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Dutchman
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Posted - 02/01/2009 : 3:58:30 PM
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This thread is one of a series of threads intended to help RR-L Forum members who are also members of the NMRA and are working within the NMRA’s Achievement Program. This is not a thread to debate the pros and cons of either the NMRA or the Achievement Program. For a full explanation of the purpose of these threads, members should refer to this thread on the forum: http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=24676
Twelve structures; Six different types – one a bridge; six must be scratchbuilt – the other six,if not scratchbuilt, must be highly detailed; six must be evaluated and achieve at least 87.5 points (merit award) using the NMRA Judging Guidelines. http://www.nmra.org/education/achievement/pdf/2006-judging-guide-lines.pdf
The other six do not need to be evaluated.
More information on the Structures Category can be found here: http://www.nmra.org/education/achievement/ap_structures.html
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Bruce
Modeling the railroads of the Jersey Highlands in HO and the logging railroads of Pennsylvania in HOn3 |
Country: USA
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Dutchman
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Posted - 02/01/2009 : 5:18:41 PM
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Since I recently received my Structures Certificate, and since all twelve of the structures were documented here on the RR-L Forum, I thought I would share the list of structures that I had evaluated for the certificate.
Remember, at least six of the structures have to be scratchbuilt. In my case, 8 were scratchbuilt, one was a kitbash, and the other three were craftsman kits. One has to be a bridge. In my case, it was a scratchbuilt bridge. Six different types of structures have to be represented. Mine included a bridge, a signal tower, an ice house, a station, a brick welding shop, a set of wooden sheds, and several other types (store, storage building, mfg. building, etc.) I don't see the 'six different types' of structures as being much of an obstacle. Only two of my structures were entered in NMRA contests for Judging: the brick welding shop and Devon's Dills. Devon's Dills achieved the Merit level, the welding shop did not. The rest of the structures were either evaluated installed on my layout (when the team came to evaluate the layout for Golden Spike and Scenery), or by bringing the structure to a local NMRA Division Meeting for evaluation.
Here is a list of the twelve structures that I submitted for the certificate, and the links to the related threads here on the Forum.
Two Storey Storage Building (Scratchbuilt): http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=5629&whichpage=1&SearchTerms=Yard,Storage
King Post Bridge (Scratchbuilt): http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=12046&whichpage=1&SearchTerms=King,Post
Kersten & Mace (Scratchbuilt): http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=9819&whichpage=1&SearchTerms=Crummy
Three Wooden Sheds (Scratchbuilt): http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=13550&whichpage=1&SearchTerms=Second,Begin
Devon’s Dills (Scratchbuilt): http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=17904&whichpage=1&SearchTerms=Styrene,Classic
Hap Hazard’s Hardware (Kit): http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=14719&whichpage=1&SearchTerms=Hap,Hazard
Brick Welding Shop (Scratchbuilt): http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=8143&whichpage=1&SearchTerms=Welding
Ice House (Scratchbuilt): http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4293&whichpage=47
John’s Welding Shop (Scratchbuilt): http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7007&whichpage=1&SearchTerms=Beginner
Bar Mills Station (Kit): http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5330
FSM Tower (Kit): http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=17069&whichpage=1&SearchTerms=classic
Myranda’s Market (Kitbash): http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=20692&whichpage=5&SearchTerms=stumps
In one case, Hap Hazards, the original evaluation came close to reaching the Merit level. The evaluators gave me some suggestions, which I followed. When I had the structure re-evaluated, it reached the Merit level. Do not hesitate to ask for suggestions and then follow through with them.
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Bruce
Modeling the railroads of the Jersey Highlands in HO and the logging railroads of Pennsylvania in HOn3 |
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Country: USA
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northern6400
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Posted - 02/01/2009 : 5:55:19 PM
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Bruce thak you and congratulations on getting this thread started. We have just set up the NMRA Southern Ontario AP Mentorship Group as of Jan 3/09 and now have sixteen members. In support of this group we have five MMRs and six qualified judges. So far we have had one Golden Spike Award. I thought of starting this group after reading about another one in Michigan in the Railroad Line Forums and figured there might be others in our area. If others are interested feel free to email me here or use my email listed in the International Division, Niagara NMRA website under Contacts.
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Chuck Faist Burlington, Ontario Enjoy yourself it is later than you think! |
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Country: Canada
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wvrr
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Posted - 02/01/2009 : 10:03:31 PM
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Bruce,
I always wondered which 12 structures of yours you used for getting the Structures certificate.
So far, I have only completed one structure and am working on my second. The first is the fan house for my anthracite mine. The second is the hoist house for the same mine. The progress of both builds can be seen in this thread: http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7293
The fan house looks like this:


Chuck
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kathymillatt
Engine Wiper
 

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Posted - 02/02/2009 : 04:08:09 AM
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Hi
Nice to see the thread. I am using our local NMRA group to encourage the AP as it is a good way to do new things etc.
I have 4 judged structures with merit awards, 2 scratchbuilt, 2 kit bashs. I also have the bridge awaiting its railings and then judging. I have put details on my website (not remotely finished yet) of the whole AP. www.kathymillatt.co.uk/ap.htm
I will dig out some photos and post here when I am at home next.
Kathy
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www.kathymillatt.co.uk |
Edited by - kathymillatt on 02/02/2009 04:10:09 AM |
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Peterpools
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Posted - 02/02/2009 : 07:15:47 AM
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Bruce Thanks for the info. I know I can go back and find a number of kitbashed, scratch built projects on did threads on when I return from vacation and do my submission. I can't believe you 'kicked' me off my duff and got me into gear with the MMR program. Thanks ........ Peter BCT
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AVRR-PA
Fireman
   
