|
The Layout Design
(LD) and Operations (OP) Special Interest Groups (SIG) will host
a SIG clinic track Thursday on layout design and operations,
open to all convention registrants, followed by an evening of LD
and OP SIG meetings. These clinics and meetings will all take
place in the "SIG Room". Operating sessions will be held on
several model railroads in the San Joaquin Valley for those
attending the Sierra Memories Convention. Novice or first-time
operators are especially welcome to participate. Experienced
operators will be available to coach and assist.
Operating sessions
will be held on the following layouts:
|
OpSIG #1: Rob Briney, Clovis
HO, Switchlists, DCC - Digitrax
Saturday, May 3, 1:00 - 4:00 PM. Bring a Digitrax throttle if you can.
Southern Pacific and Santa Fe in Fresno
and vicinity, set in the mid-1970s to early 1980s. Rob's layout
is a 13’ x 22’ double-deck along all the walls with
helix and center peninsula. This is a switching
layout with plenty of track mileage recreating both
railroads and the many industries they worked in
Fresno, Sanger, Reedley, Dinuba, Goshen and
surrounding communities before the attempted SP-SF merger.
Switchlists are used to route freight cars. Several
custom-built structures match prototypes in the
area. Scenery is in progress. Layout is built with
welded steel benchwork. Control is by Digitrax radio
DCC. |
|
OpSIG #2: Marlin
Costello, Fresno
HO, Dispatcher, TO, Switchlists, DCC - Digitrax
a)
Wednesday, April 30, 6:00 - 9:00 PM. Bring a Digitrax throttle if you can.
b)
Saturday, May 3, 1:30 - 5:00 PM. Bring a Digitrax throttle if you can.
Goshen and
Goosechase Shortline Railroad - A 40' x 40' HO
layout in its own building features the Tehachapi
Loop, Calwa Yard, San Francisco to Oakland ferry
operations, Mojave Desert, Yosemite Valley and much,
much more. Marlin's welded steel benchwork allows a
triple decked design with 1,020 feet of mainline and
double-ended staging yards. Train control is by a
Digitrax DCC radio system, allowing a design capacity of
50 locomotives. The panel is entirely computerized
and uses Railroad & Co. for dispatching and block
detection. The entire layout can be viewed from an
overhead observation deck. The railroad has been
under construction since 1999. Mainline trackwork is
complete, scenery is in progress, and regular
operating sessions have commenced. Marlin tells the
story of his layout briefly: "Volunteer help is the
mainstay and without my friends nothing would be
done."
Website |
OpSIG #3: Chuck Harmon, Fresno
HO, Switchlists, DCC - LenzSaturday, May 3, 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM.
San Joaquin Central -
Modeling the Southern Pacific's Sacramento Division from
Roseville to Truckee (Donner Pass) in the spring of 1949,
plus a fictional branchline located on the west slope of the
Sierra Nevada. The HO mainline is 200' long, with another 100'
on the branchline. Most of the trackage is handlaid on
milled pine roadbed. Especially nice is gauntlet trackage
across Long Ravine Trestle. Control is by a Lenz DCC system.
Scenery is about 25% complete.
Photos |
OpSIG #4: Ed Matheny, Tulare
HO, CC/WB, DCC - Digitraxa) Saturday, May 3, 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM. Lunch: 12:00 - 1:00 PM. Bring a Digitrax throttle if you can.
b)
Sunday, May 4, 1:00 - 7:00 PM. Bring a Digitrax throttle if you can.
NOTE: Ops slots are in 90-minute increments. You do not have to be there all day!
This
HO-scale Santa Fe and Union Pacific layout in
Tulare occupies a generous outbuilding behind Ed's home. A
truly operational layout, the entire railroad is on one
level, with only one slight grade. Monthly operating
sessions often begin in the morning and last into the
evening hours, with operators switching the many industries
and interchanging cars between the two railroads. The layout
has complete scenery, with many operating scenes and lots of
lighting for night running. DCC is Digitrax. |
|
OpSIG #5: Jim Niell, Madera
HO, Dispatcher, CC/WB, DCC - NCE
Friday, May 2, 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM. Bring an NCE throttle if you can.
Southern Pacific and Santa Fe from
Bakersfield to Mojave featuring the Tehachapi Loop.
Layout is a 30’ x 30’ point to point double-deck
with staging yards at each end. The era is set in
the 1970s and 1980s. Highly realistic scenery is 85%
complete. Recognizable scenes include Kern Junction,
Edison, Sandcut, Caliente, Bealville, Woodford and
of course, Walong (the Loop). Heavy mainline
operation with some switching. Train movements
governed by dispatcher and working prototypical
Automatic Block Signal system. Switching uses car
cards. Monthly operating sessions have been held for
several years. Control is by NCE DCC. Website |
The
Layout Design SIG's prime
purpose is to help modelers design and build a model railroad to enhance future operations with
minimum space and cost, while avoiding common design flaws, and
include prototypical and model design features that maximize
operating interest and visual interest.
The
Operations SIG is devoted to
furthering the simulation of prototypical operating practices by
using the forms, procedures, communications, and train schedules
on model railroads.
Members of the
other NMRA SIGs are welcome to participate in Sierra Memories
2008 and encouraged to contact the SIGs Activities Chairman.
SIGs Activities Chairman:
Seth Neumann
|
