Draft Meeting Minutes – May/Sep 2023

Draft Meeting Minutes – 21 May 2023

There was no SMD business meeting in April because the Division hosted its annual Mini-Con.

Division members met in-person at the home of Rich Randall near Gettysburg, PA.  11 or so were present. After admiring Rich’s steadily progressing layout and socializing, the Superintendent welcomed everyone and called the business meeting to order at 3 p.m.

235.1​  Paymaster’s Report:  [The notes taken made no mention of the Paymaster’s report.]

235.2 Clerk’s Report (Meeting Minutes): The attendees dispensed with the reading/summary of the minutes (previously distributed by e-mail). As there were no comments or corrections, per Roberts Rules of Order, the draft minutes, as submitted, were approved by acclamation.

235.3​  Superintendent Bob Johnson thanked Rich Randall for hosting.

23-5.4​  The SMD welcomed new member Grant Harrison, just moved from Denver.

23-5.5  Election – The Superintendent apologized for losing sight of the timing of the nomination process and reported that the three present officers have all indicated a willingness to serve another term.  Andrew Dodge made the following motion (second by John Madden):

Motion:  That the bylaws be suspended and the current officer slate be re-elected.  The motion passed unanimously.

Old Business:  

22-10.5​  Mini-Con 2023 Paymaster Ray Price reported the event was successful with over 100 in attendance.  Monroe Stewart won $150 door prize.

In light of the Mini-Con’s success, there was a suggestion that the SMD hold a similar winter event.  After discussion, it was concluded that would be too big an obligation.

22-11.4  SMD Summer Trip in 2023:  The Superintendent reported on plans for an EBT tour: Organizers Jane and Pete Clarke have proposed Friday the 21st or 28th of July because Fridays are less crowded. Grant Berry observed that the Friday date largely limits attendees to retirement age.

Proposed schedule:  

  • 10am – Beginning,
  • 11:30am – Catered lunch of pizza,
  • 1pm – Guided shop tour,
  • 3pm – A ride behind #16 followed by a ride on the trolley, and
  • 4pm – Conclusion

A Division member’s personal cost will be $45.  Guests are welcome.  The Superintendent advised that everyone buy their tickets in advance.

Alex Polimeni made the following motion (second by Stefan Minne):

Motion:  That the Division pay for the EBT lunch (approx $100 from Division coffers). The motion passed unanimously.

The Superintendent would like to aggressively promote the EBT tour.

New Business:

23-5.6​  Hosts for 2020 meetings:  8 will be needed.  John Madden, Andrew Dodge, Stef Minne, Rich Randall indicated their availability.  Bob Johnson potentially will be available also.  The superintendent wants the schedule established as early as possible.

Rich Randall suggested doing a barbeque meeting at his place; Andrew Dodge suggested a scheduling it for a September or October date to re-engage members.

23-5.7​  “Reversing the trajectory” of the Division due to COVID era decline:  Andrew Dodge observed that participation in the division has remarkably declined and suggested brainstorming directed towards reinvigorating the Division.

23-5.8​  Newsletter tardiness:  Editor Alex Polimeni apologized and indicated he plans a retrospective for the past season and then to return to a monthly format in September. Andrew Dodge suggested a Q&A section to share members’ expertise publicly.

23-5.9​  Mainline Hobbies Fall Open House:  An advertisement is needed in Wheel Report.

23-5.10​  There was a discussion of SMD territory.

23-5.11​  Zoom meeting with a special guest.:  Andrew Dodge reported on the James River Division event.

Adjournment:  The Superintendant accepted a motion to adjourn.  The next meeting will be scheduled for the second Sunday in September.  Members will be notified by e-mail of the place and date.  The division does not schedule regular meetings in June, July, or August.

Notes for these Minutes were taken and transcribed by Wheel Report Editor Alex Polimeni; formatting by Clerk Harvey Heyser


Draft Meeting MinutesSeptember 10, 2023

Division members met in-person at the home of Don Florwick near Fayetteville, PA.   17 or so were present. After admiring Don’s extensive layout and socializing, the Superintendent welcomed everyone and called the business meeting to order.

