Bay Area Layout Design & Operations Weekend - Feb 11-12, 2006

Sponsored by the NMRA Pacific Coast Region and the Layout Design and Operations Special Interest Groups

The NMRA Pacific Coast Region and the Layout Design and Operations Special Interest Groups will hold another joint Regional Meeting in Santa Clara, CA (approx. 45 minutes south of San Francisco) on Saturday February 11 and Sunday February 12, 2006. A terrific two-day program is planned. The agenda includes clinics, operations discussions, track planning workshops, and visits to local layouts on Saturday. There will also be operating sessions at a number of nearby layouts on Sunday.

The 2005 meeting was a big success, and we hope to do as well again.

RSVPs Requested

In order to insure that we have enough seats for the meeting and so that we can contact you in advance about preferences for operating sessions, please email Bob Jacobsen (jake@physics.berkeley.edu) if you plan to attend.

Saturday schedule

The meeting is planned to start at 9AM, and run through about 5PM, with layout tours in the evening.

Tenative schedule:

 8:30   Registration opens

 9:00   Welcome and Introductions             (Neumann)

 9:15   Clinic: Modeling Milk                 (Loizeaux)

10:00   Birds of a Feather Sessions

10:45	Announcements

11:00   Clinic: State Belt                    (Kaufman)

11:45   Lunch	

1:00    Clinic: Adaptable Operations          (Birmingham/Marenzi)

1:45    Design Challenge Discussion           (Henderson/Kaufman)

2:30    Birds of a Feather Sessions

3:30    Clinic: DCC Sound for Operations      (Brown)
              
4:15    Mini-Clinic: Bruce's SP Prototype     (Morden)

4:30    Panel Discussion: Getting Off Your Duff

Clinics & Panel Discussions

Seth Neumann is again organizing a program of clinics, discussions and updates for Saturday. He expects to have about 5 clinics, plus a panel discussion and short updates from prior year's talks.

Exhibits and Displays

Please bring along your display of layout design or operations related ideas. (Layout mock-ups are particularly interesting). When you RSVP, please let us know what you are bringing and its size.

Track Planning & Layout Operations Help

Byron Henderson is again organizing the design consulting. If you are planning a layout, bring along your "Givens & 'Druthers", maps, sketches, and other materials to get some free consultation from the group! They can also help with questions about operating your layout, including how to get started. For more information, please see the consulting page.

Design Challenge

Byron is also organizing the popular layout design challenge event. Try your hand at designing a layout representing the Richmond Pacific Railroad (formerly Parr Terminal RR), then have your ideas presented to the group. For more information, see the challenge page.

"Birds of a Feather" (BOF)

Would you like to meet with others modeling your region, prototype or era? Interested in DCC, sound, computerized switchlists, or layout CAD programs? Any of these might be a topic for an impromptu "Birds of a Feather" meeting. Let us know if you would like to informally lead a short group discussion on any topic on Saturday afternoon.

Layout Tours

Mike Birmingham is arranging for a number of layouts to be available Saturday evening to tour and we would like to have more. Remember that SIG groups will be appreciative of seeing your layout in any state of completion. If you'd like to make your layout available, please email Mike.

The SBRHS is also open to the public Tuesday evenings from 6 to 9 pm and Saturdays from 10 am to 4 pm. Visit the SBRHS via the www at: www.sbhrs.org Phone: 408 243 3969

Car Pools

Contact Bob Jacobsen if you need or can offer a car pool seat. Past attendees have come from as far away as Oregon, Nevada, and Southern California.

Contact for RSVP or More Information

To RSVP, volunteer to help out, get names for car pools, etc., contact:

Bob Jacobsen
Phone: (510) 486-7355
email: jake@physics.berkeley.edu

Last updated January 23, 2006
Page maintained by Bob Jacobsen.