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December 2011 Meet Report and Contest Recap
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You can
click on any of the thumbnails below, to see a larger photo of
the absolutely beautiful models presented at the December 2011
Meet.
Model Contest
Our December
2011 Model Contest had superb models models, congratulations to our
winners, and to all of our participants in the Popular Vote Model Contest
for December 2011:
| Category |
1st Place
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2nd Place |
3rd Place (tie) |
Favorite Model
(open
category)
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"Skinner's Row"
from a Fine
Scale Miniatures kit
by: Earl Girbovan
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Old-Time
Pennsylvania RR Inspection Car
by: Al Kuhn
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UP Turbine #57 with Richfield fuel car
by: Jere Ingram
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We had a plethora of excellent participants competing
in the December 2011 Model Contest. The
other worthy contestants were:
Barry Chinn's scratchbuilt turnouts:
Pat LaTorre's disconnect log car in O scale:
Frank Markovich's trestle:
Steve Wesolowski's "I lost my DCC virginity in Z
scale" GP35:
Thank you to all who participated - we love seeing
your wonderful models.
In the end,
NMRA contests are not solely about winning. They
include the enjoyment of
participating, of sharing your Pride
and Joy models and photos, and
of Making Something YOU Want to Make. More satisfaction
comes from sharing your
enjoyment and inspiration with the
rest of us, thereby, hopefully,
re-inspiring yourself. We all love to see your Pride
and Joys and enjoy encouraging you to make more. For all
these reasons, You
Always Win just by participating.
Thank You to *all*, you
put on a great show and inspired the rest of
us. We hope you enjoyed our admiration of
your work.
So for March 11, 2012,
bring an entry and participate! Bring something to
share, and enter for the Fun of it in the Coast Division
Model Contest. Click here
to see the upcoming Model Contest categories.
:-)
Model Contest
and Show and Tell Chair: John
Sing
Show
and Tell
at
December 2011 Coast Division Meet
At the December 2011 Meet, we
had a superb Show and Tell display.
Thank
you to all who brought a model for us to
enjoy!
The
displays included:
Mike Coen's beautiful
Sacramento Northern GP7, custom-painted and detailed:
Jim Eckman's "Dollar Models" -
take a standard model and really make something of it:
Frank Markovich's stunning structures, all of which received Achievement Awards:
Bob Wirthlin's scratchbuilt Thomas The Tank Engine for
his daughter's doll set!
Thx,
all, for sharing and inspiring us, and for your
participation.
Participate by bringing a model is simply for the fun and joy of it
all! Come on out in March 2011 and share with us
something that you would like to share with us, to share the beauty
you've seen in it- we look forward
to it! We love to see what you're up to! We want to
share and enjoy your modeling fun !
Coast
Division
Model Contest and Show and Tell Chair: John Sing
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Clinics
We had our Clinics
and Model Railroad
Roundtable as we do at every Coast Division
meet. This time, we were fortunate to have:
1) Operations,
Plain and Simple
Presented by: Seth Neumann
An initiation into the
wonderous world of operations, with a view to the simple.
Seth
provides a Ops counselling after his clinic to delighted
participants.
Seth Neumann is a National Director one of the National
Directors of the Operations Special Interest Group (OPSIG). Seth gave a
superb clinic on Operations, the wonders, joys, and challenges,
for us all. See more about operations at the OPSIG web site. See how
exciting Operations can be by visiting the BayRails web site. Every
other year, Operations enthusiasts from all over the USA come to
the Coast Division's area for an Operations fiesta. This year,
the major league ProRails operations event will be in the San
Francisco Bay Area as well.
Thank you, Seth, for presenting!
2)
Constructing Resin Kits
Presented by: Dave Connery
Dave gave a fantastic clinic on resin kit construction, sharing
his closely held secrets and techniques with an enthusuastic
membership!
A near riot broke out when a rumour was started that there were
free donuts involved!
Dave Connery is one of the San Francisco Bay Area's accomplished
modelers and is well known nationally. He models both the
Sierra Railway and the Virginia and Truckee in various eras. The
Sierra portion is modeled in 1929, and the Virginia and Truckee
is modeled in the later years of operation, around the late
40's. Dave is very knowledgeable about both railroads, has done
presentations on them at the V&T symposium, the Sierra
Railway seminar, and the NMRA convention. You can see a nine
minute YouTube of Dave's layout here. Thank
you, Dave, for presenting!