239.1​  Paymaster’s Report:  Paymaster Ray Price reported the SMD bank balance was $3,669.71.  The last expense was EBT pizza for $50.  The Superintendent stressed SMD’s lack of revenue.

239.2  Clerk’s Report (Meeting Minutes): Because of a failure to get notes taken at the May meeting, there were no draft minutes to review.  The Clerk hopes they will be available for the October meeting.

239.3​  Superintendent Bob Johnson thanked Don Florwick for hosting.

23-9.4​  The SMD welcomed new members Larry Daily (from Shepherdstown), Dan Mulhearnfrom Waynesboro, and another new member from Waynesboro.

23-9.5​  The Superintendent reviewed the SMD’s customary schedule:

  • Monthly meetings usually are held at members homes from September through May (except for April because of the Mini-Con) on the second Sunday of each month (except for May – third Sunday because of Mother’s Day).
  • The meetings start at 2pm with a layout tour followed by a business meeting and a clinic (if available) – The SMD is always looking for clinicians; please contact the Superintendent to volunteer.
  • The April gathering is the open to all modelers Mini-Con held in conjunction with Mainline Hobbies in Blue Ridge Summit, PA.

Old Business:  

22-11.4  SMD Summer Trip in 2023:  The Superintendent reviewed the day, and Rich Randall praised the Robertsdale mine tour given by Pete Clarke.

23-5.6​  Division picnic:  Following up on Rich Randall suggestion, there were several suggestions of a picnic as a Division activity.  No action was taken.

New Business:

23-9.6​  Keeping current with membership:  The Superintendent reminded all to renew and to update e-mail addresses.

23-9.7​  Hosts for the upcoming November, December, and January meetings are needed. Please contact the Superintendent.

23-9.8​  SMD hosting a MER Regional Convention (the main way of raising revenue in the past):  The last one hosted by the SMD was 2005 in Hagerstown.

23-9.9​  SMD brochures:  The batch printed before COVID are getting low.  There was sentiment expressed for getting another batch printed because the Division needs exposure.  The consensus was for the Superintendent to get a price.

23-9.10  Volunteers:  The Superintendent requested a volunteer for membership coordinator to reach out to new members and possibly for a new Clerk/Secretary [given that the current Clerk has not been at any face-to-face meetings in years.]

23-9.11​  COVID concerns were expressed (considering the new strain circulating).  The consensus was that common sense is for those especially worried to use N95 masks.

23-9.12​  Items of Interest:

  • The Shay at Kinneyman’s
  • A steam tractor ice cream machine
  • MER 2023 convention in Altoona – The hotel is sold out.

Adjournment:  The Superintendant accepted a motion to adjourn.  The next meeting will be scheduled for the Sunday, October 8 at 2:00 p.m. at Larry Daley’s home in Shepherdstown, WV.  Larry has a small layout based on the Piedmont Sub of the Chesapeake and Ohio, started in 2016 and 2/3rd’s scenicked.  (Larry notified everyone that US Route 340 is closed for maintenance and recommended using an alternative route across the Potomac River.)  Members will be reminded by e-mail.

Notes for these Minutes were taken and transcribed by Wheel Report Editor Alex Polimeni; formatting by Clerk Harvey Heyser

Following the meeting, host Don Florwick thanked everyone for coming, gave a history of his time in the hobby, and explained how this railroad came to be. 

From the Desk of the Superintendent; Oct. 2023

Robert “Bob” Johnson, Superintendent (2022-24)

I am happy to report to you that the 2023/2024 SMD program year is off to a good start. Attendance at the September meeting is historically small, but 17 members attended this year’s meeting which is very close to average for a regular meeting. This number included at least three “new” members. We welcome them and hope they will continue to participate.

