Tag: business

Division members met in-person at the home of Steve & Hollis King near Fayetteville, PA.  21 or so were present. After admiring the layout and socializing, the Superintendant welcomed everyone and called the business meeting to order at 2:30 p.m.

23.1–1​  Paymaster’s Report:  Paymaster Ray Price reported the SMD bank balance was $3,457.91 (the same as last month).

23.1-2​  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.

23-1.3​  Superintendent Bob Johnson thanked Steve King for hosting. Steve spoke a little about his Virginia Midland Railway: This is the 5th version of it that he has built – 3 while he lived in Chicago, one while he lived in Germantown and now this one. He told of how the V M was developed with the Virginian & Ohio of Allen McClelland and the Allegheny Midland by Tony Koester. In their Proto-Freelance world the 3 lines realized that they, like the real railroads of the time, had to consolidate to remain competitive. Together they formed the Appalachian Lines and have managed to remain financially competitive in the harsh railroad world of 1969.

Old Business:  

22-10.5  ​Mini-Con 2023 – the second Saturday in April – April 8, 2023:  The general plan was reviewed.

22-11.4​  SMD Summer Trip in 2023:  The trip to visit the EBT in July was discussed. Jane and Pete Clarke were charged with preparing a plan and cost estimate. Discussion was had about the day of the week – weekend vs. weekday trip. While a vote was not taken, it was clear that everyone present felt that a weekday would make more sense.

New Business:

23-1.4  ​NMRA annual reporting:  The Superintendent stated that it was completed and submitted.

Adjournment:  The Superintendent accepted a motion to adjourn.  The next meeting will be on February 12th at Jane & Pete Clarke’s home near Damascus, MD.  Mat Thompson MMR will speak on the Car Builder Certificate (one of the steps to becoming a Master Model Railroader).  Members will be reminded by e-mail.

Notes for the Minutes taken by Pete Clarke (with assistance from Jane Clarke) and formatted by Clerk Harvey Heyser

Following the meeting, host Steve King showed slides of his 2004 trip to China to see the last of their steam engines at work.  These were 2-10-2 and 2-8-2 type locomotives working up heavy grades with coal cars – all real, no photo run by’s.

The monthly meeting of the South Mountain Division (SMD) will be held on Sunday, January 8th at the home of division member Steve King.

As we continue our revitalized home layout tour program I hope you will take advantage of the opportunity to see Steve’s reconstructed Virginia Midland.  This layout was originally located in Germantown, MD but was disassembled and moved to Pennsylvania several years ago.  The original Virginia Midland, which is modeled in N-scale, was a very nice operational line but Steve feels that the rebuilt version is even better.

Steve has provided the following description of his layout for your edification.

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, VA and Welch, WV.  One passenger train, four freight trains, plenty of coal trains, and several daily mine runs keep the layout busy.

Steve’s house is located in Fayetteville, PA (two houses down the street from Don Florwick). Please email the SMD at southmountaindiv@gmail.com for the street address.

As always, the meeting will start at 2:00 PM.  Following the business meeting Steve will present a slide program focusing on Chinese external combustion (read steam) locomotives as they existed in mainland
China around the year 2000.

The usual admonition is still in effect — If you are ill, have symptoms of COVID-19 or have been recently exposed, we would ask you not to attend.  Otherwise, everyone is welcome.

Turnout for the SMD year to date has been very good —  Let’s keep up the trend and have an even better turnout as we start the new calendar year.

Please find and review last months meeting minutes on the previous SMDNMRA.org post.

Bob Johnson

2022-2023 SMD Superintendent

Division members met in-person at the home of Jeff Grove near Maugansville, MD.  16 or so were present. After viewing the layout, admiring Jeff’s great models, and socializing, the Superintendant welcomed everyone and called the business meeting to order at 2:30 p.m.

22.12–1​ Paymaster’s Report:  Paymaster Ray Price reported the SMD bank balance was $3,457.91 (the same as last month).

22.12-2​ Clerk’s Report (Meeting Minutes): The attendees dispensed with the reading/summary of the minutes (previously distributed by e-mail): however there was discussion of a necessary revision:  the date for the Mini-Con was incorrect and should be changed to April 8 2023.  (See item 22-10.5 below.) With that change and per Roberts Rules of Order, the draft minutes, as revised, were approved by acclamation.

22-12.3​ SMD Superintendent Bob Johnson thanked Jeff Grove for hosting. Jeff informed attendees that his layout is only 3 years old. He has a crew of guys who come and work on it with him every Wednesday. Jeff says that downsizing to a smaller house was a good, not great, idea and that we should all do it.

