Australasian Region
A Message from The Regional President
29-09-2011
Australasian Region of the NMRA will support the Model Railroading Hobby
During the NMRA National Convention , X2011 West, in July this year, I was asked to attend a meeting of the National Board. One of the items addressed at this meeting was a proposal by our colleague member Geoff Nott. Geoff's proposal was to build a museum quality display layout, similar to Muskrat Ramble, for display at the proposed Museum for Scale Model Railroads being proposed by the NMRA. This layout would replace Muskrat Ramble, which for various reasons was withdrawn for use by the museum.At the Board meeting the Board unanimously accepted Geoff's proposal. This acceptance was based on the extremely high standards of modeling by Geoff and his team, that it would be good to have models from outside the USA at the museum, and that I had assured the Board that the Australasian Region would provide the transportation costs to get the completed layout to the West Coast of the USA.
Mindful of the previous strong support from the Australasian Region Committee (ARC) and other members, to support the hobby by sending Muskrat Ramble to the USA, I had no hesitation in making this commitment again. On returning to Australia, at our next regular ARC meeting, the Committee endorsed my decision.
That NMRA National is proposing to establish the museum display to cover the history and variety of scale model railroads. This museum display will be part of the Californian State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, California.
The benefits of establishing a museum dedicated to model railroading will be felt not only by those residents of the United States but also by modelers around the world who visit the museum. The ability to display what modelers can achieve will encourage more to join the hobby, thereby strengthening an already vibrant hobby.
The Australasian Regional Committee is committed to this endeavor. This is a demonstration of our support for the NMRA globally and the hobby generally. We will ensure the display is delivered to the museum in "museum quality" condition, and at the lowest reasonable cost. We trust our membership fully supports this opportunity.
Geoff Nott is determined to make the new layout his best modeling endeavor yet. It will be built specifically for the museum to US standards, particularly with respect to electrical matters. Geoff and his team will spend countless hours building the layout and will donate the finished product free of charge to the museum. The target for completion is the middle of 2012, and a suitable name will be given to the layout which will be modeled around a Southern United States theme.
This invitation recognizes our region's modeling as an example of some of the finest modeling you will see. It will be an excellent demonstration of the abilities of the Australasian modeler's skills to the world of model railroading. This achievement will be suitably acknowledged by a plaque to be placed on the layout in the museum.
Our Regional Committee has suggested we hold activities to offset the cost of the transport. Various activities will be proposed and executed during the next year. Based on previous estimates we expect the cost to the Region to be in the order of $5000.00, less monies we can specifically raise for this endeavor.
David Howarth MMR,
President, NMRA AR
27 September 2011
07-05-2011
NMRA Data Sheets ProgramBy M. David Johnson
NMRA Data Sheets Manager
The NMRA Data Sheets are intended to be a resource for modelers. They comprise a collection of information on General Modeling, Scenery, Track work, Motive Power, Rolling Stock, Structures, Electrical Work, Operations, and Prototype Information. The Data Sheets are available on the new Members-Only section of the NMRA website at www.nmra.org/member/ .
However, many of the Data Sheets are out of date, having been originally prepared in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. Most have only received cosmetic updates. For example, Data Sheet D4g (Diesel-Electric Locomotive Specifications) was first issued in April of 1960. It doesn't include data on any locomotive much newer than a GP-9.
I and Van Fehr of Connecticut, the NMRA Data Sheets Assistant Manager, along with Tony Koester, the Exalted Grand Poobah of the Data Sheets Revitalization Project, are currently engaged in efforts to bring the Data Sheets up to date and to add new data sheets to provide even more information to support your modeling.
We've already added four new Data Sheets which were published in the NMRA Magazine, two of which are now on the website as well:
NMRA Data Sheets ProgramBy M. David Johnson
NMRA Data Sheets Manager
The NMRA Data Sheets are intended to be a resource for modelers. They comprise a collection of information on General Modeling, Scenery, Track work, Motive Power, Rolling Stock, Structures, Electrical Work, Operations, and Prototype Information. The Data Sheets are available on the new Members-Only section of the NMRA website at www.nmra.org/member/ .
However, many of the Data Sheets are out of date, having been originally prepared in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. Most have only received cosmetic updates. For example, Data Sheet D4g (Diesel-Electric Locomotive Specifications) was first issued in April of 1960. It doesn't include data on any locomotive much newer than a GP-9.
