The monthly meeting of the South Mountain Division (SMD) will be held on Sunday, 10 November at the Cumberland Valley Model Railroad Club. The club has their own building located at 440 Nelson St, Chambersburg, PA 17201. Thanks to Division and club member John Pursell for arranging a meeting at this venue. It has been three years since we last visited their location.
The club has multiple layouts in various scales and gauges, with displays of both scale and tinplate models. In order to give us more time to take in all of the various features of the club’s activities they will be opening the doors for us at 1:30 instead of the normal 2PM.
About the Cumberland Valley:
In 1996 a small group of railroad enthusiasts recognized the need for a club in the Chambersburg area, thus in April of that year the Cumberland Valley Model Railroad Club was founded. The club derived its name from the Cumberland Valley Railroad. The Cumberland Valley Railroad’s headquarters, which was located in Chambersburg served the Cumberland Valley from 1836 to 1919, when it became part of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
The monthly meeting of the South Mountain Division (SMD) will be held at 2:00 PM on Sunday, 13 October at the home of Andrew Dodge in Olney, MD.Following the business meeting Andrew will discuss layout design issues which will be of special interest to those of you who are planning a layout but have not yet started construction.
The Central Maine Railway is a freelanced railroad modeled in O scale Proto 48 that operated in Maine in the late 1890s. Running between Bangor and Portland and west to a connection with the Grand Trunk Railroad, the main focus of the layout is the area between Belfast and Camden with a car float/tug operation from Camden Junction and Stonington on Deer Island. A steamship company also operates a passenger side-2 wheeler between Deer Island and Camden Junction. The layout occupies two rooms plus a staging area with a total area 1,000 square feet.
All the locomotives, cars, and buildings are scratch built. The engines are operated though radio controlled NCE hand held radio devices and operate on hand-laid track. The scenery is real dirt and stones with a hand-painted backdrop.
There are also more than a thousand hand-made trees. Of special interest, besides the ships, is the fully operational rotary snowplow, and a full-size Victorian Shingle Style “cottage.”
Also included; A small HO logging railroad with geared engines and a switchback located in North Carolina. It is 2’x8′ with a 4’x2′ leg.
The May meeting will be hosted by Jay Beckham who lives near Berkeley Springs, WV, on Sunday, 19 May starting at 2:00 PM. Please remember that this meeting is taking place on the third Sunday of the month, as opposed to the normal second Sunday, due to the Mother’s Day holiday.
Déjà vu. When Jay first started a layout in his current location he was modeling the Chicago, South Shore, and South Bend Railroad in the 1960’s but later changed to the PRR theme.When you arrive at Jay’s location you will see that he is again modeling the South Shore. <https://jaysoscalelayout.blogspot.com>
Jay writes, “My new layout concept is to model in O scale the Chicago, South Shore, and South Bend Railroad in the 60s, the time I first saw it in person. I have always had an interest in traction, and interurbans in particular. It was the railroad I modeled when we first moved into this house. I am trying to use as much of the old layout as possible as far as track design but a mid-western railroad is certainly different from the PRR that I was modeling. We have redesigned the CTC to suit the South Shore. Trying to use as many of my many buildings, most of which were scratch built. Also have corrected most of the track to a 60” minimum radius and from #5 to #6 or larger turnouts.”
He says that he hopes to have trains running, by the time of the meeting, partly through some of the old scenery and maybe some of the new.
Following the business meeting Jay will present an overview of the prototype Chicago, South Shore, and South Bend Railroad. This line has an interesting history and parts of it are still in regular use today as a commuter line.
We will be “electing” the division officers at the May meeting.
The candidates are as follows:
Superintendent (president) – Bob Johnson
Clerk (secretary) – Alex Polimeni
Paymaster (treasurer) – Ray Price
These are the only elected positions in the Division. There are numerous other unofficial positions (see listing at end of Wheel Report).
Please note that I have already announced that I will not serve again for the 2025 / 2026 program year, and Alex has stepped up to serve as Clerk, simply because no one else has volunteered. If we cannot get some new candidates for officers for the 2025 / 2026 we will be forced to declare the Division inactive.
A big thank you to everyone who participated in the annual SMD Mini-Con at Blue Ridge Summit in April. In my opinion the event ran very smoothly. A special shoutout to Grant Berry for again taking the lead on this ever-popular event.
Mini-Con 2024.Bob Johnson looks at a locomotive at his brass loco tuneup table.John Pursell, D.M.A. talking about improving structures.Dave Thalman talks about basic scenery forms.Frank Benenati talks about making wire tree armatures for dioramas and detail scenes.Maryland T-Trak.Ken Mazer talks about fast tracks turnouts.
