Spring Creek Model Railroad Club

Meeting Minutes for 2007 Consolidated

Meeting December 23rd, 2007 - Supplement
Membership:
  • Ben Treptow’s new status as an Associate Member was voted on and approved.
Treasury:
  • Checks were issued to members needing reimbursement. $1,437 balance remaining after reimbursements.
Frisco Setup Conclusion:
  • Everyone had a great time.
  • Frisco would like to have us back next year.
  • The layout ran well overall.
  • Thanks to everyone for all their hard work and for making this venue a success!
  • We received both a Frisco caboose and a mounted puzzle as gifts.
Layout Problem Areas:
  • Glenn’s Module – resolved power issue at switch
  • Yard Issues:
  • Turnout 59 – Ballast needs to be cleaned out
  • Turnout 46 – Needs to be replaced
  • Turnout 2 (yard lead) – Sticking
  • Turnout 4 – Repaired
  • Turnouts 16 & 17 need to be labeled
  • Turnout 18 – Sticking
  • Ben’s old middle module has a power drop off on outer main – needs power feed
  • Power issues going into Chris Sawyer’s modules from the Bridge need to be addressed. Problem on the bridge.
Next Club Setup: Dallas Area Train Show in Plano at the Plano Centre. Setup – Friday January 18th, 2008 at 6:00P.M. Public Showing: Saturday 19th 10:00-5:00P.M. & Sunday 20th 10:00-4:00P.M.
Monthly Meeting December 10th, 2007
Membership:
  • Not attending this meeting were Tom Matthews, Chris Sawyer, Cheryl Lampe
  • Membership status of Ben Treptow currently unknown. His modules (2 4ft.) are available and will be transported in the trailer for now.
  • Glenn will transport the drapes, ropes and standoffs
  • Pete will transport the buildings (check on possible missing bldg.)
Prospective new associate member Mike Cooper ran at Frisco on Saturday.
  • New prospective member Dave Griffith attended his 1st meeting with us.
  • Ed Duddy will be contacted by email to get his status.
Other possible new members:
  • Jeffrey Liedle
  • Steve Schmollinger
  • Scott Summer
Treasury:
  • Leo reported the official Spring Creek Club account has been opened and the deposit for Frisco has been made into the account. The total account balance is $2,000.00 with $1,400.00 currently available. Leo, Tom & Glenn are signers.
  • Club owes reimbursement to…
  • Chris Sawyer $200.00 for covered module expenses
  • Leo Gregg $235.00
  • Michael Calleia $20.00 for switch machines
  • Erick Espinoza $50.00 for Frisco FAQ Sign (just remembered this)
Recruiting:
  • Skip volunteered to handle recruitment until the position can be filled by vote in February 2008.
North Texas Council Report: James Bobo
  • No meeting this month
  • Success of Ft. Worth Show unknown. Michael said it was good.
  • Ft. Worth Show will be moved to the Convention Center and will take place one week after the Oklahoma City Train Show in December 2008.
  • Ft. Worth Layout Tours may coincide with Frisco setup for 2008 assuming we get the concession.
Frisco Setup Notes:
  • Watch for kids grabbing trains/scenery and getting inside ropes
  • Min. 4 trains should be running all the time
  • Please clean up after yourself at the end of the day
  • Running time is from 5:30-9:30PM – Please run until 9:30
  • Nonmembers may run trains only with close supervision
  • Great job by the club following protocols and being professional
  • Please fill up all times on the run-sheet and run until your time expires
  • Remember to keep fresh batteries in your throttle. Michael will get batts.
  • Try to run Thomas more often for the kids
  • Maybe get Annie & Clarabelle coaches to run behind
  • Keep all your locomotive wheels clean and keep the track clean
  • Bob had positive comments about our layout – gave us Frisco caboose
  • Move our setup sign to more prominent location
  • The feeling is that we had around 600 visitors on Friday
  • Layout Tear down on December 23rd at 2:00P.M.
  • Frisco work session on Wednesday 12th at 6:30 for those interested
Committees:
  • The Nominating Committee will meet in January – Glenn is Chairman
  • DCC Committee will meet in January to work on improvements to DCC/Wiring – Glenn is Chairman
  • Turntable/Roundhouse Committee – Looks great! Setup some locos for static display in and around the turntable/roundhouse area. Pete is Chairman
  • Some track still needs to be cut and scenery completed
  • Frisco Publicity Subcommittee will see about getting the local news (Ch.5) to cover our layout
2008 Commitments:
  • Meetings
  • February 18th Elections Meeting at Leo Gregg’s house – 7:30
  • March 17th Meeting at Hank’s house – 7:30
  • April 21st Meeting at Michael Calleia’s house – 7:30
  • May 19th Meeting at Pete’s house – 7:30
  • July 21st Meeting at Tom’s house – 7:30 (Tom was volunteered)
  • August 18th Meeting at George’s house – 7:30
  • September 15th Meeting at Leonard’s house - 7:30
  • December 8th Meeting at James Bobo’s house - 7:30
  • Club Setups
oPlano Train Show – January 19th & 20th at Plano Centre
oLongview Train Show – February 23rd & 24th at Fairgrounds
oGranger Garland Work Session – March or April - in the Annex Bldg.
