We operate on the first Friday of each month (except November). Visiting operators are invited at any session, but we ask they show up about 7PM for orientation.
| February 2nd | |
|---|---|
| March 2nd | |
| April 6th | |
| May 4th | |
| June 1st | |
| July 6th | |
| August 3rd | |
| September 7th | |
| October 5th | |
| November 2nd | NO OPERATIONS due to fairgrounds show |
| December 7th |
We will be open for visitors on Saturday and Sunday November 18th & 19th 2006. The hours are 11 AM to 4 PM on Saturday and 12 PM to 4 PM on Sunday.
We hold our operating session on the first Friday of every month. Organization is around 7:00 PM and our 2 hour session commences at 8:00 PM. Visiting operators are allways welcomed.
We are still shaking down the layout and club members are getting adjusted to the DCC conversion of the layout. So we are not running any particular 'era' during a session. You might see local running behind a consolidation and it has a meet with a SD80 fast freight.
WE WILL NOT OPERATE ON 3 NOVEMBER DUE TO THE TRAIN SHOW AT THE FAIRGROUNDS!
We would like to thank everyone that attended our open house. A number of former members stopped by and we impressed by the progress the club has been making on the layout and building.
The outside of the building has now been painted. We still have to clean and paint all the trim. Matt and Leo have rebuilt the exterior of the coal shed and put a new roof on it. There was much rotting work found when they started to 'fix' the base of the shed walls.
Duffy has cleaned all the windows on the track side station agent's position. This is letting some wonderfully sunlight into the station that hasn't been seen inside for years. Discussion has been about setting up a recreation of the station agent with a manikin, desk, telegraph and other items.
Ken and Carl are working out the details for converting the layout to DCC this year. The plan is to stage the conversion so that the club WILL NOT miss any operation nights due to the conversion.
Follow the events as we convert the layout on the DCC project log page.
Initially the layout will use much of the existing wiring and allow us the option to fall back to DC mode if we run into troubles that need more time to fix. This stage will limit ourselves to using a single booster/command station as there are a number of possible wiring problems that could cause real damage if not resolved first. Additionally this way we will still have all the old block switches available to isolate sections of the layout as problems are found. CTC will also have the option to place dead track between trains to prevent the classic corn field meet as the membership gets used to operating in a DCC environment.
After a 'shakedown' of the layout in a limited DCC mode we will then rewire the whole layout in stages to improve overall operations and allow for more trains and operators. Here we will add boosters to allow more trains to be ran at the same time and go to a bus wiring layout instead of a central point for power distribution.
The final stages will integrate extra features like train block detection, track side signals and other nice features. It is expected some of this work may last well into the next year.
Brian has started work on a new powerhouse for Wolcott Bay where the old dam and reservoir used to be. He is working with Will on some new trackage running out of the Stanford area to service the new powerhouse.
Matt is working on a paper mill for Grand Gorge and a complete rework of the town. It will better utilize the space and make Grand Gorge a interesting switching area with a number of other new industries.
The current bridge between Grand Gorge and Stanford has major problems do to a number of the structural parts are wood and the temperature and humidity changes cause it to be rather unreliable. Carl is working on a new bridge that will not have those problems. It is a single track lift bridge and be fully operational. Will has already installed the new turnout at the Grand Gorge side of the bridge to make it single tracked.
As part of this work the lake will be reworked for Wolcott Bay. It will be lowered to allow for better operation of the coal dumper and for some new dock area to be built. This dock area will also allow for a container port to be built.
Ken has got some temporary control panels into Kingston so all of the yard is now fully functional. Formal control panels will be built sometime in the fall. But the DCC conversion will take precedence over the formal control panels.
Don has been working on the Kingston Roundhouse. He is getting the turntable working again and cleaning up many of the details around the servicing tracks.
The other part of the donation for the building was for a very high technology toilet. This is a special composting type that doesn't need water or a drain field. Bob, Duffy and others have done a great job cleaning out the old ice/coal bin to make a bathroom. They have been working on insulating it, building a new floor, etc. to accommodate our new facilities.
Thanks to a donation we have a full layer of insulation in the attic. So this year our heating bill should be much more manageable. And we should be able to work comfortably even in the middle of winter. The layout should also have fewer problems due to the temperature changes than it used to have. Paul has done a wonderful job revamping the paperwork we use for operations nights. In general the operations nights have been working quite well thanks to his organizing efforts.
Members keep up the Great Work!!!!!!!!!!
May 15th 2004 had a pleasant change for the depot in Hart Lot. A Finger Lakes Railway passenger train stopped by as part of a railfan trip for the LVRRHS. While the weather was not the greatest, the rain held back enough for photographers to get pictures of the station and a run by of the equipment. We were on hand to show the station and our layout to these guests. Many nice complements we handed around by all and a very positive trip was had by all.
