National Train Show in Seattle this weekend

[Bergie]

Will I be seeing any of you at the National Train Show in Seattle, WA this weekend? I'll be there on Friday and Saturday, but I won't be in our booth much on Friday. Saturday I'll try to spend as much time as possible in the Model Railroader/Kalmbach booth.

Stop by and say hello if you're going to be there. [:)]

Bergie

[Noah Hofrichter]

Your killing me Bergie. I Wish I could go. We had talk about it, but in the end I vetoed it for this year. Where is it supposed to be held next year anyway.

Noah

[Anonymous]

Noah, hear is the schedule for the next several years for the NMRA convetions, copied from the NMRA's website
Ch
2005: Cincinnati, Ohio - http://www.nmra.org/2005/
Division 7, MCR is pleased to announce that they host the 2005 NMRA National Convention, The Cincinnati Limited, on: 7/3/05 - 7/11/05
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2006: Philadelphia, PA - http://www.nmra.org/2006/
The Mid-Eastern Region hosts Independence Junction for 2006.
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2007: Detroit, Michigan - http://www.nmra.org/2007/
The North Central Region presents the Great Lakes Express in 2007.
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2008: Anaheim, CA
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2009: Open for Bid :East Coast
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2010: Milwaukee WI - (75 anniversary of the NMRA.)
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[jfugate]

Bergie:

I'll be at the train show ... in fact I'm writing this from my hotel room in Seattle, so I've been at the convention since Monday.

MyMemoirs Video, the company that produces and distributes my Siskiyou Line video series will be there, and I'll be spending some time in their booth on Friday and Saturday.

[AntonioFP45]

Hey Guys,

Please don't forget to stop by the SOUNDTRAXX booth and listen to the demonstration that they have on the new Tsunami Sound decoder that many of us have been waiting for! Take Digital pictures. Post them when you get back. Give us your opinions and critiques. Bruce from Litcfield Station will also be there as he knows the owners of Soundtraxx.

Another thought: Would be really neat if a Tsunami demonstration could be video taped (with sound of course) and posted on this forum.

Thanks for considering!

[dknelson]

The NMRA Scale Rails/Bulletin with full details about the train show arrived this week -- about, oh, three days after almost anyone would have had to leave home to attend the convention! This is the ONE issue per year that is truly time sensitive and they screw up.
No wonder they are losing about 500 or more members a year
Dave Nelson

[Anonymous]

I wish I could go, I might hit Cincy and I'm 99.9% sure I'm going to Philly in 2006, I'm going to try to head to Milwaukee also.

[jfugate]

QUOTE: Originally posted by AntonioFP45

Hey Guys,

Please don't forget to stop by the SOUNDTRAXX booth and listen to the demonstration that they have on the new Tsunami Sound decoder that many of us have been waiting for! Take Digital pictures. Post them when you get back. Give us your opinions and critiques. Bruce from Litcfield Station will also be there as he knows the owners of Soundtraxx.

Another thought: Would be really neat if a Tsunami demonstration could be video taped (with sound of course) and posted on this forum.

Thanks for considering!

Well now, I brought a commercial-grade digital video camera from MyMemoirs Video (the guys who are distributing my Siskiyou Line Video series) to the convention to video my DCC clinic, and I was planning to walk around the train show and video some interesting stuff with it.

So I will do just that. SoundTraxx booth. Got it.

Anyone else have any requests?

Once I get the video footage, I'll try to post it to model-trains-video.com next week.

[rogerhensley]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dknelson

The NMRA Scale Rails/Bulletin with full details about the train show arrived this week -- about, oh, three days after almost anyone would have had to leave home to attend the convention! This is the ONE issue per year that is truly time sensitive and they screw up.
No wonder they are losing about 500 or more members a year
Dave Nelson

Sorry, Dave. This is the issue designed to be handed out AT the NTS. That makes it either ahead of schedule or right on schedule. It has nothing to do with the convention. :-)

[AntonioFP45]

JFugate,

Thanks a lot!

Please be sure to let us know when you've returned with the goods and where to "click" to see it.

Cheers to you in Run 8!

[Anonymous]

I'll be there on Saturday. If I go past the Kalmbach booth. . .

[Noah Hofrichter]

Ooooh, I like that schedual. Just showed it to my Dad. He said we can probably do Cinci, Philly, and Definately Milwaukee, we're only two hours away after all.