oRichardson Display – June 11th thru 15th at the Civic Center
oCarrollton Setup – October/November - Darren will check on Rosemeade Rec.
oFrisco Holiday Display – December 5th – 20th??
Ideas for the Future:
oGeorge:
1.Possible bridge swivel design to make access easier
2.2-way radios for better communication
oJames:
1.Email distribution list for club events & updates
Monthly Meeting November 11th, 2007
(Salute a Veteran!)
General notes:
President:
·The Rosemeade Recreation Center setup from Nov 9th through the 11th.
oThe summation from the Rec. center manager: “We rock!”
·The club authorized:
oLeo to purchase another wireless throttle
·The Rosemeade setup was impressive. It went so well because of the positive attitude shown by the members. In some informal polling of visitors on Sunday, it was discovered that many of the folks are visiting for the second time.
·According to management, we had approx. 600 visitors over the weekend.
Discussion items from the Rosemeade Recreation Center setup:
·Takedown should occur at the correct time and not before
·If you have kids running a train, you need to be with them the whole time.
·Take your trains out of the yard once your scheduled runtime has expired.
·Have your trains setup thirty minutes prior.
·Applications need to be readily available at each setup
Maintenance items from the Rosemeade Recreation Center setup:
·The HOn3 track had an issue that prevented its use during the setup
·Turnouts 39, 46 and 59 need to be fixed
·The turnouts to the loco facility need to be wired
·All feeder wires that are 22 gauge should be upgraded to 18 gauge
Future Events:
Next Meeting:
  • At James house on December 10th at 7:30 PM (Monday).
Next Setup:
  • Frisco on December 2nd beginning at 10:00 AM (Sunday)
  • Take down on December 29th (trailer at 2:00 PM)
  • Be there 30 minutes prior to each event time
  • We should have a key to the location.
  • Display Dates: All times are 5:30P.M.-10:00P.M.
  • Dec 7 and 8
  • Dec 14 and 15
  • Dec 21 and 22
North TX Council:
The Ft. Worth show:
Poor performance and an upcoming rent increase have called its relevance into question.A motion was approved to vote “No” on future Ft. Worth shows.
Membership:
Ben would like to relinquish his modules and become an associate member.
We received four applications from the Rosemeade Setup. They are:
oMike Casper ()
oJohn Goodman ( )
oTerence Green ()
oDave Griffith ()
I will invite them to our December meeting.
Attendance: Chris Sawyer, Chris Siemantel, Craig & Cheryl, Eric, Frank, George & Krissy, Glenn, James, Hank, Leo, Leonard, Mike Crawford, Pete, Skip, Tom
Monthly Meeting October 15th, 2007
General Notes:
President:
The club authorized:
  • $200 for Chris’ modules
  • $70 to reimburse Leo for the gas needed in hauling the trailer
  • $200 to reimburse Leo for money deposited in the club account
Congratulations!
To James for winning first place with his diorama of the SP Passenger station at the Southern Pacific Historical Society event in Houston.
Committees:
·Office nominating committee (voting is in Feb) consists of: Glenn (Chairman), Hank and James
·Roundhouse committee should consider the color of the gravel.
Future Events:
Next Meeting:
  • At Rosemeade Recreation Center on November 11th at 5:00 PM (Sunday before takedown).
Next Setup:
  • Carrollton (Rosemeade Recreation Center Gym B) November 9th through 11th
  • Expect a large crowd
  • Times:
  • Friday (setup) 7:30 – 10:30 PM
  • Saturday 9 am – 9 PM (open to public 12 - 5 pm)
  • Sunday 9 am - 8 PM (open to public 12 – 5 pm)
Frisco:
· The layout setup was approved
·We will be sharing the room with six vendors
·No stanchions protecting the yard. When staging, place trains on the inside tracks
·Take home your equipment every night
·Crowd control – They may provide some volunteers. Still need to be ironed out.
·If you have any Frisco cars/locos, please run them.