I and Van Fehr of Connecticut, the NMRA Data Sheets Assistant Manager, along with Tony Koester, the Exalted Grand Poobah of the Data Sheets Revitalization Project, are currently engaged in efforts to bring the Data Sheets up to date and to add new data sheets to provide even more information to support your modeling.
We've already added four new Data Sheets which were published in the NMRA Magazine, two of which are now on the website as well:
By M. David Johnson
NMRA Data Sheets Manager
The NMRA Data Sheets are intended to be a resource for modelers. They comprise a collection of information on General Modeling, Scenery, Track work, Motive Power, Rolling Stock, Structures, Electrical Work, Operations, and Prototype Information. The Data Sheets are available on the new Members-Only section of the NMRA website at www.nmra.org/member/ .
However, many of the Data Sheets are out of date, having been originally prepared in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. Most have only received cosmetic updates. For example, Data Sheet D4g (Diesel-Electric Locomotive Specifications) was first issued in April of 1960. It doesn't include data on any locomotive much newer than a GP-9.
I and Van Fehr of Connecticut, the NMRA Data Sheets Assistant Manager, along with Tony Koester, the Exalted Grand Poobah of the Data Sheets Revitalization Project, are currently engaged in efforts to bring the Data Sheets up to date and to add new data sheets to provide even more information to support your modeling.
We've already added four new Data Sheets which were published in the NMRA Magazine, two of which are now on the website as well:
Meanwhile, we're also working on the following three tasks:
1. Perform a survey, by sections, of the existing Data Sheets to determine revision needs and set priorities, and to assess the need for new and additional sheets.2. Assemble a database of existing and potential Data Sheet authors.3. Assemble a peer review committee to check proposed Data Sheets before publication.
When we've completed those three tasks, we'll be ready to start work on revising and updating the existing Data Sheets and adding more new ones as well.
Watch this space, as well as the NMRA Magazine, for further developments as we go along.
And, if you have any ideas for the project, e.g. any ideas for improvements or new Data Sheets, please drop me a line at
mdj@bds-soft.com.
442 Michael Manor
Glenview, IL 60025-4636
708-476-6882
mdj@bds-soft.com
23-01-2011
There are many good reasons to be a Member of the NMRA. I wanted to highlight the benefits gained by the NMRA National Office's coordination of a drive to stop a patent by Real Rail Effects. If this patent had not been stopped, it is very likely the cost of all sound decoders would be much higher to all modelers in the future. The cost is hard to quantify, but I suggest it would be significant.
The lawyer who led the drive on our behalf developed the press release below.
8 June 2009
NMRA Patent Challenge Update: Awaiting the Final Decision of the USPTO
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a determination on September 30, 2008, in which the Examiner rejected all of the claims in U.S. Pat. No. RE38,660, a patent granted earlier to Real Rail Effects (RRE).
RRE was granted the patent by the USPTO based upon a claim that the technology for using sound with DCC was invented by RRE. The National Model Railroad Association, Inc., with the technical and financial support of a number of DCC manufacturers and hobbyists around the world, filed a challenge to the RRE patent.
The NMRA felt that, should it remain in force, the RRE patent posed a threat to modelers and manufacturers of DCC equipment because it would both increase the costs to modelers and unfairly restrict manufacturers who provide modelers with decoders that include sound. Therefore, the NMRA coordinated an industry- and hobby-wide effort to have the patent overturned.
The NMRA submitted evidence from a number of sources to the USPTO, raising substantial questions about the validity of the patent. RRE did not respond during the course of the challenge. and now the USPTO has issued a ruling entirely in favor of the position of the NMRA.
Real Rail Effects has filed a response to the challenge and the NMRA was unable to respond under the regulations of the USPTO. However, the NMRA evaluated the response of Real Rail Effects and believe that the NMRA is well founded and will be sustained by the USPTO despite the inability of the NMRA to respond to the latest filing of Real Rail Effects.
The USPTO did subsequently make a determination that the patent as submitted by RRE was improper. RRE then was forced to resubmit the information that was subject of the patent and RRE had to substantively narrow its claims. Thus the patent did not stand.
Contact:
Robert J. Amsler, Jr.
General Counsel, National Model Railroad Association, Inc.
514 Dover Place
Saint Louis, Missouri 63111-2338
(314) 353-9131 (Telephone)
(314) 754-2688 (Facsimile)
nmralegal@charter.net
22-01-2011
The Benefits of MembershipWhy should people join the NMRA Australasian Region, or why members should remain members?
