Next JRD Meeting

JRD Spring Meeting

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Location:

Fort Hill United Methodist Church

106 Oakridge Boulevard

Lynchburg VA 24502

Link to Map

Hours:

9:30 AM Registration

10:00 AM Meeting begins

12:00 approximate close of formal meet

1:00 – 4:00 Layouts open for visits

Contest:

Fire equipment, rubber or steel wheeled.

Clinics

“Modeling a Prototype Railroad”-

HO Scale Central Vermont’s Winooski

Subdivision by Mary McGuirk

Link to Marty's Blog

Layouts:

Shenandoah and Southern Rail Road

John Siegle’s HiRail layout

Forest & Westrern; Chris Schiecks HO

freelance PRR, N&W and Southern

equipped layout

MER Convention

The C&P Junction Convention in Rockville, Maryland, will pay special attention to operations. Modelers who replicate prototype railroads with engineers, yardmasters and brakemen will find call board operations involving more than ten layouts, some nationally known and published in the hobby press. Some of the operating layouts are free-lance; others follow railroads such as the Erie Lackawanna mainline and the Pennsylvania, Reading and Western Maryland. Operations expert Steve King will present a three-hour clinic on Timetable and Train Order Operation, followed by offering modelers designated layouts for operating. Those who have met with Steve swear by his approach. C & P Junction, Crowne Plaza Hotel (www.cprockville.com) with a free shuttle to the Metro and other points. For the latest information and news, visit our website: Google C & P Junction-Comcast.net orhttp://home.comcast.net/~CandP2013/ . For questions, email CandP2013@comcast.net.

Marshall Abrams, Potomac Division, co-chairman

Kurt Thompson, Chesapeake Division, co-chairman

John Roberts passes away

I just received word that John Roberts passed away peacefully in
Williamsburg, Virginia last evening, March 1, 2013.

John was NMRA President, 2004-2006, Vice President, 2000-2004, Eastern District Director, 2009-2013, MCR President and Trustee, 1989-1993, and over the years held a number of other elected and volunteer offices throughout the NMRA. He was a well-known model railroad author and was the builder of several highly regarded layouts in HO and O scale.

John had contracted Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare brain condition that causes a rapid decrease of mental function and movement, and inevitably leads to death. John first showed symptoms of the disease in early 2012.

The visitation will be held at 1 pm on Friday, March 8, at the Peninsula Funeral Home in Newport News, Virginia, with the funeral beginning at at 2 pm. Interment will be nearby.

John is survived by his wife, Suzie, his children, John (Collette) and
Whitney, and two granddaughters.

The family has asked that in lieu of flowers, memorial gifts be sent to the Diamond Club, National Model Railroad Association, Inc., 4121 Cromwell Rd., Chattanooga, TN 37421. Cards and letters may be sent to the family at 104 Heritage Pointe, Williamsburg, VA, 23188.

We will have more information as it becomes available.

Please feel free to pass this information along to those on your NMRA and model railroading lists.

Mike Brestel

George Washington's Train Show

The C&O Historical Society's annual train show will be Feb 16th and 17th in Clifton Forge, VA.  Further information is available on the Society's website.  www.cohs.org

MER 2013

The following message is from the MER 2013 Convention Host Division:

Be there! MER Convention: 2013

Tony Koester. Marty McGuirk. Monroe Stewart. Howard Zane. Tally ‘em up and put ‘em down for the MER Convention in Rockville, MD on Columbus Day weekend, 2013. Tony Koester, chronicler of Trains of Thought, his extraordinary sagas of modeling, will present a clinic and serve as Banquet speaker. Marty McGuirk, developing his new Central Vermont-Winooski Division, will conduct a clinic and illustrate his progress in fine scale modeling. Monroe Stewart, builder of Hootch Junction, will open his layout for N and HO enthusiasts. And Howard Zane, legendry builder of the Piermont Division, will host a layout open house in nearby Columbia. With those talents alone, modelers are signing for Rockville now. Watch our webpage for further developments!  http://home.comcast.net/~candp2013/  Send email to CandP2013@comcast.net .

Marshall Abrams, Co-Chair, C&P Junction
Kurt Thompson, Co-Chair, C&P Junction

Save the Date of April 6th

The next meeting of the JRD will be in Lynchburg on April 6th.   Remember the contest is still set to be fire equipment either rubber or steel wheeled.  More details on location and time to follow

NMRA Sigs

There are many Special Interest Groups that allow those who share like interests to share thoughts and passions about facets of the hobby.  They are usually referred to as SIGs for short.  These are different than the typical RR historical society that focuses on one specific line.  Some include topics such as operations, layout design, early rail, and the Civil War.  

In future posts some of the SIGs will be explored in more detail and maybe one will appeal to you enough to join that group.

JRDs own Radical Flats mentioned in Blog

The JRD's own Radical Flats was prominently mentioned in a blog by Lance Mindheim on how to build a great simple layout by New Years.  The idea is that you could in the last two weeks of the year build a very basic switching layout using some code 70 track and the Radical Flats building fronts.  Great idea and one worth considering if you are a beginner or never seem to get a layout built.  Add a couple cars, dcc/sound switcher and a basic DCC system and you have an operating layout that can fit on a bookshelf.

Podcast worth your time

If you are like many of us who commute long distances and want to listen to something other than the same song for the 5th time or the same news story rehashed from yesterday then take a look at The Model Railway Show. Each show is about 30 minutes and is available from iTunes or other subscription sources.   For example, Episode 45 had Doug Gurin of LDSIG and Charlie Getz of the NMRA. Take a listen and see what you think.

Pictures of Rail Destruction from Sandy

The following link shows some of the rail damage from Sandy

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nj_transit/sets/72157631895879101/

More On C&O Clinic