CMT Chinook Siding - December 2016
/TRAILER PURCHASE: A special report was presented by Ron Sauer Wednesday, November 23 regarding CMT purchase of a trailer to transport/store items such as modules to be taken to a show. Response was positive and a subsequent vote of approval to purchase followed.
FRONT DOOR: Garth Praestagaard finally installed a plate located on the floor to stop the flow of (cold) air getting into the club room.
ALARM: Paul Foster is working on getting an Alarm Company to install a touch panel to cancel/set an alarm.
LAYOUT ROOM EXPANSION: Garth Praestagaard will be getting materials delivered so room expansion can occur over the Christmas break.
BREAKFAST WITH THE PRESIDENT: Date for the December Breakfast date and time should soon be announced by President Howitt T.B.A. President Howitt may send an email reminder to all members.
DECEMBER BUSINESS MEETING: President Howitt should soon email all members the date/time of this meeting.
6th DIVISION MEET: Unofficial information received by this author suggests the annual 6th Division Meet may be held in Red Deer during early June.
POLAR EXPRESS: POLAR EXPRESS: You gotta know that Christmas is just around the corner when the greatest Christmas movie ever made, POLAR EXPRESS, returns in 3D to Calgary for 1 performance only, 11 am at 2 Theatres (Chinook Cineplex, Sunridge Spectrum). This Tom Hanks movie is the real start to Christmas. Sure you can watch it at home on DVD but the 3D version is remarkable. I’ve seen it probably 3 times in 3D when the movie first came out in 2004 and I went back again the following year for 2 more viewings, again in 3d. I’ll see you at the movie this year. Ticket cost is only $3.00
FLAT CAR CONTEST: For probably 6 years I’ve promoted the annual CMT Modeling Participation idea when I suggest a rather simple modeling idea and hope you respond. After all, we are a Model railroad Club so this idea seems normal. This has never been a contest and if you bring for “show-and-tell” entry, CMT will give you a $10 gift card to Trains And Such. The builder will be asked to give a description of work involved in his entry. I announced the 2016-2017 theme at the November business Meeting the much anticipated theme:
“FLAT CAR WITH A LOAD”.
Completion should be at the March Business Meeting. There is only one limitation I need to request:
PLEASE, PLEASE DON’T just plunk down some sort of commercially ready load. Please use some imagination
Do some modeling to create a load ready for your flat car. Besides a regular flat car, bulk-head flats are eligible. If you have any other questions, please contact Dale.
CMT WEBSITE: CMT does have an active website (calgarymodeltrainmen.ca). Teagon Murray used to handle this site and has even though due to work conditions he is not as active as I’m sure he wished he could be but even with this time limitation he has kept up our site. Now, Sean Reilly is working to keep the site active and up to date. I’ve had a look at it, it is really neat! This is our (CMT) window to the work, many messages arrive each year asking about the club (these are not brought to the attention of the membership but Teagon alerts the President who usually responds to the inquiry). This site is available for members to do different things: maybe you want to sell something, you can do it here. Do you have a project that you want to tell the world about, you can do it here. Please contact Sean for more details.
CABOOSE HOBBIES TO REOPEN
Denvers’ Caboose Hobbies which lost its least and was in the process of being liquidated has been purchased by Kevin Ruble. The new owner of the business, a store that once claimed the title of “The Worlds’ Largest Model Railroad Shop”, immediately announced plans to re-establish the popular hobby outlet in the Denver area. Ruble bought the company from Duane and Joanna Miller, who last month plans to retire after efforts to find a suitable new location were unsuccessful. Caboose Hobbies was established in 1951 by Millers’ Father-In-Law, Glen Brazelton who purchased Hobby House, a general line Hobby Shop. After a few years, Brazelton changed the store name to Caboose Hobbies and focused exclusively on Model Train equipment and supplies. At its peak, Caboose Hobbies occupied nearly 19,000 square feet and supported a knowledgeable staff of almost 60 full and part time employees. Information about a new location and opening date is expected to be announced soon.
(From November issue, Model Railroad Hobbyist Magazine)
Here is the CP RAIL Christmas Train Schedule:
OPEN HOUSE REPORT
CMT hosted our Annual Public Open House on Saturday, October 29, 2016 in our new home layout located inside the Calgary Rehabilitation Centre, #7-11 Street, N.E. We advertised (the key to success) our event being open 10 am-2 pm and our first visitor appeared at 9:45 (an obvious excited Model Railroader). The search for a new home took us 1-1/2 years but here we are. We found a new 700 square feet space with 300 square feet that we will take over during Christmas. Since we moved in, we have installed our own private door. All our “stuff” from our previous 2500 square foot home layout still needs “trimming”. One member offered the services of a trailer that we moved our “stuff” into so we could host our Open House. A good showing of our membership greeted 80-100 people: old and new friends, young and old visitors who are interested in the hobby. We may have recruited 3-5 new members. Five dozen Donuts and several pots of coffee later it was 2 pm! All we could offer to this point was our operating 8’ x 20’ modules used for shows and a clinic on Diesel Detailing that was repeated during the day. Thanks go to those who visited us and a sincere thanks to those who made financial donations. Meanwhile we will probably adopted a very nice twin level track plan with 2 helix (or is it helixes?) in December offering a lot of operating possibilities. A 1:25 scale model with 1:25 scale people viewing the new layout was available for viewing giving our guests a better idea of what we want to build. The model shows only mainline trackage but does not properly show this as a 2 level layout (arrowhead shows direction to the lower level trackage much of which is a duplicate of the upper level seen in the photo. A photo is part of this report. Overall we view our effort as successful and by the time our next Open House rolls around we should have a lot more to offer. As always we are accepting new members.
Keep reading…………………………………..
Here is information about the next RAILROAD PROTROTYPE MODELERS MEET
PNR CONVENTION:
SPOKANE, Washington is hosting the 2017 PNR meet, June 6-10. Their website is now active. Hotel rates are reasonable at $99 per night based on double occupancy. There are 5 full days of activities with all sorts of tours, ladies program and much. Here is the web site:
www.pnr5d.org/index_spokanefallsexpress2017.htm
The web site is still partially under construction but the essentials are available. The site gives you information on Hotel rates, Registration costs, clinic list, tours available. How you ask can I minimize costs: I always suggest going with a friend to cut travelling (gas money) and Hotel expenses in half. How again you askcan I enjoy myself more, my answer: take a model or photo entry. Let other modellers see your work. Organizers want your entry! Next time I will examine the program and make suggestions on how you can get the most for your money. Don’t forget: don’t consider the cost of food a Convention expense…………………you have to eat somewhere, home or away!
Keep reading………………………..