Clinics

This clinic will cover the basics of adding lights to the structures on your layout. It will consist of discussions, demonstrations and displays. We will discuss the purpose for adding lights and the impacts this can place on your modeling. We will also talk about the different types of lighting available and look at examples of these. There will be a comparison demonstration of different types of lighting in the same buildings and a display of lit structures from the presenter’s layout using his preferred lighting method. Finally we will look at examples of other types of lighting that can be on your layout such as beacons, signs and streetlights.

This clinic will look into new surface mounted device (SMD) light emitting diodes (LEDs), how to work with them, how to light them up and put them into some really interesting places. Opportunities exist for lighting the “unlightable”: desk lamps, hand kerosene lamps, marker lamps, classification lights, number boards, crossing gates, ditch lights, vending machines, multibeam headlights, etc. What can you model if you had a bright light the size of an HO scale light bulb? Come and find out!

Techniques others have found helpful in building Campbell Scale Models kits. These include, but are not limited to: edge gluing stock using double-sided sticky tape, dry brushing techniques for corrugated roofing, construction of jigs to hold parts in place, and more!

Mail was sorted in Railway Post Office cars on moving passenger trains for over 100 years. The railroads also moved mail in a variety of other car types. This clinic illustrates and discusses these car types, their operation in passenger trains, and the evolution of interior hardware and sorting procedures.

The transportation of milk by rail will be explained. The wide variety of milk car types and lettering schemes is shown for modelers. Suggestions will be presented on how to model milk services on your layout.

The clinic focuses on the wide variety of servicing facilities needed to service passenger trains at terminals and is illustrated with slides of facilities such as coach yards, Pullman buildings, commissaries, car washers, and mail and railway express buildings. Track diagrams of large city terminals are shown. Switching of these facilities is described. Handout includes specifications on servicing platform design and utilities such as compressed air, water, and electrical.

Some bits and pieces of the history of Kadee Quality Products, Co., a general overview of Kadee's coupler line and other products, basic coupler conversion information, what it takes to make a Kadee product, deciding on a new product, research, design, tool (mold) making, marketing, and why we do the things we do with questions and answers, too.

Join Dave Clemens (enthusiastically) and Jim Providenza (reluctantly) as they look at ways to operate with Train Orders without the pain, agony (and paperwork) usually associated with "TT&TO."

Charlie Comstock, winner of the MR Photography Contest in 2000 will talk about taking photos of your models. In this clinic, he'll concentrate on avoiding the common goofs - just say no to flash photography (unless you're O. Winston Link), get your white balance right, what is depth of field and why should you care? Got grain(iness) and how to get rid of it. Lighting, lighting, and lighting - the three most important things in photography. Setting a scene for interest. What is focal length and what can it do for you? Focus bracketing - how to get prototype depth of field in your photos with post processing. Making photos believable - send the company helicopter back to the hangar... Special effects - fog and nighttime.

Charlie Comstock, editor of Model Railroad Hobbyist Magazine, will present various scenery techniques he's been developing on his own layout. Topics will range from the importance of believable scenery, to tips and tricks for detailing your track work and creating backdrops.

These manual turnout controls have electrical frog switching capabilities. They are as small as anything available on the market. They have a positive feel when turning the switch. They are a basic design and are extremely easy to build. The cost is less then three dollars.

This method allows you to make any switch that fits the design of your layout. The resulting switches remove the kinks created by using standard switch designs in difficult situations. A prototypical, believable, easy to build, inexpensive turnout is created.

Bill presents an all-new clinic on his forthcoming Southern Pacific Cascade Line abuilding in McMinnville, Oregon. A design clinic from the PNR!

JMRI Operations is a module within DecoderPro / PanelPro that provides a comprehensive car management / forwarding system. In this clinic you'll learn to set up and use Operations to configure Locations, Routes, Yards, Industry tracks, Car types and loads and Trains. You'll be shown how the program generates Switch Lists, Car Reports and Train Manifests. In addition, basic troubleshooting and general configuration issues will be covered. There will be time for a Q&A at the end of the clinic.

