PBL was not at the NTS and did not have a layout there. Jeff Smith RailMaster Hobbies Inc 9815 Walnut St #106 Bellflower, CA 90706 (562) 867-5627 www.railmasterhobbies.com www.facebook.com/railmasterhobbies
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Mellon, Jay Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2011 2:34 PM To: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: {S-Scale List} Report from NASG/NMRA Convention (X2011) Here is my report on the combined NMRA/NASG convention held in Sacramento, CA last week. The usual caveats apply. This report is not intended to be all inclusive for the entire convention. S Scale Layout Tour. We started off early on Wednesday (7/6) with a brief bus ride from the convention center to the Amtrak station. From there, we enjoyed our train ride from Sacramento to Richmond (north end of SF Bay). I am interested in modeling a petroleum refinery facility; this portion of the trip took us through areas with good views of prototype operations. From Richmond, we boarded a BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) train bound for Fremont. John Gibson did a masterful job of keeping the tour group from getting separated during various transportation transitions (entropy never quits!). From there, we boarded another tour bus to take us to Los Altos and the New York Central layout of Ed Loizeaux. I had seen pictures of his layout in various publications over the years. I had the distinct impression that his layout was physically larger than it really is. He has done a nice job of integrating various scenes into his layout. I could have easily spent a couple of more hours there absorbing all of the detailed modeling. However, I do not envy operators who have to negotiate those "duck-unders" (crawl-unders?) on a regular basis. Next, we visited Don Harper's Sn3 layout. This layout demonstrated how to get some nice modeling into a fairly small space. Finally, we were off to Lodi to see Arden Goehring's Union Pacific layout. There are not many S scale layouts large enough to run 30-car reefer blocks. This one can. All in all, it was a very pleasurable tour day, despite an inefficient AC system in the afternoon tour bus. Hey, we could have been in 95F (80 degree dew point) air, right? S Welcoming Social. This was a pleasant soiree allowing S folk to catch up with old friends and meet some new ones, all while enjoying a strawberry shortcake dessert and coffee. In addition, Stephen Priest, editor of the NMRA magazine, provided us with an overview of his company which provides different levels of assistance in bringing commercial modeling projects to fruition. S Vendor Room. There was "pretty slim pickins" for the S attendees at this convention. This situation was probably due mostly to production snafus caused by the "Chinese situation". Doug Peck of Port Lines Hobbies had a large display of items. Andy Malette of MLW Services was there promoting his new CNR reefer kit. Pine Canyon Scale Models had a display; they have been busy increasing the inventory levels of some structure kits that have been out of production for a while. In addition, they are looking to bring some new kits to the S market. Lee Johnson was promoting the S X2011 convention car (SP gondola prototype). A test shot of the car body was available for viewing...details looked good. They are still taking orders, if interested. Several S folk were selling off excess inventory from their personal collections. In addition, Ron Sebastian of DesPlaines Hobbies had a booth in the National Train Show with plenty of his S rolling stock to show off, as well as a test shot of the SD-45 project (production schedule not yet released). S Model Contest. Only two models were entered in the contest...both were bridges. There was some beautiful work in those models, especially the operational bascule bridge. I understand why S attendees who travel by plane or train do not bring models (severe space constraints) for the contest. But, surely some of those who travel by car could have shared their modeling efforts with the rest of us. There was a "display only" option for those reticent to enter the contest. Clinics. One major advantage to attending a joint NMRA/NASG convention is the abundance of modeling expertise available on a wide variety of subjects. Jamie Bothwell highlighted possibilities on adding Pullman Service to our modeling operations. I attended a clinic focused on repair of brass steam locos. Andy Malette gave us an overview of his soldering techniques when building brass models. And Roger Nulton took us through his weathering procedures for freight cars. National Train Show. From my experience, this was a BIG train show. I was informed that, by NMRA standards, it was not as big as usual. Never-the-less, there was lots to see. My main goal in attending the NTS was to replace my lost Bragdon weathering materials. I was successful. And, there were many layouts set up for public viewing, including 6 of the S persuasion. One of the first I viewed was the beautiful Sn3 display layout of PBL. Both the San Diego S Gaugers and Rocky Mountain HiRailers (Lookout Junction) set up their layouts to wow show attendees, especially the kids. They are to be commended for their efforts to show off S model railroading fun. For the historically-oriented, the renovated Sibley store layout featuring all AF products was on display. And, not to forget the scale fans, the BASS (Bay Area S Scalers) layout featured some gorgeous SP models; the NASG switching layout was close by. In addition, I was very impressed with the modeling efforts displayed on an On30 "freemo" style layout. NASG Business Meeting/auction/banquet. There was not a quorum of officers present, so the meeting was not "official". There was some discussion of financial/ election issues. The annual meeting for 2012 will be held in Chattanooga, TN. More information regarding this convention will be forthcoming during the next 9 months. As usual, Jaime Bothwell kept us entertained during the live auction. The banquet was held in the California State RR Museum that was reserved for exclusive browsing by attendees. My discussion with the docent in the RPO car was most enlightening. Also, the toy train displays upstairs have been greatly expanded and improved since I last saw them (11 years ago). We S attendees all owe a round of thanks and appreciation to Ed Loizeaux, Lee Johnson, and all others who helped plan and implement this coordinated NASG/NMRA convention of 2011. Jay Mellon New Orleans, LA ------------------------------------ Yahoo! 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