The FUNTRAK annual train show, Valley Rail Sights, is this weekend! Bring the whole family and let’s see some trains! Food vendors will be on hand for snacks, retail vendors will be on hand for train enthusiasts. Saturday and Sunday—it’s going to be great fun for everyone!

FUNTRAK members Jim Domser, Lorenzo Franchi, John Fleming, and Ron Hudson all made it to Brian’s on Sunday, March 18 for the work session. They also managed to bring along the newest additions to the T-Trak stable of modules. These two modules are sized to fit in the same area as a tee module which will allow making many new configurations for the traditional T-Trak layout. Great work folks! Check back for more construction pictures of FUNTRAK’s latest modules from the Sunday session.

FUNTRAK has a scheduled meeting at Brian’s on March 18th. This meeting is in preparation for our upcoming annual show in April. Hopefully the weather will be a little warmer. We will be discussing the layouts, manning requirements, and necessary equipment for conducting the show. If you have any questions or suggestions, this is the time to bring them up. See you there.

FUNTRAK was fortunate enough to convene its January meeting back at Fisher Elementary School. This has proven to be a very accommodating arrangement for club members. Mohawk is a reasonable compromise for travel for club members and the facilities are easily accessible. This is a testament to Gene Beirne’s graciousness as a host and FUNTRAK is looking forward to more meetings and activities at Fisher Elementary School in the future.

Are you tired of paying $15 to $20 each for turnout motors? How about building your own for around $10? If this sounds like something you are interested in, have we got your ticket!

FUNTRAK’s Brian King worked on controlling common RC Servos with a simple circuit so that they could be used for turnout positioning or other applications. Download the PDF.

FUNTRAK’s eighth annual PicNik is now history. Amazingly, the weather cooperated and the rain held off until late afternoon, allowing many of the scheduled activities to be completed as planned. This year, FUNTRAK was finally able to put on the Scavenger Hunt, which had been rained out last year. Participants were not only trekking all around the yard, but solving tricky riddles. The winners, Jason Covey & Jessica Sklarz cleverly identified the author of Leatherstocking Tales. Do you know who it is?

As promised, the complete mountain line N-Trak layout was up and running. Check out the video.

Everyone enjoyed their favorite picnic fare, with many specialty dishes contributed by guests. No FUNTRAK picnic is complete without the annual Cicigline birthday cakes. This year, Anna Frances delighted guests with a Strawberry-Lemonade checkerboard cake. Games, trains, and conversation were the order of the day. FUNTRAK’s next Picnik will be August 5, 2012 and plans are already in the works for bigger and better things. Make your plans early if you want to be a part of this activity next year.

FUNTRAK club members John Fleming and Brian King spent Sunday afternoon constructing a transition module that attaches to one of the mountain corners on the FUNTRAK mountain layout. What started out as a flat module eventually ended up with a line running from the green mountain line down to the red outside main line. This arrangement actually only has a 2.2 percent grade from one level to the other. FUNTRAK will have this operational at the annual Picnik on August 7. It probably won’t be completely scenicked by then, but trains will be running. More pictures in the future as the construction phase progresses.

FUNTRAK had a great setup at Dave’s Diner. Here a couple of videos for you to enjoy.

The FUNTRAK crew has been working on building some new corner modules complete with the mountain line for use at future shows. As seen in the images below the work has been progressing. To find out more about these modules be sure to have a look at the July 2011 issue of the newsletter as a special feature will be revealed.