Clinics

Franklin and Mike are model railroaders who have worked as professional photographers, photographing for Model Railroader, N-Scale, Esquire, Food & Wine, Harpers Bazaar, Boys Life, News Week, Business Week, Look, W and many large firms such as HP, Microsoft, and BeBe. This is a hands-on clinic where the participants will set up three different types of lights to photograph the modular layouts at the Iron Horse Express. Layouts will be photographed with fluorescent, tungsten and strobe lighting. This is not a clinic on how to use your camera. Ideally each participant will bring his or her own camera that has manual controls and a tripod.

So you have the address assigned and you want to set the sound, get the model running as well as it can run, and even speed match it to some other model. Then this clinic is for you. The clinic will also cover some of the settings for Tsunamis that produce a more realistic result than the factory defaults.

If you bring your own laptop, and have it set up for simulator mode with Decoder Pro then you are welcome/encouraged to do so! Please note - setting up your laptop will NOT be part of the clinic.

Over the years of painting and teaching, I have learned techniques which take the mystery out of the painting process. Subjects addressed in the clinic will be mixing color, value and color recession , and the selection of brushes and their maintenance.

This is one of the most fundamental parts of model railroading. We will start out by setting expectations and then move to prototype derailment problems add end with 10 Rules for Tuning up your Layout. One of the basics we will stress is that cleanliness is next to godliness.

We will go through the process of my moving from Pleasanton to Livermore. We begin with what to save and what to build. Then assessing the key aspects of the old layout, crying, and moving on. Then we will further consider what to save and what to toss. We will consider how the new layout will be different. We will consider the technology in building the new Layout and develop rules for the new layout. Then we will consider selecting the theme and building for operations and then the budgeting issues.

A discussion of tools, both every day and specialized, which can help a modeler build better models and work more accurately.

A digital slide show exploring the California Western Railway and Navigation Company and how I went about designing a layout based on what I found.

Join Guy Cantwell for a discussion of the "commodity based" car card system and its application to operations. The commodity based car card system doesn't rely on car numbers to function and doesn't require restaging the layout after the session. Guy will cover how to set up and use the cards and offer tips on setting up your layout for operations. Guy detailed this system in an article on operations in the March 2012 issue of MRH. Check out Guy's layout and modeling at: thewilloughbyline.com

Join Guy Cantwell for a photo presentation on the construction of his "Willoughby Line" layout. The clinic compresses ten years of construction into a short presentation. Watch as the layout grows from ground zero into a multi deck monster...Guy will show how he has approached some of the classic double deck construction issues such as: crossing the door, lighting the lower deck, helix, supporting the upper deck, staging.. etc... Check out Guy's layout and modeling at: thewilloughbyline.com

This clinic will present some practical techniques for adding Automatic Block Signals (ABS) to your layout. With the availability of inexpensive, easy to build hardware (Arduino), and simple software development tools, signaling can be added to any scale layout. An actual ABS signal system design and implementation done for a local HO layout will be presented. Working models of circuit boards, which were created using low cost design tools and processes, will be discussed and demonstrated.

The clinic presents an overview and historical context for Freight Train Operations along with tools/methods supporting Freight Train Operations developed since the mid-1940s. Many of those “old” tools are real opportunities for simple to use, easy to understand, and easy to implement for novice or seasoned modeler. We’ll also cover “contemporary” ways of making your railroad function like prototype railroads work.

We will start with a brief history of the creation of this Branch Line that ran down the length of the San Ramon Valley from the Oil Refinery at Avon to the Gravel Quarry in Pleasanton. We will provide a description of the line, its operations and what is left today, along with some suggestions for modeling this line.

This clinic will describe what real power lines and other utilities actually look like as opposed to the way one typically sees them modeled. Although the subject is simple, the discussion is kind of fun, explaining what all those things you see along the right of way are all about. I will have a diorama that shows the right way to model them.

How to make simple, inexpensive, under-table turnout controls that also power switch frogs.

How to make your modeling structure plans from a photo with free software. SketchUp is the coming tool for architects of any size or scale.

