Tag: officers

From the Desk of the Superintendent

Robert “Bob” Johnson, Superintendent (2022-25)

This post from the desk of the Superintendent will be the last for the 2024/2025 program year. As of this writing there are no suggestions or plans for a summer activity but we remain open to the possibility if a viable opportunity presents itself.

This is also my last communication with the membership as your Superintendent. I have held this position for the past three years. I will be handing over the reigns of the SMD to Dan Mulhearn for the 2025/2026 program year. Thanks to Dan for stepping up to assume the position of Superintendent.

I have mixed feelings about my tenure. We have had some success in rebuilding the SMD’s membership following the steep decline associated with the pandemic. While this is good for the Division, I am somewhat disappointed with the failure of the general membership to participate in our regular monthly meetings. I have seen a number of new faces at our meetings, but these have only served to offset the loss of older members who are no longer participating for various reasons. Overall meeting attendance has been fairly stable, but I was hoping to see it grow. I am confident that your new Superintendent will continue the membership recruiting programs that we have established over the past year.

2025 SMD Mini-Con:

We had a good turnout in terms of presenters and modular layout groups. Unfortunately the public did not respond this year. Publicity was pretty much the same as in past years. For some reason the turnout was the lowest it has been since we restarted the Mini-Con after the COVID hiatus.

Regardless, I want to publicly  offer a huge “Thank You!” to Grant Berry for taking the lead again this year, and to all of the others who helped run the event and share a presentation.

2025/2026 SMD Officials:

New officer elections were held at the March meeting. As previously mentioned Dan Mulhearn is taking over as Superintendent and Ray Price is the official Clerk/Paymaster. We are still looking for someone to take the Clerk’s (secretary) position. Since this is an elected position you need to live within the boundaries of the SMD to officially hold this position. That being said, if one of our many “unofficial” NMRA members living outside of the SMD area would consider assisting Ray with some of the Clerk’s duties please let Dan know.

In addition, we need a number of volunteers to serve in appointed positions (especially Wheel Report editor). You can find a list of positions in a previous post, here.

Upcoming Meetings:

The last meeting of the program year will be held on Sunday, 18 May (3rd Sunday), at Quincy Village Presbyterian Senior Living. The May meeting is always pushed out a week to avoid a conflict with Mother’s Day.

Dan will be looking for volunteers to host the 2025/2026 meetings of the division. Ideally he would prefer volunteers that have not hosted in the past year. That being said – if there is a shortfall we will be wiling to do a repeat visit. Start thinking about it now and let Dan or myself know if you are willing to host by the start of August if possible.

Next Business Meeting: 09 March

The March meeting of the South Mountain Division (SMD) will be held on Sunday, 09 March at Jane and Pete Clarke’s home in Damascus, MD. The event officially starts at 2:00 PM with the business meeting starting around 2:45 PM.

Don’t forget that the 9th is the first day of Daylight Savings Time for 2025 so be sure to set your clock ahead an hour Saturday night.

Pete and Jane are rather narrow minded (HOn3 narrow that is) and have a very nice operational layout based on the East Broad Top Railroad. This layout has been featured in Great Model Railroads and is well worth your time to visit. Jane and Pete have provided the following information for your edification.

We model the East Broad Top Railroad in 1926. The EBT was a narrow-gauge line that ran from coal mines in the Robertsdale area of the mountains to an iron furnace in Orbisonia/Rockhill Furnace and then up to Mount Union where there was a coal cleaning plant, refractory brick plants, and an interchange with the Pennsylvania Railroad. By 1926 the iron furnace was long gone, but on our version, it has been re-opened by the current owners, the Madeira Hill Co.

