Hudson Hollow Revisited

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PicNik Prep

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‘s annual PicNik is just around the proverbial corner, so with this in mind, preparations for the big event are underway. club members Doug Davis, John Fleming, and Brian King gathered
together over the course of Saturday, May 10 to move the N-Trak layout out of storage and into Brian’s basement. This only made sense since having the layout reside outside in storage and not be used was a waste of space and usefulness. After much grunting and groaning, the modules were all moved to the basement and assembly began. Of course, more preliminary preparations were required as Brian was able to obtain some carpet to put under the eventual layout. Finishing up this minor task, the final setup of the layout began in earnest. All went well until it came time to put the legs on the last module. Where were those legs? Finally, a different set of legs ended up being used so the layout could be completed. We still don’t know where the missing legs are located. Next came placing all the connecting tracks in the layout. This is a rather tedious job with only a few people, but success was accomplished after a relatively short time. Now the moment of truth, would everything run? The red line had some problems because the yard was not properly lined up for trains to pass through from one end to the other. The line ran alright, just not through the yard. The yellow and blue lines were properly aligned and ran well. There were some issues with the yellow line, but those were figured out and dealt with appropriately. Minor adjustments were made later and the N-Trak layout is back!

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Working together!

basement_ntrak_0614_03 basement_ntrak_0614_02 basement_ntrak_0614_04 basement_ntrak_0614Pics from our basement work session, May 10.

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T-Trak Progression

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The photos at left illustrate the before and after of the t-trak modules has built over the past few years. These modules are a testament to the remarkable talent available from members in recreating a visual spectacle everyone can appreciate. Lorenzo comes up with some new and exciting ideas, John assists in scenicking the modules with his creative talents, and members reap the benefits of the public’s admiration for these terrific displays. The combination of innovation, creativity, and talent is a winning situation for and those fortunate enough to see these fabulous works of art.
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From the Desk: April 2014

Here it is April already! ’s annual Valley Rail Sights show is just around the corner. Activities leading up to this show have been hectic, to say the least. New modules in both HO and N scale have been under construction and most have been completed. Many of these new modules will be in the show at the Masonic Temple in Ilion. This is where club members efforts really shine. The ingenuity, craftsmanship, and creativity all come out in the new modules. What is not so apparent is the effort behind getting all these items to the show. The setup before and the tear down after the show are not noticed by anyone except the club members. There are many hours spent doing the preparations for this show and the time and work involved is extensive. All this work is rewarded by the attendance of the public at the show. The smiles and discussions generated by the displays are the “pay” for most of the members. The many questions about how this or that was made, the ideas behind many of the unique modules, and the general theme of model railroading all tend to bring out the best in everyone.

Every show brings new visitors as well as old to the displays. It is always refreshing to meet new people and reminisce with the old friends. The children always bring smiles with their excited looks and amazement at the trains. Parents are always happy to see the trains because they know there is nothing offensive about Thomas the Tank and his friends. With so many different facets to model railroading, there is bound to be some point of interest for nearly everyone. One point of interest has been watching a train go around and come back on itself in a reversing loop.
has been working on an automatic reversing loop system for over a year now without any complete success. It seems the simplest problems have the most complicated solutions. This has turned into an international issue with help coming from all parts of the world. Eventually an acceptable solution may pop up, but it surely is taking a long time to arrive. Whenever the problem is solved, will be there with the module for everyone to see. Hopefully, this will happen in the very near future! Meanwhile, the show must go on and is preparing for exactly that at the end of this month. Come on out to the annual Valley Rail Sights show and enjoy the fun. See you there!

Brian

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FUNTRAK at FFC

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club member John Fleming assembles another t-trak unique layout at the Family Fun Center in Mohawk where conducted its March monthly meeting. John has been responsible for much of the scenery work on many of the recent modules has constructed. His artistic talent is truly “magic” on many of these wonderful modules. More examples of the before and after effect of John’s handiwork are illustrated inside. Keep up the great work, John!

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From the Desk: March 2014

The second annual Fisher Elementary Traintastic Show sponsored by and the Parent Teacher Organization has come and gone and has been regarded as a resounding success. Along with cooperative weather, the crowds were bigger, the layouts were different and upgraded from the last show, vendors were in attendance, the food was plentiful, the children delighted, and the adults had a great time. What more could one ask for?

