Operations were held this day at Claus’s N-Scale in Leverett. It sound as though all present had a fun afternoon and were able to make plans for the month of May. Unfortunately, any food dropped on the floor may remain there until Molly has recovered enough to head downstairs to lick the floor clean.
Attendees: Claus (host), Guessing: Dennis, John S., Ken and possibly Jack
Next Week: John S.’s N-Scale in Worthington
This week we met at Tom T.’s N-Scale in Monson where much effort had been expended to add and wire a spur that exceeded one foot in length. A number of freight trains were utilized to move cars from yard to yard and also to service a few local industries. Despite a downturn in the outdoor temperature, a few of us sat on the deck to enjoy some burgers and kielbasa.
Attendees: Tom T. (host), Bill, Claus, John S., Lou D., Paul
NEXT WEEK: Claus’s N-Scale in Leverett
The group met at Dennis’s N-Scale in Springfield this week. Not being there hinders the ability to record what happened. I will assume that trains were run to move coal and other freight and that later there was likely some pizza. If anyone took minutes of the meeting, please enter them in a comment.
Attendees: Dennis (host), others.
This week a small crew met at Bill’s for another day of operations. Changes from last week included installation of a long bridge in the “garage sub-division” and continued improvement to the electrical reliability of the layout. We also would like to extend a warm welcome to a new member, Lou Denys, an N-scaler who is squeezing a small layout into a spare bedroom in his condo.
About halfway through the session Bill and Frank headed up to Apollo Pizza in Palmer and appeared, for awhile, to have gone missing. They had come upon an accident scene not too far up the street and needed to detour, both coming and going, due to the preponderance of emergency vehicles blocking Route 32. The pizza was still warm.
Attendees: Bill (host), Claus, Frank, Ken, Lou D., Tom T.
Next week: Dennis’s N-Scale in Springfield
With so many scale miles of track, it’s hard to believe how many times our trains had to take a siding at Bill’s this week. Layout reliability keeps improving and landscaping efforts are increasingly noticeable. After we completed operations a pizza showed up in the crew lounge at about the time that Bill re-appeared in the train room.
Attendees: Bill (host), Claus, Dennis, Frank, Jack, Paul, Tom T.
We headed up country to Worthington on a cold and wet day, saw a few flakes of snow, and headed in to operate on the only completed N-scale layout in our group. John is still progressing with his car-card/waybill system which provides some direction to our train movements. After a good amount of traffic was moved, we headed to the crew lounge for another of his home-cooked meals and conversation.
Attendees: John S. (host), Bill, Claus, Dennis, Jack, Ken, Tom T.
Next Week: Bill’s N-Scale in Monson
We headed to Holyoke this week for the opportunity to operate Ken’s dispatcher-directed Southern Pacific Railroad. While through traffic was traveling east and west over the mountains, two of us were busy sorting cars and serving local industries at the east end. After the workday was done we headed upstairs for some victuals and train talk.
Attendees: Ken (host), Bill, Chris, Dennis, Jack, John S., Paul, Tom T.
This week we met at Tom T.’s primarily to move freight between Armadillo and El Sapo and for servicing some local industries. Eventually we headed up for a taste of China and continuation of conversations started in the crew lounge.
Attendees: Tom T. (host), Bill, Claus, Dennis, Frank, Jack, John S., Ken, Paul
This week was our first look at the changes and additions to Dennis’s layout made since our last visit last October. Trains are now able to visit the lower level of the peninsula and we are starting to operate with more focused and realistic scenarios. Trains now drop off cars on the arrival track for later classification and the departure track can be used to assemble trains for pickup and delivery. After our busy session was completed we headed upstairs to the crew lounge for food and conversation.
Attendees: Dennis (host), Bill, Claus, Jack, John S., Ken, Paul, Tom T.
Bill continues to work on his layout and we help by testing and fine-tuning. Most of the electrical problems have been resolved and trains now can be run on the main lines with few problems. With much of the wiring changes being made by Ken and Dennis, Bill has been able to make progress on scenery and adjusting the elevations to even out the inclines.
Model Train Operations 