HO MOD SIG MONTHLY MTG. MINUTES, Oct 13, 2007, Black Bear Diner in Redmond
Norm C., Chairman

COMMENTS:
1. Meeting Date: The next meeting is Nov 10 ‘07, 8:30 a.m., Black Bear Diner in Redmond

PAST SHOWS:
2. Lynden Lions, Lynden Fairgrounds, Oct 6-7 Dave A. coordinator:
It looked like everyone had a good time. Lynden is usually fun because the drive there and back in the fall is extraordinary, the facility is A1, the host is very helpful, and the people that go have outstanding commitment and are some of our best operators. The layout was large, using all the extra corners in spite of not having Bob’s six. A few bugs did occur, as follows: The large cabs worked inconsistently. None of our usual fixes seemed to eliminate. We are going to add more power to the circuit by tapping our 12 bus on 2 more corners and the bridge that are always present. I will also contact NCE about the problem. Another bug was that the floor markings installed by the host were not square. We’ll have to watch out for that where tile or concrete joints are not present. The Plexiglas keeps slipping off the modules on the new outside corners, so more Velcro and glue will be added. Good job, Dave.

NEXT SHOWS:
3. Maple Valley, Ravensdale, Oct 20-21, Ross:
Although this has turned out OK, there was a lot of difficulty getting this set up. Fortunately it all worked out because several people stepped up at the last minute with modules and as helpers. That was very gratifying to see. See the email update sent out Oct 13^th for information about the show

4. GTE in Puyallup, Nov 17-18, Mike S:
Status is that we are "pending." I’ll let everyone know whether we go when I hear.

5. New Show, NETC in December, Norm:
More on this next breakfast.

NEW BUSINESS:
6. 2008 PNR convention Norm:
While at Lynden, I was contacted by a representative of the 7^th Division Chilliwack Interchange 2008 Committee who is putting on the 2008 PNR convention next year in Canada. These division conventions are second in importance to the National convention and are put on by different divisions each year. We discussed the pros and cons and decided not to participate. Some members did express an interest in attending, however.

6. Rail joiner possibility, Pete G.,
We currently use Atlas rail joiners to install the 9" (and other) jumper tracks. It is a difficult, time consuming, error prone, and imperfect process. Pete discovered another method while visiting other layouts in Lynden and brought a sample. They used code 70 rails soldered to the sides of the jumper tracks. These modified jumpers are simply snapped in place. Pete is going to make more of these and give them a try on his Neverland Branch Line modules. Check them out when you can.

OLD BUSINESS:
7. Meeting site:
The Black Bear breakfast experience was much better this month. For most of the meeting we had the "back room" to ourselves. Also, I checked to see if Andy’s has reopened on Saturday mornings and found that they open at 11 am. It looks like we’re at the Black Bear for awhile.

8. Name badges, Rob S:
We used to have name badges used for meetings and even at shows. The original set, made by Paul, has mostly been lost over time. There is renewed interest in badges. There appear to be several designs, from write-on adhesive cards, simple card in a plastic holders, engraved metal badges with our logo, engraved plastic badge, etc. Our plan was to get more information about costs and styles and revisit this. Unfortunately, data was not available at this time, so it will be brought up again at the next meeting.

9. Myspace presence, Paul G:
Paul brought to our attention the possibility of posting a page on MySpace. This would be an additional and convenient way to reach out to the larger world, especially the younger set. This was approved and Paul volunteered to set us up with a page. Many of us can learn a new venue on the Internet. Paul had to put this off until later.

10. Own Road Names: Mike S.:
Oops this one was left off the agenda.

11. Ops at Cherry Valley, Norm C.
There will be an ops session following breakfast for the foreseeable future. Starting with this one, the sessions will be full featured, at least as good as the manpower available can make it. As an after thought, and as a courtesy, please let us know if you change your plans if we are expecting you so that we don’t have to wait for you needlessly.

12. Train Display Board, Norm C.:
We used the Train Display Board for the first time in Lynden. It indicated how many trains were out, how many were on each track, and who was running. I found it very helpful to make sure we had enough stuff out and determine which track to put a new train on.
This is a new feature and it was hard to remember to post your label when putting a train out, and removing the label when parking. Also, we did not have labels for all trains. (Some people didn’t submit their list to Bob to make the labels.) We didn’t intend to make a label for every possible train, only those used frequently. We need to find a better way to make temporary labels for infrequently run trains.

13. Flags, Norm C.:
We need a way to show other operators when the mainline is blocked due to spotting maneuvers, turnout use, and crossover use. Such a device would attract the public’s attention as well. I found some neat LED tubes about 6" that make pretty nifty flags. We tried these at Lynden with mixed results. Again it was a first time learning curve. People forgot to use them or remove them and didn’t watch out for them when running.
I brought a sample to breakfast for education and evaluation of the mounting bracket, a small piece of foam. People thought the foam worked ok. These come in 3 colors, and each color will eventually represent the inner main, outer main, both mains (crossover work). In areas where there is a lot of blocking, people should keep one at that site. For infrequent use, some will be stored at a place to be determined.