Hindsight 20/20 11.0 - December 4, 2021

The guys over at Hindsight 20/20 (aka Ted, Hunter, and Ryan) are hosting another fun day of model railroad clinics and presentations via Zoom on Saturday December 4. The whole day is FREE, but does require registration in advance.

So be sure to head on over to http://speedwitchmedia.com/product/hindsight-20-20-11-0-registration/ , "Add to Cart" and plan for a fun afternoon and evening of great model railroading.

And - shameless plug - you may notice that I'll be presenting a shortened highly-focused version of my "Modeling the Valley Local" presentation right before dinner time.

It's going to be a busy day with the HUB Division train show in Marlborough, MA that weekend, but I can't think of a better way to kick "model railroad season" into high gear!

Hope to see you either at the show or during Hindsight - or both!

New England/Northeast Railroad Prototype Modelers Meet - June 3-5

We (finally) have what (I hope) will be our last day of legislative session today - so we'll be wrapping up our business just in time for this year's annual NERPM! Given how the calendar falls, I can only attend this event every other year, so I was really getting nervous I was going to miss it. And that would have been especially bad this year since I'm on the agenda(!)

Yup, right out of the gate, first day of the 'meet at 9am tomorrow I'll be talking about this:

Hopefully even long-time readers of the blog will see something new, but in any event this is the first time I've assembled in one place all the different things I'm attempting with my layout. I'll discuss sources of prototype layout inspiration as well as how/why I chose to model the Valley Line, prototype locations, equipment, and structures, and a bit on operations - both prototype and model.

So I hope you'll be able to stop by - and if you do, be sure to say "howdy!"

But even if you have absolutely no interest in the Valley Line, there are a TON of other fantastic clinics and presentations to see over the next two days. You can check them all out here: http://nerpm.org/TentativeSchedA.pdf There's also a model display room where you can't help but be inspired and an impressive variety of vendors where you can see and buy what you need to support your own modeling efforts

Dave Owens and his crew continue to raise the bar on this event and the new location promises to take the NERPM well onto the next level. His hard work and attention to detail are evident in every aspect of the 'meet and if you're able to attend you're sure to leave newly-charged and pumped to make some more progress on your layout and models.

So if you haven't already made plans to join us, I hope you'll check out the website and clear your calendar for the next couple days. If you're at all interested in prototype modeling, you'll be glad you did.

Friday Fun: Clinic/Presentation

One of the best things about meets - whether sponsored by the NMRA or the NERPM - are the clinics. The variety of how-to, hands-on demonstrations of different modeling skills by experts in the hobby is always worth the price of admission. But just as important, I think, are the presentations. These won't necessarily teach you a new skill, but they're always informative. Either way - clinic or presentation - if done right, you'll leave knowing more than you did when you walked in.

I have the honor of giving a presentation on my layout at a couple of up-coming events. The first is this Saturday in front of the NMRA's Metro-North Division. That'll be something of a dress rehearsal for giving it at the NERPM meet in Enfield on June 3. I've been working on putting all the material together (which is one explanation for why layout progress - and blog postings - have slowed a bit), but I'm excited to be able to share a higher-level overview of what I'm trying to accomplish. It'll be a bit of a contrast to the deeper weeds I tend to get into here.

It'll be more of a "presentation" rather than a "clinic" - but I hope folks will be inspired by what they see and will try modeling a prototype railroad. It's one of the best ways to create a time machine that I know of.

Presentation: A Day on the Valley Local

Been a bit distracted from posting here lately due to working on this up-coming presentation, doing our best to recreate a typical local freight run down the Connecticut River Valley.

So if you happen to be anywhere near Stamford, CT this Saturday afternoon, stop by and say "hi!"

Couple of quick announcements...

(The Layout Tour resumes below - scroll down - or you can go directly to the latest installment here)

I'll be giving a presentation/slide show on the textile & railroad industries in Willimantic this Sunday (Nov. 3) at the Windham High School sometime around 1:30-2pm (exact time, TBD).  This is in conjunction with the Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum's fall show.  I'll be giving a brief history of the growth of the Willimantic textile industry and then going into some detail on the four(!) different railroads that served the town and took its products to market.  Go to http://www.cteastrrmuseum.org/ for more details.

Also, next Saturday (Nov. 9) I'll be giving a talk/show in Stamford at the New Haven Railroad Historical & Technical Association (NHRHTA) Reunion, from 3-5 pm.  The topic?  "A Day on the Valley Local"

Surprised?  (I'm guessing ... no.)  For more details, go to http://www.nhrhta.org/

If you've been following the "Layout Tour" posts here, this will be your chance to see a prototype version.  I'll be using photos from the era and area to "follow" a typical local freight train as it goes about its business serving the towns along the CT river valley.  Thanks to the recollections of John Wallace and Max Miller (who will be joining me), I hope this "trip" will be much more than just watching the train go by - we'll get to know some of the actual crew members and hear some of the funny stories they have to tell.  Along the way, you'll learn about the industries that used be so common in the area, and so many of which are long forgotten.

So if you're in Willimantic this Sunday or Stamford next Saturday, stop by and say "hi" (but please leave the tomatoes at home :^)
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Please excuse the unrelated pics below - I needed an online space to host them, and this was as good a place as any...
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