August 27, 2024 - Meeting Summary
The San Diego S-Gaugers held the July club meeting at our clubhouse and on Zoom. Attendees were: Mike Forys, Ken Sadlock, Robert Graves, Alex Sibbald, Dale Minard, Raulf Polichar, Les Smith, Craig Carlson, Don Briggs, Paul DeLaurell and Dave Horn.
Introduction of New Faces / Show and Tell:
Dale Minard who recently returned from the NASG Convention brought in 2 convention train cars. His purchases included 4 kit-bashed billboard reefers, a brass caboose, a brass 44 ton yard tug and a brass water column. Bob Graves brought in a nice wood train cabinet for sale from Wes Noel's collection. Bob also displayed record albums from Wes for sale or donation.
Treasurer's Report:
Bob Graves reported that the club received visitor donations totaling $342.63 in July $24.81 less than June, and $23.28 above the average for July with $124.33 of the donations coming from our Venmo account. In the twenty-two months we have had Venmo Service, we have received $1559.12 in donations. Bob sold $32.78 worth of donated trains at a profit of $4.03. To date the club has received $8,194,55 from the sale of donated trains. This resulted in a net gain of $136.86 for the month after expenses.
Standards Report:
Ralph Polichar is assembling spare Fulgurex motors for the track turnouts.
Publicity Report:
N/C
Library Report:
N/C.
SN3 Layout:
N/C.
Window Layout Success and Visitor Attendance:
Mike Forys reported that from July 20, 2024 to Aug24, 2024 the window buttons have been pushed 2883 times. Windows 1=1,781 Windows 2 =1,102 average 82.4 per day over 35 days.
Grossmont total (beginning Feb, 2016) = 323,489
Day one (beginning May, 2011) total = 363,047
Visitor Total since February 1, 2016 = 96,084
Old Business:
Club Mural:
The UP logo and door hardware are next.
Craig Carlson has completed fashioning a hobo for the mural.
Window Layouts:
The Comet Locomotive has been replaced on the Liberty Loop layout due to worn contacts.
New Business:
Lego Days:
The next Lego Build Day is scheduled for October 26, 2024.
Future Events:
The next meetings will be on Tuesdays, September 17, 2024 and October 22, 2024 and will be held at our clubhouse and on Zoom.
Main Layout:
A circus display has been located on the S curve temporarily until the permanent town is completed.
Train Show:
The Great Train Expo is coming to the Del Mar Fairgrounds on October 5th and 6th 2024.The members voted to participate in some fashion.
Halloween:
Mike Forys relayed a conversation with Larry Brown regarding Halloween. We told him we would support Halloween candy giveaway.
Visitor Celebration:
The club expects that we will see our 100,000th visitor at this location sometime between this November, and January 2025.
SDSG Layout Expansion:
Mike Forys has begun constructing two new modules to support the layout expansion to include our turntable module. One is 24 inches deep and one is 30 inches deep. Track and some scenery have been installed. The modules are ready for installation.
Work Day Reschedule:
September 18, 2024 has been selected as the time to modify the main layout to allow for expansion.
The 19th will be a backup day in case the work isn’t finished on the 18th. Mike Forys is seeking volunteers to aid in this endeavor.
Liability Insurance:
The club's liability insurance policy was modified to agree with our user license requirements.
July 4, 2026 Celebration:
Mike Forys asked everyone to start thinking about what features we can put into our layout and or clubhouse to celebrate our country’s 250th Anniversary.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:20 am.