Bruce Petrarca 2016 marks two milestones for the PCMRC. It was ten years ago in January when we started our HO-scale layout in the Eagle’s Nest Activities Center Room 106. It was fifteen years ago this fall when we started work on the garden railroad. Let’s back up a decade and review what we were…
Bruce Petrarca We had a wonderful open house on November 27, Black Friday. In this photo, PebbleCreek residents Donnie and Linda Renfro’s daughter-in-law Jill is showing her girls (Addi, Rori and Jada) the Christmas special as it rounded one of the planters in the courtyard! We estimated about 150 folks stopped by to check out…
Bruce Petrarca A train is a traditional part of holiday decorations. This time of year many folks break out their trains and want them to run. When they don’t run, the owners think of asking PCMRC for help. Many decorative trains are three-rail O-27 (Lionel) or S-scale (American Flyer). Some are even larger and may…
Bruce Petrarca That’s right! This is the month where we share the love of our hobby with our friends. The PCMRC is no different. We have several ways for you (and your family) to share in our hobby this month. One of the windows in the Tuscany Falls Arts & Technology Center will be decorated…
Bruce Petrarca The fastest growing arena of model railroading is garden railroading. This brings together gardening, model trains, scenery, miniature towns and frequently, water features. As we age, we lose some sight and manual dexterity. Garden railroading revolves around the largest rolling stock in model railroading. Most are about ½ inch to the foot scale.…
Bruce Petrarca Many folks think of model trains as just a Christmas decoration, running around in circles under the tree. Yes, you will see trains running continuously around our Great Lakes Western (GLW HO-scale) railroad during our open houses, but the layout was designed for so much more. Last month I talked about the research…
Bruce Petrarca It is easy to look at trains running during our open houses or during our operations sessions (first and third Tuesday mornings) and get the idea that the club is just like running trains around a Christmas tree. While that movement grabs the interest of visitors of all ages, a lot more goes…
Bruce Petrarca It seems as if spring break is spread out over more and more time as the years go by. We started having families (grandparents, parents and children) show up to our Tuesday and Thursday morning sessions in early March. We are still getting more than a few visitors in early April. Over 100…
Mark Pelletier Previous articles have often discussed how we run trains realistically, or shown pictures of residents and guests at our Open House events. But this month we’ll talk about the craft of model railroading. Did you know that our club is actually part of the PebbleCreek Creative Arts category? There are many behind the…