RailPro User Group

RailPro => RailPro Specific Help & Discussion => Topic started by: Lee Nicholas on June 05, 2017, 09:16:58 AM

Title: RailPro Operation Weekend Invite
Post by: Lee Nicholas on June 05, 2017, 09:16:58 AM
Hello to All
As I mentioned in an earlier post I am a new convert to RP (Jan of this year) and so far have 60 engines, 13 HC, 4 PWR 56 and 14 circuit breakers up and running. The end of April we hosted Pro Rail (a yearly ops event held in different  parts of the country) with 75 operators in attendance joining us for 3 days of operation on 5 local layouts here in northern Utah. It was a push to get RP up and running and with only 2 op sessions under my belt RP performed flawlessly for the 45 operators who attended sessions on my Utah Colorado Western.

I had many conversations with Tim Ring regarding changes to the HCs he might consider making to enhance performance of large users such as myself. I can report  he came through in flying colors and the new features are great improvements. I know he is working  on several more and will be releasing the upgrades to everyone in the near future. As posted earlier I had my son make custom lanyards and they proved invaluable for operation. 

At this point I would like to extend an invite for a crew of 16 to our first ever operations weekend dedicated to Rail Pro users.
It will be held on my layout the Utah Colorado Western in Corinne, Utah. It will be a 2 day event Friday and Sat Sept 15-16 2017 (subject to the response from this group). As mentioned it will be for Rail Pro users only and will give us a chance to meet, share ideas and have fun operating together. We might even get Mr. Ring to attend if his schedule will allow.

If you are interested please respond to me at leeucwrr@msn.com 
You can visit the UCW at www.ucwrr.com. I haven't updated the site in awhile and there have been a few changes to the layout.

I look forward to hearing from you and perhaps this will be the start of future Rail Pro events.

Lee Nicholas
Corinne, Utah

 





       

Title: Re: RailPro Operation Weekend Invite
Post by: Alan on June 05, 2017, 07:10:54 PM
Your layout is spectacular. A invitation to operate on it is very gracious of you. Unfortunately, Utah is a bit of a hike from here. I don't have the guts to try justifying the travel expense to my wife just so I can go play with trains. Pleased to hear RP is working so well for you.
Title: Re: RailPro Operation Weekend Invite
Post by: MustDecide on June 05, 2017, 10:04:22 PM
Is anyone aware of a RailPro based layout in the Minneapolis Minnesota area that would be willing to give a demo of RailPro in action? I really think it would add some coal to the engine and get me to buy RailPro right now. Assuming I do go with RailPro I would be willing to do demos to potential customers. Also are there any train shows in the Minneapolis area that would have a RailPro demo?
Title: Re: RailPro Operation Weekend Invite
Post by: William Brillinger on June 06, 2017, 06:52:44 AM
I'll be in Minneapolis on July 12 and 13, and would be glad to meet you and do a demo if you have not seen it by then.
Title: Re: RailPro Operation Weekend Invite
Post by: nodcc4me on June 06, 2017, 08:08:21 AM
Lee, I think you have set a record for the fastest build-up of RailPro products. Your layout is awesome, and I too would love to operate on it if I were much closer, but your invitation is appreciated.

Title: Re: RailPro Operation Weekend Invite
Post by: TwinStar on June 08, 2017, 02:52:25 PM
Lee,

What an incredible layout and a generous invite. I will actually be down the road from you in Evanston, WY the weekend prior. While not an exclusive RailPro setup we do set up Free-mo modules in the former UP machine shop and several of us do use RailPro on top of the Digitrax DCC.

Your layout in incredible and I'd love to run my Rock Island Twin Star Rocket across such a beautifully done layout. I might actually be able to attend and will contact you off list.

Jacob Damron
Ft Worth, TX
Texas Railway Modeling and Historical Society
www.TRMHS.org
Title: Re: RailPro Operation Weekend Invite
Post by: G8B4Life on June 09, 2017, 02:03:20 AM
It is a very generous invite indeed but unfortunately I won't be able to attend; 8,500 miles is not a short distance to cover. Perhaps if I started rowing now...

I would be interested to know what the enhancements are though, it's been all too quite on the RE What's New page for some time again.

- Tim
Title: Re: RailPro Operation Weekend Invite
Post by: KPack on June 09, 2017, 05:22:12 PM
Lee,

I, like Jacob, will be in Evanston the weekend prior for the Mountain States RPM.  I'm flying into Utah a day or so before and then driving out there.  I know I won't be able to do another flight out there the next week for an ops session.  But, if time allows, perhaps I can come by and see the layout while I'm in town?

I also travel to Utah once or twice a year to visit family, so that would be another opportunity to meet up and do some ops.  In any case it would be a really neat experience to go and see your layout in person.  Photos on a website are great, but nothing is as good as seeing it with one's own eyes. 

-Kevin
Title: Re: RailPro Operation Weekend Invite
Post by: William Brillinger on June 09, 2017, 05:32:11 PM
Lee,

I think this is a great idea, and I'd love to come too.  I won't know until later in the summer if I can commit though.

Sounds like a week earlier might be better!?

Title: Re: RailPro Operation Weekend Invite
Post by: Lee Nicholas on June 11, 2017, 03:43:34 PM
That's right you guys started the RPM meet last Sept. By the way that is the same weekend we have our semi annual Great Basin Getaway again in Northern Utah with 6 plus operating layouts. We've been hosting that for over 27 years.

