Minutes submitted by Clerk Harvey Heyser
Draft Meeting Minutes – January 10, 2021
Division members met remotely on the internet using the Zoom platform. 16 or so were present. The Superintendent convened the meeting prior to the published start time for logging in. After some socializing, Superintendent Jerry Skeim called the business meeting to order shortly after the 2 pm start time.
21.1-1 Paymaster’s Report: Paymaster Ray Price reported that the Division has $3781.32 in its bank account (the same as last month). That amount does not include invoices for the holiday card (item #20.12-3). Alex Polimeni reported total costs of roughly $176. He will send the Paymaster invoices for the $175 authorized by the motion made at the December meeting (minute #20.12-3).
21.1-2 Clerk’s Report (Meeting Minutes): The attendees dispensed with the reading/summary of the minutes (previously distributed by e-mail). Andy Arnold made the following motion (second by Ray Price):
Motion: That the draft Minutes for the December 2020 meeting be approved as submitted. The motion passed unanimously.
Old Business:
20.10-7 Virtual Raffle: The SMD has accepted the gift card donated by Mainline Hobbies. The Superintendent has conferred with Bob Morningstar about conducting a raffle on-line. Paul Mahoney offered a lifetime pass to the Great Scale Train Show for auction in the raffle.
The present plan is to hold the raffle in March/April, when the Mini-Con would normally take place.
For future discussion, the Superintendent asked members to think about what to do with the proceeds: SMD fund-raising, reimbursing Mainline for Mini-Con support, a combination, etc.
20.12-3 Holiday Cards: Of the 84 members on the roster, only one (1) card has been returned so far. (See minute #21-1.4 below.)
20.12-4 Second Virtual Meeting of the month for matters other than business (clinics, layout tours, electronic sharing, etc.): As the SMD’s capabilities increase, remote meetings will offer a way to stay in touch (especially with members who cannot attend the regular meetings). For the purpose of keeping in touch, it was suggested the Division continue to hold occasional remote meetings after the end of the pandemic. The Superintendent has distributed a day of the week survey to the membership and will report next month.
20.12-6 MER Hunt Valley Convention – fall 2021: The convention is still planned to proceed face-to-face. The SMD website has a link to the convention page.
New Business:
21.1-3 Those present welcomed long-time member Steve Green to the meeting. Steve expressed his thanks for the remote meetings, which make it possible to attend on busy Sunday afternoons. (His wife is a pastor.) He asked if a card had been sent to another long-time member Dennis Masters. Alex Polimeni indicated a lack of contact information. Several attendees volunteered to check their records.
21.1-4 Member Status – Response from holiday cards and other sources:
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- George Perrine of Oakland, MD passed away in 2020 at age 96.
- Roger K. Landon’s card was returned by USPS as undeliverable. (He had a Frederick address.)
- Rich Nemchik has been hospitalized with Covid but is on the mend.
21.1-5 Possible Clinics: Several members volunteered to give future clinics:
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- Bill Wilson – Panel-Pro
- Bill Wilson suggested asking Bob Geldmacher to speak on laser cutting for car building. (Bob models in On30.)
- Steve Green – turntable indexing and building a train elevator
Alex Polimeni can set up practice Zoom sessions for prospective clinicians, and Andy Arnold can post Zoom clinics to the SMD Website/Blog.
Adjournment: The superintendent accepted a motion to adjourn. The next meeting will be held remotely on February 14, 2021 (second Sunday at 2 p.m.). Members will be notified by e-mail.
There was no clinic after the meeting, but Superintendent Skeim is planning one for future meetings.
Rich Randall has been working on an O scale 
I have three staging yards (left) along one wall of my layout room stacked one above the other and the 4-yard panels for the three staging yards are similar for each yard. Each panel has a rotary switch to choose the proper staging track. This makes picking a staging track pretty straight forward for my operating crews at the Pittsburgh & South Pennsylvania (P&SP) RR.
Making the change was rather easy. I used a piece of an old credit card to remove the dry transfer labeling (left) from the track and rotary switch areas and I repainted the rotary switch area.
I waited a day to let the new paint around the rotary switch area dry. The dry transfers were applied and then over-sprayed with dull cote (below) to protect them.