No news reported.

Model Train Show & Swap Meet – Arapahoe County Fairgrounds, Aurora, 26-27 April 2008
A few of us from the Division manned a booth for the Region. The attendance for this first annual show was extremely low. Even so, Dick managed an estate sale he acquired Friday and sold off completely Sunday afternoon.

Rich volunteered to continue working with the Great Train Expo and shows to have a Rocky Mountain Region NMRA booth.

Rails Along the Rio Grande, 2008 Convention

Sunrise Module Group
The module group has been holding meetings more frequently, with our next meeting scheduled next week at Dick's house, Thursday night. Progress has been made determining overall size and basic dimensions. Lightweight construction techniques are still being evaluated. Contact: Dick.

Upcoming Railroad Events
Oct 4-5 Western Colorado Railroad Extravaganza - Montrose
Information about this show as well as their vendor form is now available on-line on our webpage.

Check our home page calendar and on-line at: http://trainweb.org/drgwscenicline/events08.html

Pre-Meeting

While we were waiting for the monthly meeting to start, Dick entertained us with a photo show presentation on his trips to the Durango & Silverton. Dick will be showing his presentation again as a clinic at Rails Along the Rio Grande.

Show & Tell: Transformers (Rolling stock changed to a different purpose)
( Photos by Gary)

A converted Combine A Candy Cane Special Rich's Collection	An odd looking caboose, no end platforms, is actually an old caboose shell on a Centerline Products Track Cleaner DaveC's Collection		Here is an AHM Krauss-Maffei shell combined with an E7 chassis DaveC's Collection

Show & Tell II: FASTRACKS
( Photos by Gary)

While Tom was setting up his clinic, Gary did a very brief presentation on building turnouts with FASTTRACKS assembly jigs. The following portrays the tools used/required for building FASTTRACK turnouts.

FASTRACKS Jig NMRA Gauges 10" Single Cut File PC Ties Cleaning Brush Completed DG turnout	First: Frogs Second: Guard Rails Short Guard rail lower right Bends for guard rails above & below short jig	Rail Nippers Sharp Xacto Fiberglass Weathering Brush (removes solder on rail) Jeweler's saw for rail cuts FASTTRACKS Point & Frog Filing Jig & wrench Pliobond & Walthers tips for gluing ties to switch QuickStix Precut Ties	Belt Sander for grinding flange off stock rails for point nesting	FASTRACKS Template showing tie & rail cuts, assembly order Ohmmeter for isolation checks Razor saw for tie isolation cuts Felt Fine Point for marking everything: isolation cuts, rail bends, grind spots, tie & rail cuts
	Very Fine Point, high heat, high watt soldering iron & stand Very fine solder, Acid Flux and old brush for flux

Clinic: XTrkCAD - Freeware Symposium, presented by Tom
( Photos by Gary)

	I was going to mail out the install file for XTrkCAD, but I realized that it is an “.exe” file and many mail clients will block it. Therefore, I did a quickie page on one of my web servers and dropped the file there. You can download by going to http://warriors.shiboleth.net/ and clicking on the link. The size is 1.89 MB. If folks don’t want to download it from me, they can go to the wiki (link below) and find directions to download it directly from SourceForge. They can also get a Linux version if they are so inclined.
I’ve also included two links that may be of interest. The first is the wiki for the program, and the second is the Yahoo group that does offer some support. The files section for the Yahoo group, in particular, has a number of additional parameter files that may not be included in the “official” release. However, keep in mind that some of the parameter files (buildings, etc) that were first posted on the Yahoo group have been incorporated into the release. A quick comparison of filenames and dates will ensure that you have the latest version. I’ll be honest— I’ve looked at the N-scale stuff and have not paid any attention to the HO-scale files. Perhaps the most useful postings on the Yahoo site are the directions on creating buildings, etc, from scratch. -Tom Links: http://www.xtrkcad.org/Wikka/HomePage" http://groups.yahoo.com/group/xtrkcad/"

Additional XTrk CAD comments from DaveS:
Since my initial download a couple years ago, the program was improved by a few interested individuals and a new version has been made available. I downloaded it too and it works fine. There are still a few guys around that are continuing to make the program even more user friendly.

If you wish to use the program, (it includes some turnout data... but not all of the ones I wanted) there is a specific procedure for loading the parameters needed for many of the turnouts those of us in the US need and use. The parameters are in the Yahoo Group files and virtually all of them you might want and need can all be added all at once in a minute or so. Procedure to do so is buried somewhere in all the Yahoo Group messages, but it's not hard to find. Also many Walthers structures are in the groups files and can be downloaded in a near identical methodology.

Attendees:
Rich, Jerry, Tom, Dick, Bill, Nate, DaveC, & Gary

NEXT MONTH: June 5 Division Meeting Activities: