HN2009: Day 4 - 7/9

Thursday at HN2009 is all about clinics with no other excursions planned. Plenty to chose from with 3 morning, 3 afternoon and 3 evening time slots with about 6 different clinics going on at any one time. Great job by the convention committee on what they have put together.

I attended a clinic on building an HOn30 module based on a Maine coastline scene. No, I am not planning another module diversion, but interesting to see some building and scenery techniques. The presenter, Sam Swanson, is from the Great Lakes area and is part of a modular group there. The influence of Hayden and Frary on their HOn30 articles from the 1970s continues, even outside of the New England area. Of interest was his use of Gator Foam for benchwork.

Next, I headed over to the large community area that was set up for breakfast and lunch to get some food. This was a great idea as it means you can eat locally between clinics and it also a good place to meet other people and have some conversations. I had Tony Koester join my table and I was able to find out a lot about the NMRA future plans, including the NMRA branding campaign, internet future directions, plans for the headquarters and the NMRA presence within the California State RR Museum.

The afternoon I volunteered to help oversee the clinic rooms, to help with any issues and help get rooms set up between sessions. After that I was able to drop in and catch Dave Frary's interesting clinic on building a museum display for the Nantucket Whaling Museum. Great layout he built and a neat time-lapse photo section showing the install into the museum.

Now, many people complain about the aging of the hobby and lack of newer modelers. I guess that is generally true, but I must say I do see a good number of younger folks here and also a good number of women modelers. Meeting both requirements I helped set up a room for a clinic entitles Model RRing for Women. The presenter was a young woman in her twenties who brought a complete layout in 2 sections, featuring a narrow gauge steam train with sound, operating on DCC! She is the modeler and her fiancee does not model. An interesting twist!

I attended a clinic on modeling rocks. This is from the guy that sells the rubber rock sections (not molds, actual ready to install rubber rocks. In addition to his product there was a lot of good tips for modeling rocks, cuts, debris and other scenery elements.

A little time to head out to get some dinner, than back for presenting my 2 clinics again tonight. After the first presentation, I had time to get in a clinic and I went to the Digitrax forum. I was able to learn about the new Duplex Radio products, what they do and what the new features are. I must say the room really ranged from experts to novices as far as DCC and Digitrax were concerned. I guess it was good for the newer people to get some questions answered, but unfortunately it stalled the presentation and I had to leave finally before the presentation ended in order to get back to my room for the final presentation I was giving.

A long day with lots of information gained and shared. But that is what it is all about!