NMRA Clinics and YouTube LiveStreams

It's been a busy month away from the pleasurable toil of building a model railroad. I've been buried in committee and clinic work. 

Quick rewind: the NMRA's Rails by the Bay 2021 virtual convention is fast approaching -- It's July 6-10. Register here -- The cost is a low, low $49. 

I'm involved with this effort as a member of the clinics committee, as a prospective clinician and as a volunteer.

In my own little way, I'm hoping to rid this convention of its reputation as a "best kept secret." 

The convention committee decided, at the start of the year, to go virtual. But, the word hasn't spread widely. 

The January Bay Area SIG meet and April PCR annual convention were the test beds for the concept. Lots was learned and the goal is to (in a virtual space) to replicate as much of the look and feel as a face-to-face convention. There will be two clinic tracks (with more than 60 clinics), plenty of breakout rooms to meet and greet new and old friends, layout tours and discussions with the owners. There are also opportunities for volunteers. 

As a member of the clinic committee I decided to put my money where my mouth was and present two clinics.  One is about ethanol by rail. The other about butane by rail.

If you attend both clinics, you'll understand the differences between the two tank cars pictured above. Yep, they're both black. Pictures are at different locations. If you know the difference -- please post a comment. 

Serving on the clinic committee has allowed me to meet many new and talented model railroad enthusiasts. All the clinics will be pre-recorded -- and followed by a live Q&A.

The convention technical committee developed a pool of recording engineers to help record the clinics. Mine, for both clinics, was Heath Hurwitz. He's a model railroader living in Manhattan, NY. He's also the founder of Human(c)ity Junction. He has a YouTube channel about modeling trains in small places and looking at the junction of humans and urban areas.

I recommend taking a look. He has prototype videos -- of NYC railroading. He's a big GG-1 fan. (GO HEATH!!) One interesting observation of his: his sanding and painting workshop is often a bench in a nearby city park. That's pretty creative model railroading.

He's invited me to appear on the Monday, May 24 live stream at 6:30 pm EDT (3:30 pm PDT). Check it out.  Among other things I'll be talking about my clinics. 

One last shameless plug for the NMRA convention -- register now!!!