The Express

Special Edition

Newsletter of the Tinplate Trackers, Austin, Texas

TinPlate Trackers Year In Review

Its that time of year when a lot of people and companies take a look at how they did in the year 2000. I thought it might be interesting to do the same thing for our club. This will show everyone what progress we have made through the year and where some of our money was spent.  I’ve probably missed a few items but these are the ones I can remember.

Events

We had 8 official club events in 2000 where we had the opportunity to run trains and have some fun.  They were:

·    January 21 - Fun Run at Branch Creek Estates

·    March 25 & 26 - San Antonio GAT Show at the Airport Conv. Center.

·    May 12 & 13 - Fun Run/Swap Meet at Branch Creek Estates

·    June 3 - San Antonio Summer Show - Live Oak Convention Center

·            September 9 & 10 - Temple Model RR Show at the Mayborn Convention Center

·    September 24 - Layout Tour at Ira Schneider’s house.

·    October 28 - Austin Jamboree Layout Tour at Branch Creek Estates

·    December 9 - Coffee and Donuts at Jon’s Trains

Meetings

We had 4 official meetings in the year 2000.  All of the meetings were very well attended and there were a lot of ideas and comments from everyone.  The meetings laid the ground work for everything we accomplished this past year. 

·    Member Meeting - January 21, 2000 at Branch Creek Estates

·    Member Meeting - May 12, 2000 at Branch Creek Estates

·    Member Meeting - September 27 at Luby’s Cafeteria

·    Annual Meeting - October 27 at Branch Creek Estates

Projects

The number one priority and the major project for the club this past year was getting the trailer back in shape.  There was a lot of time, money, and effort put forth on this project and they were all well worth it.  The trailer is a lot safer, looks better, and the improvements on the inside of the trailer makes it much easier to load/unload the trailer.  The trailer maintenance included:

·        trailer registration

·        new inner and outer seals

·        packing wheel bearings

·        weatherproofing the front end of the trailer

·        a new wire harness that was soldered at all connections/wrapped with tape

·        shielding to cover the wire at the front and on the sides

·        new lenses on the taillights

·        red and white reflective tape on the back side

·        reflectors on each side

·        adding moving straps on the inside to hold the modules in the racks

·        safety chain on the rear door that lets the door open about half way

·        replacing the rotten wood on the front of the trailer

·        repainting the trailer a Lionel orange and stenciling letters on the sides

The other major project started at the end of the year was developing a method to improve the way we get trains on/off the mainline tracks.  Plans for developing a siding and a way to do this are well under way.  This will continue to be one of our major projects for 2001.

Something New

There’s a saying that if you’re not moving ahead your falling behind.  During the past year we have tried a few new things to keep the club moving ahead and getting better.  Some of these items included:

·        E-Mailing Newsletters whenever possible.  This saved a fair amount of time and money.

·        Using E-Mail to share ideas between members - This has saved us a lot of time and gave everyone a chance to give their input/opinions on the club projects.

·        Internet Site - We created two sites for the club, TTAT.Intranets.com and Jump.Net/~Aelliott/TinPlateTrackers.html.  These sites have given us a place to share club information (Upcoming events, Name and addresses of members, old newsletters) and advertise our club to anyone surfing the web.

·        Project by committee - In order to get several projects under way, several committees were formed.  They included the Trailer Maintenance, Module Maintenance, Membership, and the By-law and Standard Operating Procedures

·        Swap Meets - We had two swap meets during the year.  On both occasions the participation was low but I think it is something we should try a few more times and give it time to catch on.

·        Running Trains at Local Train Shops - In December we met at Jon’s Trains to: run trains; discuss ongoing club projects; view new products from Lionel, MTH, and other O Gauge Manufacturers; support our local dealers; and have fun.  From all feedback I have received, we were successful in all of these areas.

·        Layout Tour - We had one during the year at Ira’s House.  From everyone’s comments, it was a success.  We’ll try to do more of the layout tours and running at local train shops in the future since they have a lot of advantages for everyone in the club.

New Members

The key to keep any club going is getting new members to join the club.  In 2000 we were fortunate to have Ed Weltens, Ira Schneider, Ron Baker, and Sandy Clauss join the club.  They bring a lot of knowledge and experience with them and the club has already benefited from their membership.   

Summary

Our goal for the year was to have fun at our events, play with trains, and increase the number of members in the club.  We have been successful in every one of these goals.

One of the primary reasons for the club being successful this year was the leadership of Bob Stettner.  Bob took over the role of President/Superintendent in 1999 and was elected to the position in January 2000.  Under Bob’s leadership the club has steadily improved.  As you can see from the ‘Year In Review’, the club has accomplished a lot in the past 12 months.  One of the improvements in the club that doesn’t show up in the review is the increase participation by everyone and how Bob has made our events more fun.

It will be hard to keep up with the example Bob has set but the club has a very good Board of Directors to lead the club and with everyone’s help we’ll keep the club going in the right direction in 2001.  THANKS  BOB!!!!!