention.   Thank you to all who brought your photo to share, we all love seeing your work.  

Click on any of the thumbnails below to see a larger copy of the Photo Contest Entry.   By Popular Vote, the Photo Contest winners were:
First Place Second Place
 Third Place

 
"Semaphore"
by Stanley Keiser


"Crooked River Bridge" 
by Tom Van Horn

   
 
"Roaring Camp Water Tank" 
by Steve Wesolowski

We had a superb palette of Photo Contest entries, all of them interesting, artistic, and just excellent.  Click on a thumbnail below to see all of our other beautiful Photo Contest entries: 

     

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Thank you to *all* who participated.  We hope you enjoyed a few minutes of fame and the ongoing admiration, of your fellow NMRA modelers and guests.  Bring a photo to the next Meet's Photo Contest!

Click here to see the upcoming categories.  
Here's a picture of Coast Division Photo Contest Chair:  Keith Wandry:   

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Upcoming Model Contest categories:

Coast Division Model Contest categories are rotated annually according to the following schedule (i.e. we always have the same categories as shown below, every March, June, September and December).   The categories for the upcoming Coast Division Model Contest Meets are:

June 2012:      Structure, Display/Diorama, Self-Propelled Cars & Traction

September 2012:      Steam Locomotive, Diesel & Other Locomotives, Passenger Car

December 2012:      "Favorite Model"  (open to any category)

March 2013:            Caboose, Freight Car, Maintenance of Way


Results are determined by Popular Vote.  Arrive and enter early to get more votes!

Optional:  NMRA Judging is available at the Coast Division Meet to any Model Contest participant for:

- Achievement Program Merit Points
- Regional/National Contest entry preparation 'dry-run' and friendly expert advice     
- Or, just to see how you would have done (smile!)

Please contact the current Coast Division Model Contest Chair, John Sing,  or the current Achievement Program chair Kermit Paul, if you would to have your model judged at the upcoming meet.

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Upcoming Photo Contest categories:


June 2012:                     Diesel Locomotives            

September 2012:            Cabooses       

December 2012:             Steam Locomotives         

All photos should be matted (inexpensive, resusable mattes can be had at most art supply stores) and should be between 5x7 and 11x14 in size. Hope to see your work there!

Results are determined by Popular Vote. Bring your photos early to get the early votes.

Photo Contest Chair:  Keith Wandry  

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Volunteers and People
 
One of the great things about our Meets is sharing information and kibitzing about all things related to trains.   It's the People that make our hobby as much fun as it is.

One of the favorite Coast Division Meet activities is treasure hunting at the Auction tables.  You will find some of the most unusual and hard to find items at our quartery Coast Division auction:

 

   Plenty of items for the Armchair Railroader!          Auction Gold!



Charlie Getz gave us an update on our December 2011 visit with Frank Liu, representing the Hasea.com Model Railroad Association (HRMA) of China:



At the Spring NMRA Board Meeting, the NMRA has approved a Letter of Understanding with the Hasea.com Model Railroad Association (HRMA) of China, a community of over 100,000 railfans and model railroaders in China. The HRMA, a relatively young organization, having grown up in the past 10 years, is interested in learning how the NMRA is organized, and will promote NMRA standards in China. Members of both organizations will be able to enjoy the many benefits of each.

Charlie also let us know that the 'Model Railroad Gallery Exhibit' at the California State Railroad Museum is proceeding: 



The NMRA has received $250,000 in donations, out of the $750,000 to complete the exhibit.  There is a matching donation waiting when the next $250,000 is received.   Much exciting stuff is happening at the NMRA national level.

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Thanks to all our volunteers who help run the Coast Division!

Steve Wesolowski, our Publicity Chair (and sometime backup for Model Contest) recently summed it up well for all of us Volunteers:  

    "So many people Volunteer (they Donate Themselves) during and between our meetings to make
Coast Division's Quarterly Meetings Real Train FUN! 
    When I remember, I like to say "Thanks for the Train Fun today!" to other Volunteers
at Coast Division Meets. I also try to ask if they want or need a break.
    Every Volunteer helps Coast Meets be Successful Train Fun Gatherings.
     It takes quite a few Volunteers for so much Train Fun.
Every Volunteer makes our 'job' of Enjoying More Train Fun easier!"


Thank you, Steve, well said.  :-)  Our thanks to our many Coast Division volunteers, clinicians, and and our attendees.  We could not do any of this without each and every one of you.  Here's some pictures of volunteers from past meets   Thank you all!

Our PCR Presidente, Pat LaTorres, who also runs the Coast Division Auction Cards checkin/checkout:


  
Our Achievement Program Judges, here we see our Coast Division AP Chair Kermit Paul, MMR, and Bob Wirthlin, MMR, judging Frank Markovich's structures:



Seth Neumann, one of the National Directors of OPSIG, doing a Layout Design consultation for one of our attendees:

You can see all our current volunteers on the Coast Division Call Board by clicking here.


Invite a new friend to come to the next Meet, and see what we're all about!

See all of you at the next Coast Division Meet!.  

See you there!

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