FunTrak puts on a show for the locals at the Oneida County Historical Society, over Christmas break.

John and Lorenzo represented at Riverfront in in Amsterdam, again this year.

This year’s From The Desk is reminiscent of last year’s as many of the same events are in the news. FUNTRAK again joined with the Genesee and Ontario club at Syracuse to set up a large t-trak layout, which again utilized the red line for DCC operation, incorporated some new modules, and as always attracted large crowds of happy spectators. This year, however, FUNTRAK club member John Fleming provided his own miniature camera to take movies of the traversal around the layout. These will eventually be
edited and put up on YouTube. As usual, there was a plethora of vendors available to cater to everyone’s desires for the ordinary and the exotic. After two days of running, the show finally came to a climax, wares were packed up, and all was prepared for the next weekend in Fulton where the Oswego Valley Railroad Association sponsored their annual holiday show. FUNTRAK members John Fleming, Greg Brockway, and Brian King made the trip to Fulton on Friday evening where the N scale and HO scale t-trak layouts were set up. Provisions were made for outside participation in the N scale layout, and this occurred on Saturday when Neal Schantz showed up with two of his nicely detailed modules. These were quickly incorporated into the layout and trains were back up and running with minimal interruption. Greg’s HO layout went up without a hitch and trains were running everywhere. The weekend went by
quickly and tear down and packing up of the equipment went without any glitches. There is a lull in the schedule now until the second weekend of December when FUNTRAK, along with the Hudson Hollow Model Railroad Club, will sponsor a show in Amsterdam at the Amsterdam Riverfront Center. To round out December’s presentations, FUNTRAK will be setting up the two t-trak layouts at the Oneida County Historical Society on Genesee Street in Utica. This show is scheduled to operate
on December 24 from 10:00am until 1:00pm and then from 10:00am to 4:00pm on Thursday, December 26 through Saturday, December 29. This show is open to the public and FUNTRAK welcomes all to come and enjoy the trains! So, in the holiday spirit, Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas to all. See you at
the show and keep on training.

Brian

Funtrak was happy to participate in the Oswego Valley Railroad Association’s Annual Holiday Show.

We had a great turnout at the Syracuse show.

It is with a sad heart that I write this month’s edition of From The Desk. Following a typical fabulous dinner for FUNTRAK’s annual anniversary gala, club member Jim Domser departed to take his lady friend home and deliver a meal to club member Clayt Farrall who was unable to attend the dinner. After delivering the meals to Clayt, Jim was taken ill and discovered at a local firehouse. He was attended to and taken to the hospital where he later died. It wasn’t until nearly a week later that any information as to what happened to Jim was forthcoming. There were no calling hours and the funeral was a family affair. Jim was an avid model railroader and a staunch supporter of FUNTRAK. Any time there was need for something, Jim was the first one to volunteer to help. He was especially helpful in arranging transportation for fellow club members who had difficulties in getting to meetings or shows. If there was a supporting detail that needed attending, Jim was the man to take care of it. He never complained and was always reliable in his efforts to support the club and club members. Jim was an innovator in his own right, also. He was one of the first
to bring along a train mounted camera in a Lionel engine that allowed the public to get an engineers view of the layout at FUNTRAK’s shows. He opened his home to many meetings where he always had something new and exciting going on, whether it be with Lionel, HO, or N scale. He tried all the newest gadgets and shared his experience with the rest of the model railroad world. Although Jim was rarely in the best of health, he never complained or let this slow him down. One thing Jim always did that impressed everyone was to keep people informed about his ability to participate. If Jim couldn’t make it for any reason, he was the first to let you know and why he was unable to help. This trait made Jim a most respected member because everyone else could plan accordingly without having to worry if Jim was going to be there. Jim has now gone to the great model railroad kingdom in the beyond and we wish him peace and great model railroading. He will be
joining another great model railroader who passed away this month also, Jim Fitzgerald. This Jim was known as “Mr. N-Trak”. He was the founding father of N-Trak in the early 1970’s. Jim’s influence on the model
railroad hobby is immeasurable and he will be sorely missed. Meanwhile, the rest of us will carry on the
great traditions of model railroading and continue with the legacies that our friends and predecessors have left for us.

The FunTrak Annual Banquet. We ran some trains, had a nice meal, and just enjoyed each other’s company.

Diversity! A grand concept in many different realms. So how does diversity apply to model railroading? No two layouts are alike. This keeps the observers interest high. Since no two layouts are alike, operations, scenery, motive power, and consists are all different. More diversity. How does this apply to model railroad clubs? FUNTRAK has incorporated diversity by having multiple scales, multiple styles of layouts from N-trak to modular G and Lionel, to T-trak in N scale as well as HO. Club members represent a cross section of society, so many different ideas and concepts are presented in numerous ways. All this diversity keeps model railroading exciting for participants and viewers alike. Diversity forces new ideas and solutions to new and old problems. It also contributes to keeping those involved actively thinking about better ways to do things, new ways to build supporting equipment and modules, as well as involving fellow enthusiasts.

Currently, FUNTRAK is in the process of developing an automatic reverse loop, making larger radius corners, updating and maintaining scenery on many modules, constructing new modules in both N and HO scales, as well as attending various shows, all at the same time. The model railroad season is upon us and we are getting ready to jump right into the middle of it. Check out pictures posted from FUNTRAK’s most recent endeavors, below.

Brian was MIA for this show. Fortunately, John and Lorenzo were able to attend and provide planty of excitement and trains for the public to enjoy.[/caption]The Fonda Fair has become an annual staple for FUNTRAK along with the Clayton Thousand Islands show. Both of these shows have contributed significantly to FUNTRAK’s exposure to the public and drawn much interest over the years. Work sessions are becoming more common to add to FUNTRAK’s growing collection of model railroad equipment and modules. All of these activities add to the diversity of the club and allow for many different ways to enjoy the hobby. Whether you like to build things, run trains, railfan, or just armchair model, FUNTRAK has something diverse for everyone.

Come to the shows or a work session and see just how much fun you can truly have when you get busy in model railroading. FUNTRAK’s next event is our annual dinner at the Family Fun Center in Mohawk. We anticipate having a small N scale layout with, hopefully, some of the newly completed modules to exhibit and test before some of the upcoming major events. This should include the one-trak tee along with the reverse loop and possibly the new wider corners. Other items include the smaller corners that John Fleming recently scenicked. Some combination of modules will undoubtedly arrive at the dinner and present an interesting problem for all the FUNTRAK members to work on solving. This how diversity manages to maintain a high level of involvement and interest in the model railroad world. If you find this intriguing, come see us at one of the many model railroad shows. See you there!

Brian

Lots of hard work goes into building train layouts. But, our club members are so into their hobby that it’s not even like “work” at all!

FUNTRAK loves to get out and show off our trains!