Most railroad modelers have found some phase of modeling that they do well, or have developed a unique solution to modeling problems. Such information can be very valuable to other modelers. However, many individuals hesitate to present these techniques to others because of concerns about their presentation skills. Participants in this clinic will learn and experience several simple and basic ways to make sharing easy. .

Resistance soldering tools solve many problems for railroad modelers. Other than the new “cold soldering” tools which have recently become available, the available models are very expensive. Participants in this clinic will learn how to make two different inexpensive variations.

Learn the secrets of getting the best "quality of run" from your layout operation so that your layout operates with optimum reliability. Hear the successes and failures from seasoned modeler Joe Fugate, whose HO Siskiyou Line layout has been in operation now for 20 years.

Join Steve “Breezy” Gust for this introduction to track warrant control operations. He will discuss some of the rules and practices of the prototype TWC operations and how they might apply in the model railroad realm.

This is a group participation clinic. Steve “Breezy” Gust presents several track warrant operation challenges. Attendees will be asked to play the part of the train dispatcher and the train crew as “trains” move across a fictional model railroad. Prior TWC experience or attendance in the "Introduction to Track Warrant Control" clinic is advised.

No matter if you are in hot pursuit of your Achievement Program certificate for Author or Volunteer or you just think it's about time you started giving back to the hobby, here is the opportunity to learn how to put a clinic together and then make the presentation. Every modeler who has made an effort to “build” something, assemble a kit, or do basic research has stories to tell. The clinic is the way to make that happen.

This clinic walks you through the steps from the initial inkling to try right up to the closing “thank you”. You may not walk out the door of this one as a polished clinician or public speaker but you will have the basic tools and the information you need to be successful. If we want the hobby to continue or to see membership in our Association grow, this clinic is a great way to get you started on contributing to the effort.

For those who actually construct layouts, build structures, construct rolling stock or assemble kits, having the right tool for the job makes the difference in both ease of effort and quality of the end product. While it is true that a “poor craftsman blames his tools”, it is equally true that having the right tools allows the craftsman to employ his full skill set. This clinic examines many of the unusual and unique tools available and used in our hobby. A certain number of tools presented come from unexpected sources outside the hobby and some are either adaptations of common items or homemade specifically for model railroading. This is a great clinic to figure out how you are going to spend your money at the next train show. People attending the clinic may earn the distinction of becoming certified “tool nuts”.

In the real world we stand at street level looking up at buildings or across the top of most of the stuff at our level. We are missing those little things that make the difference between “pristine” and “lived in”. I discovered that I really don’t “see” much of what I look at. My best tool for details is my camera. Pictures are not lazy and they show me what I would otherwise miss. Let’s take a walk around my town and see what we find. You may discover a whole new aspect of scenery. And detail modeling.

Aging and weathering freight car models is essential for realism. But it's an art form, and there are several ways to go about it. Each of us approaches it quite differently, but we each get what both of us think are good results. In this clinic, we describe the various techniques we use, and show the weathering process itself, with ample "before and after" illustrations. Our objective is to encourage modelers to experiment with a variety of methods for aging and weathering until they find what works best for them.

Railroad business cars have been in service from near the beginning of steam railroading, known to be on the roster of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in 1855, before the Civil War. In 1863 the United States Military Railroads built a 4-truck car for their CEO – President Lincoln. He felt it was too ornate and did not use it, but his body was carried home in 1865 aboard the car. Business cars were at their most numerous in the 1920s, about 900 cars, representing less than 1.5% of the passenger car fleet.

The role of business cars has evolved, several among the fleets of present day railroads as exquisitely maintained sales tools and inspection vehicles. There were specialist cars for instruction, pay, display, religious evangelism and circus transportation. Private cars were the corporate jets of earlier times. Often configured similar to business cars, they were the transports of the rich and famous. Today’s private cars are restored members of the heavyweight and streamlined fleets, many available for charter. Modeling these cars can be an interesting kitbash project, or a brass model purchase. We will explore all these elements and more.

