Category: Feature

Bridge Out Ahead: The Past, Present, and Future of SMD

Alex Polimeni

This past decade has been a tumultuous time for the South Mountain Division. My Dad (Ron) and I first began attending membership meetings after NMRA annexed our county (Hampshire County, WV) into SMD and his email address was placed on the Wheel Report’s mailing list. The rest, as they say, is history… but let’s revisit it all the same.
My first years in SMD were under the leadership of Paul Rausch. With his unfortunate passing, assistant Superintendent Bill Wilson administered the election with three names in the hat: Don Florwick, Paul Mahoney, and my own, Alex Polimeni. The youngest Division member by at least two decades, it was incredibly humbling to receive your vote of confidence.
I served as Super for three years until declining to run again for the 2020-2021 season. Instead, the chair was turned over to Jerry Skeim with the agreement that I would serve as assistant Super to help in the transition. Sadly, Jerry became the first and only SMD member we lost to the pandemic, passing in the hospital after a severe COVID-19 infection. For the second time, I took the chair after losing our previous Super all too soon.
I’ve since yielded the chair once again, this time into Bob Johnson’s capable hands… but this job is too big for any one person, even if it’s “just” organizing a social club for model railroading. Under Paul, to me, to Jerry and Bob, the train has kept moving, but from where I’m sitting, the bridge is very much out ahead… and you, the Division, must decide if that means it’s the end of the line.
As things stand, Bob Johnson has said he will serve no more than one more year as Superintendent. Ray Price continues to serve as Treasurer, as he’s done since at least my first year as Super. Bob is currently acting as Wheel Report editor while I serve as acting Clerk. SMD has welcomed a number of new old faces and seen old ones return, yet the fact remains that we are not what we once were.
Although I kept the seat warm, I regard my time as your Super as a failure. There was so much potential I had hoped to harness, but I wasn’t the person to make good on it. The potential itself, however, remains unchanged. SMD has a storied history more than 40 years in the making, a membership that spans four states, and a crown jewel of the Mid-Eastern Region in our annual Mini-Con. With roughly 90 members at any given time, we have the potential to become a powerhouse and help the hobby to flourish in our Division.
This is your Division, but more than that, it’s our Division, each and every one of us. We decide its value, not just for ourselves, but the friendships we have because of it. If you’re reading this, think about what SMD means to you. The bridge may be out ahead, but it doesn’t have to stay that way.

-Alex Polimeni

Potomac & James River Divisions’ Joint Meet

From Jerry Stanley, NMRA Potomac Division Board of Directors

The James River and Potomac Division would like to invite the SMD to our annual Minicon joint meet on 4 November 2023. This year there will be seven clinics and four open house layout tours, plus model judging and white elephant tables. Registration starts at 9 AM. Clinics begin at 9:30 and run until 12 PM. Layouts will be open from 1 to 4 PM.

The event is free. We will take a free will offering for the Battlefield Baptist Church (meet location) The church will be sending all funds raised to a hospital that is being constructed in Haiti.

The event program with clinic and layout descriptions can be found on the PD web page. https://potomac-nmra.org/PDnewsite/Minicon/Minicon.php

Railfan Report – EBT 11 Sept.

An EBT Excursion

From Bob Johnson; Images submitted by Jane Clarke, Denny LeFevre, & Bob Morningstar

On Friday, 11 August a group of SMD  members and their guests visited the East Broad Top Railroad (the real one – not Jane and Pete Clarke’s model thereof) for a very  interesting and informative day of  railfaning. The turnout was small but  those who participated had an interesting time. The group started out with a  walking tour of the remains of the coal  mining area around Robertsdale led by our own Pete Clarke. This gave a solid  understanding of how the mines operated.

 

Following a quick pizza lunch (provided by  the SMD) the group drove to Orbisonia, PA (bit of an issue with road closures) for a guided tour of the facilities. At Rock Hill highlights included the freight house, round house, mail shops, and a look in the door to the remains of the foundry. Then the crew rushed off to ride a train pulled by some smoky old steam engine; the newly restored number 16.

 

 

 

 

On our return to Rock Hill we then rode a trolley and toured both the trolley barn and the trolley restoration shops. It was a good day with fine company and beautiful weather.

 

 

Layout Tours 17 & 18 September

As part of the Mainline Hobby Supply 32nd annual Open House and Layout Tours, the following South Mountain Division  (SMD) members will open their layouts. Registration and layout tour guides must be obtained from Mainline Hobby Supply inc Blue Ridge Summit, PA on the weekend of the tours.

Dave Moltrup’s Beaver Falls & Shenango Railroad

This HO-scale Railroad is a freelanced steel mill set in the late 1960’s. Size is 19′ x 24′. Operation is by NCE, DCC system.

Jay Beckham’s Pennsylvania Railroad O-Scale Layout

Jay Beckham’s Model Railroad Layout. O Scale model of the Pennsylvania Railroad Northern Central branch from Penn Station Baltimore, MD to Harrisburg, PA. Trains will be running. Light refreshments will be served. This model railroad occupies our 1800 sq. ft. basement. Scenery is about 70% complete. Other photos at https://jaysoscalelayout.blogspot.com/ and on Jaysoscalelayout group on Facebook.

