HO MOD SIG MONTHLY MTG. MINUTES, April 14, 2007, Claire’s Pantry in Seattle
Norm Curtis, Chairman

COMMENTS:
1. Meeting Date: The next meeting is May 12 ‘07, back at at Andy’s Diner in Seattle. (8:30 am).

PAST SHOWS:
2. NETC Show: Lake City, April ’07, Curtis
This show is one month long with members operating the layout on the four Saturdays. Setup went extremely smooth with a very good group present to load in and setup. The crowds have been normal for the site with people usually spending considerable time at the display and discussing various issues. Manpower has been adequate and extra people have shown up to enjoy the track time and help out the assigned personnel.

NEXT SHOWS:
3. Snoqualmie Days: August, Peters
No news on this one yet.
4. Auburn Good Ol’ Days: August 18-19, Tabor
No news on this one.
5. Note: that there are no scheduled shows during the months of May, June, or July. This is unusual. Any opportunities should be looked for.

NEW BUSINESS:
6. An Additional Show, The’08 Northern Pacific Convention, was brought up for consideration by Ross Tabor and approved.
7. Steam Engine in Town: Alexander,
A UP steam engine will be visiting the Seattle area in May. You might want to go down and watch it go by. The schedule is posted at http://www.upsteam.com/schedule.html#schedule
8. Wheel Cleaner: Curtis,
I displayed a wheel cleaner board that hopefully will facilitate cleaning wheels on locos and cars. The innovations include a magnetic device to hold down the paper towels, a moveable track (move track instead of the towels), and a pad for the electrical pickup. We have found that medical pads work better than paper towels that shred quickly during cleaning.
9. NCE Software Upgrade: Curtis
An upgrade is available which boasts the following improvements: The new one supports 28 functions, playable whistle, enhanced accessory control, and enhanced consist ops.
10. OPS at the NETC: Curtis,
There has been some interest in attempting an ops session at the NETC layout. I have scheduled a session on the afternoon of the last day, Apr 28, when there is sufficient manpower. We probably ought to get started about 1 PM. I’ll be sending out information on this before this time. I will need to know who is interested, the roles you would be interested in, and then send you some information beforehand.

OLD BUSINESS:
11. Own Road Names:
We have been seeking a Road Name for our layout. Suggestions were solicited last month and a few were received. After studying the list, it was decided to get a few more suggestions before choosing a name. I’ll be sending out information on this later.
12. BSME Layout Visit: Alexander
Last month Dave brought to our attention, the open houses at the BSME (Bellingham Society of Model Engineers). Although there was considerable interest in a group visit last month, little interest was show this month. FYI they have open houses frequently, so you may want to go by yourself. Information is available on the following WEBSITE:
<http://www.bsme.org/Press/Open%20House%20Poster%202007-02-10.pdf>
13. Skoals Visit: Jones
Mike was going to set up a visit to Paul Skoals fantastic narrow gauge layout, but Mike couldn’t make the meeting. More information later when I hear.
14. Status of TV Stand:
We are in a kind of standoff on this issue. Some want a stand of various designs and some want the status quo as what we have is working OK.
15. Status of WEBSITE photo: Curtis
I am waiting for a good show site to take another photo.
16. Status of UTP Panels On Corners: Curtis,
When I took the corner Plexiglas pieces to Tapp Plastic for hole drilling they said that the panels would likely break and refused to cut the holes fearing that they would break one or more in the process. As an alternative, we will try to place a "bus socket" outside on the corner, supported by Velcro between the skirt and the Plexiglas.
17. Status of Switching Flag: Curtis
To help avoid collisions between mainline trains and people switching cars on their modules, some sort of signal is needed to be posted while switching. It was decided to use some sort of blue blinking light that could be posted above the backboard. In addition to making us aware of the congestion, it would also attract visitor’s attention to the activities going on at the site.
18 Status Of Track Joiners: Curtis
I am still waiting on a source of a short piece of n-scale track. Maybe I’ll try a piece of wire instead.
19. Status Of Train Running Board: Curtis
It was decided to use a magnetic board for the system. Members will have their Name, Road Name, and Loco Numbers on small magnetic strips that can be posted on a metal board by "inner or outer tracks" indicating who is running and where. Bob B. will make labels for the strips and Al has some suitable magnetic tape. It’s not practical to make strips for every single train because some people have many trains and some people rarely use some trains. Maybe we can have some labels that are transient for one or few time users. We’ll be collecting the information from individuals by email and make up these labels. I’ll be sending out information on this later.
20. Ops at Cherry Valley: Norm
Our numbers have been shrinking to the point that ops is almost impossible. Earlier reliability issues have made ops difficult and people have lost interest. At the last session, semaphores at stations, some car exchanges, and a time schedule was used, adding a great deal of interest. Let’s see if we can increase our presence and make this a go.
21. WEBSITE: Ellis
Work continues on the WEBSITE revision.