Weathering with chalks and other powders is one man’s method for weathering rolling stock, locomotives and structures to make them blend in with the scenes modeled. In this clinic I show you how I try to copy Mother Nature and, in some cases, man in their endless pursuit of changing how things look. You will see and learn how to simulate the effects of dust, dirt and rain. This is a hands-on clinic. I will supply some rolling stock for members of the audience to weather and practice what they have learned. You are encouraged to bring your own rolling stock, but be sure it has been dull-coated a couple of days in advance.

Silicone rubber molds and resin castings are immensely useful tools for a model railroader's workbench arsenal. This presentation will show you how you can use these tools to streamline your model building, save precious modeling time and save work by easily making many duplicates of parts you need in quantity.

Dave and Ed will demonstrate how they’ve applied prototypical practices to a model railroad. Problem identification, analysis and solutions will be explored. How the ABS system can be properly applied to model railroads. Using JMRI as their basis, they have designed and implemented the detection system on the Rogue Valley Model RR Club layout in (www.rvmrc.net). Ed is the programmer and Dave is the installer / implementer. There will be an open house at the Rogue Valley Model RR Club Wednesday evening.

They will demonstrate operational situations on our portable 1'x10’ test bed, populated with prototypical railroad signaling components from different companies that show how these devices react to different occupancy conditions on an associated model railroad track.

In this clinic I’ll show some of the many faces of agriculture – in different seasons and regions of the US – but mostly in the Midwestern summer. I’ll discuss some of my favorite methods of modeling Midwest agriculture, including research and modeling of crops, livestock, buildings and machinery. The majority of time will be spent on modeling crops like corn, soybeans, and hay. Although I model in N scale, these concepts will work in other scales.

This clinic is presented annually at Caboose Hobbies, a Denver area hobby shop to show the differences between early N scale and N scale today. I cover scale comparison, N scale history, N scale elements of: track, rolling stock, locomotives, train control (DC, DCC), traffic control, and some on sound in N. Some helpful N Scale resources are shared. This clinic starts out with 3 minutes of slides showing Denver area N scale layouts and ends with a look at more layouts if time permits.

If you have ever wandered through the contest room at a railroad, or model railroad convention and enjoyed the photographs on display, then this is the clinic for you. Pat LaTorres will do his best to demystify the art of railroad photography. He will present tips, tricks and insights into transferring those beautiful images that you remember from your visits trackside onto film or digital medium and from there to photographs you would gladly display for the rest of world. This will not so much be a “how to work your camera better” clinic, as a “how to capture the image your eye sees more effectively” clinic. We will be looking at photography as more of an art form, than a technical exercise – though he will touch some on the technical side as well. While cameras will not be required for the clinic, if circumstances allow, we may take some time during the convention to try and catch the ever elusive Iron Horse in its natural habitat.

Pat LaTorres has been collecting railroad china for fifteen plus years and now is inviting you to learn about and join in this interesting side of the railroad hobby. For the spouse that has had to watch your partner buy imported brass model railroad models, the railroad historian that wants to learn more about the inner workings of the railroad passenger service, or just the collector that enjoys looking at the many varied and beautiful china patterns that have been used over the years – THIS is the open door into a seldom explored aspect of the railroads. Pat will have several pieces of vintage china on hand and photographs of many other pieces, as well as a wealth of information on the manufacture, the usage, and collecting these historical treasure pieces. Unfortunately, he will not be giving out free samples this year, but he will show you how you can acquire some of your very own.

A former PCR and current PNR member, Ken brings a unique perspective to turning figures into people. Using a variety of techniques, we will explore ways to give your townsfolk personality. Along the way, we'll also explore the Marty Vaughn method of populating your layout without breaking the bank.

This clinic will chronicle the research, design and building of a model of the Bellingham & Northern RR in my new custom-designed railroad room. Sources have included museums, photo archives, state historical archives, public works departments, university libraries, historical societies, etc. The railroad is set in the period of May 28, 1916 and will feature many models of prominent local buildings and facilities. This railroad is scheduled to be on the 2013 PNR Convention layout tours in Boise.

