Category: News

From the Desk of the Superintendent, JAN 2026

By Dan Mulhearn

Well, folks, we have arrived at another new year. It is a tradition to look back over the past year and assess our doings. It is also a time to look ahead and make plans for the coming year. While this applies to our lives in general it also is a time to assess our progress in our hobby. What did you plan to accomplish in the past year? How did you do on that score? What would like to get accomplished in the new year? There are some things we might want to get to right away, and others that might involve some long-range planning. I have an Athearn SD40-2 sitting on my table. The Soundtraxx decoder has been plugged into the Athearn board and is fully functional. The remaining chore is to solder the two speaker wires to the main board. That seems simple and something I have done before. But, soldering, for me, has a way of turning disastrous on occasion. So, some days the unit sits there and I can do whatever else I am doing and ignore it. On other days it seems to fill the table and demand I get the job done. I won’t admit how long The SD40-2 has been sitting there. But I will tell you that I sometimes kid myself that I could be President of the Procrastinator’s Society except I haven’t gotten around to sending in my dues. The point being it is a good time to give some deep thought to what your accomplishments have been. What goals in the hobby do you have; and what are you going to do about it?

Our January meeting will be at the Western Maryland Historical Society at Union Bridge, which should be an interesting venue. Bob Johnson tells me we have hosts marked up for February, March and May. We still need someone to step up for April.

This year we celebrate the 90th anniversary of the NMRA. We should appreciate the organization’s contributions to our hobby. The interoperability of the different manufacturers’ products, which we take for granted, are the result of the standards and recommended practices of the NMRA. Happy 90th birthday and many more.

2026 Meeting Hosts Needed

We are making progress on lining up meeting hosts for the rest of the program year. Current scheduled meetings are as follows.
  • January 11th — OPEN (Host needed)
  • February 8th — Dave T.
  • March 8th — Pete and Jane C.
  • April 12 — OPEN (Host needed)
  • May 10th — Jay B.

Thanks again to those who have volunteered to host meetings.

Anyone who could host or arrange a location for  a January or April meeting please email southmountaindiv@gmail.com.

Next Business Meeting; 14 DEC

The December meeting will be hosted by Rick Keller in Martinsburg, WV.

Rick writes, “I am working on modeling the Pennsylvania Railroad in about 1952 (steam to early diesel transition). I am halfway through tearing down an old layout and rebuilding the new. The new layout is located in my basement and is housed in two rooms (one 12’x16’ and one 12’x41’). It will be a three level layout, connected with a helix, and the “L” shaped portion is nearly complete in the 12’x16’ portion except there is no scenery anywhere yet. The layout will be loosely modeled after the PRR’s Lurgan Branch which will include Chambersburg to Marion (about 6 miles) and the Mercersburg Branch, which will be the main focus. The Mercersburg Branch leaves the main at Marion and goes to Mercersburg Jct. where it split at a wye. South went to Mercersburg and North went to Richmond Furnace. Beyond Richmond Furnace was a Logging RR which I will have modeled as well.”

As usual, the meeting starts at 2:00 p.m.

Please email southmountaindiv@gmail.com to obtain the street address.

Reminder:

SMD membership meetings are always the 2nd Sunday of the month at 2 p.m. The only exception is due to Mother’s Day in May, which will take place one week later, on the 3rd Sunday.

Please consider hosting a meeting sometime during the 2025 – 2026 program year. Email southmountaindiv@gmail.com. We try to avoid back-to-back repeat visits so if you have never hosted, or it has been a year or so since you did, give it a thought.

Hosts Needed:

As of this writing we do not have any meeting hosts signed up for January, February, and April of 2026. We need volunteers to step up as hosts. Your layout doesn’t need to be large, or finished, or even operational. Without hosts we cannot hold our meetings. Repeat hosts (within the past year) are okay but we really would like to see some layouts that we have not visited for a couple of year or never seen at all. If you would like to host, or have any questions concerning hosting please contact your Division superintendent at southmountaindiv@gmail.com.