Noah

[johncolley]

AntonioFP45, Do you know if Bruce Petrarca will be there Saturday? I would like to meet him as he is doing a sound install for me. I am certainly looking forward to meeting Joe Fugate and a whole bunch of train folks at the show and the Free-mo get together afterward.

[johncolley]

AntonioFP45, Do you know if Bruce Petrarca will be there Saturday? I would like to meet him as he is doing a sound install for me. I am certainly looking forward to meeting Joe Fugate and a whole bunch of train folks at the show and the Free-mo get together afterward.

[jfugate]

QUOTE: Originally posted by johncolley

AntonioFP45, Do you know if Bruce Petrarca will be there Saturday? I would like to meet him as he is doing a sound install for me. I am certainly looking forward to meeting Joe Fugate and a whole bunch of train folks at the show and the Free-mo get together afterward.

John:

I spoke with Bruce this morning at my clinic. He gave me some recommendations of some folks I need to speak with at the show about some DCC items I covered in my clinic.

So yes, He's here!

[AntonioFP45]

Thanks for your input guys.

I visited Happy Hobo Trains today. While there I spoke to a friend who owns a brass Southern Pacific GS-4 steamer. He was interested in a DCC conversion. He got excited when I told him that the new Tsunami decoder is going to have the GS4's steamboat whistle AND horn available. (for those of you not aware, look at a prototype picture of a GS4's front end. You'll see a single horn near the roof. It's a "honker".)

He immedietly whipped out his cell phone and callled another friend who's at the convention. Told him to get as much info as he can about the Tsunami decoder.
Good to see that more people are becoming interested in sound!

Take care!

[jfugate]

Spoke with Nancy at SoundTraxx today (one of the Tsunami product supervisors) and she gave me her permission to video the Tsunami demo decoder they have on display. We're going to try to do it before the show opens to the public in the morning so we can get as little background noise as possible on the video.

We also have a directional mike that I plan to hold right next to the loco when we shoot the video so we can get something that sounds decent.

[brothaslide]

QUOTE:
Anyone else have any requests?

Yea - Could you bring back some "free samples". Like a Kato AC4400

[jfugate]

QUOTE: Originally posted by brothaslide

QUOTE:
Anyone else have any requests?

Yea - Could you bring back some "free samples". Like a Kato AC4400

If they gave out any free samples like that, you can becha I would get one!

;-)

[AntonioFP45]

Jfugate,

Thanks very much for your willingness to help out those of us that are very curious!
Looking forward to seeing "and hearing" your recordings!

[jfugate]

Well, we tried.

Showed up at the SoundTraxx booth with the camera and mike armed to shoot away and Nancy came up and said sorry, no video, no photos, no sound recordings. Apparently, she talked to the Tsunami designers and they said it's still prototype and has known bugs. They don't mind showing convention goers, but no recordings.

So that's that. We did shoot other things at the train show, and will still post the video, but no SoundTraxx.

I can say, the Tsunami decoder they demo'ed was a steam sound decoder and had tons of functions with lots of cool sounds, very silky smooth and full sounding.

They hope to release by September, but no promises. They are negotiating with suppliers now and several are out of the country and no one has committed to any dates yet.

That's the best we could do.

[jfugate]

As to other cool things at the train show ... CVP has battery-powered DCC perfected for garden railway use. No power to the rail is needed. It's not small enough for anything below G scale yet, however. Battery technology just isn't there yet.

For SP, Cotton Belt and Rio Grande fans, Athearn showed a prototype of their new SD45T2. Very cool. See through air intakes, see through hood fans, and looked very "right" in its overall proportions and details. Should be the end of the year, they are saying.

Details West announced a new SP SD9E detailing kit, complete with the extended electrical cabinet behind the cab and many other detail parts. Also an SP SD40/45 detailing kit.

Intermountain announced the FMC double-door outside braced car in SP and Golden West paint schemes (along with some others I don't recall now) ... a very nice model of a car type that rolled the nation's railroads from the mid 70s up to the present day and has numbered into the tens of thousands produced.

Later ... will let you know when the things we were allowed to video have been posted to http://model-trains-video.com.

[AntonioFP45]

Jfugate,

Thanks anyway, you made the effort! Too bad Nancy didn't also showcase a "diesel unit".