3) And of course, our ever popular Model
Railroad
Roundtable, moderated by Jerry
Littlefield
Got an idea for a
clinic? Want to see what's coming
up? Contact the Coast Division Clinics
chair: John Marshall
Thanks again to all who participated, and we
look forward to seeing you at Model Contest and Show and
Tell in upcoming Meets. Bring something that you
would like share - a model(s), display about your current
project, a work in progress, it's up to you, as any
category is always welcome for Show and Tell.
We love to see what you're up to!
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.
Results of the December
2011 Switching Contest :
Here are our December 2011 Allen Fenton Switching Contest
results.
Winners in the Brakeperson category (5 car problem)!
| First
Place |
Second
Place |
Third
Place |
Eugene Bricahcek, 5:50
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Jim Smyrak, 7:15
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Our winners in the Senior Brakeperson category (6 car
problem)!
| First
Place |
Second
Place |
Third
Place |
Tom Crawford,
5:18
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Steve Wesolowski, 5:25
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Alan Havens, 6:15
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A special thanks to our Coast Division Switching
Contest Chair: Steve
Peters, who keeps the Allen Fenton Timesaver
switching puzzle running smoothly and staffs the
TimeSaver for us. Thx, Steve!
Here's a picture of Steve: 
Feel Free to stop
and say a special Thank You to our Coast Division
Switching Contest Chair: Steve Peters, who
has kept the Allen Fenton Timesaver switching
puzzle running smoothly between and at our meets for a couple years
now. During those years, Steve has also staffed
the TimeSaver for Coast Division at Train Shows,
where Steve has shown a real talent for 'luring'
First Timers into/under the TimeSaver's
spell.
News!
Steve is moving back to Colorado later this year,
so Coast Division is looking for someone to take
over for Steve as Timesaver Switching Contest
Chair. Please Stop and Ask Steve if you have any
questions and interest in volunteering when Steve
leaves. One Big
Benefit is taking the Allen Fenton Timesaver
home between Public Appearances, where You can
enjoy & improve by playing it whenever you
want! :-)
Thank You, Steve
Peters, for all the TimeSaver fun you've shared
with us! We hope your job brings you back often to
enjoy the Allen Fenton Timesaver again after you
move.
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Thanks
to all who participated, it's a
blast. Remember... it's not about
winning, it's about you and your switching. You
have to give it a try :-).
What is the Timesaver
? (click below to find out!)
It is a fun, devilish little switching puzzle devised by the
late, great model railroader, John Allen.
Click on these links above to learn more about the
Timesaver, about John
Allen, or his world famous HO Gorre &
Daphetid model railroad, which inspired an entire
generation of model railroaders worldwide. John
Allen lived in Monterey, California, and was a long time
member of the Coast Division until his passing in 1973.
Allen Fenton was a long time member of Coast
Division AND Operator on John Allen's Gorre & Daphetid
RR who also served as Coast's Switching Contest
Chair and Custodian until Allen Fenton involuntarily
"retired" in 2002. ( I like to think Allen Fenton has since resumed playing the
Switching Contest with John Allen again. -- Steve
Wesolowski)
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Results
of the December 2011 Photo Contest :
(Congratulations to all who participated!)
The theme was: "Favorite Photo".
There were many artistic, noteworthy, and
creative entries, and every one is worthy of award and
mention. Thank you to all who brought your
photo to share, we all love seeing your
work.
Click on any of the thumbnails below to see a larger
copy of the Photo Contest Entry. By Popular Vote, the
Photo Contest winners were:
| First Place |
Second Place
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Third Place
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"UP 844 on Altamont Pass July 2010"
by Eugene Brichacek
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"Santa Fe Dash 9s"
by John Sing
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"SP Classic
Profile"
by Patrick LaTorres
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We had a superb palette of Photo Contest entries, all of
them interesting, artistic, and just excellent.
Click on a thumbnail below to see all of our other
beautiful Photo Contest entries:
Once again, our Favorite Photo's Least Voted for entry was Steve W's
Favorite Photo Entry, "Tie Dyed Brake Working Man in Sparks
Yard". (tongue-in-cheek :-) Steve Wesolowski)
Thank
you to *all* who
participated.
We hope you enjoyed a few minutes of fame and the
ongoing admiration, of your fellow NMRA modelers and
guests. Bring a photo to
the next Meet's Photo Contest!
