All posts by centramod

Model Trains Fascinate

Larry Causey reported on the show in the Temple Daily Telegram.

A good crowd, fascinating model train layouts and wall-to-wall vendors filled the Frank W. Mayborn Civic and Convention Center on Saturday, for the 22nd annual Temple Model Train Show.

“It’s turning out to be a real good show,” Bill Lancaster, show chairman for Central Texas Area Model Railroaders, said. “The vendors seem to be doing fairly well.”

About 2,000 people came to the show last year, he said. CentraMod sold 63 tickets in the first 30 minutes Saturday.

Vendors offered model train equipment of every size and description, along with books, videos and T-shirts. Huge, detailed model train layouts drew streams of onlookers.

The winner of a portable model train layout will be drawn, an hour before the show closes today. The show runs 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $5 and $4 for senior adults. Active duty military and their dependents get in free today.

Josh Chlapek, 23, who graduated from Temple High School in 1999, started coming to the model train show about 15 years ago. Chlapek, now living in Denton, had his G-gauge layout set up Saturday in one of the side rooms.

Chlapek said he started in model trains with a circle on a table. His layout now is too big for a garage or living room. Saturday, he had an outer loop with two inner loops, and three trains running at the same time.

In his “switching yard,” he has other trains, including a Santa Fe passenger train.

Donated Layout Being Auctioned

The meeting was called to order on September 3rd at 7:15 PM by Club President Ron Miller. The next business meeting will be on October 1st. There will be no Run Day in September.

The minutes for August were introduced. Joe Pyland motioned to accept the minutes as amended. The motion was seconded and the minutes were accepted.

The financial report was introduced and accepted after an explanation by Betty Neill.

Old Business

The club will exhibit at the Temple Mall from 9-9 Saturday, 12-6 Sunday, and 9-9 Monday, 28 & 29 August and 4, 5, & 6 September respectively.

We can’t take the donated layout to the show due to lack of space. Joe Pyland made a motion to accept sealed bids. Bids will be submitted to the Club’s PO Box postmarked not later than October 15th and the winning bid will be determined November’s business meeting. Bob Alston seconded and the motion passed. The layout can be viewed at Bill Lancaster’s home by appointment.

Harold Trammel passed away recently and a memorial tag with his name has been added to the plaque.

New Business

Guests included Rickie Gibson and Chip Eller of Temple. If there names are misspelled a name, it’s because the table fell on the club secretary earlier. Joe Pyland mentioned that the first order of business should be to replace said table, but he never made a motion to do so! We hope to have this fixed shortly.

Overdue library items have been posted.

Train Show Update – Articles will be published in the Temple Daily Telegram and also in their Leisure magazine.

A vendor needs another table with electrical outlet for unique apparatus. Bill Lancaster will discuss this with the convention center.

Dan Ladd submitted a proposal for the Christmas Party party to be held on Friday, December 10th at the Santa Fe Depot. The menu was submitted, and included a choice of pot roast, stuffed chicken, and glazed ham. Gordon Locke made a motion to accept the proposal and Ed Underwood seconded. A vote was taken to decide on the fare. The majority selected stuffed chicken. It was not made clear with what the chicken would be stuffed. The motion passed.

The meeting adjourned at 8:25PM.

173 Tables Sold for Model Train Show

The meeting was called to order on August 6th at 7:10 PM by Club President Ron Miller. The next business meeting will be September 3rd, Labor Day notwithstanding. The next Run Day will be August 21st.

The minutes for July were introduced. Bill Lancaster made a motion to accept as presented and Craig Lancaster seconded. The motion carried.

The financial report was read by Betty Neill. She reports we have sold 173 tables for the Train Show thus far. The report was accepted as read.

Old Business

The electricity bills for June and July were reviewed. We are using the air conditioning slightly more than in the past.

The museum would like to have two tables at the show.

Don’t forget the Mall display on 28-29 August & 4-5 September.

New Business

We will set up for the Train Show at the Mayborn Center on Friday evening, September 17th.

