Issue Date:
April 11, 2005



WE Won!
Best of Show -- MRR Club, at H&R Trains' 48th Show
for our 4x8 display layout. Our prize was a ribbon AND a
$50 Gift Certificate for the club. Thanks to all of the club volunteers that assisted in the transportation, setup and operation of the layout.
See our guys and the other winners on H&R's website.

Great American Train Shows
has accepted our application for a spot in
their Clearwater show, July,16, 17
at Clearwater's Harborview Center.
We'll need volunteers to operate our layout--early volunteers will get in free!
Click Here to get your $2.00 Discount Ticket Coupon for the show!

New Flyer and Postcard Designs for the
Fall 2005 Show!

New Flyer Design

We've discovered a rare opportunity to jump to four-color printing for our show promotional materials for the fall 2005 show in September. We will be using a smaller format for our flyers. They will be printed on cardstock, with the front side carrying the information about our show, and the backside split between the map and information about our club, pictures and membership opportunity.

Originally we were under the mistaken impression that the flyers would be the full 8-1/2 x 11" sized we have traditionally used, however the price we were quoted was actually for a 4"x6" size. The decision was made to go with it in favor of the color--even though this required a quick re-design of the piece we had reviewed at the BOD meeting. (See Steve or D for details if you have questions.) The original design (shown below) has been saved and can still be printed out in small quantity, inexpensively for posting in hobby shops, etc.

New Postcard Design:
The above design is the postcard we will be sending out the first or second week of September to our mailing list. It is similar to the flyer, but leaves room for the address and postage. Both this card and the flyers offer a $1.00 discount at the door if presented.(More details at this week's general membership meeting.)

Keep in mind that these materials start to flow as our guests enter the April show, so we typically do our printing one show in advance. Printing will be completed in time to be used for the show.

The full-sized flyer has been posted as .pdf files on our website---click here and print to see more details

.

Please note: .pdf files almost always lack detail on the computer screen compared with how they will look when printed out. The reverse side is a club flyer to help us recruit potential members. (If any of you have color printers and want to print a couple to distribute to hobby shops you frequent, that would be great!)

DCC Update:

Tim Maslyn from Digistar, now in Spring Hill, FL, spent an evening with us at the club layouts recently. Several of our members on the HO side purchased new ProCab R, NCE throttles through Tim. Check him out at www.digistardcc.com Click here if you would like to e-mail him a note of thanks.

Chris Janks has our new e-prom installed in the NCE system and thanks to our new member Tim's donation of an extra Powerhouse Pro, the HO layout now has a dedicated programming track--a dream come true for those of us who want to learn more about programming AND for those who always hated the previous disruptions of service on the layout! Thanks Chris & Tim!!!!!

"D." Wendal Attig donated three sets of his new DCC Throttle Gripstrips™ for the club-owned NCE ProCab-R throttles. Check out his new website at: www.crew-change.com . If you have a set of these grips and like them, word has it he's looking for quotes he can use in his advertising. Please e-mail him.

New links and new calendars are the major upgrades to our website this month.

The calendar page will allow you to look ahead to locate shows or other events that the club plans long range.

This calendar program is dynamic, meaning that anyplace within the calendar where you find an event listed that is underlined, you can click on it to locate more information.

We will be adding appropriate, non-club model railroading and prototype railroading events of interest to this calendar to enhance the overall model railroading experience for our members and friends when more information is available. If you know of events we should consider adding to the calendar, please e-mail me with the link to more information.

At the bottom of the calendar, you can also choose to customize the view to suit your personal preferences.

Links: We're highlighting some new links we've added at the top of the "Links" page. These will float to their respective sections below as we add others. This month we've highlighted some that will help you answer questions about building a model railroad layout, whether for personal advancement in the hobby, or as a resource to answer questions you've been asked by newcomers to the hobby.

There are two new sections this month on the links page. One is for Company Stores. Many of our members enjoy wearing the official gear of the prototype railroads. These links will take you to the official sources.

The other is a new section for Logging, Mining and Narrow Gauge. One of the sites on that list includes over 1400 historic logging railroad, equipment and operations photos. Even if you don't model in narrow gauge, but appreciate fine scale modeling, these links will challenge your own skills and give you a plethora of new ideas.

We've entered the rating game. Several of our more exciting pages feature a links to Rails USA which allows visitors to our site to rate the site. It looks like this: Rate Us or Rate Our Website  and helps visitors indicate the value of the site compared to what they had hoped to find. I don't know what happens if we get significant ratings......., but we'll see.

This Thursday night is our club General Membership Meeting. Top item on our list will be preparation for our upcoming show on April 23-24. Remember, this show is one of three major fund raisers that we put together during the year. Your support can make this one of the premier shows in the region. Please attend this important meeting and volunteer to help in some capacity to make this one even more successful than the last.

We've all heard the rumor that the sign company next door is moving out within the next 60 days. Steve will bring us up to speed on the facts and figures connected to that possibility.

If you haven't seen them, we'll take one more "official" look at the embroidered shirts and hats in different color combinations and get an opinion as to whether we want an "official' combination for summer, winter, etc.

Paper name badges are ready and posted on the wall in the layout rooms. . Dick Dorsey put those together for us, and did a terrific job! Thanks, Dick!!!!!. Their purpose is to help make us be more approachable and identify us as club members at club and (if we choose) non-club events. (It will also help those of us with alzhiemers........remember who WE are!) This is not a security badge. For those of you who have a sensitivity to security badges, we promise no one will "require" you to wear one.(though you may find yourself answering to "hey you!")


Layout Prep-Fest!

Next Thursday, April 21, is Layout Prep Fest -- to get the HO and N-Scale layouts and clubhouse up to snuff for the openhouse that runs in conjunction with our show. This show prep gives us a good excuse to do the "deep cleaning" and as well as general club housekeeping (bring your own shop vac if you have one) operations will be limited to those required for layout maintenance and testing and scenic enhancement. We need more volunteers. Buy Your Own Drinks. Treats and snacks will be provided--let's party!

We're bringing our club member database up-to-date.
We Need Your Help!

This requires that all members submit a new application form. This form is not a re-application for membership, but the form we're using to collect the right information from our current members (even though it is the same form used for new member application.) This information will give us an up-to-date e-mail list and phone numbers plus help us understand a little more about the preferences and capabilities of our members. If you have not turned this form into Steve, Please turn it in no later than this Thursday night. If you have lost the form, another one is available here (Word Document). Steve's girlfriend has volunteered to enter the information into a new spreadsheet for us. Thanks, Marti!



That's it for Now, See You Again, Right Here Next Month!

"D." Wendal Attig
Editor and Webmaster

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