Visiting RIT for Tiger Tracks

[Alexander Wood]

Hi all,

I am a High School Senior from Connecticut, and I am coming up to RIT this coming weekend for Tiger Tracks (it's really a college visit you know, there *just happens* to be a train show going on too ).

A little bit about me:

My main interests are computers, model railroading, and the environment.

In the modelling area, I belong to a modular club in Connecticut (Valley HO Trak), and I have built an NMRA-style 2x4' module with Valley HO. I am a Digitrax user, and I use my Zephyr to run with DCC at trains shows (the club officially uses DC).

My interests and equipment are quite scattered, although I am starting to focus my interests in on modern (1990-2008) New England railroads like Guilford, Pan-Am and P&W.

I have gotten very good at DCC and electrical stuff, and decent at trackwork, benchwork, and the like, although my scenery, structure, and detailing skills have a ways to go.

I am involved in planning a multi-club setup with Valley HO and another local modular club, and I am also involved in the planning of a youth involvement clinic with the NMRA for HN2009.

I will be applying very soon for Mechanical Engineering, and RIT is my #1 choice. I want to go into the renewable or nuclear energy field.

I really like the Free-mo standard, I have seen the combined Free-mo/ S&SSofNC layout at NTS'07, I operated on the NE Free-mo layout at a show in MA yesterday, and I can't wait to see your modules at Tiger Tracks!

I am looking forward to meeting you guys, and, if it's possible, I would love to operate on the layout. I can bring my own throttle (DT400R+LocoNet extension cable for walkaround plug-in use).

Is the R&IT going to be open any time during the weekend? I would love to see it.

When I was at the Open House a month or two ago, I sort of accidently ran across it when looking for the bathroom, I had thought it was on the fourth floor. I mean, A-420, that really sounds like its on the fourth floor (does that building even have a fourth floor?). There wasn't anyone there, but I did take a good look at the bulletin board in the hall.

If I go to RIT (the week before March 15 is going to be pretty suspenseful...), I am extremely interested in joining.

Alexander Wood

[Mike Walsh]

Alex,

I saw your post on the NE-Freemo group, and I was wondering who you were, and was about to e-mail you!

By all means, feel free to bring your equipment! We will have quite the display, not all of the modules will be complete, but most of them are in some state of scenic progress. But to my knowledge, all of them are operational which is what is really important. We will be set-up in an U shape, which will be yard to siding operations with switching in between. We'll be set up with radio, although I wouldn't hold my breath on the radio thing -- we've been experiencing issues with the radio as of late.

The R&IT RR will indeed be open.

come on out, and enjoy yourself!!!

Mike Walsh
RITMRC Vice President

[Mike Roque]

Hello, Alexander!

I am looking forward to meeting you guys, and, if it's possible, I would love to operate on the layout. I can bring my own throttle (DT400R+LocoNet extension cable for walkaround plug-in use).

Definitely! Bring your throttle, motive power, and rolling stock!

Is the R&IT going to be open any time during the weekend? I would love to see it.

Yep! The R&IT is open for our visitors all weekend as part of the show. If you ask nicely, you may even get to operate it.

When I was at the Open House a month or two ago, I sort of accidently ran across it when looking for the bathroom, I had thought it was on the fourth floor. I mean, A-420, that really sounds like its on the fourth floor (does that building even have a fourth floor?). There wasn't anyone there, but I did take a good look at the bulletin board in the hall.

At RIT, the A- before the room number indicates that it is the basement level, so the number has no relevance to the floor in this case.

If I go to RIT (the week before March 15 is going to be pretty suspenseful...), I am extremely interested in joining.

Awesome! When I first discovered that RIT had a model railroad club, I remember how excited I was. For a long time, I was known as "that guy who showed up to Orientation with his trains". Once I got to RIT in the fall, I began a long journey of discovering all the wonderful things that RITMRC, RIT, and Rochester had to offer...both train-related and otherwise.