Don Florwick’s Pittsburgh & South Pennsylvania Railroad

This is a proto-freelanced HO layout based on the never finished route of the South Pennsylvania RR envisioned by the New York Central in the late 1800s. On Don’s 1955 version the NYC competes with the PRR across southern Pennsylvania connecting at Harrisburg PA with the Reading and at Pittsburgh with the NYC subsidiary P&LE. First generation lightning-stripe painted NYC diesels have just replaced steam to power passenger and freight traffic on this busy single-track TT&TO operated mainline.

Steve King’s Virginia Midland

The Virginia Midland is a fully operational N-scale railroad located in the Virginia and West Virginia area and set during the 1969 period.  The layout is about 10 scale miles long and operates between two staging areas representing Marion, Virginia and Welch, West Virginia.  One passenger train, four freight trains, plenty of coal trains, and several daily mine runs keep the layout busy.

Bob Johnson’s West Virginia Midland

The West Virginia Midland is a HO scale freelance short line (based on a combination of several prototypes) which runs between the B&O at Holly Junction, WV and the Western Maryland at Laurel Bank, WV. Both the B&O and the WM have industry specific haulage rights on the Midland. The time period is summer 1954.

Major traffic producers on the Midland include a limestone quarry, coal mine (with a second simulated in staging) coke ovens, lumber mill (pending construction) with associated logging traffic and an industrial area around the Webster Springs / Cherry Falls area.

Scenery is approximately 90% completed

With the exception of two gas mechanical industrial switchers the WVM is 100% steam with a large number of geared locomotives (B&O and WM interchange power is diesel)

Operation is by TT&TO

The layout has an E-shaped 12 ft. by 16 ft. main area with a 50 ft. “around the wall” shelf extension.

The layout is designed so that each major industry is a “stand alone” scene that is large enough to be a viable source of revenue for the railroad. The intervening areas are modeled as open country to preserve the feeling of a rural short line railroad.The design of the railroad puts a heavy emphasis on local trains with extensive switching requirements.

Bob Morningstar’s Western Maryland Railway – Hagerstown Subdivision

This is my recreation of my childhood and teenage years of railfanning in and around the Hagerstown area. The layout represent the Western Maryland Railway, circa 1978-1983, more or less. It covers the Hagerstown terminal area, NC tower, and points west to Hancock.The layout encompasses a dedicated layout room of 14’ x 16’.   Cement operations in and around Hagerstown play a large role in the operations. There is a large cement plant in Pinesburg, MD that requires daily servicing. In addition, there is a cement hopper clean out facility in Hagerstown that supports cement operations.  Numerous industries are serviced by locals that originate out of Hagerstown. The B&O Weverton branch (severed by Hurricane Agnes in 1972) is now serviced out of Hagerstown. There are numerous industries to be serviced east of Hagerstown via the Security Branch of the B&O.

Transfer runs to and from the Conrail and N&W connection at Vardo Yard are important sources of interchange traffic.

The Mini-Con is Back!

From Grant Berry

On Saturday, 23 April, 2022, South Mountain Division (SMD) will present a Mini Convention in Blue Ridge Summit, PA, sponsored by Mainline Hobby Supply. Beginning at 9:00 AM, this free annual outreach programming consists of a morning loaded with informal clinics, including a couple of make-and-take opportunities, and then concludes in the early afternoon with a couple of formal presentations. Both NMRA members and the general public are invited to this no-cost gathering.

This Mini-Con activity is a great opportunity for the Division. It offers an occasion to reconnect with one another, encouraging active participation as a way to give back, and a path to promote the hobby to the public. It takes a large staff of volunteers to host this event. Most are Division members. Attendance in past years averaged over 200 persons.

To encourage casual interaction and an exchange of ideas, approximately twenty informal clinics take place during the first four hours. Clinic topics this spring will cover structure building and painting, rolling stock maintenance, upgrades, and weathering, locomotive tuning, DCC topics, a fiber optic presentation, Tortoise machine operations, and more. Clinicians will be seated at tables welcoming attendees to observe their projects. Conversation and questions are entertained as the clinicians work.

In some instances, guests may be invited to try their hand at the work.

Being sensitive to physical distancing protocols, no modular layouts will be present this spring to facilitate enough space between and around clinicians.

As in the past, the SMD will have two make-and-take clinics that focus on the beginner, giving preference to the youth in our hobby. Both culminate with a small structure to take home. An entry-level craftsman kit and a basic plastic kit are the foundation for this activity which is billed as a wonderful parent and child activity.

Two formal presentations are slated for the afternoon hours. Division member John Pursell will offer a program on frugal methods to model railroad, and lastly, member Pete Clarke of the Friends of the EBT has arranged for a talk on the happenings and progress at the East Broad Top Railroad.

The sponsor for this event, Mainline Hobby Supply, is within walking distance from the Blue Ridge Mountain Fire Co location. The Division encourages all to thank owners Bonnie and Brian Wolfe and to support their business. Mainline is offering a 10% discount to every Mini-Con attendee on the day of the event. Additionally, a $150 gift certificate for Mainline Hobby will be raffled off during the day.

The raffle ticket holder must be present at the time of the drawing on Saturday to win.

Watch this site to get all updates regarding this event.