Pacific Coast Region - NMRA

Welcome to the Daylight Division Website!

We are one of five divisions in the Pacific Coast Region of the National Model Railroad Association.

The Daylight Division serves NMRA members residing in the California counties of Merced, Mariposa, Madera, Fresno, Tulare, Kings, Kern, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Barbara. Quarterly meets are held in various locations throughout the Division to give everyone equal opportunity to attend meetings nearby and share the long-distance drives. Carpooling is encouraged! The Daylight Division is a BIG division.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Jay Smith was named Daylight Division's "Man of the Year" by Director John Houlihan at the recent Fresno meet for his work as Industry Liaison. Jay is responsible for obtaining the wonderful donations from vendors and donors that are given as door prizes at Daylight meets. Congratulations to Jay and thank you for your efforts!
• Ballots for Superintendent and Chief Clerk/Paymaster were submitted by mail or in person and counted at the May 22^nd Daylight meet. Nineteen ballots were received unanimously electing Dave Grenier as Superintendent and Suzie Paff as Chief Clerk/Paymaster. Congratulations to both of you.
• John Houlihan's re-election, with 28 votes, as Daylight Division Director was announced at the PCR Board of Directors meeting held May 28^th at the Silver Rails 2010 PCR Convention in Sparks, Nevada. Congratulations to John.
• New issue of Daylight Observation now available
• The Daylight Division Name Badges and Shirt projects have been cancelled for the foreseeable future due to a lack of interest.

PREVIOUS MEET - May 22nd in Fresno

The Spring Daylight Division Meet was held at the home of Marlin Costello's Goshen and Goosechase Shortline Railroad in Fresno, on Saturday, May 22, 2010.

The meet started at 9:30 AM with registration, refreshments and socializing. The activities started at 10:00 AM with a trio of clinics, followed by lunch at 12:30 PM.

After lunch we had the Daylight Division business meeting, door prizes, raffle prizes, and the famous Daylight Division white elephant auction. The afternoon saw operations on the Goshen and Goosechase and tours of area layouts.

The usual white elephant auction and door prize drawing followed the business meeting, run by Auctioneer Bob Randall. Plain-wrapped white elephant items were auctioned off to the highest bidder. The fun didn't end there, but continued as the successful bidder unwrapped their newly-acquired "treasure" in front of the group for some good-natured ribbing and fun.

Clinic Chairman Doug Wagner lined up three excellent clinics for us at this meet. Gary Saxton was up first with his clinic “Use and Abuse of Microsoft Excel in Model Railroading”. After going outside to the patio, Bob Pethoud presented “Building a Portable Switching Layout” and Ron Baker presented "Geodesic Foam Scenery - an Update". Both had modules on display for us to look over to see their techniques.

Gary explained that Microsoft Excel is the "Swiss Army Knife" of software for model railroaders. It does a few things well and can be "abused" to do other useful tasks. His clinic showed us an overview of several uses - the obvious, the not so obvious and one that is off the wall. Here’s what we saw: Inventory, Waybills and Car Cards, Time Tables and String Diagrams, Track Schematics, Bridge Templates and "Paper Doll" Buildings. The concepts were shown and examples passed around for a closer look.

In his clinic, Bob talked about how John Allen's Timesaver is both a small switching layout and a fascinating game. He showed us how to build one complete module with structures, scenery, and backdrop--a finished model railroad just several feet long that is still portable, as demonstrated by the HO modules Bob had on display.

Ron's clinic was an update on the geodesic foam scenery system created by Joel Bragdon. Ron took us step-by-step through the newest techniques, developed by Joel in the latest iteration of his innovative scenery building system. He shared some of the tricks of the trade to build realistic scenery quick and easy. Ron has been working closely with Joel to learn the latest techniques for working with this unique scenery material.

A tasty and nutritious lunch was provided by our gracious host and hostess, Marlin and Patricia Costello. Thank you so much for your hospitality, Patricia and Marlin!

Industry Liaison Jay Smith had lots of great raffle prizes from model railroad manufacturers, dealers, and individuals.

