Spring 2021 Zoom Event

Seacoast Division NMRA Zoom On-line Event
Saturday, April 17, 2021, 10:00am-12:00pm
On-line Zoom Event

All NMRA members and people interested in becoming NMRA members are invited to the Spring On-Line Zoom Event of the Seacoast Division NMRA.

A New Kind of Event – On-Line with Zoom
Since Covid-19 continues to be a major health risk, especially to older people, the Seacoast Division Board of Directors has made the decision to cancel “in person” events for the foreseeable future. The BOD has also decided to help fill the void by holding on–line Zoom meetings. Many of you are already familiar with Zoom since other organizations are already starting to use it.

Zoom is one of several video conferencing applications available for use on your computer that is connected to the internet. For several years, lap top computers have been equipped with a camera that faces the user, a microphone, and speakers. The computer with the camera/microphone /speaker combination lets the user take advantage of the full capability of Zoom. If you don’t have a computer with the camera/microphone /speaker you can still use your computer to view the event and you can communicate with everyone using a phone. Finally, a smart-phone can also be used to participate in a Zoom video conference.

New users will have to go to zoom.us and then download “Zoom Client for Meetings” if you use a computer, or download the Zoom Mobile apps for IPhone or Android from the APP store. You will not have to register for an account. The host of the Zoom Meeting, in our case Seacoast President Tage Erickson, will send out an email with a meeting invitation which includes a link to the meeting. The non-host attendees will click on the link a few minutes prior to the meeting to get connected to the Zoom meeting. The host will then accept you into the meeting and you will be able to see all the attendees that have cameras and you will be able to hear all the attendees that have microphones or have called in on the telephone.

President’s Welcome by Tage Erickson
Tage will address the members of the Seacoast Division.

Presentations
Creating Strong Rigid Scenery by Joe Linquata
Joe will demonstrate how he creates strong rigid scenery using spray foam and screen material.

Designing and Laying Out Scratchbuilt Structures by Dave Emery
A great way to scratchbuild structures to fit a specific location is to start with a drawing of that structure, and adjust the drawing as necessary until the structure fits its location.  The tools to do this are readily available. Dave will demonstrate how he uses PowerPoint to design structures, including using the computer to efficiently lay out sets of windows and doors, and using ‘construction lines’ to ensure the openings are set at the correct location on the structure.  Additionally, Dave will briefly review the “Nehrich Scribe and Snap” approach, describing how to use the drawing to lay out subwalls.

 

Video Layout Tours
Since we can’t tour member’s layouts in person, we’ll be doing the next best thing – seeing layouts on video. Seacoast members Bob Kotsonis and John Newick recorded a video tour of John’s layout.

Central Maine and Aroostook by John Newick
John Newick’s Central Maine & Aroostook is a multi-level N Scale model railroad that is well known in the New Hampshire Seacoast and Southern Maine area.  It depicts Maine railroading in the mid 60”s to mid 70’s running from the B&M at Rigby yard going north into well-known lines and interchange points on the Maine Central and Bangor & Aroostook.  He has a great focus on rail operations and his operating sessions closely resemble the actual schedules and routes used by the B&M, MEC and BAR.  Operations are supplemented by a unique method for managing car moves and the use of Railroad & Company software for computer aided dispatching and train routing.  While his interest in operations is known, John has put long hours into the scenery and buildings that occupy the layout to keep the feeling of Maine Railroading alive and well.

What’s On Your Workbench?
We invite members to show a few photos, PowerPoint slides, or even a short video of what you are working on or a layout tour etc. Send me an email to sign up and describe what you will be presenting. Please limit your presentation to about 5 minutes in length. If you have a longer presentation, let me know and I can schedule it in a future Zoom meeting.

Open Forum
Let’s discuss what members would like to see in future Zoom Events.


Next Event: Summer Event, July 17, 2021
 Mark your calendar and save the date!!!

www.seacoastnmra.org

Details

Greetings from the Lakes Region Model Railroad Museum

 
To all of you, we wish you a very Merry Christmas (as much as social distancing will permit) and a Happy and Healthy New Year.

A very great thank you to all of you for your unconditional support, your enthusiasm, and your investment in the museum. The museum project finally broke ground early this summer. It has been a long and tortuous path to get to that point but the way ahead now looks clear and straight. We lifted the building, rebuilt the foundations, replaced the rotten sills, repaired all the structural timbers and lowered the building back down. It now has the near rectangular shape it had when it was first built. We even identified and preserved the original irregularities. The building is now winterized and nothing much will happen until next spring.

We have not encountered any significant problems and are within our budget. Next spring we will restore the two modified rafters, build the handicap ramp, replace the roof, finish the exterior and rebuild the loading dock. We do not anticipate any further delays or problems.

In parallel, we have been defining the museum and designing the internal layout for the phase 2 construction. Several of you have been actively involved with these discussions and we are moving towards a final definition. Our original goal is unchanged - to create a model railroad layout showing how the arrival of the railroads transformed these isolated villages into interconnected bustling manufacturing centers. We are exploring ways to deepen and expand the historical and educational experience for one-time visitors with layers of Augmented Reality and additional links to original material. We also are convinced that the key to enthusiastic adoption by the community is interactivity and, to that end, we are developing ways for anyone to operate trains, from simple run around in a limited area to full operation of the whole layout. With this ability, visitors can increase their ability to operate increasingly more complex situations thereby earning credits, merit badges, or graduating to become a docent.

