September 26, 2009 - Meeting Summary
Roland Martinez hosted SDSG’s September’s meeting. Attendees were: Alex Sibbald, Bob Graves, Peter Gagnon, Mike Forys, and Roland Martinez. The following subjects were covered.
Officers' Reports
The President reported SDSG’s application had been submitted to participate in the GTE show at Del Mar in December. The arrangements requested are the same as last year except that the layout footprint request was increased to 10 feet by 29 feet to include the new modules.
The Treasurer reported that there has been no change in the clubs financial condition since August. He had written reports available for those who wanted a copy.
The Standards Officer reported that a dimensioned scale drawing of standard module footprints with mainline track location would be available for review next month. The drawing will include a four-foot straight module and both normal and reversed corners based on the Krause corner geometry. A standard wiring list is also in preparation. A brief discussion of whether or not the club should limit straight modules to a length of four feet was discussed. The consensus was that more discussion would be needed before this question is ready for a decision.
Events Planning
GTE Del Mar. We should be good to go for the December GTE show in Del Mar, given progress to date on the new modules. It is expected that we may need some additional setup time as the layout will consist of fourteen modules this year instead of just the eight we fielded at last year’s show and at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum visit over Labor Day weekend. Other items to consider for GTE are: that we may need to come up with an alternative transport scheme; we need to provide additional clamps for the new modules; and we need to be prepared for transport during inclement weather, should that occur.
S-Fest West 2010. Interest in participating in this event was soft and mixed. Everyone felt that transporting the layout up and back on the same Saturday as it is to be displayed would result in a prohibitively long and stressful day. Some members indicated they would be willing to support SDSG’s participation provided we could work out some way to split the effort over two days. The key issue to making that feasible appears to be secure, on-site, over-night storage of the layout materials on the Friday preceding the S-Fest West. Other members thought the amount of time the layout would be on display was too brief to make the effort worthwhile even if it was spread over two days. Peter will follow up with Jeff Kruger of SCSG to see if a two-day transport plan is feasible. All members present expressed interest in attending the event, even if we do not bring the layout.
NMRA/NASG National Convention 2011. Information on this event was distributed to the SDSG mailing list prior to the meeting. There was general interest by the members present both in attending the convention and in bringing some portion of the club’s layout to Sacramento for display. Peter was authorized to enter discussions with the sponsors on schedule, logistics, and terms of a layout visit. Additionally, we’ll continue to gather information on the event and distribute it to the mailing list.
Club Activity Scheduling
The following activity schedule the last quarter of 2009 was developed.
Module Worksessions: October 3, 24, November 7, 21, December 5. All are Saturdays, starting at 10:00 am. Roland Martinez will host all these worksessions at 1262 Melba Road, Encinitas.
Meetings:
Tuesday, October 27th, at 7:00 pm. Mike Forys will host the October meeting at 5037 Cliff Place, San Diego.
Saturday, November 21st, at 2:00 pm following the worksession hosted by Roland at 1262 Melba Road, Encinitas.
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