August 17, 2021 - Meeting Summary
The San Diego S-Gaugers held the August club meeting at our clubhouse and on Zoom at 10:00AM. Attendees were: Mike Forys, Ken Sadlock, Robert Graves, Les Smith, Raulf Polichar, Dale Minard, Don Briggs, Al Kiel, Wes Noel, Len Carapezza and Alex Sibbald.
Introduction of new faces / Show and Tell:
Ken Sadlock displayed two A.F. New Haven passenger cars that he purchased. Dale Minard brought in a "Charlie Chips" truck that he added windows to. Mike Forys brought in the new Lionel Catalog, Ken Sadlock donated a cool touch droplight and Al Kiel showed us a K4 steam engine that had been converted from a K5.
Treasurer's Report:
This month Bob Graves reported $367.35 from clubhouse visitor donations in July.
Standards Report:
Raulf Polichar reported that he had replaced the Liberty Loop remote window button with a new higher voltage button which has performed better so far.
Publicity Report:
N/C
Old Business:
Website Update:
Update is nearly complete. Google is changing platform for web sites which requires expanding all thumbnail pictures.
New Clinics:
N/C
SN3 Addition Status:
Mike Forys reported that the recreated left end is too short to display one of the buildings. The building will have to be shortened. Mike has been adding rock background and installing Plexiglas panels on the front of the display. Ken applied Dullcote to the rock faces to eliminate shine.
Window Layout Success and Visitor Attendance:
As of 08/15/2021 the Window Layout Button 1 has been pushed 1,339 times and Window Layout Button 2 has been pushed 1,519 times for a total of 2,858 times since July 17th or 192,922 times since we first installed one at Grossmont Center and 233,250 times since day one.
New Business:
Operating Session:
Mike Forys suggested that if anyone is interested in hosting an operating session to contact him.
Future events:
The next meetings will be on Tuesdays, September 21st, 2021 and October 19th, 2021 and will be held at our clubhouse and on Zoom.
Clubhouse:
The window clubhouse sign and the button signs have been replaced and installed. Dale Minard will change out the contents of the front display case for September.
Club Mural:
It was suggested that we change the theme of our pastoral mural to a boxcar. If someone else has another scene idea for the mural please let Mike Forys know.
Lego Day:
The date of the next Lego Day will depend upon the Pandemic situation.
Train Direction:
It was suggested that we run the outer loop of our main layout in the opposite direction which would enhance train operations. It would require repairing several turnouts and modifying the new signal/pedestrian bridge. The discussion is included in an attachment to these minutes.
Club Business:
Mike Forys reported that a change to our email address would require a change to our bylaws. It was suggested that we remove all mention of our email address in the bylaws. Changes to the bylaws will be voted on during the September meeting.
Other Items:
Mike Forys suggested that we form a planning committee 2025 to study possible action plans in case Grossmont Center ownership changes affect the club in the future.
Meeting was adjourned at 11:55 AM.
A Proposal to reverse directions on the SDSG layout
17 August, 2021
Last Tuesday Wes and Raulf decided to experiment with operation in the opposite directions that we normally run. Scotty agreed and both mainlines were reversed. While this may seem arbitrary, it is in fact very logical since three of the four one-way sidings on the DCC loop now can be backed into allowing great possibilities for realistic operation and train switching. The fourth siding that stops at the passenger station is normally used for holding a whole train and generally needs to be backed in our current setup would now need to be backed out in the new orientation. Operation seemed to work well on both loops although several turnouts showed some problems at the frog with the new directions. We think that this change would increase the possibility for meaningful operating sessions on the DCC loop that simply don’t work now.
Some problems and changes are necessary. Fixing the turnouts is a must but should be done in any case. The lighting on the passenger station signal bridge would have to be corrected to compensate for the change. The AC siding in Gilbert Town that allows for the operation of the action cars is now backwards for a train to leave cars there. This can be fixed by adding a turnout on the S module and connecting that siding on both ends. There is an unused turnout on the front corner module that was originally used for the turntable module that often causes trouble with passing trains. I propose that we replace the turnout with track and remove the short stub that is never used. This would benefit the operating possibilities in Gilbert Town allowing more operating cars to be placed along the extended siding that would now pass onto the S module. We think this is a win-win strategy to improve operation and interest on the layout and makes sense for going forward.
During a discussion in the August, 2021 monthly meeting, a point was brought up that we need some buildings / businesses along the Plexiglas to give us a reason to have switching operations on those sidings accessed from the outer main. We already have some for the inner main along the skyboard.
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