We believe that this combination of a sophisticated and layered historical presentation together with interactive operation by all visitors will ensure the museum’s acceptance by the public, will result in multiple visits and enable it to generate sufficient revenue for break-even operation.

While Wolfeboro as a tourist destination will have many one-time visitors to the museum (providing a steady revenue stream), our larger goal is to encourage multiple visits by providing a rewarding and challenging operating experience. We should be able to extend this operating experience beyond the physical museum to the virtual realm, allowing remote interaction with the trains, remote monitoring of movements on the layout and remote linking with the historical presentations.
I hope that you all can see that we are reaching for a unique museum experience, one that, to our knowledge, has not been presented in New England, and which will be an attraction in and of itself. There will be many challenges ahead but we are hard at work to define these and develop realistic solutions.

Two of our challenges are the rapid evolution of social media and changes in the software tools to exploit virtual reality. Will everyone be taking selfies 10 years from now? Will today's teenagers still text each other instead of talking? Our success will correlate with our ability to understand these trends and cater to the visitor of the future.

Exciting and challenging times! And you are all part of this great project.

I hope you are as excited as I am about what we are working on. And I hope you all will continue your support of this amazing project.
Meanwhile, please stay healthy by taking wise precautions and staying away from strangers.

I wish to thank each and every one of you for your support, for the work you have contributed, and for your confidence in us.

If you, or anyone you know, might be able to help us with formulating this novel museum experience, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Happy Holidays and a Merry Christmas.

John Simms.
Details

CHIP FAULTER FUND- CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS

 CHIP FAULTER FUND- CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS by Peter McKenney

 

At the request of Chip Faulter’s family, the Seacoast Division NMRA has created a fund in Chip’s name for the purpose of assisting youngsters in enjoying the World’s Greatest Hobby.  President Erickson has asked me to form a committee of interested members to consider the various ways to accomplish this purpose and make a proposal to the Board of Directors for its consideration and approval.  I invite anyone who has an interest in participating in this organizing process, or knows of another person who should be recruited by the committee, to contact me by phone (207-776-2033) or by email (). 

 

Chip was a dear friend of mine and I am honored to be able to play a part in organizing this project to keep his memory alive.  Chip and many of us in the division often talked about the importance of attracting younger modelers into our hobby.  Only in a few instances did action ensue. For instance, Bill Gaver initiated a very popular BSA Railroading Merit Badge program in New Hampshire a few years ago. Now is our latest, greatest opportunity to make a difference. 

 

For those who worry that volunteering for this committee will automatically result in their being tasked with a long-term obligation, please rest assured that our task will be limited.   We will identify ways in which the Chip Faulter Fund can support youth enjoying the hobby.  For example, supporting the Boy Scouts’ Railroading merit badge program or the Youth in Model Railroad Organization may be practical avenues for part or all of the program.  Ideally, the program will involve cooperating with other existing organizations that serve youth.  Once the Board makes its final determination on how to proceed, however, it will be up to others to implement the program. 

 

I understand that substantial amounts of money have already been received by the division to fund this program.  I would like to start our deliberations by mid-January using a free conference calling service and hopefully conclude our work in time to issue our recommendations to the Board in advance of its meeting in April. Please join in this worthwhile endeavor in Chip’s memory as well as to enhance the future of our wonderful hobby.

Details

Help the Seacoast Division Grow by Lou Champagne

The Seacoast Division currently has 178 individual members and 5 Club members. Our membership is comprised of diverse and talented model railroad enthusiasts. The range of expertise represented by our members covers all areas of our multi-faceted hobby and this is always evident in our Quarterly Events. For all of us, that’s a real benefit … because, individually, we are all very good at some things, OK at other things and downright scared to try some things … but because of our talent pool, you can always find the support you need with whatever it is that you’re working on or would like to work on. That puts the Seacoast Division in a good position to fulfill its Mission: To promote model railroading throughout Maine & New Hampshire through education, promotion of model railroading activities, serving as local resources for individual model railroaders, and supporting local model railroad groups.

But … your help is needed to keep the Division strong and vibrant ! We are strong at 178 individual members, but would be much stronger and healthier if we had 200+ members. If you’ve not noticed, the average age of our group is not low …

Here’s how you can help the Division grow … when speaking with others in the hobby, whether they be friends, acquaintances or strangers, ask if they belong to the NMRA and ,if not, …

Talk to them about the benefits of membership in the NMRA and specifically, the Seacoast Division. For great talking points, see pages 38-39 in the current August issue of the NMRA Magazine.

  • Visit our website with them & also the NER & NMRA websites.
  • Show, give or let them borrow copies of The Switch Tower, The Coupler and the NMRA Magazine.
  • Show (or forward to) them the NMRA Turntable that comes via email.
  • Invite them to come with you as a guest to the next quarterly event, Derry Fun Night or other Seacoast function.
  • Invite them as a guest to a local operating session if available.
  • Have other current members talk to a potential new member.

Let them know that a big discount is available for the first 9 months of NMRA membership through the Rail Pass program (plus the Division will cover part of that cost). The initial 9 months ends up being only ten dollars.

If you need materials to work with, let me know & I will email or send them to you.    (  // 207-229-5475 )

Together, we can increase our membership … THANK YOU in advance for your help in recruiting new members to the Seacoast Division !!

Details