The contest this time is for the best online structure. This can be any railroad owned structure like a depot, tool shed, outhouse, etc.

As and added bonus, Saturday is also National Train Day, and there will be a celebration at the Ft. Worth Intermodal Transportation Center on Jones Street. The organizers describe the event as:

Celebrate National Train Day at Fort Worth Intermodal Transportation Center with participation from Texas Rail Advocates, Operation Lifesaver, UPRR, Amtrak, DART Rail, BNSF, Trinity Railway Express and the Dallas Railroad Museum. There will also be train equipment displays, entertainment, balloon makers and face painters.

• Amtrak will have several of their passenger cars on display and a drawing for free tickets on their Texas Eagle service.

• BNSF Railway will display one of their locomotives and have railroad personnel on hand to answer your questions.

• Informative displays from Trinity Railway Express and the Fort Worth ‘T’; Operation Lifesaver and others.

• Musical entertainment.

• The North Texas Historic Transportation will have the NTT interurban at the Fort Worth Intermodal Station open for touring and information on the proposed City of Fort Worth Streetcar Circulator.

• Watch the action with the TRE and Amtrak’s Heartland Flyer and Texas Eagle trains and nearby freight trains.

• The Texas Rail Advocates table will feature National Train Day T-Shirts and Train Whistles.

• Union Pacific Railroad will show off its UP No. 2010 Boys Scouts of America Locomotive, honoring Scouting’s 100-year impact on the country.

I hope you can make it to the meeting before joining the festivities downtown.

Chris

This meeting’s theme is cabooses. Bring your favorite caboose to share with the group. The winner will be chosen by popular vote. There will be a prize.

We’ll also discuss upcoming meetings. Please send me your meeting ideas.

I hope to see you all on the 30th.

Bring a friend,

Chris

At 10AM, Saturday, November 21st, the next meeting of the Cowcatcher Division will be held in room #4 at the Lockheed Martin Recreation Association administration building: 3400 Bryant-Irvin Rd., Ft. Worth, TX 76109.

The theme of this meeting is complete some unfinished kit that’s taking space under the layout. It can be a structure or anything else, but it should be something you already have. Like last time, there will be a prize for the most popular entry. Feel free to bring a friend along.

We’ll also discuss upcoming meetings. Please send me your meeting ideas.

Also, don’t forget next Saturday and Sunday, November 14th and 15th, is the Ft. Worth train show. The show is returning to the Amon Carter Exhibit Hall at 3401 W Lancaster Ave. in Ft. Worth. Like years before, we will have a table to promote the LSR and the Cowcatcher Division. You help manning the table will be greatly appreciated. If you can help out, please drop me a note at chris@railroadmodelers.com

I also need some folks to help out at the Plano Train Show in January. While Division 1 usually mans the table, we need to put on 4 clinics. If you’ve got a clinic up your sleeve, and can help out in January, please let me know.

I hope to see you all on the 21st.

Chris

I’m slipping the meeting a few weeks to avoid interfering with the Division 3 meetings, the LMRA operating sessions and Labor day.

Rather than have one member present a clinic, Sept. 12th is going to be “Power Day.” Please bring your favorite, most unusual, one of a kind locomotive to the meeting to show the group and talk about. There will be a prize for the most interesting entry.

We’ll also discuss upcoming meetings, and have a recap the June convention.

With school starting, it’s the perfect time of year to nominate a young model railroader for the LSR membership scholarship. This boy or girl must be in our division and show an active interest in the hobby. If you have a child, grandchild or neighbor that you’d like to suggest, let me know, and I’ll put his or her name forward.

It’s also a great time of year to get your friends interested in the hobby and the NMRA. Please feel free to bring them along to the September meeting.

We have a few folks in the Division working on the AP program in order to become a Master Model Railroader. If you have done any AP judging in the past, please let me know so that I can put together a list of potential judges as these folks complete their certificate requirements.

I hope to see you all on the 12th.