From the Desk of the Superintendent, DEC 2025

By Dan Mulhearn

There is certainly excitement in the air as we approach the holiday season. Of course, for us, a big part of that is trains. At the Quincy Village club we are decorating and sprucing up the layouts in anticipation of our November 30th Holiday Open House. Over at the Waynesboro club we are also working on the railroad for our series of open house events in December and January. Many other clubs and museums are also in the holiday mood at this joyous time of year.

The South Mountain Division’s November meeting was hosted by Larry Daily. Before the meeting we were able to look over Larry’s Piedmont Subdivision C&O Railway layout and enjoy socializing. A brief business meeting was followed by Larry’s program on the development and “raison d’etre” for his layout. Larry extensively researched the prototype Piedmont subdivision in order to plan the layout he desired, operate the trains that ran, and construct the buildings seen along the right of way. Many of the structures on the layout are representatives of the actual buildings along the line. The overall effect is a beautifully done representation of the C&O in the 1970s. Well done Larry. Thank you for hosting.

Rick Keller has invited us to his home for our December meeting, which is much appreciated.

Pete and Jane Clarke have proposed the we consider our February or March meeting to be at the East Broad Top RR in Robertsdale, PA. They do acknowledge it would make for a long day. We would meet at the museum. Those wishing to could ride the afternoon train. Keep in mind the early season trains will be powered by the diesel. Should the members not wish to do that, Pete and Jane are willing to host one of those months at their home. We have a couple of other volunteers in the pipeline for future meetings, but it never hurts to have some players on the bench. Please let me know if you are willing to be a meeting host.

I have finally seen the new NMRA National logo. In my opinion it is crisp, clean and modern but there has been a lot of negative feedback. If you’ve not seen it the NMRA is in bold type in a squared off rectangle shape. There are two dots below each end so it forms a symbolic rail car. The plan is for each Region or Division to place their own logo in the blank space between the “wheels.”  It’s OK with me but we will see if they decide to “Cracker Barrel” the new design.

To each of you, your families and your friends I wish you a joyous, peaceful and a fulfilling holiday. See you at the December meeting

Next Business Meeting; 09 NOV

Our host for the Sunday, 9 November meeting will be Larry Daily, who lives in Shepherdstown, WV. Larry has been a member of the NMRA for a number of years but says that until a couple of years ago, he had always been a “lone wolf” modeler. Then, in a burst of enlightenment, he decided that he could get more out of the hobby by becoming more active.

This will be the second SMD meeting that Larry has hosted. I encourage all of you to come to the November meeting and see what he has accomplished. Larry’s layout is based on the C&O’s Piedmont Subdivision in late spring/early summer of 1970. It occupies a good bit of his basement. The track plan is basically a big oval bent into an L-shape; about 25.50 feet on the long leg and 17.67 feet on the short side. Two-thirds of the scenery is completed, and many of the structures represent actual buildings found on the prototype. He says that if you really want to know whether it’s worth the trip, you can check it out on his website: http://www.piedmontsub.com/Layout.shtml

As usual, the meeting starts at 2:00 p.m.

Please email southmountaindiv@gmail.com to obtain the street address.

Reminder:

SMD membership meetings are always the 2nd Sunday of the month at 2 p.m. The only exception is due to Mother’s Day in May, which will take place one week later, on the 3rd Sunday.

Please consider hosting a meeting sometime during the 2025 – 2026 program year. Email southmountaindiv@gmail.com. We try to avoid back-to-back repeat visits so if you have never hosted, or it has been a year or so since you did, give it a thought.

Hosts Needed:

As of this writing we do not have any meeting hosts signed up for December through May of 2026. We need volunteers to step up as hosts. Your layout doesn’t need to be large, or finished, or even operational. Without hosts we cannot hold our meetings. Repeat hosts (within the past year) are okay but we really would like to see some layouts that we have not visited for a couple of year or never seen at all. If you would like to host, or have any questions concerning hosting please contact your Division superintendent at southmountaindiv@gmail.com.

Mini-Clinics:

It has long been the policy of the SMD to present mini-clinics at each meeting. In some cases clinics are conducted by the host. However, not every host is in a position to do so. We are asking for members to volunteer to develop and present mini-clinics at meetings to fill these gaps. If you can to do a mini-clinic please contact your Division superintendent at southmountaindiv@gmail.com