Several special interest groups of the
PCR (Pacific Coast Region) of the NMRA
(National Model Railroad Association) toured our local train club here
in San Jose, California last night.
The Silicon Valley Lines (SVL)
club is of particular intrest because of the high degree of its computerization.
SVL operates trains using digital command control
(DCC), which
allows engineers to control locomotives independently on the same track.
Many SVL members are professionally in high tech hardware or software development.
My husband John Plocher and several SVL members have been involved in the
JMRI open source software project.
JMRI was awarded
Duke’s Choice award by James Gosling at the 2006 JavaOne conference. Duke’s
Choice goes to the most innovative projects of the year using the Java platform. John
is also working on an open source
hardware project for model train layout controls. We even have a webcam
set up on our home layout so that other members of the JMRI team can test
software changes when we are not there. John is SVL President again this year
and usually acts as Dispatcher for operations nights.
John and I arrived at SVL at 7:30 p.m. and stayed until the club shut down about
11 p.m. Visitors had fun running trains on SVL’s HO-scale layout and asking lots of
questions. SVL is open to the public at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and has its
regular operations night the last Friday of the month. Club members often stay very late. The local Denny’s knows to expect them for breakfast well after midnight.
John and I go on layout tours at least once a year. Visiting a private
home to see what one person can do and then visiting a club layout to see
what a group has accomplished are both interesting. We hope to participate
in the
PCR convention 2-6 May 2007 which will feature dozens of layout tours in
the Santa Cruz area. We also hope to connect with rail fans and model
railfans on our trip to India in a few weeks. We are reading the
IRFCA (Indian Railways Fan Club) web
site with interest.
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