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Seattle-North on April 2, 2015 – Layout Video

By Jeff Moorman

 

Next Clinic:

Our next clinic meeting is this Thursday, April 2. We intend to show a video of the building of a local layout by Dr. Scott Campbell. It contains many recognizable scenes from around Washington State. We were originally going to show this in February, but things didn’t work out.

And, time permitting we’ll say a few more words about operating on small layouts.

The church continues its remodeling effort. I will not know what room we will be in until after this is posted. Just come in the main door and we’ll have someone show you where to go,

Prior Clinic:

Last month we talked about adding interest to “playing” with trains on a small layout (even if it is just a short shelf). It seems to work best when you try to simulate a task done by real railroads. There needs to be a purpose to your play.

Some ways of imagining little layouts as parts of bigger railroads were discussed. We ended with a few words about using chance (i.e. dice or a coin) to introduce an element of randomness to these operations.

Dennis T brought another of his N scale T-TRAK modules to show. This one had a river running through it. Two substantial bridges were needed to get the mainline tracks and a diverging branch across the water. Plus, there was a nice little park / playground down by the river for use by the area’s model residents.

Dennis also brought along a sample of a wiring buss he devised to power his module set-ups.

 

Dennis T power buss

Dennis T power buss

Dennis T module end

Dennis T module end

Dennis T module end 2

Dennis T module end 2

Dennis T module overall

Dennis T module overall

Dennis T module playground

Dennis T module playground

 

For those who picked up a name tag blank at the last meeting, don’t forget to wear it and show everyone what a marvelous job of decorating you did.

Directions: We meet at the Ronald United Methodist Church, 17839 Aurora Avenue North, Shoreline, WA. That is on the west side of Aurora (State Route 99) between 175th and 185th Streets and more specifically, between the Cadillac dealer on the south and Deseret Industries to the north. Going southbound on Aurora, make a right-hand turn into the church driveway immediately after passing the Deseret location. The parking lot is at the rear of the church. From the parking lot go up the steps to the main entrance.

Meetings are the first Thursday of each month, usually September – June. However in June we often do something different, so there may be no “regular” meeting. Doors open at 7:00 PM and the program starts at 7:30.

The next regular evening meeting is April 2 and the one after that is May 7. Hope to see you there or at least sometime on down the line.

New Digital Model Railroad Magazine Trackside Model Railroading

Bob Stafford

There is a new E magazine in town! Trackside Model Railroading

Cover of Trackside Model Railroading Digital Magazine

Trackside Model Railroading Digital Magazine download or view online.

is a digital model railroad magazine, published monthly. Each month on the first, subscribers receive an email containing the links to download the new magazine. There is a choice to download the full size magazine in a zipped file that is intended for desktop computers, and it also includes two images that can be used for your computer desktop. Another option is to view the magazine online with the option to save it to your computer once it opens using the Adobe tools. There are also smaller versions of the magazine formatted for tablets and cell phones.

Each magazine includes two layouts which the staff have visited and photographed extensively. There are about 20-35 images per layout in the magazine, so you get to see many different scenes. You can zoom in on a picture if you wish.

Trackside Model Railroading wants readers to feel that they have experienced a thorough tour of each layout. Accompanying the photographs is an article about each layout and its owner. Whenever possible, high definition video of the trains running on the layout are included. Actual prototypical railroad sounds are dubbed into the video of the models, giving the realism that you are actually railfanning the layout. Several layouts owned by 4th Division PNR members have already been featured in the magazine. Additional 4D PNR member layouts have been visited, photographed and videoed for future articles.

Video links are inside the magazine. As you read a model railroad layout article, you will come across a video capture image which shows a play button. Just click on the picture and the video will launch. This does, however, require that you have an internet connection, as the videos are too large to embed in the magazine.

Each month includes an article instructing the reader how to build or design something relating to modeling. Sometimes these are very specific, and sometimes they are more conceptual in nature. Now and then, extra content like large panoramic images is included within the magazine that you can download and have printed to use as a backdrop on your model train layout.

You can re-access the magazines as many times as you like, and it is fine to download them on your desktop computer as well as a tablet or smartphone if you wish. You can purchase a month here and there for $1.89 or purchase a full year subscription for $14.99, making each month of the magazine just $1.25 per issue. If you have any questions Trackside Model Railroading can be contacted at questions@tsmrr.com.