Nooksack Research Links: Canneries etc.

Old Stihl logo for supply company

 I am cleaning up my browser tabs and have some site, photo, and video links for researching PNW industries that I want to keep here :

• Alaska Fish Cannery Photo
• Samuel Elmore Cannery
• Logging Supply Company
• Skookum Catalog
• 1960 GN Yard Photos
• Canned Food Changing America Video
• California Cannery History
• Google Image Search for Canneries
• San Francisco Cannery History
• Robinson Mill Everett
• Everett Waterfront  
• GN Sand Car

Model Railroad Goals Reinforced at the AWMM

In my last post, I referenced some personal goals reinforced by attending the Alleghany Western Mini-Meet last weekend; in this post I want to explore how the event, sponsored by Division 12, MCR, NMRA, helped me revisit the goals for the 4th Subdivision. 

Fields outside Wheelerville on Mike Hauk's S&NY

The Model Railroad as a Three-Dimensional Painting

In planning my new layout, my focus on benchwork, electrical planning, and operations are the issues I have been posting and thinking about. Prepping for and giving my clinic on backdrops; seeing Neil Schorr's clinic, Capturing the Commonwealth; and visiting Mike Hauk's Susquehanna & New York all led me to reevaluate an unstated primary goal for my model railroad. Working towards creating the 4th Subdivision as a three-dimensional artwork is a (if not the) major interest, priority, and goal for me as I start construction. To reiterate a "learning point" from last fall's simple shelf: the visual appearance, presentation, and the role of backdrops on my railroad are all important to me and my "vision" of what I am trying to achieve. In my mind, Mike's S&NY is a model railroad to emulate in terms of a model railroad as three-dimensional artwork. 

 

Operational Goals

While striving for the 4th Subdivision to be aesthetically pleasing and hopefully achieving a realistic appearance, my model railroad is not designed as a static display. Operations somewhere along the continuum between game play and recreating prototypical railroad jobs is important to me. But, what kind of operations should I strive for when I fall towards the novice end on the operator's spectrum? Some of my experiences at the AWMM helped with getting closer to an answer to that question. 

The experience of touring several (but not all) of the model railroads helped me to prioritize a bit. Both Brad White and Ray Brown are planning/building large, multi-deck railroads designed to prototypically represent the trains of a PRR line and a portion of the BLE respectively. I am not that much of a die-hard operator. Ed Cronin's single deck BLE railroad combines scenery with operations in an enjoyable manner, but again, the operational focus is on movement of trains in a prototypical manner. All three of their railroads' operational focus is on the movement of trains and bringing the entire railroad to life with multiple operators required for that experience. While I can appreciate their goals, modeling skills, and smooth running trains, a large, train-focused model railroad is not my goal. A smaller branch line with an emphasis on switching and commodity/industry relationships continues to be what I am attracted to, although I will continue to maintain the caveat of future flexibility.

The assistant yardmaster in the hat, and Jason, the yardmaster on the right
Photo by Lee Farnsworth

Another feature of the AWMM was an operations session at Dale Desser's railroad on Saturday night after the activities at the Ambassador Center. Even though I was somewhat anxious about fitting in with more experienced operators, serving as assistant yardmaster was not only fun but also one of the events of the AWMM that most helped me reinforce some of my notions for planning the 4th Subdivision. Jason, the yardmaster, was great to work with, and although I didn't have much prior experience, I really enjoyed the yard work! Again, the notion of having the option of both switching and classifying cars right from the start mentioned in Byron Henderson's, Fun Ops on a Small Layout post is another priority reinforced by the opportunity to operate on Dale's railroad at the AWMM. I had several other takeaways from that ops session. One was that although I see some definite plusses in using JMRI Operations Pro, the printouts (manifest/switchlists) are not correct for my railroad's time period, and I want to be able to utilize going down the rabbit hole of researching the industries and their suppliers on my railroad. Another takeaway is that I do not want duck unders, crawl unders, or pop-up access, nor do I want trains disappearing for extended times on their way to staging. While I am planning to have staging hidden from the main layout space, I want to have easy access by walking around a corner or into another alcove of the basement. 

Coming away from last weekend's trip to the AWMM, I think that I am clearer about my goals for myself and for my railroad, the 4th Subdivision. 

Personal Goals Reinforced at the AWMM

 

Last weekend I traveled to Erie, Pennsylvania, across the state, to attend the 2022 Alleghany Western Mini-Meet (AWMM). The event, sponsored by Division 12, MCR, NMRA, is probably the last event with my former division with which I will contribute any kind of leadership or institutional knowledge. The AWMM was a one-day mini-convention with model railroad tours, operating sessions, clinics, merit award judging and model displays, and raffle sales. I participated in at least a smattering of all the offerings provided.  In looking back at the event, I realize that it was a valuable experience for me, both in reinforcing or refocusing personal goals for myself as a NMRA member/model railroader and reinforcing several primary goals for my new version of my model railroad: the 4th Subdivision of the Cascade Division of the Great Northern Railway.

Personal Goals:

1. I do want to take more seriously working towards some NMRA AP certificates. For example, I can use the clinic I gave towards the "Author" category. In writing up the accompanying label for the scratchbuilt bridge that I displayed, I got started with the first of the six non-judged structures for the "Structure" category.
2. I participated with the judging committee, where we evaluated four entries for merit awards. Without going into details on that, I want more training as a merit award evaluator. I went through training at the 2019 Mid Central Regional Convention at Boardman, Ohio, and I have worked as a part of a judging committee a couple of times since then. In addition to being out of practice, I feel that I would benefit from additional training. As a former teacher, I am aware of the critical importance of reaching congruence in scoring of standardized assessments, which to my mind is what merit judging should be thought of. 
3. Continuing with the theme of evaluation of merit judging, I want to continue with the development of standards based rubrics for the "Scenery" Achievement Program category. Not only do I suspect that that evaluation has little in the way of documented criteria for determining a numerical score, but Mike Hauk, Division 12's AP manager, recommended that I continue working on that project. 
4. In the next day's model railroad tours, I had the opportunity to chat with Mike about a number of things. Beyond just comradery, I believe that a large part of my growth as a model railroader has been from interacting with, bouncing ideas off of, and being on both ends of mentoring relationships with other members of Division 12 and the NMRA in general. This leads to another important personal goal. I need to work towards making more connections here in northeastern Pennsylvania and with my new division: The Susquehanna Division, Division 11, MER, NMRA.  

In my next post, I will explore the goals for the 4th Subdivision reinforced by participating in the AWMM. Some of the clinics, ops-sessions, and model railroad tours really helped me to substantiate my priorities in building my new railroad, here in our new home.