This year’s attendance was just about the same as last year. We still have not returned to the kind of numbers that we were seeing before the great COVID lock-down but those that attended seemed to be having a good time. Assuming we hold the event again next year I have some ideas for increasing the pre-event publicity that may help attendance.
Election of Officers
We will be “electing” the division officers at the May meeting.
The candidates are as follows:
Superintendent (president) – Bob Johnson
Clerk (secretary) – Alex Polimeni
Paymaster (treasurer) – Ray Price
These are the only elected positions in the Division. There are numerous other unofficial positions (see listing at end of the Wheel Report).
Please note that I have already announced that I will not serve again for the 2025 / 2026 program year, and Alex has stepped up to serve as Clerk, simply because no one else has volunteered. If we cannot get some new candidates for officers for the 2025 / 2026 we will be forced to declare the division inactive.
Summer Activity Planning
At a previous meeting we discussed the possibility of setting up a group trip on the Western Maryland Scenic out of Cumberland. The big draw there is of course C&O engine 1309. Unfortunately, I have been informed that the 1309 is currently out of service due to a cylinder issue. We will discuss this more at the upcoming meeting.
FYI, EBT number 16 is also out of service due to a cracked driver hub. It is not a good time for steam in our area.
Mid-Eastern Region Convention Planning
We have been officially asked to host the 2027 MER convention. Assuming we are still an active division I can see no reason not to do so. Under the current convention protocols the MER handles a significant portion of the work involved. I would like to form a small (3 to 4 people) exploratory committee to investigate available facilities, possible prototype tour activities, etc. If you would like to participate in this endeavor please contact me as soon as possible.
As previously noted, Alex Polimeni is now working with Division members (and others) to develop feature articles, layout photo tours, written clinics, etc. to supplement the basic Wheel Report content. Please consider reaching out to him and providing content.
Remember, this is your Division and we are depending on you to support us and provide us with content for the Wheel Report. We will not be issuing a regular edition of the Wheel Report until August, so you have plenty of time to work something up.
The March meeting of the SMD will be hosted by Bob Johnson on Sunday, 10 March starting at 2:00 PM. Please remember that the 10th is the first day of daylight savings time for 2024, so be sure to set your clock ahead by an hour Saturday night.
The West Virginia Midland is a freelance HO standard gauge short line set in central West Virginia in the spring/summer of 1954. The Midland connects with the B & O at Holly Junction and the Western Maryland at Cherry Falls. Both interchanges are supported by small staging yards with represent Grafton (B&O) and Laurel Bank (WM).
The Midland’s base of operations is the twin towns of Webster Springs and Cherry Falls, WV. The main yard (all 5 tracks) and shop facilities are located there. There is also a small interchange yard at Holly Junction. The primary motive power for the Midland is a fleet of geared steam engines supplemented by several rod engines.
The major sources of income for the Midland are coal, limestone, and lumber. There is also a small industrial area in and around Webster Springs.
The main body of the Midland is “E” shaped (12’ x 16’) with an additional 65 feet of around-the-wall running. The scenery is about 95% completed and features trees (lots of those), and discrete scenes that are visually separated by viewing angles and scenic view blocks such as hills and, of course trees.
Following the business meeting SMD member Larry Daily will present a clinic on developing plans for models when working from photographs.
By the way, Gary Brown, Mid-Eastern Region VP, will be attending the March meeting. Let’s have a good turnout to welcome him.
Special Directions & Parking
You can park on the street in front of Bob’s house (look for the crossbuck sign) or park in the driveway (room for about 5 cars) if you don’t need to get out early. If the weather is dry entry will be by the basement door. If it is wet or muddy, please use the front door. A sign will be posted to point you in the right direction.
Reminder:
SMD membership meetings are always the 2nd Sunday of the month at 2PM. The only exceptions are for April, when the Mini-Con replaces our business meeting, and in May, which will take place one week later, on the 3rd Sunday. We have had some issues with finding hosts for meetings this year. Please consider hosting a meeting sometime during the 2024 – 2025 program year. If you would like to host, please let me know. 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.
SMD Meeting Schedule:
April 6 – Mini-Con, Blue Ridge Summit, PA
May 19 (3rd Sunday) – Jay Beckham, Berkley Springs, WV
The West Virginia Midland is a freelance HO standard gauge short line set in central West Virginia in the spring/summer of 1954. The Midland connects with the B & O at Holly Junction and the Western Maryland at Cherry Falls. Both interchanges are supported by small staging yards with represent Grafton (B&O) and Laurel Bank (WM).