Click here to see the
upcoming categories.
Here's a picture of Coast Division Photo Contest
Chair: Keith
Wandry: 
Upcoming
Model
Contest categories:
Coast Division Model Contest
categories are rotated annually according to
the following schedule (i.e. we always have
the same categories as shown below, every
March, June, September and
December). The categories for
the upcoming Coast Division Model Contest Meets are:
March
2012: Caboose, Freight Car, Maintenance
of Way
June
2012:
Structure, Display/Diorama,
Self-Propelled Cars & Traction
September
2012:
Steam Locomotive, Diesel &
Other Locomotives, Passenger Car
December
2012: "Favorite Model"
(open to any category)
Results
are
determined by Popular
Vote. Arrive and enter early to get
more votes!
Optional: NMRA Judging is available at the
Coast Division Meet to any Model Contest participant for:
- Achievement Program Merit Points
- Regional/National Contest entry preparation 'dry-run'
and friendly expert advice
- Or, just to see how you would have done (smile!)
Please contact the current Coast Division Model Contest
Chair, John Sing,
or the current Achievement Program chair Kermit Paul, if
you would to have your model judged at the upcoming meet.
Upcoming
Photo Contest categories:
March
2012:
Railroad
Structures
June
2012:
Diesel
Locomotives
September
2012:
Cabooses
December
2012:
Steam Locomotives
All photos should be matted
(inexpensive, resusable mattes can be had at most
art supply stores) and should be between 5x7 and
11x14 in size. Hope to see your work there!
Results are determined by Popular Vote. Bring your
photos early to get the early votes.
Photo Contest Chair: Keith Wandry
One of the great
things about our Meets is sharing information and
kibitzing about all things related to
trains. It's the People that make our hobby as much
fun as it is.
One of the favorite Coast Division Meet activities is
treasure
hunting at the Auction tables. You will find
some of the most unusual and hard to find items at our
quartery Coast Division auction:
Plenty
of items for the Armchair
Railroader!
Auction Gold!
Our thanks to our many
Coast Division
volunteers, clinicians, and and our
attendees. We could not do any of this without
each and every one of you. Thank you all!
Our PCR Presidente,
Pat LaTorres, who also runs the Coast
Division Auction Cards checkin/checkout:
Our Achievement
Program Judges, here we see our Coast
Division AP Chair Kermit
Paul, MMR, and Bob Wirthlin, MMR, judging Frank
Markovich's structures:
Seth Neumann,
one of the National Directors of OPSIG, doing a Layout
Design consultation for one of our attendees:
Charlie Getz
introduced a very special visit to our Meeting by Frank Liu,
representing the Hasea.com Model
Railroad Association (HRMA) of China:
The NMRA has announced an agreement of cooperation
between itself and the Hasea.com Model
Railroad Association (HRMA) of China, a community of
over 100,000 railfans
and model railroaders in China. The HRMA, a
relatively young organization, having grown up in the
past 10 years, is interested in learning how the NMRA
is organized, and will promote NMRA standards in
China. Members of both organizations will be able to
enjoy the many benefits of each. A press release and
story will appear shortly in NMRA Magazine. This
is exciting!!
Our Meeting Room at the Boy
Scouts of America HQ:
Steve Wesolowski,
our Publicity Chair (and sometime backup for Model
Contest) recently summed it up well for all of us
Volunteers:
"So many people Volunteer (they Donate Themselves)
during and between our meetings to make
Coast Division's
Quarterly Meetings Real Train FUN!
When I remember, I like to say "Thanks for the Train Fun
today!" to other Volunteers
at Coast Division Meets.
I also try to ask if they want or need a break.
Every Volunteer helps Coast Meets be Successful Train Fun Gatherings.
It takes quite a few
Volunteers for so much Train Fun.
Every Volunteer makes
our 'job' of Enjoying More Train Fun easier!"
Thank you, Steve, well said. :-)
You
can see all our current volunteers on the Coast
Division Call Board by clicking
here.
Invite a new friend
to come to the next Meet, and see what we're all
about!
See all of you at the Coast Division
Meet in March 2012.
See you there!
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Department
Coast Division of Pacific Coast Region of NMRA
Copyright © 2001-2012. All rights reserved.
Last updated: March 12, 2012
Send comments to: Coast
Division Webmaster John Sing
Seth
provides a Ops counselling after his clinic to delighted
participants.