Premium Member

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Posted - 02/07/2009 : 07:49:06 AM
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Hi, everyone --
It took me a while to get all my Structure Certificate stuff organized so I could do this post. So Bruce's support thread has already helped me - everything is now in two tabbed notebooks. One has all the printed out material from the NMRA website and the other has my "personal" material - the evaluation forms for the models that have been evaluated and the work-in-process paperwork for the ones that are still to be evaluated.
I also set up a spreadsheet listing all the models I've done or am doing, status, score if they've been evaluated, etc.
I don't know what would happen if I tried to paste the spreadsheet into rr-line so I'll just summarize it here:
Superdetailed kits:
01 Skid Row I by Downtown Deco. Score = 88

02 Skinner's Row by FSM. Score = 93

03 Ship's Chandler by RSSM. Score = 96

Here's a link to the thread on rr-line; note that this was a group built; my work is just one of several: http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11143&whichpage=1
04 Wrisley Papers by SRMW Main mill and brick building. Score = 93

05 Wrisley Papers by SRMW Yellow house and interior. Score = 89

Here's a link to the WP thread: http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=10706&whichpage=1
06 Possibilities include the Maine Trading Post; Porky's by Downtown Deco; Fenimore Coal by FOS; Hubcap Heaven by Bar Mills (aka Larkin Sister's Lobster Shack); K Scholl by FOS; and Parkersburg Tank and Rack. (All of these kits are completed or nearly so; I just need to decide which one to submit.)
Scratchbuilt
01 Wrisley Papers - added scratchbuilt section to trestle. Score = 88

02 Connellsville Trolley bridge
And here's a link to the thread:
http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=13124&whichpage=6
03 Narrow Gauge bridge on FreeMo module

And the link: http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=22378&whichpage=1
04 Connellsville B&O Station

http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=16511&whichpage=1
05 Boat Building Shop (based on Campbell plans)
Here it is in place on the Maine Coast narrow gauge diorama.

Here are a couple of relevant threads:
http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=17186&whichpage=19
http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=18101&whichpage=2
06 Possibilities include: B&O trestle on FreeMo module; B&O tool house from old photographs; many ideas from MR magazines.
The NMRA regional meeting is at my MR Club on the the 15th (www.wpmrm.org) and the local evaluators and I are planning a lot of evaluating. Along with the models on the club layout, I'll bring along the FreeMo module and other completed kits. I need to have all the "essays" written by then and have to respond to the suggestions from Dennis on the narrow-gauge bridge. Plenty to do.
Don
"Live and learn. Or die stupid." Click and Clack
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Edited by - AVRR-PA on 02/12/2009 2:35:10 PM |
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Country: USA
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Dutchman
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Posted - 02/07/2009 : 08:42:09 AM
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Don,
It looks like you have the Lion's Share done already. Good luck on the 15th!
BTW, you might have most of the Golden Spike requirements done on the modules, too.
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Bruce
Modeling the railroads of the Jersey Highlands in HO and the logging railroads of Pennsylvania in HOn3 |
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Country: USA
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wvrr
Fireman
   

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Posted - 02/07/2009 : 1:43:14 PM
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Good luck on the 15th, Don! I agree with Bruce, you may be close to the Golden SPike requirements.
Thanks for posting the photos of your models and the score they received. I'll have to dig up the scores for the fan house and edit my earlier posting.
Chuck
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Mike Hamer
Engineer
    

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AVRR-PA
Fireman
   
Premium Member

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Posted - 02/07/2009 : 5:20:51 PM
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Thanks for the comments!
I'm going to spend some time this evening reading over the Golden Spike material and see what I still need to do.
Don
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Country: USA
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AVRR-PA
Fireman
   
Premium Member

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Posted - 02/09/2009 : 12:01:40 PM
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I started on the paperwork for the models that will be evaluated on the 15th. It's a good thing I like to write (blather).
It's going to be a lively week. My Rotary Club is having it's annual Valentine's Pancake Brunch on Saturday (Valentine's Day) and that's going to eat some hours.
Don
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postalkarl
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Posted - 02/09/2009 : 12:10:59 PM
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Hi Guys:
Ok so how many awards do you need to have to get your certificate in structyure building?
Karl S.
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Dutchman
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Posted - 02/09/2009 : 3:05:35 PM
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Karl,
Six structures need to be evaluated and meet the "Merit" level. The other six need to be highly detailed, but do not need to be evaluated.
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Bruce
Modeling the railroads of the Jersey Highlands in HO and the logging railroads of Pennsylvania in HOn3 |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 30419 |
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Chuck Davis
Engine Wiper
 
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Posted - 02/10/2009 : 7:23:10 PM
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Hi Guys,
I've found this topic very informative as I'm working on this certificate now. I'm not sure where you planned to take it, and was wondering if this might fit in? I've started working on Franklin Junction for one of my scratchbuilt structures, and thought the group might provide some recommendations or constructive criticism as the project progresses.
Download Attachment: Franklin Junction email.jpg 60.53 KB
Chuck Davis
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Dutchman
Administrator
     
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Posted - 02/10/2009 : 7:31:10 PM
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Chuck,
That is indeed what we would like to see here. You could post photos of your progress, and hopefully gather some input.
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Bruce
Modeling the railroads of the Jersey Highlands in HO and the logging railroads of Pennsylvania in HOn3 |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 30419 |
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