This past weekend I had the pleasure of giving my first clinic, at the Quinte Train Show in Belleville, ON.  That's a pretty big deal in and of itself, but what made it even more special was that the clinic was among several that were recorded for Trainmasters.tv by Barry Silverthorn and his crew.

The subject of my clinic was the construction of the waffle-style lightweight benchwork I used to create my CN Pine Street Spur modules.  I packed up the car with the three sections and some in-process modules, and headed off early Saturday morning for the drive to Belleville.

Barry is a really nice guy and quickly set me at ease with his professionalism.  It didn't hurt that everyone involved was relaxed and having a great time.  We had a relatively small audience, but that just made it easier to talk about how I came up with the idea for the modules and the construction methods I used.  I'm very pleased with how the benchwork turned out, very lightweight but quite rigid.  

It was a lot of fun sharing my experience with the host and the audience.  Lionel did a great job in keeping things light-hearted and engaging, and my foremost memory is one of a lot of laughter.

This was the first time I'd stepped out in front of a model railroading audience, and it certainly whet my appetite.  I'm no expert on benchwork, but I really enjoyed sharing my particular experience with others.  Hopefully the audience felt that it was a worthwhile time spent in the clinic room that morning.

I go into a little more detail about how I came to volunteer for giving the clinic, and more importantly, the personal reward I felt in participating in the train show, on my blog, waterloospur.blogspot.ca.  I'd encourage everyone who hasn't done so already, don't be shy about taking a subject that you feel comfortable with and sharing it with the wider community, whether it be on a blog, a podcast, or by giving a clinic.  You'll be the richer for it!

Robin Talukdar