Chris

We are also offering both Dallas and Ft. Worth Super Tours that were not included in the registration form published in the Marker Lamp. The Super Tour is a good way to enjoy touring many of the metroplex’s finest layouts while letting someone else fight traffic.

Also, if you would rather pay by credit card through Paypal, this year we are offering online registration through the company store at http://trinityriverrails.com . You can also view and purchase shirts, decals and everything else on the registration form. If you would prefer to pay by check, you still may be interested in the online form to save the hassle of printing.

This year’s convention promises to be very special. Besides the trip tp the Ft. Worth Stockyards on the Grapevine Vintage Railroad, we have filled 96 slots with clinics and have over 40 home and club layouts on tour. Many of the home layouts are not on tour at any other time that during the LSR convention.

We also have a very special banquet speaker, Harold Carstens. Harold as most of you know is the retired editor of Railroad Model Craftsman, and is known as a pioneer in our hobby for his many and interesting stories.

It’s also worth noting that the early registration discount expired April 17th, so now’s the time to send in your form or go online.

Hope to see you all in June.

Chris

This time we are going to try to focus on new modelers in our division.With the help of LSR membership chair Larry Swigert, we have distributed fliers promoting the February meeting to hobby shops in the area as well as at the Ft. Worth and Plano train shows.

LSR president Jerry Schoenberg will present his clinic on How to Build an Operating Model Railroad. This clinic is ideal for new modelers because it offers insight to many of the challenges facing folks new to the hobby. Jerry’s clinic offers something for modelers of any experience.

This will also be your opportunity to meet your neighbors new to the hobby and some that have been active for years. Please feel free to bring any models or photos of your layout progress and other items for show and tell.

I’ll also give a 2009 LSR convention update. By now, you should have received registration forms. As registrar, I will be happy to take your completed registration forms and payment and save you a stamp. More information about the convention can be found at trinityriverinterchange.com The registration form can be downloaded here.

Don’t forget to vote in this year’s LSR election. Unlike most years, there are a couple hottly contended offices on the ballot. Ballots arrived with your Markerlamp and need to be sent to Gary McMills byMay 15th.

Hope to see you on the 28th.

Chris

Paul Dobbs is going to do a clinic titled “The Alamogordo and Sacramento Mountain Railroad. A New Mexico short line that presents some interesting modeling opportunities.”

We’ll also get an update on the 2009 convention progress and have a short business meeting.

As always, please feel free to bring any models or photos of your layout progress and other items for show and tell.

You can always find out information about the time and location of the meetings at http://cowcatcherdivision.com

Please bring a friend.

Hope to see you all Saturday,

Chris

This time we are going to have a presentation on Jack Kibee’s outstanding layout by Frank Treadaway and Tom Stamey. Jack won’t be able to make the meeting, but has invited the group over to tour the layout and ask questions after the meeting Saturday.

We’ll also get an update on the 2009 convention progress and have a short business meeting.

As always, please feel free to bring any models or photos of your layout progress and other items for show and tell.

Hope to see you all next Saturday.

Bring a friend,

Chris

Please feel free to use all or part of this document in your own clinic as I have licensed it under the Creative Commons Attribution license. The only thing I ask is that you mention my name as a contributor. Also, if you make any additions, please send me a copy for my own future use, and I will attribute your contribution in turn.

What is not obvious from the handout is that when I give the clinic, the only thing I display with the projector is the actual RailOp program running with data from an example layout based on Allen McClelland’s plan in the 1996 Model Railroad Planning magazine titled “The Virginian & Ohio’s Muddlety Creek branch.”

I chose this track plan because it is what I consider to be a typical small to medium sized bedroom track plan within the realm of possibility of almost any Model Railroader. The plan has several things necessary for a good operating railroad: staging and classification yards, several industries and an branch line.

The meeting will be to get committee updates, and most importantly, work on the Houston presentation.

Please consider coming and joining the group. While most of the committee chairs have been filled, there are plenty of jobs to fill and many of the committees need help.

With the combined efforts of both divisions, the 2009 LSR convention can be the best yet.

Thanks,

Chris