The GGRS is the host club for the SEGRS again this year. Our club layout will
be set up at the show, and we will organize the show banquet, much as we have
in recent years at the SELSTS in Perry. On this page, we will provide news about
plans for the show.
1:00 Powering Up the Garden Railroad
Ed Dice, with the Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club, will give a quick paced
discussion on the various means for powering up your Garden Railroad. Covering
the traditional analog power packs and progressing thru some radio control and
digital command control. This is not an all-inclusive expose. But it will be
beneficial for everyone, beginner to experienced. Also included with be discussion/demonstration
for incorporating Aristo-Craft Revolution into your garden railroad so you can
have the best of both worlds. Plus, solar power for the new green world.
2:00 Advanced DCC Programing
Loco Lee will cover advanced DCC programming using Decoder Pro, and QSI's CV
Manager. His seminars are a must for anyone who wants to learn how to program
locomotives using JMRI, or QSI's CV manager. Here is your chance to attend what
has been called "The best DCC class ever offered", and " Unbelievable
", I didn't know you could do so much with a decoder" This is the
same seminar that has had standing room only crowds all over the country, and
will be given at the 75th NMRA convention in Milwaukee WI. So don't miss this
opportunity to get the same training that the pros get. Here's your chance to
learn DCC from Loco Lee.
3:00 Designing and Building Structures from Wood
Don Nute has scratch-built many structures for his own and other garden railroads
using different materials. In this clinic, he will explain how to design and
build simple structures out of wood from photos of prototypes buildings.
4:00 Building Large Custom Steam Locos
Buddy Rickard is well know for his help in developing some of the Aristo large
steam locos. He will present some samples of his work while telling how he does
some of his masterpieces including models of large steam locomotive prototypes.
5:00 Building goldfish Transport Tank Cars
Need a sustom car to tranport those prize goldfish? Mark Fuhrman from the Knosville
Model Railroad club and DIY-TV fame will show you how. Mark has many years experience
in scratch-building from cars and buildings to entire garden railroads. He will
share not only the tank car, but a few other hints as well.
9:30 Powering Up the Garden Railroad
Ed Dice, with the Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club, will give a quick paced
discussion on the various means for powering up your Garden Railroad. Covering
the traditional analog power packs and progressing thru some radio control and
digital command control. This is not an all-inclusive expose. But it will be
beneficial for everyone, beginner to experienced. Also included with be discussion/demonstration
for incorporating Aristo-Craft Revolution into your garden railroad so you can
have the best of both worlds. Plus, solar power for the new green world.
10:30 Operating Sessions on the Garden Railroad
Don Nute and wife Jane have run monthly operating sessions where trains drop
off and pick up cars on their garden railroad for the past six years. Most of
their operators are between six and ten years old. Don will discuss how to design
your layout for good operations and will describe two paperless systems that
can be used with younger or older operators.
12:00 Battery Power Your Train
Dick and Rick Isard from Cordless Renovations will show you an easy way to power
your train, how to choose the right battery for your application, discuss the
pros and cons of Nimh & Lithium batteries, and how they use a drop-in circuit
board to eliminate wires to power your train. If you haven't yet decided what
kind of system to use to power your garden railroad, or if you are thinking
about switching to DCC, you must see this presentation.
1:00 Digitrax Digital Command Control
Paul Lator, owner of Southeast Digital in Stone Mountain, Georgia, will explain
how to set up and operate a DCC system on your garden railroad using equipment
from Digitrax. If you haven't yet decided what kind of system to use to power
your garden railroad, or if you are thinking about switching to DCC, you must
see this presentation.
2:00 Building Your Own Switches
Dave Cummins - known to many from articles in Outdoor RailroaderI as Do-It-Yourself-Dave!
He will be showing how to scratch build your own switches. Dave will also have
a table set up during the show near the Georgia Garden Railway Society layout
where he will be operating some of his 7/8" scale equipment.
Lodging. There are lots of hotels available in Dalton, and many of them are listed at SEGRS.com.
Banquet. The buffet-style banquet will be held at 7:00 pm on Thursday, April 29, the evening before the show opens. The location is the Dalton Train Depot Restaurant, 110 Depot Street, Dalton, Georgia. The menu is a barbecue dinner. Dr. Joe Nichols, Sr., will give the banquet talk on "Early Railroad History in Georgia." We also plan on giving away a nice selection of door prizes at the banquet.
Tickets are $25 and can be ordered from Frances Tidd/SEGRS Tickets, 3540 Cove Creek Court, Cumming, GA, 30040. Be sure to include a stamped, self-addressed envelop with your order.
Volunteers. We will need volunteers to help with all sorts of things at the show.
For the layout. We will need people to help set up the club layout starting at 10:00 am on Thursday, April 29. We will need people to tear down the layout at 3:30 pm on Saturday, May 1. We will need people to bring buildings, locomotives, and running stock to use on the layout. We will need people to run the trains all day Friday and Saturday. We will need people to "meet and greet" at the layout all day Friday and Saturday. We will create a schedule on the GGRS Layout page of this website. There we will list people who are bringing buildings and equipment, helping with set up and tear down, running trains, and hosting. Contact Dave Bennett to volunteer to help with the layout in any capacity. We need to get this coordinated so the layout is covered at all times. If you don't schedule a slot to run your train, don't expect to walk up whenever you want and put your train on the track. If you do schedule a slot to run trains or to host, please be there on time!
For the banquet. We won't need a lot of help with the banquet, but we may need a few people to help hand out the door prizes.
For the ticket booth. Show organizer David Roberts will need occasional help selling tickets at the show entrance. He wants to be able to walk around the show from time to time. If anyone would be willing to cover for him for an hour or so, contact Don Nute.
Free admission for volunteers. Show organizer David Roberts has agreed to provide free entry to any GGRS member who provides help with the club layout, the banquet, or the gardener's booth. It is a wonderful opportunity for our club members to have a quality garden railroad show so close.
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