After a year's absence, I managed to attend this event once again.
The Jamboree was held (as before) in the Sewall Center on the campus of Robert Morris University in Moon Township (northwest of Pittsburgh by the airport). Two tracks of clinics were offered. The full program description is available at http://www.keystonedivision.org/
Overall impression was that it was useful and worthwhile. I will describe my take-aways from the sessions I attended.
Clinic 1: "Up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane, it's a cloud". This was a live demonstration of painting clouds on a backdrop. Particularly useful was information about types of sponges to use and techniques. It's a skill acquired through practice, practice, practice. The cloud stencils looked intriguing. The presenter provided a great written description of her techniques. Good, practical session.
Clinic 2: "Structure Lighting with LEDs: Take Two". This session included topics on basic electrical concepts, mathematical formulae, selection of LEDs, lightbox usage, and techniques for wiring LEDs. The presenter runs a company called Microlumina.com. I recall having seen one of his presentations in years past. Informative and useful. The presentation is available at the website.
Clinic 3: "Honey I Shrunk the Layout". This was an entertaining trip through one person's flight of ideas as he downsized a layout. I hoped to glean some practical insights from the clinic but didn't get too much. Still, it was amusing.
Clinic 4: "The Turtle Moves". This clinic covered the deconstruction and relocation of the Turtle Creek Railroad, an extensive HO layout in the Pittsburgh area. This was the prime attraction for me. The presenter covered his going-in assumptions, lessons learned, and detailed insight into what worked and what didn't. Illuminating, to say the least. This clinic reinforced some decisions that I had reached independently about the next version of the PRR Panhandle and exposed me to a couple of new thoughts. His lessons learned:
- No trains passing through backdrops. [I'm taking this to heart.]
- Eliminate grades. [Amen]
- Less hidden track. [Amen]
- Larger sidings (he wanted 6 car minimums as his trains are 8 cars in length). His layout primarily runs peddler freights with switching at each town. And he has many towns. [I'm not a fan of his operational approach, but I like the idea of a minimum siding length.]
- He had constructed shelves under his old layout, but eliminated them in the new one. They were limiting and inefficient and often blocked key components that had to be worked on under the layout. [I had never considered putting shelving under the layout. My preference is for open storage space.]
- He also eliminated switch machines, going to all manual throws. [That works on a 2' deep shelf switching layout. I'm not sure about that on mine.]
Clinic 5: "While You're At It..." The presenter is the editor of NMRA Magazine and she put forth a number of good suggestions regarding photograph composition, article suggestions, and type of information sought by readers of the publication. This was an entertaining and informative talk.
Clinic 6: "Cleanly, Accurately, and Squarely: Basics of Scratchbuilding Structures and Rolling Stock". This was another useful clinic on basic techniques, acquisition and selection of materials, and the use of a few tools in achieving good outcomes. Techniques for cutting styrene, inserting windows, and working with brick sheets were covered. Techniques associated with wood structures were discussed as well. Again, this was informative and entertaining. I learned a lot.
I hope you got something out of this report and will consider attending next year's Railroad Model Jamboree. I consider it a great value. Division 2 does a magnificent job of attracting good clinics and hosting this event. You don't have to be an NMRA member to attend.
George