We look forward to meeting you, Alexander!

[Alexander Wood]

Mike Walsh,

That's pretty funny that you saw my post in the NE Free-mo group.

I saw the layout diagram in one of the other forums, it looks like a great setup!

I have a 9' extension on my DT400R, so with the plug-ins as part of the Free-mo spec, possibly nonfunctional radio won't be an issue. Cell phones can interfere with the radio, like they do at the huge Springfield show. The UR91s can also get out of whack if they are bumped around too much- mine was effectively DOA when I got it last year.

Mike Roque,

What type and how much rolling stock and motive power should I bring? For rolling stock, I have both newer and older stuff, although it's mostly post 1970's, and I have an up-to-15-car unit train of John Deere tractors and dozers as well.

Most of it is a little too shiny, but almost all of it has good knuckle couplers and RP25 Nickel Silver wheels.

Do they need car cards and waybills? One thing to note is that if they get pulled into the freight routing system, I have to leave on Sunday, so they would have to get pulled off the layout by an 87 times size monster on Saturday night.

For motive power, do I need to register the addresses ahead of time? Some of my stuff is Bachman, and those decoders are dreadful, they won't program in ops mode at all, and require a resistor over the programming track, so they are still in the 0-9 Bachman EZ-Command address range.

Two of my Athearns have falling-off handrails, 1/87th scale OSHA doesn't like that, and my two Atlases are still in the boxes, as I haven't gotten them DH165AOs yet.

Universal or advanced consisting or either?
Regular or extended addresses or either?

Ok, the A- thing makes sense. Most buildings in the US seem to note the floor in the first digit of the room number, so I just sort of assumed that was the case. I was very wrong.

[Joe Nugent]

Ok, the A- thing makes sense. Most buildings in the US seem to note the floor in the first digit of the room number, so I just sort of assumed that was the case. I was very wrong.

RIT does follow the typical system, however, they chose to use an A for basement levels. (Everything above ground is normal.) So it's A-420 instead of 0420. Some buildings even have sub-basement rooms that start with B! (Some even have secret sub-sub-basements, but I digress...)

Good luck with admissions! I began my journey at RIT in the ME program, but switched to MET (ME Technology) during my second year. It was a much better fit for me... less theory and more application. It's sounds like you picked a cool program though... I've always been interested in the environment as well.

Have any experience working with real trains? Many of us volunteer at the local railroad museum. http://www.rgvrrm.org It's a blast... we do everything from track work to running locomotives!

We look forward to meeting you this weekend!

[boblenon]

dont forget the secret tunnel across campus :)

[Otto Vondrak]

Alexander Wood- Welcome aboard! Very glad that you looked us up, and very glad that you're coming up to visit. I hope you will attend the Train Show as our guest. We'd love to show you around, and if you feel comfortable enough, operate with us. As you see, there will be two layouts you can run- the R&IT or the Freemo Division. You are more than welcome to bring your equipment to run with us, just as long as you have some sort of identifying mark on it so we don't get it mixed up (we'll probably want to perform a cursory inspection on your equipment for coupler height, weight, etc). I'll be hosting down in A-420 most of the weekend, and we sure could use the extra help (we're always short operators).

You certainly have a lot of experience, and I've enjoyed the HO Track layout each year at Springfield. I helped start the RITMRC, and one of the reasons was "If the other schools can do it, why can't we?" We're a very active and social club, not only do we work on our model railroads, but as the others have mentioned, we also volunteer at the local railroad museum working on full size trains. We also do a lot of youth outreach with the Children's Museum and the Scouts. Simply put, we're more active than other clubs on campus (never mind the other college railroad clubs).

If you're into trains, you've come to the right place... PLUS, we've got a great railroad scene here with Class 1's, regionals, shortlines, Alcos, everything you could possibly want.

When will you arrive in town? Looking forward to meeting you this weekend!

-otto-

[Mike Walsh]

If you're into trains, you've come to the right place... PLUS, we've got a great railroad scene here with Class 1's, regionals, shortlines, Alcos, everything you could possibly want.