Wow! It's funny that up until the MTH lawsuit, Soundtraxx had been announcing a Dec 2003 release and now it turns out that the Tsunami still has "bugs". Seems like QSI then has bragging rights as far as dynamic sound with few problems in HO scale.

(O.K, yes!--- I'm just venting! I know that electronics technology can be tricky but with SO MANY diesel modelers on the market, one does not need to be a marketing analyst to assume that Soundtraxx would have a diesel unit ready for an important occasion like an NMRA Convention!!!!).

I have a friend who is heavy into electronics & dcc. He is quite skeptical that Soundtraxx's Tsunami decoders can equally match or better Broadway/s QSI HO onboard systems even with decent speakers and baffling.

I just have to continue to be patient (you too, Dave9999) and expect that Soundtraxx wants to "get it just right" before the release.

Jfugate, what's your opinion? I'm sure you've heard Broadway units before. How does what you've heard compare? Does the adjustable "reverb", "short-whistle", and overall sound give QSI a run for the money?

Thanks!

[jfugate]

Well, I model 1980s diesels so I don't spend a lot of time listening to steam sound locos, so take my opinion for what it's worth.

I have heard the QSI SP cab forward and in my opinion this Tsunami demo sounded every bit as good. But realize again that I have not spent a lot of time trying to evaluate steam loco sound decoders, so my ear is probably not very critical.

I too got the sense in speaking with Nancy that SoundTraxx wants to do the very best job possible with this decoder and with all the litigation going around, did not want to give away anything too soon or give someone with a nasty dispostion in the trade something to complain about.

Don't blame them one bit. Too bad the hobby's turned so nasty lately, but you gotta be extra cautious during these times. Hopefully it will all blow over and we can get back to the concept that "Model Railroading is fun" for everyone, in the business or just enjoying the hobby for pleasure.

[Allen Jenkins]

Thanks for the tip-off on the tunnel-motor V20! You made my day, and my 150th post! ACJ.

[johncolley]

Joe, I had a great time at the show, and much pleasure finally meeting you. So much so that I forgot to ask you for the printouts of your presentation that you were going to set aside. I also forgot to ask how far you are from Portland. I would really like to join in the operations sometime, but it is a major thing for me to get that much time away as I am a 24/7 caregiver for my wife. However I am eagerly awaiting the next installment of the DVD series. John Colley, Port Townsend, WA

[jfugate]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Allen Jenkins

Thanks for the tip-off on the tunnel-motor V20! You made my day, and my 150th post! ACJ.

And Athearn did allow us to video their prototype of the SD45T-2 they had on display so once we get the train show footage captured and put online I'll let you know!

[jfugate]

QUOTE: Originally posted by johncolley

Joe, I had a great time at the show, and much pleasure finally meeting you. So much so that I forgot to ask you for the printouts of your presentation that you were going to set aside. I also forgot to ask how far you are from Portland. I would really like to join in the operations sometime, but it is a major thing for me to get that much time away as I am a 24/7 caregiver for my wife. However I am eagerly awaiting the next installment of the DVD series. John Colley, Port Townsend, WA

John:

Nice to meet you too ... it always helps to put a face to a name.

I'll post my DCC clinic handouts up on the Siskiyou Line yahoo group site in the next day or so. See: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/siskiyouline/

I live about 30 miles south of Portland in Woodburn, OR. If you can manage to make it down to Woodburn one of these days for an op session, be great to have you. See the operations calendar on my web site to for the days we operate.

[Anonymous]

Joe I'm crushed.

I would figure someone with a passing interest in the SP (like yourself) would have at least noticed the new HO scal FP7 that was in our booth! [:D]

All kidding aside, thanks for the compliment on the FMC boxcar -- it's been a fun project.

It was a lot of fun to see all my old friends again. I kept trying to get over to Joe's booth to pick up his DVD set but was distracted or ran into someone or another every time. Oh well, maybe next time.

Marty

[Anonymous]

NTS was great! Lots a excellent layouts and displays.

Joe, I passed by your booth a couple times and would have introduced myself, but you were engaged in conversation. Nice to see the Kalmbach folks again -- David, Andy, Hal, and Bergie. Andy has a new book on modeling freight yards coming out, and that will be a must-have for my library!