Dieter reports many improvements to the Library. Past due materials will be posted on the library door.

The task list for the show has been handed out. If there are any changes, please see Betty. If you have a conflict, perhaps you can work out a swap with another member.

Ed Neill tried to get the American Legion to buy a block of tickets to enable the military entry-free status to the show, but they were not interested. Ed also briefly discussed the importance of pre-sale tickets.

The meeting adjourned at 8:00 PM.

Fans Installed to Reduce Utility Cost

The meeting was called to order on July 9th at 7:10 PM by Club President Ron Miller. The next Run Day July 17th and the next business meeting will be August 6th.

The minutes were introduced. Joe Pyland made a motion to accept as written. The motion was seconded by Bill Lancaster and the minutes were accepted.

The finance report was submitted by Betty Neill and accepted. We have sold 156 tables for the Train Show thus far.

Old business

Clinics – Tell Ron if you would like to give or attend a clinic and on what subject

Fans were purchased and installed throughout the building. These should be used to reduce electrical consumption (A/C usage) throughout the month. We should use the air conditioner only during run and business days. For run days, turn the A/C on at 10 AM and off at 3 PM. Business days on at 5 PM and off by 8 PM. Ed made a motion to implement these changes. Bill Lancaster seconded and the motion passed. A bid was received to insulate the floor. The lease on the building expires in 2 years.

The librarian reports two past-due items. One of them we may not get back. Please return your check-outs promptly.

New Business

Pat Rye, Contractor for the Museum and Dan Ladd had a brief meeting. She wondered if we would be running any separate layouts at the Depot during our Train Show. Some vendors see this as a conflict as it draws people away from the show. We will review this practice for next year’s show.

The librarian reports that there are numerous duplicate magazines. Richard Zamudio made a motion to sell all the excess/duplicates at this year’s show, starting at $0.50 per copy, depending on what the traffic would bear. Mike Ross seconded, and the motion passed.

We will set up at the Mall again as before, the last weekend in August and the first weekend in September. The raffle layout and an HO layout (size to be determined) will be displayed.

Bill reported we will have Amtrak tickets for raffle at this year’s show. We will need to have an appropriate number of raffle tickets printed. Bill will handle the printing of the tickets.

Expected layouts for this year’s show are:

  • Z Scale – TBD
  • N Scale – AustN, SanTrak
  • G Scale – Austin Tin Plate, Chlapek
  • HO Scale – ArkLaTex, Doege

Note that young Mr.Chlapek has been holding children’s attention (children of all ages) for more than ten years.

Ed Neil will conduct a clinic immediately following this meeting.

Ed made a motion to adjourn, Craig seconded and the meeting adjourned at 8:15.

New Clinic Schedule Announced

The meeting was called to order on June 4th by Club President Ron Miller.

No minutes were available from the May business meeting. Mike Ross, Club Secretary, was recovering from surgery.

The Treasurer’s Report was presented by Betty Neill. 145 tables have been sold thus far for the show.

Old Business

The Lampasas group visited during the last run day.

Fans are needed for the depot.

Discussion about when clinics should be conducted took place. Motion was made by Joe Pyland for clinics to be conducted on Fridays after the business meetings. Seconded by Ed Neill and the motion carried. Clinics will conducted on the Fridays after the business meetings.

New Business

We had several visitors and new members present. These included Dave and Robert Weakley (HO), Mike Petty (HO), and Michael DeWeiss (HO/0).

A suggestion was made for the N scalers to place a dummy engine and cars on their layout so visitors could have a reference for scale as they visit the various layouts.

A motion was made by Joe Pyland for Betty and Ed Neill to fans to use in the depot for Cooling. It was seconded by Kirk Chubb and the motion carried.

UP 3985 will be in College Station on Sunday, June 13.

All members were reminded to unplug all fans before leaving the building.

A motion was made by Joe Pyland to adjourn. All members present seconded and the meeting was adjourned.