-otto-

hmmm I want steam... I don't see it

[Ryan Kane]

When I was at the Open House a month or two ago, I sort of accidently ran across it when looking for the bathroom.

Alexander Wood

That is how I started with the club, walked in their looking for a bathroom and have been hanging around ever since.

I will be one of the main line operators Saturday afternoon so I will be more than happy to show you how to operate if you have not already started.

[Otto Vondrak]

LOL - Kane's not the only one we've suckered in, er, I mean, invited to join over the years!

Hey Walsh- two steam engines down at the museum... and wait till 2008 when the A&A is back in steam... I know it's no 1522, but you takes what you can gets around here.

-otto-

[Alexander Wood]

Joe,

Thanks! I am glad that they are offering a couple of new classes in the energy and environment option that relate to renewable energy. RIT is the only school I have looked at that has specific classes for renewable energy. Most of the program is much more broad, but that will prepare me well for a job or for graduate school to get a specific degree in renewable energy or (I'm not sure what it's really called), energy systems and production and how they interact with society and the environment. The cool part is, the field is just starting to explode, and a graduate program I go to in 6 years may not exist right now. Although at this point, I'm not thinking too much about that, just about getting college apps in!

I don't have any experience with real trains, other than the two or three dozen historic railroads I have ridden on, and the couple of cab rides I have gotten (2' Guage Forney bouncing down the track in Maine was probably the best). Somehow I have never ridden on Amtrak, although they go through my town all the time (on the North East Corridor east of New Haven).

Otto,

I would definitely love to operate! Would masking tape with my initials on the bottom be a sufficient mark? I will inspect my own stuff before so you will have an easy time going through it to check. Some of the couplers are weak, but considering the trains on the R&IT or Free-mo probably won't be that long, they won't be an issue.

Thanks. At Valley HO we have some great scenery, our operations, uh, need improvement. We still have people who won't use DCC, or even let the club spend much money on it. We do have very quick setup and teardown. Setup in 45 minutes, teardown in 15 (not for that layout though- it's bigger).

I'll arrive somewhere between 1900 and 2200 Friday, depending on if I can leave school early to make the 7ish hour drive. I will be leaving early on Sunday, so I will be around all day Saturday.

Ryan,

I would love to learn about your operating scheme. I operated once on the Hunington and Hartford, a local private layout of a Valley HO member (Dec '96 MR), that is now run with NCE DCC. The operating scheme was relatively informal with switch lists and talk-across-the-room dispatching. Other than that I don't really have ops experience. I have switched cars around a lot puzzle-like, and I find it to be a lot of fun.

There is steam about 30 minutes from where I live, in Essex, CT, at the Essex Steam Train. It is especially nice in the winter, with the steam looking quite voluminous. While they appear to be doing financially well (they are a for-profit business with a non-profit group that does preservation and restoration of stuff that's not part of the tourist train operation), They have turned the place into a bit of a tourist trap.

[Otto Vondrak]

I know the Essex Steam Train/Valley Railroad well, I only live about an hour away from Essex/Old Saybrook area. I volunteer at the Naugatuck Railroad occasionally (as does Mike Roque). Anyway, send me an email off list (click this email button below) and I'll send you some info out the R&IT- you don't need to have a lot of experience to understand the R&IT, as long as you understand "GO!" and "STOP! STOP! STOP!!" Where are you staying? We'll be working on the layout and getting ready for the show Friday night, if you're bored and want to come by, you're more than welcome to. We may even take you out for a GARBAGE PLATE...

-otto-

[Mike Walsh]

We may even take you out for a GARBAGE PLATE...

-otto-

OH OH OH COUNT ME IN!!11!!!1

[matt glogowski]

operationing the RIT layout is fun. i wouldn't see u would have problem run the layout.

[boblenon]

I came down looking for the yearbook. damn did i miss the mark :)