The Clinicians Page contains a brief biogrophy of the Clinicians presenting during the conference.

Go to the Clinicians Page for more details

Pelle Søeborg

Pelle Søeborg is a model railroader known for his ability to create ultra-realistic scenes. His main modeling focus is modern-era railroading in the California desert, but his techniques are useful whatever your modeling subject.  www.soeborg.dk

Pelle Søeborg Sponsored by Scale Trains

Lance Mindheim

Lance is the owner of the Shelf Layout Company and is a frequent contributor to Model Railroader and Model Railroad Craftsman.  He has written several books on various topics including layout contruction and operations.

Lance Mindheim Sponsored by Riverdale Station, Riverdale GA 770-991-6085

Clinic Descriptions:

Time As a Planning Concept:

Model railroading is a recreational endeavor and, as such, how we spend our often limited time pursuing it deserves some thought.  How long do we want to spend on construction before we can run at least a few trains? How long do we want a running session to last?  What aspect of the hobby do you want to spend the most time on? What is our desired lifespan for the layout? These are but a few of the time related topics we’ll explore.

Model Railroading As Art:

In addition to the enjoyment we get from building and operating our layouts, we can also do so through the simple act of viewing them.  In other words, thinking of them as we would a piece of art.  If we do so, then the same principles used in the art world can be applied.   The clinic covers subjects such as color treatment, scene composition, backdrops, and photographic presentation.

John Stewart

John Stewart is a retired Civil Engineer with a lifelong interest in Model Railroading. After moving to Birmingham, AL in 1992 on a corporate transfer, he discovered Birmingham’s rich industrial and railroad history. In researching this topic for a new model railroad, he created a website about Birmingham’s rail and industrial history www.bhamrails.info which has become a resource for many interested in this topic.

John’s model railroad interests are generally focused on the steam era and Birmingham’s iron and steel industry. His second “Birmingham” layout, the Birmingham District Model RR is an operations oriented model railroad which is long on operations and short on scenery. It hosts monthly operating sessions and is open to anyone interested in learning about and enjoying operations.

John enjoys sharing Birmingham’s rail and industrial history as well as related model rail topics in a variety of presentations at local, regional and national NMRA conventions and other venues. He is an active editor of the NMRA SER SouthErneR, the Steel City Division Coupler newsletters and has authored a number of articles on Birmingham rail and industrial history for the R&LHS Mid-South Flyer newsletter. He and his wife Nancy have three grown sons, enjoy church choir, TV mysteries and live in Hoover, AL.