·Needing at least six club members every night
·Bring dependable trains to ensure four are running as often as possible
·Publicity committee – Chris Sawyer, Skip, Mike Calleia, George and Krissy
·Expected reimbursement: $2000
Dates:
oDec 2nd (setup) some will start at 10:00 AM but most will arrive later
oDec 23th – 29th (takedown) on 23rd, the trailer will be loaded at 2:00 PM
oDec 7-8 (5:30 – 10:00 PM both days)
oDec 14-15 (5:30 – 10:00 PM both days)
oDec 21-22 (5:30 – 10:00 PM both days)
Membership:
Craig & Cheryl have been voted in as Full Members. Their module has the turntable.
Attendance:
Ben, Chris Siemantel, Craig & Cheryl, Frank, George & Krissy, Glenn, James, Hank, Leo, Leonard, Mike Calleia, Mike Crawford, Pete, Skip, Tom & Darren
Monthly Meeting September 8th, 2007
General notes:
President:
·The club authorized the reimbursement of the costs associated with the turntable and Chris Sawyer’s Modules.
·The exact budget was unknown at the time of the meeting. Estimated around $400.00
Granger work session status update:
·Turntable – Hole cut and may be ready by the Carrollton setup
·Chris’ modules – Track laid, wiring almost complete, Tortoises to be scavenged from old modules
·Yard Switch #46 – Not Fixed
·Narrow gauge bridge – Darren will work on bridge off-line
·Wiring on Hank’s modules – Repaired and running fine
·Bridge section – Hank is ballasting and putting scenery on it
Future Events:
Next Meeting:
  • At Leonard’s October 15th at 7:30 PM.
Next Setup:
  • Carrollton (Rosemeade Rec Center) November 8th through 10th
  • DCC Session early Saturday morning ß Time and agenda to be determined by DCC committee
  • Times:
  • Friday (setup) 7:30 – 10:30 PM
  • Saturday 12 – 5 PM (open to public)
  • Sunday 12 - 5 PM (open to public)
Frisco:
·KLUV may be onsite
·Take home your equipment every night
·Crowd control – They may provide some volunteers. Still need to be ironed out.
·Flyers posted at Discount Model Trains
·Expecting between 300 to 400 visitors a night
·Possibly create an FAQ flip chart
·Needing at least six club members every night
·Bring dependable trains to ensure four are running as often as possible
·Publicity committee – Chris Sawyer, Skip, George and Chrissy
·Expected reimbursement: $500 a weekend for a total of $1,500 (3 weekends)
·Dates: (No Sundays)
oDec 2nd (setup)
oDec 27th – 30th (takedown)
oWeekend # 1 - Dec 7-8 (5:30 – 10:00 PM Fri & Sat)
oWeekend # 2 - Dec 14-15 (5:30 – 10:00 PM Fri & Sat)
oWeekend # 3 - Dec 21-22 (5:30 – 10:00 PM Fri & Sat)
Membership:
No change
Attendance:
Ben, Chris Sawyer, Chris Siemantel, Craig & Cheryl, Frank, George & Chrissy, Glenn, James, Hank, Leonard, Pete, Skip
and Tom.
Monthly Meeting August 20th, 2007
General notes:
President:
The club authorized the reimbursement of the costs associated with the re-work on Chris Sawyer’s modules.
Standards Committee:
The latest changes to the by-laws and constitution were approved.
Future Events:
Next Meeting:
  • At Granger September 8th at 4:00 PM.
Please attend this meeting. We need to confirm several items of concern for the upcoming show season.
Next Setup:
  • Garland (Granger) September 7th through 9th – This is a work session. No scenery. Bring backdrops.
  • Times:
  • Friday 5 – 9 PM
  • Saturday 9 – 5 PM
  • Sunday 9 - 4 PM
  • Five projects have been identified:
  • The turn table
  • Chris’ modules
  • Switch #46 in the yard
  • The yard on the narrow-gauge bridge
  • Wiring on Hank’s modules
Membership:
John Albritton & Rick Eads have resigned their membership.
Attending the August meeting were:
Frank
George
Glenn
Leonard
Mike Calleia
Mike Crawford
Skip
Tom
Monthly Meeting July 16th, 2007
General notes:
Treasurer:
·The budget was approx. $450.
·The club authorized the reimbursement of the costs associated with the rework on Chris Sawyer’s modules
(See below)
Richardson display:
  • Jeff from Richardson (exact title escapes me) thought we were a real asset.
  • We are scheduled for the first weekend in June 2008.
Standards Committee:
The standards document was approved (great work!)
SCMRR modules:
  • Pete is now responsible for Ben’s corner module.
  • Chris Sawyer is now responsible for Leo’s two modules
  • Ben is looking for a volunteer to handle the drapes.
