Spring Creek Model Railroad Club

Meeting Minutes for February 16, 2009

Treasury:

·  Current Balance: $2029.13. Frisco Square/City of Frisco has paid in Full $2,400.00. Reimbursements have been made to Glenn ($197), Leonard ($343) and Leo ($25).

·  Club Voted on and Approved $43.95 reimbursement to Chris Siemantel for domain name renewal for club website good through 2/7/2010.

Nominating Committee:

·  Glenn (Chairman), Hank Whyte & James Bobo. James presented the nominees for offices in Glenn’s absence.

·  Election Results for 2009

o  Club President, Leonard Siemantel

o  VP of Operations, Jeffrey Liedl

o  VP of Recruitment, David Griffith

o  Secretary, Chris Siemantel

o  Treasurer, Tom Matthew’s

o  Board Member, Peter Consigli

o  Board Member, Mike Crawford

Membership:

·  Jim Hallmark attended his first meeting with us, welcome Jim! Not sure if he can make Longview but will be at Richardson for sure.

·  Michael Holland was in attendance, welcome again Michael!

·  Chris Sawyer will become Associate Member. Discuss possible module co-ownership with Jim Jacob. Chris’s current modules may be stored at Michael Calleia’s house temporarily. James Bobo will coordinate with Chris for picking up and transporting modules to Longview and back.

·  Ben’s old modules still available. Bob is interested in the modules but cannot take ownership right now.

·  George’s old module still available. Pete has temporary custody of module.

·  John Goodman and Thomas Wheeler have been removed from the Membership role.

·  Darren Dickinson’s new status is Friend of the Club.

DCC:

·  Notes from Glenn about DCC performance in Frisco and Plano.

o  Dirty track was an issue

o  Not enough trains running

o  Plastic wheels need to be changed out

o  Eliminate Code 100 track splices

o  Loose Code 100 rail joiners not making good connections

·  Around-the-room pole taken regarding current DCC running experience.

o  About half the present meeting members expressed some kind of problem running their trains with the current system. Slow or no response at all from their locomotives was the main observation. It was concluded that there are still track issues causing problems around the layout.

·  DCC Task Force Created.

o  Will Evaluate other DCC systems

o  Approx Projected cost of new system $1600.

o  May try to obtain “loaner” DCC system for Evaluation.

§  Task Force Members:
Craig Lampe (Chairman)
Leonard Siemantel

Glenn D.
Jeff Liedl
Mike Crawford
Leo Gregg

Backdrop Updates – Jeff Liedl

·  Backdrops are completed for NG portion except for Frank. New NG backdrops will extend from George to Frank. Total Cost $290.60 for backdrops and $11.29 for electrical box on George’s module. Reimbursements will be made to Jeff.

Lift-up Bridge Design – Jeff Liedl

·  Design in progress and parts list has been created. Projected cost $457. Project will be put on hold temporarily due to financial constraints.

By-Laws & Constitution Updates: - Leonard

·  VP of Recruitment’s responsibilities defined

·  Removal of Club Member due to inactivity defined

·  New Club Member requirements restated

·  Info@ email will be checked by VP of Recruitment

·  VP of Operations will provide runtime signup sheets for Shows

·  Eliminate statement regarding board member requirements for Granger Garland.

Summer Trip Plans

·  Colorado & UP North Platte Yard Tour sometime this summer. Please contact Tom, Glenn or Pete regarding details if interested.

Council Report:

·  James Bobo - N. TX Council meeting on Tuesday with official results for N. Texas Council Trainshows: There was less attendance for Plano 2009 than Plano 2008; about 4200 paid admissions. Expected payout for our club to be between $400 & $500.

TRAIN SHOWS:

·  Longview Show 2009 – Longview Fairgrounds – March 27-29
Setup: Friday, March 27, 2:00 – 8:00PM

Saturday, March 28, 10:00AM-6:00PM

-Sat Night Homers Hobby Shop after the Show

-Sat Night Dinner at Dudley’s Cajun Café at 7:00PM

Sunday, March 29, 11:00AM-4:00PM, then Teardown

Please be sure to book your hotels now! Contact Skip Bynum for more information.

·  UPDATE: Richardson Show 2009 – Civic Center – June 5-7
Setup: Friday, June 5th, 2:00-8:00PM
Saturday June 6th: 9:00AM-6:00PM (Public 10a-5p)

Sunday June 7th: 10:00AM-8:00PM (Public 12p-5p)


Notes: May try to arrange a showing for special needs kids. There will be no kids attending for camp. We will be part of the layout tours for the NMRA LSR 3 Train convention.

·  Granger Garland Work Session – August 2009 (tentative)

·  Carrollton Show – October 2009 – Check with Hank about possible alternate location in place of Rosemeade.

2009 Remaining Meeting Schedule:

·  March 29th: Longview Show before teardown

·  April 20th: Michael Calliea

·  May 18th: Dave Griffith

·  June 7th: Richardson Show before teardown

·  July 20th: Jeff Liedl

·  August: Granger Garland Work Session

·  September 21st: Leonard Siemantel

·  October: Carrollton Show before teardown

·  November 16th: Tom Matthews

·  December 14th: James Bobo

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