You have observed the diamond shaped signs on rail cars. You may understand that they are there to warn of the possible hazards of the materials in that rail car. What you probably want to know is what are the correct markings or signs that should be on the rail cars on my layout. With this clinic I will share with you a little history of the warning signs, now known as placards on railroad equipment. We will see what the correct placards are for what commodity in which era. We will start with the 1906 American Railway Association Regulations for the Transportation of Inflammable Articles and Acids and review the changes up to the current DOT regulations.

How to set up and use the Operations module in JMRI to create realistic car and locomotive movements on your model railroad.

Arduino is an easy to use microcontroller environment, originally designed for artists, that makes an excellent platform for Model Railroad applications such as lighting effects, animation, signals, and more.

Many model railroaders bemoan the lack of youth in the hobby, yet when a youngster approaches our layouts our first reaction is “Don’t touch!" This clinic, based on the presenter’s experience with his own young kids, will explore the many practical projects, from making trees to soldering turnouts, we can do with children of various ages, covering both how to do as well as how to have fun while doing them.

Not everyone has the time, money or space to build their model railroad “empire” in a basement or spare room, or you want something with which to share at shows. This clinic will cover the layout design, construction, transportation, and operation of smaller layouts including Hollow Core Door, 2’ X 4’ island, shelf, sectional and modular layouts such as Free-moN. Special Guest appearance by the Voice of Experience.

Discussion of NMRA developments and programs. A full Question and Answer session on the NMRA, its programs, future and outlook. Audience feedback and cheap shots are encouraged!! Your chance to tell the NMRA President how much better you could do. And who knows . . . you might get the chance !!

Have you ever surfed the Internet looking at model railroad layout websites and wished you had one for your layout or club, but didn’t know how to get started? Then this is the clinic for you! In this clinic, Dave will share ideas and techniques on designing and building websites for layouts and clubs, from inception to the World Wide Web. He will cover basic layout and design principles, what tools are available, and publishing on the Internet. Don’t be intimidated – this clinic is for anyone new to creating websites.

Steve "Breezy" Gust has presented a wide range of clinics at Division, Region and National Conventions for over thirty years. His topics range from “Basic Scenery with Spoons and Sponges” to “A Day in the Life of a Train Dispatcher”. For this year’s PCR convention, Steve will again present his popular clinic on Track Warrant Control.

We will explore the South Pacific Coast Railroad, California’s most successful narrow gauge line. It ran from Santa Cruz north, along the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay, to a ferry terminal in Alameda. It had branches to Oakland, to Boulder Creek, to the mercury mines at New Almaden, as well as a couple of horse-powered branches serving farm communities.

The line had no less than 8 tunnels, two of which were over a mile in length as well as 4 draw bridges. They ran 80 car freight trains with 4-4-0s, hand brakes and link and pin draw heads.

Randy Hees is the curator of the Society for the Preservation of Carter Railroad Resources, a historical society that runs the Ardenwood Railroad Museum at Ardenwood Historic Farm in Fremont, California.

A detailed history of freight car truck development from turn-of-the-century bolted-together arch bar designs through pressed steel trucks, cast steel side frames with separate journal boxes, cast steel side frames with integral journal boxes, and various designs to improve riding qualities, finishing with the earliest roller bearing trucks. High speed trucks and high capacity (90 tons and above) trucks will also be covered. The handout will identify most of the freight car trucks currently available in HO scale and the prototype trucks they actually represent (as opposed, in some cases, to what their manufacturers say they represent).

Maybe you're a "Rubber Gauger" or a "Rubber Scaler", but some of us, "Rubber Modelers", build and operate (often modular) "Rubber Layouts", which may include very different locations, eras, operational design and setup requirements. Most traditional modeler/operators enjoy building and running trains on layouts and modules built within fairly static time and space domains, e.g. the Steam/Diesel transition era of WP in Northern California, a SP Point to Point Switching or NP Continuous Running layouts. Most modelers are (at least serially in time) both scale and gauge "monogamous."

"Rubber Modelers" enjoy building and operating multiple prototype trains, structures and models from different prototypes, locations and/or eras using the same track. We build Rubber Layouts because of the same design constraint of all layouts: no one has a Dr. Who TARDIS Layout Room where the inside is infinitely larger than the outside.