22-12.4​ A review of the division organization:  There are three elected officials. The Superintendent is Bob Johnson. The Paymaster is Ray Price. The Clerk is Harvey Heyser. Other volunteers perform other roles for the division.

Old Business:  

22-10.5 ​Mini-Con 2023:   Because of conflicts with the availability of the meeting hall, the Mini-Con date is set for the second Saturday in April – April 8, 2023 – the day before Easter.

22-11.4​ SMD Summer Trip in 2023:  The Superintendent reported that the Division trip to the EBT will need to be in July due to the tour leaders being out of town in June. The exact date is still to be determined. This visit will include a visit to Robertsdale where the FEBT Museum will be opened for the Division. The walking tour, handcar and, hopefully, railbike rides should all be available. The group will then go to Orbisonia/Rockhill Furnace where activities will include; shop tours, trolley rides and a ride on the EBT. By that time, the EBT should be using steam engine #16 to pull the trains.

New Business:  

22-12.4​ Annual dues for the NMRA:  The new amount of $68 makes you a member at the national, regional, and the divisional levels.  SMD members in attendance seemed happy enough with that.

22-12.5​ New Monthly Newsletter:  Editor Alex Polimeni reported that starting 1/1/23 the newsletter will be emailed to everyone. If you have content, modeling notes, news, announcements etc., please send them to Alex so he can get them into the newsletter.  (The implication was that the newsletter will be electronic – not printed or mailed by USPS.)

22–12.6 ​Membership Roster:  In response to a question from the floor, the Superintendent replied that there are plans for that. The first step is for all division members to be contacted to see if they will allow their contact information to appear in such a roster. Once that is established, the roster will be created and sent to the members.

22-12.7 ​Jay Beckham brought a large number of videos with him to give away – free to any good homes!

Adjournment:  The Superintendant accepted a motion to adjourn.  The next meeting on Sunday,January 8, 2023 will be held at 2:00 p.m. at Steve King’s home near Fayetteville, PA.  Members will be reminded by e-mail.

Notes for the Minutes taken by Pete Clarke and formatted by Clerk Harvey Heyser

Following the meeting, host Jeff Grove spoke in detail on the topic of laser cutting (which he uses to produce his Carolina Craftsmen Kits line of structure kits).  The presentation was augmented by Jay Beckham’s comments on his personal experiences with laser cutting.

Division members met in-person at the home of Paul Mahoney near Frederick, MD.  18 or so were present. After viewing the layout and socializing, the Superintendant welcomed everyone and called the business meeting to order at 2:45 p.m.  It was noted that this is just the 3rd in-person meeting since the pandemic started.

22.11–1​Paymaster’s Report:  Paymaster Ray Price reported the SMD bank balance was $3,457.91 (the same as last month).

22.11-2​Clerk’s Report (Meeting Minutes): The attendees dispensed with the reading/summary of the minutes (previously distributed by e-mail), and per Roberts Rules of Order, the draft minutes, as submitted, were approved by acclamation.

22-11.3​The SMD welcomed a possible new member named Leo.

Old Business:  

22.3–3​Meeting Reminders: There was a brief discussion of email meeting reminders. It seems that, while reports of the first mailing not getting to all members had been made, only one of those present actually experienced the issue. All received the 2nd notice.

22-10.5​Mini-Con 2023:   The Mini-Con date is set for the first Saturday in April – April 1, 2023– the week before Easter.

New Business:  

22-11.4​A Summer Trip in 2023: Two destinations were discussed:  1) the Western Maryland Scenic RR in Cumberland and 2) the EBT in Orbisonia. No official vote was taken but many voices spoke in favor of the EBT. The Clarkes pointed out that FEBT would be willing to open the Robertsdale Museum for the SMD.

22-11.5​Upcoming train shows were discussed, but there were too many to get all the details. There was a suggestion that the newsletter list them.

22-11.6 Host Paul Mahoney briefly spoke of his, “It’s just fun” philosophy of model railroading.

Adjournment:  The Superintendant accepted a motion to adjourn.  The next meeting on Sunday,December 11, 2022 will be held at 2:00 p.m. at Jeff Grove’s home near Maugansville, MD.  It will be an in-person, face-to-face meeting.  Members will be reminded by e-mail.

Notes for the Minutes taken by Pete Clarke and formatted by Clerk Harvey Heyser

Following the meeting, host Paul Mahoney presented a clinic on 3-D printing.