Two great programs scheduled for the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's first virtual meeting in December

The WMRC's very first virtual meeting is going to have two great programs for your viewing pleasure. First on tap is John Bate, who will present a short introduction and demonstration of LCC, or layout command control system. LCC is intended to operate items on a model railroad such as panels, turnouts, signals, as much as DCC runs the locomotives. John will give a short demonstration of a few simple
actions using switches and LEDs.

Next Dave Downie will present the elements of layout design. The design for a model railroad can make or break the layout. Dave will discuss some of the points that you should consider before starting to build a layout. He'll show you photos illustrating examples of what he's talked about and show you where you can see how a professional layout builder designs layouts for a living. Dave will also show how you can build a model railroad in a small area.

The meeting is scheduled for Friday, December 11, at 7:30 PM on Zoom. There will be a short business meeting prior to the clinics. We will also be holding an informal test meeting on Friday, December 4, at 7:30PM. This meeting will give you a chance to practice with Zoom if you haven't used it before. There will be no business meeting or clinics, but if you have something you've been working on, please give us a look!

Those whose names are on our members e-mail lists have already been informed about these meetings. All members on the e-mail list for the past season have been invited. You have until December 31, 2020 to pay your dues if you haven't done so already.  

If you are not a member and wish to join us in our virtual meetings please contact us at wmrc.trainclub@gmail.com and we'll see if we can fit you in.

 

John Bate exhibits N scale signal at Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's monthly model display

WMRC treasurer John Bate brought in this nifty N scale 2-over-2 signal that he has been working on to the club's monthly model display. He started with a laser-etched brass kit from Train Cat Models (now no longer available). It was assembled with CA, then some parts were re-done with solder. Some old lumpy steel colored paint gave it a rather poor finish. It was then modified to enable the installation of four extremely tiny LEDs.

There are eight wires hand-threaded through the main vertical tube. The Styrene parts below the signal are to enable it to be easily inserted and removed from the layout. An Arduino with a short test program is being used to cycle all of the LEDs to test them.