How about we move the Rail Pro weekend forward one week and combine the events? Evanston to Corinne is about 90 miles.

Would that work better?
Lee
Title: Re: RailPro Operation Weekend Invite
Post by: Lee Nicholas on June 11, 2017, 03:45:51 PM
Kevin... what part of Utah do you visit?
Lee
Title: Re: RailPro Operation Weekend Invite
Post by: KPack on June 11, 2017, 03:51:01 PM
That should work out for me.  I need to be sure I get the time off of work so I can head out there and have some time to visit the layout.

Lee, I have family that live in Orem, Lehi, and scattered throughout the valley.  I usually make it for a professional conference in August every year in Provo and visit them while I'm down there.

-Kevin
Title: Re: RailPro Operation Weekend Invite
Post by: Lee Nicholas on June 14, 2017, 01:36:37 PM
Date Change.
I'm moving the date to Sept 8-9 2017. The Mountain States RPM meet will be held that same weekend in Evanston WY with a few Rail Pro users present and will give them a chance to meet and operate with us in Friday. Evanston is a mere 90 miles from Corinne.

Again if you're interested please contact me off line to markup.
leeucwrr@msn.com

Thanks
Lee Nicholas
Corinne Utah
Title: Re: RailPro Operation Weekend Invite
Post by: drisdon on June 15, 2017, 12:53:35 PM
I would love to come and even looked at flights and only $250 round trip.  I had previously not considered going to the Free-mo setup in Evanston due to it requiring a week vacation, but flying in for the weekend could work.  Unfortunately then I remembered my mother is visiting us that weekend so I definitely cannot come.  Maybe next year?

Dan Risdon
Title: Re: RailPro Operation Weekend Invite
Post by: Dean on June 23, 2017, 09:25:48 PM
I would really like to come. It's just not possible.

Thanks for the invitation!

Dean
Title: Re: RailPro Operation Weekend Invite
Post by: darryl.trains on June 23, 2017, 11:33:54 PM
  Well the best of ideas are at times are revolting.  My wife reminded me of our upcoming trip to New Orleans that make a few changes in plans also we are thinking about Minneapolis this fall for family and friends visit. Ahhh too many irons in the fire. We always go by Amtrak and have to fit in times to come and go.  Ain't life grand?  The old fardt in HOT Arid-Zona
Title: Re: RailPro Operation Weekend Invite
Post by: Lee Nicholas on July 20, 2017, 06:19:19 PM
As of now we're still planning on our Sept 8 meet. It would be great to hear from a few more of you as I don't yet have a full operating crew of 14. If you would like to join us please let me know by  Aug 15.

Lee 
Title: Re: RailPro Operation Weekend Invite
Post by: William Brillinger on July 20, 2017, 07:29:20 PM
how many do you have Lee?
Title: Re: RailPro Operation Weekend Invite
Post by: TwinStar on July 21, 2017, 09:32:07 AM
As of now we're still planning on our Sept 8 meet. It would be great to hear from a few more of you as I don't yet have a full operating crew of 14. If you would like to join us please let me know by  Aug 15.

Lee

Lee,

Kevin and myself will be with several other Free-mo modelers at the Evanston setup. While these guys aren't RailPro users for the most part a few may be interested in seeing the system in action. Would it be ok to invite a few of them?

Title: Re: RailPro Operation Weekend Invite
Post by: TwinStar on September 11, 2017, 01:09:00 PM
RPUG et al:

I had the privilege of attending Lee's Ops Session on his railroad and wanted to publicly say thank you for the opportunity and your hospitality. The railroad is absolutely wonderful. The track plan, track work, scenery, and signaling are all top notch. I saw several things that I want to incorporate into my own module.

Lee is a great guy and if anyone ever has the opportunity to attend another session I would highly recommend that you do so. Lee, thanks again.

Title: Re: RailPro Operation Weekend Invite
Post by: KPack on September 16, 2017, 09:59:45 PM
I also was able to attend the ops session and it was a blast.  Lee is an awesome guy and his layout was fantastic.  I was amazed that the scenery was all completed...there were no bare spots on the layout at all.  The signaling and full vintage CTC board was intense.  Signaling was all new to me, so I had to repeatedly confirm with people that the signal was calling for me to proceed...didn't want any accidents.

I'm also new to ops in general, so I had a rather humerous experience of taking a train out of staging but not realizing there was paperwork for it.  So I happily drove it almost the entire length of the layout before dispatch found me and informed me that I was supposed to set out and pick up at the very first stop on my route.  So I got to back the train up the entire way and do it right the second time.  Good experience for me!

Jacob and I were able to meet a lot of other Railpro converts.  I'd say about half the guys there were on Railpro.  We had some issues with dirty track/wheels, but those got resolved.  We also had some issues with software glitches because Lee was running some of the new beta programming...but that's why we beta test so that we can find errors.  All errors we ran across have been solved by Tim.  Overall Railpro functioned very well in a multi-user, large scale environment.  I was very impressed with Lee's Railpro setup and how streamlined he has everything.  The lanyards around the neck were such a good idea.

Thanks Lee for the invite!  I hope to be able to make it back to your place on one of my trips to Utah.  If any of you ever have the opportunity to operate on his layout I highly recommend it.  It is a must-see!

-Kevin