Another successful Tiger Tracks Train Show!

 

Another Tiger Tracks Train Show is in the books! Thank you to everyone who braved the snow storms this past weekend to attend our show, and visit our new layout under construction in the Student Union. Attendance was a little lower than we would have liked (thanks to the snow), but otherwise it was a great weekend for everyone involved. Thank you to our sponsors, our vendors, and most of all, our kind visitors! We'll see you again next year for the 9th Annual Tiger Tracks Train Show & Sale on December 13-14, 2014!

Getting used to the new semester schedule, RITMRC will be closed for most of the month of January. Through the rest of the year we'll be working on getting in all the sidings, fine tuning the electrical, and getting block detection installed. We'll most likely have another public open house in May, stay tuned for details.

Happy Holidays and best wishes for a Happy New Year from the RIT Model Railroad Club!

Toasting the main line, getting ready for Tiger Tracks!

Just prior to Thanksgiving break, the first train made a complete circuit of the entire new main line under its own power for the first time! Not a bad benchmark of progress since just a little more than a year ago we were faced with an empty clubroom in need of a layout. Upon our return from break, we had a brief organizational meeting on December 4 to discuss details related to our upcoming Tiger Tracks Train Show this weekend. Following the meeting, some local alumni members joined us for a special toast celebrating the completion of the new main line.

Phil pours sparkling cider for the toast on December 4.

Many RITMRC alumni joined us for this historic event celebrating the completion of the new main line on R&IT v2.0.

RITMRC co-founder and past president Tom Rohatsch admires a long mixed freight traversing the crossover and curves at CP 373.

The RIT Model Railroad Club is proud to present Tiger Tracks, the largest train show in Rochester! Fun for the whole family, you'll enjoy two days of vendors, museum displays, operating model railroads in all scales, exciting door prizes and more. Trains and tracks, scenery, accessories, books, videos, gifts, railroad memorabilia, and more. See progress on the new HO scale Rochester & Irondequoit Terminal. Free parking. Handicap accessible. Refreshments available. Close to many hotels and malls, and only 20 minutes south of downtown Rochester. ALL ABOARD!  

Saturday, December 14, 2013 - 10:00am - 5:00pm
Sunday, December 15, 2013 - 10:00am - 4:00pm

Admission: $5.00 Adults - $3.00 Seniors (65+)
Children under 12 FREE with paid adult 

RIT students, faculty, and staff FREE with I.D.

Main line track completed!

Well, it's been a busy couple of weeks down in Room A420! During the weekend of November 9, we completed the main line subroadbed, with the last section going in between CP 373 and High Falls. This past weekend we finished laying cork roadbed from Lockport through CP 373 to High Falls, which meant that we were ready for track! With two teams working throughout the day, track was installed from Lockport, through the CP 373 interlocking, all the way to High Falls.

An unofficial "golden spike" was driven on Saturday, November 16, at 7:15pm at a location in between Albion and CP 373 by vice president Matt Glazer. Everyone was very excited, since it was a little more than a year ago that we were faced with an empty room ready to be filled with a new layout! The electrical team will continue working over the next few weeks to get much needed power to our tracks. Our goal is to run trains on the main line as a demonstration during our upcoming Tiger Tracks Train Show & Sale.

This coming weekend we have cancelled the work session so that we can attend the WNYRHS 32nd Annual Greater Buffalo Train & Toy Show at the Hamburg Fairgrounds. The weekend after that is Thanksgiving, and we'll be home celebrating with our families. We return in December, and we'll be making the big push to clean up the layout room and get ready for Tiger Tracks on December 15-15! Follow along on our Facebook fan page as we get ready for the big show. See you in December...

 

Completed subroadbed leading from CP 373 around the bend towards High Falls. At this location, the roadbed is supporting the two-track CSX/R&IT main line as well as the parallel Rochester & Southern (ex-B&O) line.

Jimmy lays cork on the CSX/R&IT main line.

We're told this jumble of wires is what makes the trains go.

Kyle and David S. install track on the CSX/R&IT main line near High Falls.

Laying track through the future Albion scene on the R&IT Falls Road Secondary.

 The "golden spike" uniting all of the main line trackage was driven on Saturday, November 16, at 7:15 p.m.

Club members gather at the site of the "golden spike" to celebrate.

See more photos on our Facebook fan page!