Turntable Committee:
The committee has been established. It consists of Pete (Chairman), Leo, Mike Crawford, Glenn, Craig and Leonard.
Future Events:
Next Meeting:
  • At Mike Crawford’s house: Aug. 20th at 7:30 P.M.
Next Setup:
  • Garland (Granger) September 7th through 9th – This is a work session. No scenery.
Potential display at Frisco Square (presented by James):
  • The setup would occur the week after Thanksgiving and the takedown would be the week after Christmas.
Trains are to be run for three hours on Friday night, five hours Saturday night and for four hours on Sunday.
The security arraignments are to be finalized. But, we do know that two security guards will be present. Not sure if we will need to rent stanchions.
It was suggested we obtain insurance to cover our participation at the event.
The amount we will charge is still to be negotiated. The figure bandied about was from a minimum of $300 to $1000 a weekend.
A committee was created to assist James in the negotiation. The committee consists of: Leo, John, George, Michael Calleia and Chris Sawyer.
The club approved our participation
Plano (2008):
Room for twenty clubs but 22 want to participate.
The Council is unsure of how to handle participation. Either a lottery system can be enacted or have all clubs participate and scale back on vendors (will cost each club app $40 dollars each).
Membership:
Chris Sawyer was voted in as a full member.
Attendance at July’s meeting was 19 members!
Richardson Setup -Monthly Meeting June 10th, 2007 Minutes:
General notes:
Treasurer:
  • Exact budget was $891.00. The cost of the signs had not been subtracted ($100) or the other item approved during the meeting (see next line).
  • The motion to purchase another RC throttle ($155.00) was approved.
Richardson display:
  • Tom’s wife made some very favorable comments about the current status of the club and the layout. She said that in the four years since Granger, the layout had more trains running and more scenery. Also, there was more energy present.
  • Due to some miscommunication by Richardson, the children did not show on Friday. While that was disappointing, it did provide many hours of train-running.
Woodland Scenics:
  • Mike did stellar work with the creating of trees with children. Mike estimates that a hundred trees were created. My kids actually enjoyed that more than running trains.
  • Much thanks to Woodland Scenics for the donation of the tress. My thank-you note will be in the mail shortly (If you haven’t noticed, I’m running a bit behind).
Standards Committee:
  • At Richardson, Leonard completed the setting up of DCC for the narrow gauge track.
  • The standards document has Leonard’s revision and it was passed to Leo for his updates.
  • Car marking. I’m sending the list to Chris for posting on our website.
Signage Committee:
  • The signs looked pretty good!
Sky-board Committee:
  • Unable to really discuss this item. Will revisit during next month’s meeting.
SCMRR modules:
  • Are three modules for one person too much?Ben offered up one of his modules as he has three. There will be more discussion on the distribution of modules to the new members at the next meeting.
Future Events:
Next Meeting:
  • At Tom’s house: July 16th at 7:30 PM.
Potential display at Frisco Square (presented by James):
  • The setup would occur the week after Thanksgiving and the takedown would be the week after Christmas.
Trains are to be run for three hours on Friday night, five hours Saturday night and for four hours on Sunday.
The security arraignments are to be worked out.
The amount we will charge is still to be negotiated.
The figure bandied about was from $500 to $1000 a weekend.
James will report any additional details at the July meeting. Afterwards, we must give Frisco our decision.
Maintenance:
At Richardson:
  • Other than a drop off in power that may have been related to multiple engines with sound running in the same block, it was a reasonably trouble-free run the entire weekend.
Membership:
A prospective member:
  • Ed Duddy ()
Are there an ideal number of members? The more members assist with the care and setup of the layout. But, more members limit the amount of running for each person during a setup.
May 21st, 2007:
Treasurer Report:
Exact budget was unknown at the meeting. However, it is greater than $800.A vote occurred to reimburse Chris Siemantel for the cost of the web-hosting ($120) and Leonard Siemantel for the cost of the signs to be used in Richardson ($100).
Council:
Some discussion occurred about a couple of suggestions to assist NTCMRR. One suggestion was a modeling contest and another was for NTCMRR to post the flyer on their site as a PDF and then ask each club to promote the event.
This is a month after James reported the Council was disappointed with the turnout at the Ft. Worth show. The council is still eliciting suggestions to boost turnout at next year’s event. It is also looking for another site to host the event. An acceptable rent would be between $4,000 and $5,000 for the weekend.
Standards Committee:
A booster was setup for the narrow-gauge track. This will allow DCC to be used on the little things.
Glenn has completed the miserable task of labeling the resistors and the other assorted wires in the console. This has added momentum to building another console. To improve upon console v 1.0 by removing the old DC stuff and using some lighter materials in console v 1.1.