We prepared a handout for the AMRA Show in Sydney in October 2010, where we manned a stand to promote the NMRA.
Listed below are the many benefits of membership.
David Howarth
President,
NMRA AR
20-01-2011
Australasian Region of the NMRA to support the Model Railroading Hobby.In his inaugural address, in Washington, on 20 January 1961, President John F. Kennedy said, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."What the President was saying is there are times when we should look at the big picture and see if we individually can do something that counts. With respect to our hobby, what we should ask ourselves is, are there issues we should address in the hobby, which will benefit others. By so doing, we invariably benefit ourselves.
A matter has arisen, which your Regional Committee believes we should take up for the benefit of the hobby. You might be aware that NMRA National is proposing to establish a museum in Sacramento, California to celebrate model railroading. This museum will be part of the Californian State Railroad Museum. Discussions between senior officials of the NMRA based in the USA, and the owners of the Muskrat Ramble layout, have resulting in an invitation to exhibit Muskrat Ramble as one of the initial displays at the museum.
This invitation recognizes Muskrat Ramble is an example of some of the finest modeling you will see. The layout has taken countless hours to make, at considerable cost. The owners of the layout are prepared to donate the layout to the museum. It will be an excellent demonstration of the abilities of the Australasian modeler's skills to the world of model railroading. This achievement will be suitably acknowledged by a plaque to be placed on the layout in the museum.
Muskrat Ramble's owners have asked the Regional Committee to assist in providing funds to get the layout transported to the USA. We have agreed in principle, as we regard this as a great example of "what we can do for your country". We have estimated the cost to the Region to be in the order of $5000.00.
The layout is being prepared for shipping, with crates being made by the layout owners, at their cost. They are also improving the quality of the layout (if that is possible) and modifying it to suit the electrical standards of the United States. It is proposed to ship the layout later in the year, for initial display at a major narrow gauge convention in the East of the United States, followed by a trip to Sacramento in the West.
The benefits of establishing a museum dedicated to model railroading will be felt not only by those residents of the United States but also by modelers around the world. The ability to display what modelers can achieve will encourage more to join the hobby, thereby strengthening an already vibrant hobby.
The Australasian Regional Committee is committed to this endeavor. We will ensure the display is delivered to the museum in "museum quality" condition, and at the lowest reasonable cost. We trust our membership fully supports this opportunity.
11-01-2011
The Australasian Region Committee is committed to providing help to its members. One way to do this is to provide access to information, which will improve our modeling skills.The NMRA in the USA has embarked on a program of digitizing prototype information, which is held in the Kalmbach Library.
You would be aware we donate some funds to help this process, and we have received this generous letter from the National President giving his thanks to our Region's members.
10-01-2011
Twenty-Five Year Awards
Each year we present an Award to those who have been members of the Australasian Region of the NMRA for twenty-five years. Our records show the following members have 25 years continuous membership. Their name is shown in the year in which they have reached the twenty-five years.2011Colin BrettleRay Hunt Ian Jones Gary Norwood Geoff Nott Jack Parker Sowerby Smith Doug Wallace Don Wishart | 2012John BakerGlen Coventry John Lee Glenn Stevens | 2013Ron CooperR. Lee Davis Graeme Hodges Phillip Moore |
David Howarth
President
NMRA Australasian Region
09-09-2010
Our Donation to the NMRA Diamond ClubThe Australasian Region Committee (ARC) has recently made aGold donation (US$750) to the NMRA Diamond Club.
The Diamond Club has been established as the fundraiser to digitise many of the photographs and drawings in the KalmbachMemorial Library in Chattanooga. Members around the worldwill then be able to search and download material for a fee. $75,000 is needed to have the system implemented, and some10,000 documents scanned for the release.
The plan is for this project to be self funding and all fees will be used to digitise more material. The web site is planned for release in January 2011.
The ARC feels that this is appropriate use of our funds as it will enable our members to have greater access to the wealth of information in the Kalmbach library. This improved access to information on the railroad prototypes will assist all members inimproving their modelling potential. This will be particularly truefor those modellers who model a US railroad. Those modellerswho model non-US railways will be able to access materialwhich will expand their general knowledge of railways, which is always a good thing.
We look forward to next year when the digitised materialshould be available. At that time the details of what materialhas been digitised will be made available to all members.
David Howarth
President
NMRA Australasian Region