Member Aid

Bob McIntyre, Chairman

Member Aid Questions

Thanks for all your great questions! We appreciate you using your NMRA program. We are starting to discover that most all Regions and Divisions do not have a Member Aid program, so we are quite privileged here at the Piedmont. Don't forget, the questions don't have to be just about trains. They can be about the organization as well.

• Q: I'd like to be more active in the Division, but I don't know how to do it or what to volunteer for. How do I get started?
• A: We always need volunteers, and I guarantee you have a skill we need. The best place to start is with our Division Superintendent or our Director of Administration. They will be glad to help you find a place in our Division and we appreciate the help!

• Q: I have had to relocate a layout recently and setting up in a new location has caused one end of my helix to send the track over an area that I had planned to scenic with a slum scene and a yard. How can I make this work? See photos.
• A: You are in luck! You have several options. Steel. This area is very attractive and busy. Many large cities are this way. My first suggestion would be a double track steel through-truss bridge over the slums. Nothing makes a slum more slummier (a word?) than a train running right through the middle of it. This is very prototypical in Chicago and New Orleans. The trains go right over the tenement homes. Walthers through-truss bridge kits are easy to build, and the supports can be quickly scratch build using Plastruct shapes or block paper coated 2x2 blocks. You can build the bridge sections solid, or have one as a lift-out over the gate. Some stone block bridge piers would be a very nice touch. What I like about the truss bridges is that they look very complicated, but you can see the scenery down below through the lattice. I think the sight of two trains crossing a massive bridge is very striking.

  The second suggestion is a scenic divider board. Put a Masonite or plywood divider board between the yard and the slums and make them two different scenes, one on either side. Put a bridge on either side and only incorporate the tracks in one of the two scenes. This could give you a good backdrop for some more flat buildings to deepen the slum scene.

  The third idea is to build a whole new deck on the layout, going over the yard and slums, thus making a two-level layout. The clearance you have between the yard level and the upper tracks is more than enough to have a split-level track. Paul Voelker and I built a double deck 4x8 layout recently with the same clearance. We used Christmas tree lights to light the lower level, and the effect was excellent. Plus it allows you to build a bigger scene on the top layer. You might want to move the slum scene upstairs and make it even bigger, or make a whole new town and station complex.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

What is Member Aid?

As a member of the NMRA you are entitled to one of the best and least used benefits that is provided by our organization, which is Member Aid. This service is free of charge to members and is at your disposal immediately. Being the new Member Aid Chairman, which is an official post required by the NMRA, I have the great opportunity to service the Division. My job is to help you with whatever you need help with! Does that mean that I am going to sheetrock your basement? Ah, no. But it does mean that I will help you find people that may know how it is done and can lend a hand. Need help with a track plan design? Have a DCC issue? Maybe you want to learn how to scratch build a structure? Regardless of the question, Member Aid is here to help you in any way we can. We are nationally linked and reside under a National Member Aid Chairman.

When you have a question or a problem, kindly email Bob McIntyre at memberaid@piedmont-div.org and let me know how the NMRA can service you. Eventually we will have a new webpage on the Piedmont site where you can post your questions. We'll get to work to help you solve what is keeping you from building your empire. Give us a try!

We are going to start posting answers to Member Aid questions here so that all of our members can benefit. We're here to help, so give us a try!

We welcome your questions to Member Aid! After all, we're here to help!