Marlin had his Goshen and Goosechase open and operating during the entire meet, so a few members opted to be there all day and only came out for lunch! After the business meeting and white elephant auction, layout tours included Marlin’s HO scale Goshen and Goosechase Shortline Railroad, Chuck Harmon’s San Joaquin Central HO scale railroad, Gary Saxton's New York Ontario & Western N scale railroad and John Houlihan's basement Southern Pacific O scale railroad.

We had a great turnout in Fresno. Over 33 members and non-members joined in the fun. Sierra Division Superintendent Jim Long also joined us and participated in the activities. If you missed the Spring Meet, you missed a great time. The next meet is in Tehachapi August 21st. Hope to see you there!

QUARTERLY MEET SCHEDULE

• August 28, 2010 - Village Grill Restaurant, 410 East Tehachapi Blvd, Tehachapi, CA
  NEW DATE! (as of 6/14/10)
• November 20, 2010 - Hilding Larson's home, San Luis Obispo, CA
• February 2011 - TBD
• May 2011 - TBD
• August 2011 - TBD

UPCOMING EVENTS in DAYLIGHT DIVISION

• June 24 to 28 - West Coast Narrow Gauge Invitational, Pacific Coast RR Co., Historic Santa Margarita Ranch, San Luis Obispo County, CA. Flyer
• June 26, 2010 - 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, June Toy Train Meet, Central California Division Toy Train Operating Society, Big Fresno Fairgrounds, 1121 S. Chance Ave, Fresno, CA.
  
  Admission: $5.00; Child under 12 FREE with paid adult admission. Multiple operating layouts and gauges. Buy-Sell-Trade. Tables $20.00 each. SBE info required.
  
  Info: (559) 674-2313, rrdawg@attitude.com
• August 28, 2010 - 9:30 am, Daylight Division Meet, Village Grill Restaurant, 410 E. Tehachapi Blvd, Tehachapi, CA. Map
  
  New date! (as of 6/14/10)
  
  Come early at 8:30 am for a hearty breakfast, socializing and a slide program from Doug Wagner's railfanning at Cajon Pass.

  Registration starts at 9:30; meet starts at 10:00 with clinics, contests, business meeting, White Elephant Auction, and door prizes, followed by layout tours.
  
  About 5:00 pm we'll have a BBQ dinner with all the trimmings, plus dessert, for $10, at John Bell's hillside home, overlooking Cable Siding. RSVP by August 15th to Doug Wagner, carldw@aol.com or (661) 589-0391.

• September 25, 2010 - 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, CANNONBALL III Train Show, Central California Division Toy Train Operating Society, Commerce Building, Kings Fairgrounds, 810 So 10th Ave, Hanford, CA,
  
  Admission: $5.00; Child under 12 FREE with paid adult admission. Multiple operating layouts and gauges. Buy-Sell-Trade. Tables $20.00 each. SBE info required.
  
  Info: Richard Plummer (559) 924-9227, ccdttos@yahoo.com
• October 7 to 11, 2010 - 2nd Annual Central Coast Railroad Festival. "ALL ABOARD!" for a variety of FREE events and activities held at numerous railroad, historical and educational locations throughout  San Luis Obispo and northern Santa Barbara Counties, organized and presented by numerous area historical and community organizations. A full schedule of events and list of participating organizations can be found at www.ccrrf.com or by calling the festival office at (805) 773-4173.
• October 22 - 24, 2010 - Friday 1:00 pm to 7:00 PM, Saturday 10:00 am to 7:00 pm, Sunday 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, The Golden Empire Train Show in conjunction with the Fall Home Show, Kern County Fairgrounds, Bakersfield, CA. Flyer
  
  Admission: $7.00; Children 12 and under: Free; Friday is Senior Day: $4.00 (Friday only)
  
  For more info: Attendee / Exhibitor
• November 20, 2010 - 9:30 am to 6:00 pm, Daylight Division Meet, Hilding Larson's home, San Luis Obispo, CA.

See the PCR Master Calendar of Events for more events all over the PCR and beyond.