Company Dispatches

There are several monthly club functions. This section provides information about club meetings. From April through December we hold one club meeting a month at a member's home where the entire membership is invited to attend and run trains. January is usually an unscheduled month and February is reserved for our annual Clinics and Workshop meeting. March is our only meeting devoted strictly to club business. December is a time of relaxing at our annual Christmas party. A snapshot of a typical year would look like this:

· January: no club meeting. Operating sessions and Liar's Club breakfasts do meet.

· February: annual Clinics (Garden RR related how-to workshops) for members, operating sessions, steam up, modular meet, and Liar's Club breakfasts

· March: annual Business Meeting, operating sessions, steam up, modular meet, quilters meet, and Liar's Club breakfasts

· April through November: monthly meeting at a member's home to run trains, eat, run trains, have a short business meeting with Show and Tell, and run trains; operating sessions, steam up, modular meet, quilters meet and Liar's Club breakfasts

· December: annual Christmas Party, operating sessions, and Liar's Club breakfasts

Monthly Meeting: The Puget Sound Garden Railway Society formally meets once a month on the third Saturday of the month at a member's home from April through November. Sometimes we meet at multiple member homes that are within the same community. A typical meeting begins with members and guests arriving about noon; members bring a pot-luck item for the food table (not required, but no one has gone hungry at one of our meetings!); we run trains and visit; items from the Company Store are available for purchase (as our only on-going fund raising activity); members may bring items to sell or trade - those items are displayed on the Show and Tell table; members bring modeling or hobby related items and information for display on the Show and Tell table; the Show and Tell table also contains the Newsletter Exchange binder that contains the monthly newsletters we have received from fellow Garden Railway Societies; the Video Library is open for checking-in and checking-out videos; a brief business meeting usually convenes about the halfway point of the meeting that includes introductions of new members, guests, ad-hoc Q&A with the Company Brass, layout presentation by our hosts; and the Show & Tell event; we then continue to run trains, eat, and visit until closing. We have a lot of fun in a short time. To schedule a club meeting, please contact the Meeting Coordinator.

Clinics: Clinic Schedule is posted on the Warrants page.
In February, we hold our annual Clinics meeting. At this meeting we start to awaken from the winter blues, err gray, and kindle our model railroading and gardening interests. Club members make the presentations. Topics range from lively discussions on radio control systems, the differences within scales and the difference between scale and gauge and how-to presentations on casting, building freight and passenger cars, kit-bashing, re-powering locomotives. Each representation completes with a question and answer period.

Annual Business Meeting: We have one meeting a year dedicated to our business needs. In March, we hold the annual Business Meeting where we elect (railroad?) or re-elect the Company Brass, solicit volunteers for various department heads; such as membership, meeting coordinator, newsletter editor when there are openings to fill, discuss and vote on dues and appropriations to SIGs, enjoy a pot-luck lunch, visit, and prepare to go forth and run trains. Agenda on Warrants page.

SIGS-What, When, and Where? Special Interest Groups (SIGs) are categories of activities provided for and participated in by members of the PSGRS. SIGs offer hands-on opportunities for running trains, exchanges of information, and general Garden Railroad camaraderie. There are several SIGs which operate monthly in addition to the monthly meeting - for additional information contact the SIG Coordinator.

BAB/DCC SIG: Meets the last Sunday of the month and the location revolves between homes and layouts of SIG members. The SIG meets to discuss DCC applications, installations and railway timetable operations. Currently the SIG utilizes LGB's MTS DCC system. Point of contact is BAB/DCC SIG coordinator.

Boat Modeling SIG: Meets the first Sunday after the first Thursday of the month at the Bellevue Square pond behind Bellevue Square in Bellevue. Point of contact is Boat Modeling SIG coordinator.

International SIG: Holds meetings irregularly at a member's residence, no live running of trains involved; information on railroading worldwide is exchanged, trip or tour experiences are discussed, travelogue materials included, and technical information is exchanged that is useful for modelers and enthusiasts of foreign railroading. Points of contact are International SIG coordinator.

Liars Clubs: An informal gathering for breakfast and chit chat, telling stories, and exchange hobby information over breakfast or coffee. With our geographical disbursement throughout the Puget Sound, we support two Liar's Clubs. Both clubs convene at 9:30 am.

"Little Liar's"

Held on the first, third and fifth Thursdays of the month at Denny's Restaurant in Seattle, 17206 International Blvd.

"Big Liar's"

Held on the second and fourth Thursday of the month at Denny's in Overlake/Redmond .

Live Steam SIG: Held at a member's residence that has a layout suitable for running live steam and usually on the fourth Saturday each Month. Steamers also have a Modular SIG (Steam) for use at GATS and other events supported by PSGRS. Points of contact are Live Steam SIG coordinator.

Module SIG (Electric): meets at various train shows throughout the Pacific Northwest. Points of contact are the Electric Module SIG coordinator.

Operating SIG: More correctly; the Greater Eastside Society To Appreciate Prototypical Operation; meets on the first and third Friday's of the month from 2:00 pm to 10:00 pm. Waybill operations govern the operations of battery powered remote control trains on the Colorado Consolidated Railways. for additional contact information, call or e-mail the SIG coordinator for the Operation SIG.

South Sound Operations

The South Sound Operations SIG is held on the first Saturday of the month, starting at 10am. For additional contact information, call or e-mail the South Sound Operations SIG coordinator.

Quilt SIG: Meets on Tuesdays from 10am to 2pm. The point of contact is Quilt SIG coordinator.

To view a current schedule of events, select Timetable.

If you need to contact someone in the club, but don't know who, first check the Officers page or telegraph us by sending e-mail to stationmaster@psgrs.org.

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