Rubber Modelers may be Scale and Gauge Monogamous, some are Scale Flexible: e.g. G and 1:20.3 using the same track. We all enjoy building and operating multiple different "real" prototype and/or "plausible" trains.

A look at operations of a typical medium size terminal yard during the steam/diesel transition period. Interaction of trains and switch engines which can be adapted to model railroad operations.

A look at operations of a typical prototype division, its trains and how they operate, during the steam/diesel transition period. Information can be adapted to model railroad operations.

Retired Santa Fe engineer’s comments about various aspects of prototype operations with the examples (sometimes strange) of how the big guys did it.

Most everything you need to know to go to your first operating session without embarrassing yourself. Clinic is based on four questions:

1. Which cars go where?
2. How do you get them there?
3. How do you keep from running into each other?
4. How do you make money at it (or lose the least)?

All the magic words will be touched on: “Switch list”, “Spots and Holds”, “TT&TO.” Mysteries revealed and secrets told.

Beginning with a couple of crooks in the 1860s (Crooks in San Francisco? Say it isn’t so!), the clinic tells the history of the railroad that ran along San Francisco’s Embarcadero from AT&T Park to Fisherman’s Wharf and the Presidio. From 1892 to 1992, the State Belt serviced the piers and industries all along the waterfront. It only existed to switch cars and spent a part of the 1920s and 1930s trying to convince the Supreme Court of the United States that it wasn’t a railroad at all. The quintessential switching road in an historic location .

Provides a brief history of modeling narrow gauge in the “small scales” (1:148, 1:150, 1:152 and 1:160), an over view of the current commercial offerings in Nn3, and a discussion of some construction techniques including motor replacement, DCC, track laying, and modules. The clinic will include a display of various Nn3 railway equipment and track products.

This provides some history of the narrow-gauge Pacific Coast Railway’s prototype facilities and buildings in San Luis Obispo, California, as they existed in 1916, as well as a description of my construction of a model of these facilities in N-scale without any compression. The completed and operational layout section will be on display in the Lahinch Room adjacent to the Free-Mo N scale layout.

A guide to safe and sane railfan experiences. Pat passes on some tips, hints and advice from over twenty-five years of chasing the “Iron Horse” in its native environment.

How many trees does your layout need? Big Trees, small trees, baby Trees, lots of different trees that you can use on your R.R. Methods, Products, Techniques. Darrell and Brad discuss it all!

Covers the relationship between railroads and the copper industry. The use of rail from mining to processing and final product delivery. Lots of photographs and information to inspire modeling opportunities and operating potential for your layout.

We will cover some methods that are less then obvious for scratch-building structures and rolling stock. Process to map out a project and complete it in a reasonable time. From simple layering for weathering to simulating things such as knots and paneling. Most of all the method I use to plan out a project and in essence design my own kit.

This clinic will introduce the modeler to LEDs. You will learn how to read a product data sheet. The modeler will gain knowledge in how to use Ohm’s Law to determine Voltage, Resistance, Current flow and Wattage. Many types of LEDs will be discussed and suggestions will be provided on how to integrate LEDs in to your engines, passenger equipment, cabooses and on the layout as light sources for buildings, yard lights, street lighting, etc. Suggested tools for working with SMD LEDs will be shown. We’ll discuss using Tamaya Clear Colors to color the LEDs for different effects. A handout will be provided with a list of sources for all of the LEDs discussed in the clinic, as well as Ohm’s law cheat sheets.

This will be a combined two-part clinic that will discuss building from scratch an SP standard three aspect searchlight signal and animating a Tomar US&S lower quadrant semaphore using micro servos and the Tam Valley Dual Three Way Servo Controller. This clinic will introduce the modeler to constructing working three aspect searchlight signals. Materials used and fixtures that you can make will be presented and discussed. Sources for parts and materials will be provided in a handout, along with drawings and pictures.

