I attended the recent Indy Junction event. This was a combination convention with three NMRA regions hosting, plus an RPM Conference. It was fully loaded with presentations, modular layouts, operating sessions, home layout tours, model contest and display rooms, vendor rooms, and more. My brain is still recovering.
The best part was seeing hobby friends again and sharing project details. There were many new modelers to meet and greet, too. A final attendance figure wasn’t available at the fine banquet, but the event had over 500 attendees. For the past several years I had mainly focused on attending RPM events. I had not been to an NMRA convention since 2012.
I took lots of photos. They all needed adjustments for exposure and levels before I could add them to a gallery. The new gallery is uploaded and ready for viewing on my pBase account.
One of the operating sessions was hosted by Chad Boas on his Monon layout. He also makes resin freight car kits. His workbench had a pile of rubber molds and some new castings. A PDF list of his kits can be downloaded from the Helpful Links page of this blog.
I bumped into Clark Propst shortly after he arrived. We enjoyed a beer and talked a bit. He posted a great comment about part of his Indy Junction experience on the Proto-Layouts discussion list on Groups.io.
Talking and listening to people at these events over the years I can usually pick out the modelers verses the talkers. The first talker give away is “When I retire…” My advice is to start modeling NOW!!! So you ‘learn’ how to make time for the hobby. Or be like me and make it your day job that you can take a day off from now and then.
I agree with Clark. For several years now, I’ve been pushing people to start modeling before they retire. You will learn to set aside hobby time and you will also have a good start on your freight cars and locomotives. I also recommend building a small switching layout and operating on other layouts to fine tune your dream project.
That’s my report. If you missed the Indy Junction soiree, there are more RPM events ahead. Check the RPM calendar to see what is happening near you!
Eric Hansmann
RCW blog manager
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Thanks for posting photos. Appreciate your time to share, that is to take and post.
Lester Breuer
Indy Junction, is that the meet that started out in South Bend organized by Jim Six?
I attended a few. At the first one Jim Six gave his speech. He said, “I see a lot of you are older. If you are ever going to build a model railroad this is the time to start.” His speech really motivated me so I went home to press forward on layout construction. I had been approaching layout construction with a la-ti-da attitude. Ever since I have tried to average an hour a day on layout construction
Jared, this had no direct connection with the events Jim Six held in northern Indiana. There were similarities, as there are with many RPM and NMRA events. Thanks for commenting! – Eric H.
Thanks Eric for the report from the 2022 Indy Junction. Sounds and looks like it was a great time.
I absolutely second your suggestion to start modeling now. I have talked with countless people at train shows who have recently retired and don’t know where to begin. The evolution of technology in the hobby can seem overwhelming to anyone, so the sooner one learns, the more enjoyment they’ll have in the long run. For me, someone who is decades away from retirement, my modeling is therapy from the daily grind.
Take care!
Jonathan
Thanks for posting the photos. Many inspirational models.
Nice report from Indy and thanks for the photos. Thanks for posting. Looks like you used an iPhone 6 for all the photos. Can you give more details on its use?
Thanks, George! I basically pointed, framed the shot, tapped a point on the screen for the auto focus and light adjust, then snapped the photo. I took a couple photos each time as the camera will self adjust more on the second shot. But….I still needed to tweak every photo in the gallery. The light was okay in person, but the camera works with what it sees. Dark models on a dark table cloth. All the image files from the event site were dark. I also crop the images to focus on the models. I don’t think you want to see the table cloth dominating the bottom third of nearly all the photos. Or that odd color wall, which occupied a quarter to a third of the top of each image.
I have taken a tripod, better camera, and extra lighting to RPM meets and captured better images. But the amount of extra work is exponentially larger, plus I need someone else to hold the light. – Eric H.