This clinic explores sources of information about your favorite railroad for either modeling purposes or just a desire for knowledge. Areas covered by this clinic include: track work, equipment, railroad structures, operations, industries, and general background activities. The clinic is based on current research being undertaken to support a future book on the Bellingham and Northern Railway between Bellingham, Washington and the Canadian Border at Sumas, Washington. The research is also supporting the development of a relatively accurate representation of the railroad in a HO scale layout.

In this clinic I extend my concept of designing a layout based on multiple aspects of its prototype - visual, track arrangements, structures, equipment, and operating scheme. I spend more time on operating concepts, including the using of preprinted orders based on actual NWP flimsies.

Come back to the SIG Clinic room after Train Mountain and dinner to participate in a "Meet and Greet" with other OPSIG members and anyone interested in operations. All convention attendees are welcome!

Layout designer Kermit Paul describes his plan for a new O scale Los Angeles River Railroad based on the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal and adjacent yard circa 1952.

George's system for constructing lightweight layout tables is based on the "domino system" developed years ago by David Barrow. The stolen name “Frank-n-Modules” is applied to the basic domino sections that evolved from a desire to have lightweight tables to transport to shows or meetings and a need to continuously redesign my layouts. I have standardized sections at 2 feet by 4 feet (3 lbs) and 1 foot by 4 feet (1½ lbs), plus a support system. Construction is now a kit package and an 8 foot by 12 foot display can be set up in about 30 minutes.

A discussion of the influences of names (words) and graphic elements when deciding on a name and designing a logo image for your railroad, group or convention. Discussion of naming conventions and influence on graphic images. Influences of graphic elements on the image of the railroad. Examples and comparisons with prototypes, along with design methods, styles and techniques that probably should be examined in the process of building a logo.

Ever wonder how and why Model Railroader magazine chooses the project railroads it builds? Managing editor David Popp provides an insider's look into the decisions and designs for several of MR's recent project layouts, including the Beer Line and the Virginian. Along the way, David will explain some of the model techniques used by the MR staff in building these model railroads.

David Popp has been on staff at Model Railroader magazine for more than 10 years, and is currently serving as managing editor. David's layout, the N scale Naugatuck Valley, is based upon New Haven operations along the Naugatuck River in Connecticut and has been featured in the magazine many times. He lives in Waterford, Wisconsin with his wife Ingrid.

Come back to the SIG Clinic room after Train Mountain and dinner to participate in a "Meet and Greet" with other SIG members and anyone interested in layout design. We'll have introductions all around and a moderated discussion of layout design topics. Bring your plans and we'll select a couple to review as a group. Then stay for the OPSIG meeting and discuss operating possibilities! All convention attendees are welcome!

Strong, Maine was a focal point of operations on the Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes, the largest of the Maine 2 foot gauge railroads. It was the junction with the major branch on the railroad, included engine servicing facilities, a lap siding and 7 industries including what was at the time the largest toothpick factory in the US. All this in 1700 linear feet.

Jim Providenza has been in HO scale all his modeling life. Yet he has spent a good part of the last 6 years working on converting 40 actual linear feet of part of his backyard into a model Strong, Me. in 1:20.3 proportion with a 2:1 lineal compression. Jim is building the railroad using exact prototype wheel and track dimensions (Proto 20.3n2). Follow along with Jim as he recounts the first part of what has become a very “interesting” and fulfilling journey. Jim will discuss the joys and tribulations of working in a minority scale/gauge combination where almost everything has to be scratchbuilt, kitbashed or extensively reworked. Topics will include research, developing standards, civil engineering “for real”, the use of full size tools for modeling, metal shop and the importance of drainage and why glue is often “not good enough”.

Join Dave Clemens (enthusiastically) and Jim Providenza (reluctantly) as they look at ways to operate with Train Orders without the pain, agony (and paperwork) usually associated with "TT&TO."

A photographic exploration of the philosophy and methods of creating a more believable model railroad through careful consideration of what is needed for that elusive "sense of rightness". Subjects such as planning, backdrops, mirrors, bridges and other subjects that help to elevate the level of realism of modeling. Magician's tricks such as sleight of hand and distraction are covered. Soon to be a book published by Signature Press.