In this clinic, I present the history of the once proud former subsidiary of the Southern Pacific, pointing out its features that make it an attractive prototype for the modeler. Starting with a moderate space, I select an era and set about recreating selected sections of line and populating it with trackage, structures, and equipment consistent with that history. The entire layout is designed with the goal of reproducing, within realistic limits, the actual operations of the prototype NWP. The clinic will provide an update on how that goal has progressed to reach its present state and explore areas that might still be developed.

We’ll explain what RFID is and how it can be used to simplify operational tasks in model railroading. We’ll describe the hardware, software and applications that we’ve developed for Seth’s Union Pacific in Niles Canyon layout.

Do you need a way to group controls and indicators into clear, intuitive control panels? Seth describes a technique for making control panel graphics with PowerPoint (or any other presentation, graphic or CAD software) and sandwiching them with Plexiglas to make simple, attractive and easy-to-clean panels, which mount easily in hardboard (Masonite) layout fascia.

All convention attendees are invited to join the Operations Special Interest Group (OPSIG) members for a roundtable discussion. We’ll start by introducing ourselves and then move into discussing operating topics submitted from the floor. Please bring your operating concerns and we will take them up as a group. We usually stay until the hotel staff kicks us out.

Basics of creating lighting effects in structures; simple animation techniques for layout scenes, and how to make these effects liven up your presentation to visitors and operators.

This clinic will tell you about the garden railroad in a trailer that was designed to show people how to use plants, bridges, water features, a story and theme, and structures to create an interesting layout. There is a wide assortment of living plants on the trailer. Each of the four sides shows a new landscape and story. Learn how this unique layout was conceived and built.

Kermit will describe the use of his “inexpensive” 3D printer for model railroad applications. The clinic will include ways to find free 3D drawings and how to make your own 3D drawings suitable for 3D printing. 3D printing techniques give the modeler a powerful tool to create objects that are difficult or impossible to make using laser cutters or CNC machining methods. 3D printing services are available to make objects from your 3D drawings, so you don’t have to buy your own 3D printer. A version of this clinic was given at last year’s NMRA National Convention in Grand Rapids.

The Fall Creek Branch is an HO scale switching railroad occupying less than half the area of a 4x8 sheet of plywood. It fits into my small SUV and features structures, scenery, and a backdrop, but it has no legs. The clinic will cover design, construction, and operation in a prototypical manner.

This clinic will be done similar to a “Modeling with the Masters” clinic, but is not part of that program. Jim will provide hands-on instruction and help for attendees to build their own Fast Tracks jig based turnout to take home with them. Turnouts will be from either Code 70 or Code 83 rail. Each session is limited to a maximum of seven people. Others are welcome to watch silently as the participants complete their turnouts. A fee of $4 will be levied on all participants to cover the cost of individual materials. There are 3 sessions on Thursday at: 8:30 AM, 10:30 AM and 1:30 PM. Sign-up sheets will be at the Registration Table.

Further experimentation in extra light weight layout construction. You’ve built the “boxes” in quantity. Now, how do you go about building the world your railroad lives in? We examine two ways to do it. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. OK, three ways. Attendees can try their hand at sculpting foam blocks. Each session will be limited to 15 people, with limited room for others to observe the participants completing their sculpted terrain.

All convention attendees are invited to join the Layout Design Special Interest Group (LDSIG) members for a roundtable discussion. We’ll start by introducing ourselves and our layout design objectives and then move into discussing topics submitted from the floor. We will stay on design topics for about 90 minutes and then reconvene as the Operations SIG (OPSIG) and move on to operating topics. Please bring your design or concerns and we will take them up as a group. In the past we have often discussed a layout plan and then discussed how to maximize the plan’s operating potential.

How difficult is it to lock your railroad into a specific time period? Clearly one of the most significant visual clues to the era one models are the locomotives in use. With the information available to the modeler today, we can equip our locomotive fleet that leave no question to the discerning viewer as to not only what, but when we are modeling. Join Jim as he continues his journey of modeling Western Pacific F units in 1971.

A beginner's guide to installing decoders in locomotives. This clinic will show you how to install decoders in both steam and diesel locomotives. The decoder selection process is discussed, followed by installation examples in both steam and diesel locomotives. Examples of advanced sound decoder installations are also illustrated.

