[Accrs-ho] ACCRS HO-scale Meeting Minutes - 11/03/23

[Wayne Toigo]

ACCRS HO Members,

Greetings! First, I want to let everyone know that I'll now be providing regular updates on our HO monthly meetings, in addition to other updates on some of the other projects we have. More on that later.

Here are the minutes from this month's HO business meeting.

HO Elections
We had a lively group discussion on our Trainmaster and Assistant Trainmaster roles. No one else has volunteered to be our HO Trainmaster, and so Jorg has agreed to continue. We had two volunteers for the Assistant Trainmaster role. A "show of hands" vote was taken by those present.

Trainmaster                        Jorg Linke
Assistant Trainmaster     Wayne Toigo

New Cleaning Train
The creation of our new HO Cleaning Train has been completed and is now in operation. I presented and demonstrated the new train.

I'll send a separate email with a full description of the new Cleaning Train and its recommended operation.

The Cleaning Train is currently stored on Track 1 of the Hidden Yard. That should be its "home" when not in use.

Electrical Team Report
In addition to my new role as Assistant Trainmaster, Jorg has also appointed me as the HO Electrical Team Lead. The team is currently composed of Indigo, Mason, Logan, Jere, and myself. Other HO members may also assist as the need arises. Here are some highlights of some of the projects and issues we're dealing with.


  *   Indigo is working on adding additional power drops in the "Freight Yard" area. This section has been powered mostly by single track drops and rail joiners. Additional drops will make this section more reliable and allow us to utilize it more for setup and operation.
  *   Mason and I are working on fixing some lighting and accessory items in the Port area (such as the Welding Shop and Lift Bridge lights) which have stopped working.
  *   We've had several reports, both recently and during the last Fair, that there was a power dropout on the turnout leading to the upper Summit right side tunnel. After some quick diagnosis Friday night, Indigo was able to determine that one of the point rails was missing a copper connector that is integral to proper operation of the turnout. Indigo is addressing that. When fixed, it should provide much better mainline operation in that section.
  *   I've reactivated an older project to upgrade our HO "Day/Night Scenic Lights" (which was sometimes called the "Fast Clock"). The desire is to upgrade the current incandescent floodlights with new LED RGB fixtures and an automated DMX control system. I'm currently identifying hardware and software which meets our needs and budget. The stretch goal is to complete this by next year's Fair, but it may take longer. Additionally, the O-scale folks have expressed an interest to also use our solution and make it "building-wide" (and work on both HO and O layouts). Details will follow as I obtain a project proposal and budget.
  *   Anyone who finds any kind of electrical problem is encouraged to report it to me or Jorg. (Feel free to email me if you like.) We want to document all items so that they can be addressed and not ignored. We also have a list of "repair tickets" on Groups.IO (https://accrs.groups.io/g/HOscale/table?id=39317) which can/should be used for any problems on our layout (electrical or other).

Training Sessions
We'll be rescheduling the soldering class again. Jorg will send details soon. We also plan to have a landscaping class and a DCC decoder installation class. Let us know if you have any "crafting" or other classes you'd like and we'll see about setting them up.

Scavenger Hunt
We need to update our Scavenger Hunt items. We've used the same list for quite some time now. Think about new items which we can include. Ideally, we'd like to change the list each year.

The current Scavenger Hunt list will remain the same for the upcoming shows, but minimally we'd like to update the list in January.

Scenic Item Cleanup
Mason has expressed an interest in fixing any scenic items that need attention. There are many scenic areas which need some TLC. Let us know if you'd like to help or learn how to do scenic repair and upgrade.

Good Guys
As a reminder, if you plan to participate in the Good Guys show, you must notify Jorg by the end of day this coming Monday, 11/06/23.

We are currently a bit short for Sunday morning.
Train Show Signups
We've posted sign up sheets for next month's Great Train Show shifts. This will be a big one folks, so check your schedules and let's sign up early.

As a reminder from the ACCRS Board for members who sign up to work the Great Train Show, that your obligation is to work your full shift and not visit the show during your shift. You may visit the show before or after your shift.

Layout Area Cleanup
Lastly, Jorg and I want to once again remind and encourage all members that we must keep our layout area clean and looking good for our visiting public. We want to remind you that running shows for the public is considerably different that our Friday night "play" sessions. Durning public shows, we must "put on a good show".

To this end, I'm introducing a new catch phrase for us that's often used by the Disney folks. It's called, "Good show". It refers to the overall look and general behavior we exhibit for our visiting guests.

For example, leaving drink cans and trash on top of the Dispatch panel is not "Good show". It's careless and shows that we don't care about our display. Nothing "out of place" should be within the public view. Clean it up or get it out of sight. That's "Good show"!

Other examples are:

  *   Don't leave phones charging on top of the Dispatch panel.
  *   Don't leave rouge freight cars on the Dispatch or Passenger panels or not on a siding track.
  *   Don't leave alcohol bottles and Blue Towels in view
  *   Don't leave the plastic trash bins under the Dispatch panel. They should be stored under the layout as far out of sight as possible.
  *   Don't leave the wire "parts bin" cart in view.
  *   If you must "pop-up" from one of our layout's inside access holes to fix a problem or derailment, do so quickly and then leave the inside of the layout. Don't remain in the middle of the layout in view of the public. To the casual viewer, you look like King Kong and are horribly out of scale for our small trains. It's not "good show".

You get the idea. Let's start treating our layout like a show building and not a garage. Just ask yourself, is this "good show"?

Wrap-up
Thanks to all and please let Jorg or me know if you have any other questions, ideas, or suggestions.


-Wayne
ACCRS HO Assistant Trainmaster

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