A detailed Power Point and hands-on presentation of hand laying track. The demo will be in N scale, but applicable to other scales. Points discussed will be turnouts, leveling track, tools needed, and probable trouble points.

Model railroad freight yards are sometimes merely a place to show off and store one’s latest purchase along with all the other cars one has acquired over the years. Impressive, but not at all prototypical. Real railroads would go broke in short order doing that. Here’s how to design a yard for your layout of whatever size that looks like and acts like an actual rail yard.

The Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad through time, using photos and present day scenes.

We will describe how to start a "round robin" group, the advantages of meeting with other modelers, differences in operations between the layouts, individual experiences with group operations and how each of us became involved with the group. We have been a group since 1970. Question and audience participation are welcome.

Fred will show many of the historic railroad pictures he has taken over the years. Here’s a chance to take a time machine into the past of California and Oregon.

Dave and Ed will demonstrate how they’ve applied prototypical practices to a model railroad. Problem identification, analysis and solutions will be explored. How the ABS system can be properly applied to model railroads. Using JMRI as their basis, they have designed and implemented the detection system on the Rogue Valley Model RR Club layout in (www.rvmrc.net). Ed is the programmer and Dave is the installer / implementer. There will be an open house at the Rogue Valley Model RR Club Wednesday evening.

We will demonstrate operational situations on our portable 1'x10’ test bed, populated with prototypical railroad signaling components from different companies that show how these devices react to different occupancy conditions on an associated model railroad track.

Learn how to use Bragdon Enterprises weathering powder, ink and alcohol wash and paint washes to weather structures.

The principal direction of PFE traffic was west to east as late as the transition era, serving the concentrated population in the eastern U.S. But there was also significant north-south traffic, to and from the Pacific Northwest, carried in both PFE and foreign refrigerator cars. Carloadings in the Pacific Northwest were about evenly split between GN, NP and PFE, and amounted to about a fifth of all perishable carloadings in the far west. This clinic describes and illustrates this traffic, with emphasis on the documentation of PFE traffic.

Aging and weathering freight car models is essential for realism. But it's an art form, and there are several ways to go about it. Each of us approaches it quite differently, but we each get what both of us think are good results. In this clinic, we describe the various techniques we use, and show the weathering process itself, with ample "before and after" illustrations. Our objective is to encourage modelers to experiment with a variety of methods for aging and weathering until they find what works best for them.

The popular four-cycle waybill, used in many operating schemes, has the drawbacks that minimal prototype information is included, and that often the four cycles become a permanent feature for a particular car, never leaving the car card. An alternative approach based on prototype waybills is described, along with a discussion on what is useful for modeling in the prototype waybill. Prototype paperwork for car movement is described, and the use of the improved waybills in a layout operating scheme is presented and illustrated on the speaker's layout. Implementation methods, and gains in flexibility and realism, are emphasized.

The Sacramento Modular Railroaders with our club railroad, the Sacramento Central, has been an innovative group for over 35 years. We've been doing switchlist operations for many years, with a modular layout and car list that changes at each setup. We build lightweight modules combine quickly into versatile layouts of many sizes (up to 40 by 60 feet or more), and many shapes. For example, our main switchyard can be 30 or 36 feet long, in either a straight through or Tee configuration. Typical setup time runs about 1½ hours and is done without tools. Learn how we're organized, do this on dues of $30.00 per year, how we've lasted this long, and are still at it, and more. There's something here for everyone.

We’ll talk about and demonstrate a number of ideas for loads for open top cars, such as gondolas, hoppers, flatcars, and even open door boxcars. We’ll cover both commercial and scratchbuilt loads and talk about using “found” items. All the loads can be made removable so the same cars can be run empty or loaded.

Slab foam makes a good material for layout construction. This clinic covers some basic tips and techniques for its use. We'll cover obtaining it, tools and techniques to use with it, and more.

From timber to finished product: what you always wanted to know how it was really done and what it means to model it credibly. Visual illustrations from the presenter's archives and stories.