Russ Segner, 4D Superintendent
The Pacific Science Center Train Show is a very busy and challenging event each year. Thousands of parents and children get to see what our modular groups have built and operate. We get a chance to explain our hobby, our interest in trains and why we are so enthusiastic about model building and operations. The public really likes what we do.
The best part of all this is the effect it has on us. We get to meet and share with our members from all over our very large region. This year, a significant number of our members have become involved for the first time. This is an opportunity for us to learn from each other and be challenged to do better ourselves. We also learn the value of sharing our hobby with others.
So, where do we go from here? Many of the visitors at the show will reestablish interest in trains and join us. Many of us will get more involved in working with each other, perhaps joining a modular group or starting one. The Boeing Model Railroad club is embarking on building a large modular layout and is taking advantage of the FastTracks track laying jigs the 4th Division owns to build over forty turnouts. There is serious interest among several narrow gaugers who have asked me if there will ever be a Sn3 modular effort. Maybe, but more likely another On30 groups will get started, or, an Hon3 group to take advantage of the new Blackstone equipment. In any event, there is great opportunity for growth within the 4D.
Our clinics remain a strong program. The Eastside group moves to a new location this month, the Redmond Library. There is the possibility of a new clinic in Renton to better serve south King County. The opportunity exists for many of us to share our skills by presenting a clinic, so let your local clinic chair know.
This brings up our Annual Spring Meet. It is scheduled for May 14th with a location to be set soon. There will be eight regular clinics and several special “hands on” clinics. These will be extra fare and led by local MMR members or members with substantial completed AP Certificates. I’m encouraged, I hope you are too.
Having participated in the Pacific Science Center event last weekend I agree with your encouraged observations. This is my second year and I found it a lot of fun.
On another topic that being the many excellent clinics presented throughout our Division I continue to wonder if there could be a way to record them and have them on our website so more members could enjoy them.
Don, by “record them” do you mean video record them? If so, I’d love to see more video recording of clinics.
As for the technical considerations, we can definitely upload video to the 4D website as part of a clinic posting (I’m writing this as the Grab Iron editor). However, the current file size limit is 64 MB which is not a very long recording, specially if the video is recorded in anything close to HD.
A better option would be for someone to upload the video (after appropriate editing and conversion) to a video hosting site (YouTube or Vimeo or something similar) or to a cloud storage area and then provide the link as part of the clinic report.