Quick Post on the NERPM

What a Whirlwind Weekend! Yes, it was ProtoMeet weekend and since I can only make it every other year, I try to cram as much as I can into its 72-hour bucket. Started off bright and early Friday morning, attending as many clinics and presentations as I could right through Friday evening, including having dinner with my buddy PeteL, as well as CraigB, JimL, and LouP (Kaylee was, regrettably, at another table). Next morning was even earlier, meeting Pete, Pieter, Randy, and Tom for breakfast (minor miracle since we'd lost power at our house overnight). Then my presentation at 10:30, lunch with Randy, and great afternoon & evening clinics - as well as dinner with BillS, JimL, Randy, JimF, Mike & Mel. Then up again this morning to prepare for my layout open house, which was awesome due to the great folks that made the trip down to visit.

Whew!

Among the many cool new things I learned over the weekend, three things stand out right away: 1) this hobby is MORE than alive and kicking (there were not only a high number of attendees, but many younger folks as well), 2) ProtoMeets provide a much-needed dose of motivation to get back to your own layout and make some progress, and 3) I really suck at documenting them.

But such as I have, I share with you. So herewith are some pics and video from the weekend. I wish I could say these are the best selected from what I have - these are pretty much ALL I have.

Enjoy! And if you ever have a chance to attend  ProtoMeet, you certainly should. Just be sure to take more and better photos %^)

A wonderfully done scene on the O&W by Mal Houck. I'll just say this here and now, because it's true of all the model photos I took this weekend (such as they are) - pictures don't do the modeling any real justice. Really amazing work. Be sure to attend in person so you can see this craftsmanship firsthand.

 

I wish I'd done a much better job not only at taking more photos, but remembering who did such amazing work! Fortunately, I captured Jim's great "description sheets" in this photo. What a great idea! Shows off the modeling and ensures that the modeler gets due and proper credit for their art.

Thanks to MelR, I have proof that I actually gave a presentation at the NERPM. Thanks to all that took the time to attend - and special thanks to the folks that came up to say hi and offer encouragement. We do this as a labor of love, and the appreciation & feedback we get back from sharing our work is truly priceless.

Thanks to BillS, we had a sign for the Layout Open House (especially helpful to clear up any confusion since my next-door-neighbor is the one that has an actual RR crossing sign hanging on the wall of his house).

No layout tour is complete without the Guest Book (which you must sign :^) and - of course - snacks!

As an added bonus, this weekend marked the first of the monthly Saybrook Specials run by the Valley RR (aka Essex Steam Train). Intrepid VRR photo WarrenD is over on the left, but my Open House helpers Pete, Bill, and Randy took a break with me to head down to the crossing to catch the action - at least some consolation for all the work they did to help me with the layout tour.

Special thanks to those you made the trip down to see the layout - and if you took any pictures, I hope you'll share them with me. I'd love to have some shots of/by folks that were there! And I promise next time to check the RR schedule and have the Open House earlier so visitors have a chance to see the train too.

I wish I had more or better photos of the 'meet, but be sure to check out the NERPM website. Dave Owens does an excellent job not only of putting on a fantastic weekend, but he's much better than I at making sure there are lots of photos from the weekend posted on the site, so be sure to visit. And make plans now to attend next year!