My thanks to our gracious host, Don Florwick (well at least Betty was gracious). The one shortcoming was that we did not have a clinic of any type presented. Don filled in by giving us an excellent overview of the “back story” for his Pittsburgh and South Pennsylvania Railroad.

In addition to our regular September meeting, the SMD co-sponsored the layout tours program associated with Mainline Hobby Supply’s annual open house on September 16th and 17th. A large number of SMD member layouts were included on the tour and we thank all of you who opened your doors for helping.

-Bob Johnson


October Meeting:

Our host for the October will be Larry Daily. Larry has been a member of the NMRA for several years but says that until now he has always been a “lone wolf” modeler. In a burst of enlightenment, he decided to get more out of the hobby by becoming active with the NMRA. He has taken the big step of hosting us at only the second meeting he will have attended so I encourage all of you to come to the October meeting and show him a big SMD welcome.

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. About two-thirds of the scenery is completed and many of the structures represent actual buildings found on the prototype (this is always a modeling challenge). He says that if you really want to know whether it’s worth the trip, you can check it out on his web site http://www.piedmontsub.com/Layout.shtml.

Clinic – TBD

Email the Division southmountaindiv@gmail.com for Larry’s address.


Meeting Hosts Needed:

As of this writing we have filled five of the eight meeting slots for the coming year. We still need meeting hosts for November, December, and January. Remember that without hosts we cannot hold our meetings so I encourage any of you who can to throw your hat in the ring (it is painless). We are also always looking for clinic presenters so keep that in mind also. If you would like to host, or even have a question  about hosting, contact the division Superintendent at southmountaindiv@gmail.com at your earliest opportunity.

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.

 

 

From the Desk of the Superintendent; Sept. 2023

Robert “Bob” Johnson, Superintendent (2022-24)

Welcome to the start of the 2023 / 2024 SMD program year. Per our long standing “normal” schedule we will be meeting once a month throughout the coming division year. The September through March meetings will be held on the second Sunday of each month from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM. The April meeting will be our annual Mini-Con and will be held on the second Saturday (tentative) of April at the Blue Ridge Summit fire hall (across from Main Line Hobby Supply) and the May meeting will be held on eh third Sunday of the month to avoid a conflict with Mother’s Day. I am looking forward to another successful year of model railroading activities and hope that all of you will join in sharing your knowledge and talents with the rest of the division. -Bob Johnson


September Meeting:

Our host for the first meeting of the year (September 10, 2023) will be Don Florwick. His Pittsburg and South Pennsylvania Railroad depicts a portion of the South Pennsylvania Railroad (prototype) as if it had been finished and was operating as an independent line. The layout occupies 1100 sq. ft. of space and is operated by a NCE DCC system. The layout features a number of major industries and a significant amount of thru traffic is also present during operating sessions.
Clinic – TBD
Email the Division southmountaindiv@gmail.com for Don’s address.


Meeting Hosts Needed:

We are still in desperate need of hosts for the October through January meetings for this year. We have a couple of offers but they are individuals who hosted last year and in general we try to avoid repeating hosts back to back. We thought we had a host for October but last minute conflicts raided their nasty head so we are back to looking for an October host. If you would like to host, or even have a question about hosting, contact the division Superintendent at southmountaindiv@gmail.com at your earliest opportunity. As list of scheduled meeting hosts will be included ion the next issue of the Wheel Report.


Renew On Line:

You can renew your NMRA membership on line at the following link; https://www.nmra.org/store/membership
Remember that your national membership automatically includes membership in both the Mid-East Region and the South Mountain Division and you will receive the NMRA Bulletin electronically on a regular basis.
Membership is a requirement for insurance purposes but guests can attend one or two meetings without joining. There is also a trial membership category available at a reduced cost.


SMD Officers and Officials:

Superintendent: Bob Johnson

Clerk: Harvey Heyser

Paymaster: RayPrice

Webmaster/Digital Assets Manager: Tom Fedor

Wheel Report Editor: Alex Polimeni

Division Achievement Program Coordinator: Jane Clarke