Another school year draws to a close

We're getting ready to wind down for the school year as it's finals week here at RIT. We had a very productive month, hosting our first open house with the new layout under construction during the Imagine RIT fair. We had a few hundred visitors tour our progress and ask us great questions about the new version of the Rochester & Irondequoit Terminal on Saturday, May 4. It was a great day and we got a lot of encouragement and well wishes from the folks who came down to visit us. We were able to get Irondequoit Yard up and running for demonstration purposes, which gave some of our visitors the chance to run a train using DCC. All in all, it was a very successful event for us! Here are some photos from that day...

Some of our first visitors to the R&IT!

Club president J.C. Mayer talks with visitors about our future plans.

Club vice president Matt Glazer explains how we will be modeling portions of Rochester's downtown in HO scale.

Club member Connor shows off a slide show of our construction process from the past year.

Club member David Stavans demonstrates train operation in Irondequoit Yard.

Club secretary and construction manager Ryan Bailly looks on as visitors run trains in Irondequoit Yard.

A visitor inspects our mock-up of the proposed Albion scene.

On Sunday, May 5, we held our annual Year-End Dinner, which is a great way to look back on the year and make plans for next. Club president J.C. Mayer opened the dinner with a few congratulatory remarks and heartfelt thanks to everyone who supported RITMRC over the past school year. Club advisor David Scheiderich thanked everyone for helping to put together a successful Tiger Tracks Train Show, and also was happy we had made so much forward progress on the new layout this year. RITMRC's Chief Engineer E.J. Ryder ('00) thanked everyone for their hard work as well, and was very pleased with the progress made this year. Alumni member Otto Vondrak ('99) also made a brief presentation about our railroad's fictional history, and where it fits into the map of the real world. Otto also made a presentation about our next club car project (which will be revealed soon). The club enjoyed  dinner catered by local favorite Dinosaur BBQ, which was then followed by railfan slide shows by members Elliot Courtney and David Stavans. We also enjoyed Mike Smith's 4x4 switching layout, populated with buildings salvaged from the old R&IT layout. It was a great way to close out the year, and we're already looking forward to September!

 Club members enjoy Mike Smith's (gray shirt) 4x4 switching layout.

Club advisor Dave Scheiderich impresses the club members with his words of wisdom.

 Alumni member and club co-founder Otto Vondrak ('00) briefly explains the fictional R&IT history as a lead in to his proposal for our next club car project.

Club president J.C. Mayer enthusiastically thanked all the club members for their support and hard work over the last year.

David Stavans gave an interesting slide show that contained subjects domestic and foreign.

Quite the feast was provided by Dinosaur BBQ... Always a favorite!

While our school year is drawing to a close, you can continue to follow our progress on our Facebook fan page! We'll see you in September!

First trains in Irondequoit Yard

With the sudden arrival of our track and roadbed supplies (thanks to Kim's Trains & Things of Mercer, Pa.), we were anxious to start laying track! With the benchwork for Irondequoit Yard complete, work started there. Thanks to Elliot, Ryan, and Matt, the new yard was made operational earlier this week, and will be used for demonstration during our open house as part of the Imagine RIT festival on Saturday, May 4. In the operational scheme of things, Irondequoit Yard is a small local yard designed to handle the traffic for both Rochester and nearby Albion. In our world, the yard is located on a branch off the main line, a remnant of our days as an electric interurban railroad. It will also be the first thing visitors see when they walk through our doors.

 Track plan for Irondequoit Yard. The rest of the branch line up to Lake Ontario "continues" off the edge of the layout, and will be represented with a length of abandoned track and a fixed bumper.

Ryan lays cork roadbed for the new yard.

Nearly completed cork roadbed.

Matt trims pieces of cork for turnouts.

The completed cork with the assembled ladder of turnouts.

Completed track work for the new Irondequoit Yard.

First trains in the new yard! We grabbed whatever was handy as most of our stuff is still packed away since everything was put in storage this past summer.

Benchwork construction complete

 With the end of the school year quickly approaching, the club made an effort to complete the majority of the benchwork supports for our model railroad. RIT's Facilities Management Services (FMS) helped us relocate some cabinets that were mounted to one of the concrete walls, and also helped us anchor the peninsula benchwork to the concrete floor. Raising the cabinets allowed us to install benchwork for our new Irondequoit Yard, which will support the customers located in Rochester and Albion. The rest of the trackwork will be supported by risers and subroadbed, as our main line must make a change in elevation as it makes its way around the room. There will also be differences in height on the scenery base, as we accommodate bridges, rivers, waterfalls, and more.

 

As seen from the tower, Connor, David, J.C., and Ryan working in the area around what will be High Falls and the Genesee Brewery scene.

View from the tower, looking out over the peninsula that will carry the main line through Rochester and out towards our connection with the Falls Road.

Ryan, Connor, and J.C. assembling bench work.

Looking back into the room towards the tower across the completed peninsula benchwork.

Completed benchwork for Irondequoit Yard, located at the entrance to our club room and tucked under our newly raised storage cabinets.

We'll be hosting our first Open House as part of the Imagine RIT Festival on May 4, 2013! We can't guarantee trains will be running, but we'll have plenty to show off. Come join us!