This clinic will discuss the applications of miniature lathes and mills in Model Railroading. When I bought a Sherline miniature lathe and mill I never imagined how useful these tools would be in Model Railroading. Examples of different applications will be discussed and I’ll show you a bunch of different parts that can be made with these tools. Some of the applications include washers, crank screws, motor mounts, flywheels, sound cams, and many more.

Have you ever thought about how you are going to make room for a speaker in your favorite locomotive? I’ll show you how to make this easy with a mill. If you have every wondered what you might use a lathe or mill for, this clinic is for you.

The route of the Sacramento Northern Railroad created a unique transportation corridor connecting Contra Costa County to Alameda County during a period of rapid growth in the early to mid-20th century. Photographs of the railroad captured the trains, their daily function, and the surrounding communities. The East Bay Hills Project (eastbayhillsproject.org) has combined these images with aerial views to chronicle the major events that shaped the development of East Bay cities, and, in some cases, preserved the rural nature of many of its communities. The combination of images also provides critical positional information for model railroaders interested in duplicating the route of the Sacramento Northern.

Several aspects of the construction of tank cars are described, with the aim of understanding modeling variations among prototypes, as well as challenges in reproducing them. Car handling and car usage is also described to help understand possible modeling choices. Several tank car projects will be presented, for both insulated and un-insulated cars in HO scale, to illustrate the various techniques and approaches to these interesting prototypes. Comments about decal artwork for the unusual cars are also included.

A photo review of the continuous changes that have taken place on this world renowned HOn3 layout.

Part 2 is a continuation of the photo review of Jim’s amazing and always changing model railroad.

Most of us think of resin casting as being restricted to the pros; Westerfield, Sunshine, Funaro & Camerlengo, etc. I’ve found that resin casting has a place in everyday model building where commercial parts don’t supply the parts you need. I’ve also found that the process of resin casting is not as complicated as is thought. This clinic will discuss the steps required to make your own resin castings:

1. Making the master of what you want to cast; model building
2. The sources of supplies for mold making and casting
3. Making a silicone rubber mold from the master
4. Resin casting

Have a prototype scene you really want to model, but it doesn't fit your main layout plans? Got a "second choice" prototype you really want to try? Don't have space or time for a "complete" layout of your own? Want to try modeling in another scale to improve your skills? Try Free-moN. In this clinic, Steve will explain how Free-moN allows the space to model prototype scenes with little or no compression, an emphasis on modeling the typical railroad right of way, and the flexibility to join with a bunch of other modelers to share skills, prototype interests, and great fun.

Learn of the time, place, cast of characters, the story and the significance of the train robbery at Rondout, Illinois.

We’ll show and talk about a wide variety of loads for open top cars such as gondolas, flats, hopper and even boxcars with open doors. We’ll include commercial and scratch built loads including using “found” items, and ways to modify commercial loads to give them your own unique look. Many scratch built loads can be quickly created without much cost. We’ll also cover ways to make your loads removable so a car can be run empty or loaded.

The Sacramento Modular Railroaders with our HO club railroad, the Sacramento Central, has been an innovative group for over 35 years. We’ve been doing switch list operations for many years, with a modular layout and car list that change at every session. Our club built light weight modules that quickly combine into layouts of many sizes and shapes. A typical layout is about 25 by 40 to 50 feet, with a 36 foot long yard. Learn how we do this on dues of $30 PER YEAR, how we’ve lasted this long, how we are organized, and are still at it. There’s something here for just about anyone.

A PowerPoint presentation about the locomotives and cars of the Central Pacific RR, 1860s-1880s Opportunities to model the 19th century.

The course surveys selection, preparation and methods for harvesting of cutting areas including appropriate equipment choices and methods of log transportation as affected by market conditions and operation’s strategic interest in each of five major eras in which rail transportation have a significant role. Text for the course is "LOGGING", Ralph Clement Bryant, American Forestry Series, McGraw-Hill, 1948. A reprint of the 1913 edition will be useful in part, though lacking developments achieved in later forest engineering practices.

Your clinician will be drawing from his training at the College of Forestry at Oregon State University, personal experience and his extensive trove of books, videos and memorabilia squirreled away during some nearly 60 years.