This year, the show layouts expanded and included many new scenes, as well as modules for the public to peruse and enjoy. Multiple scales were represented so visitors could compare and appreciate the different model trains. The local news media came to enjoy our family-oriented activities and report on the educational value of the model railroad hobby. With the many skills necessary to construct a model railroad, the opportunity to learn a number of these skills is readily available to anyone willing to partake of the knowledge available from the experts at these shows. From art to construction, electricity to carpentry, math, history, and English, model railroading encompasses all these areas into one excellent, family-oriented hobby where everyone can participate and get hands on experience.

With today’s technology, many of these things can be accomplished with a computer. The research, development, and designing of the railroad can all be done via the many programs available, as well as utilizing the Internet to help. Videos for “how to” are available for nearly every facet of the hobby and the results of other’s efforts can be appreciated through this medium. We are truly in the middle of the “Information Age” where almost anything you want to know about can be easily found with the tools of technology we have at our disposal. Communication is remarkably fast. There is very little lag time between asking a question and getting an answer today. If you are looking for a satisfying hobby that not only can you enjoy individually, but also with friends and family, then model railroading may be the avenue you should consider. It will enhance the skills you already possess and allow you to learn new ones to keep you interested in the hobby. Help from others is always available from multiple sources and most often willingly supplied by the members of the model railroad community. Clubs always welcome new members where expertise abounds and camaraderie is the order of the day. So, in answering the question of what more could one ask for, why not a new and exciting hobby that the entire family can participate in and have a fabulous time?

Brian


Fantastic Traintastic

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returned to Fisher Elementary School in Mohawk over the weekend of 22 and 23 February to support the Fisher Parent Teacher Organization. The winter weather actually cooperated for this weekend show. Saturday was a pleasant day with unseasonably warm weather which fortunately carried over to Sunday. Attendance was up over the last show
did here. All the layouts were expanded from their last showing and all ran well, as expected. All the visitors were in awe of the size of the layouts and the fine details displayed. The variety of layouts in multiple scales added to the excitement for the spectators and the smallest of the observers were pleasantly surprised by the height of the layouts as this allowed them visual access which can be a problem at some shows. Everything ran wonderfully for the entire weekend. Another great show now in the books for . Hope to see you at ’s next outing.

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From the Desk: February 2014

Welcome to winter! The weather outside is NOT delightful, as the old song goes. It has been cold for the major portion of January and does not look like it will warm up to close out the month. So what have ’s members been doing to counter this atrocious weather? Why, attending old shows for the first time in many moons, and continuing to build new, exciting, different, and novel ttrak modules, of course!

For the first time since 2006, was invited to attend the January Toy Train Collectors Society annual show at Union Station. provided a small t-trak layout for the public’s enjoyment to augment the large contingent of Lionel trains at the show. This little layout generated a lot of interest among the spectators and pleased the vendors, since now their customers interested in something other than the Lionel O scale trains could actually see something else operating. All went well and everyone had a great time. The layout ran well after some initial adjustments were made to correct for some minor oversights. anticipates that we will be back again next year now that the promoters realize we no longer need huge amounts of space to accommodate our small empires.

Speaking of small empires, the newest modules have been constructing involve only a single loop when assembled as a point to point layout. One end of the loop is a crossing loop while the opposite end is a balloon shaped circle. This arrangement limits the size of trains to a restricted length as well as allowable motive power that is able to traverse the small radius curves. However, it does make it easy to assemble layouts in unusual shapes if desired. This simplified design also means that one person should have no problem in maintaining the layout alone, if necessary, since only one train will usually be running around the layout. The crossing loop is visually exciting because it looks like the train is going to collide with itself, but it doesn’t! This is just another example of where has been at the forefront of design for this newest venue of N scale model railroading by designing, building, and operating some of the most unique t-trak modules to be displayed anywhere.

Other areas where is moving forward include the HO division, which Greg Brockway has overseen exceptionally well. His dedication and ambition have made the HO modules more and more popular and are ever expanding. Because of his efforts, is more visible to the general public and able to attract more people into the fold.

Finally, January saw the annual show at Springfield have its usual huge attendance, but was noticeably missing any t-trak participation. We believe this will soon be rectified when the promoters are approached by some of the t-trak interested modelers next year. This may lead to becoming a participant again, albeit not with the larger n-trak modules but rather, the smaller, more convenient t-trak modules, at this huge event. Time will tell. Next up this month will see back at Fisher Elementary in support of the PTO over the weekend of February 22nd . Make a point to come out and support both and the PTO. Bring the family. After all, our first name is FUN! See you there.

Brian

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January Train Show: TTCS Utica Train Show

was delighted to participate in the 33rd Annual Toy Train Collectors Society Utica Show on January 19.

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