The furnace consumes large amounts of coal (which needs to be coked first), limestone, and iron ore. Its output is pig iron which is then taken to Mt. Union. This has added a great deal of operational interest to the railroad. The fact that the iron furnace has reopened created a renewed need for iron ore and limestone. Both those had been mined along the Shade Gap branch of the EBT. So, the Shade Gap branch, which had fallen on hard times since the furnace closed in 1908, has been rebuilt. In Shade Gap this line serves limestone and iron ore mines. In Neelyton (the end of the Shade Gap branch) it serves the ganister mine for the refractory brick plants in Mt. Union and a lumber mill. Both towns also get miscellaneous freight and have coal dealers for home heating.

The layout is in a 20’ x 26’ basement and is fully scenicked. It’s early fall, so it’s still warm in the valley but cold on the mountain. Both of us work on models. Jane scratchbuilt the Orbisonia station and roundhouse and Pete the company store and houses in Robertsdale. The excellent models of Ewings Mill and Neelyton station were built by Frank Benenati. Other structures are kits (many by White Ground) or kit-bashed. There are still models to be done, but there’s at least a stand-in for every structure so the layout looks complete.

Following the meeting Pete (or Jane) will provide us with an update on the status of the other EBT.

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

Note: Park on the street or driveway and enter through the front door. Unfortunately, our basement is not handicapped-accessible

From the Desk of the Superintendent

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

It is almost hard to believe that spring is only three weeks away. That means that there are only two more SMD meetings, plus the Mini Con remaining in this program year.

I want to thank Richard Benjamin for hosting the February meeting.

Speaking of meetings, come July our new Superintendent will be busy scheduling these for the 2025 – 2026 program year. They will be looking for SMD members to host. If you have not hosted in the past year (or have never hosted) start giving some thought to volunteering. We are always looking for new layouts to visit.

The SMD did not have a summer activity last year, but I would like to try to get something lined up for 2025. I am asking all of you to give some thought as to a possible rail-related activity we could schedule some time in July.

March Meeting:

The March meeting of the South Mountain Division (SMD) will be held on Sunday, 09 March at Jane and Pete Clarke’s home in Damascus, MD. The event officially starts at 2:00 PM with the business meeting starting around 2:45 PM.

Don’t forget that the 9th is the first day of Daylight Savings Time for 2025 so be sure to set your clock ahead an hour Saturday night.

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

Upcoming Meetings:

The meeting schedule for the balance of the year is as follows.

  • 05 April (1st Saturday) – Annual Mini Con, Blue Ridge Summit, PA
  • 18 May  (3rd Sunday, to avoid conflict w/Mother’s Day) – Dan Mulhearn has arranged for us to meet at the Quincy Village model railroad layout room.
2025 Mini-Con:

REMINDER: The 2025 SMD Mini Con is just a little over a month away.

The 2025 SMD Mini-Con will be held on Saturday, 05 April at the Blue Ridge Summit fire hall (across from Mainline Hobby Supply).

As always, Grant will need help with registration, event set-up and of course clinicians. Start thinking now about what sort of table clinic you could present at the event and let Grant know so he can add you to the schedule.

Please email southmountaindiv@gmail.com and we will put you in contact with Grant.

2027 MER Convention:

I now have a couple of volunteers to start a search for a location to hold the 2027 MER convention. I am awaiting a status update.

Model Railroad Equipment Sale:

SMD member Don Florwick will be moving in the near future. As a result he will be dismantling his large HO scale layout. He will be holding a sale at his house on Saturday, 15 March. If you are interested in acquiring anything please email southmountaindiv@gmail.com and we will put you in touch with Don.

New Officer Elections:

We will holding our new officer elections for the 2025 – 2026 program year at the March meeting. Current candidates include:

  • Superintendent – Dan Mulhearn
  • Clerk / Paymaster – Ray Price

We are in need of a volunteer to assume the position of Clerk. If you want to volunteer please let me know as soon as you can.

In addition, the new Super will need a number of volunteers to serve in appointed positions (especially a Wheel Report editor). A listing of the primary positions, along with a description of the associated duties, was published in this Wheel Report and on our web site.

Thanks go out to Alex Polimeni for developing this information.

Next Business Meeting: 09 February

February Meeting:

The February meeting will be held on Sunday, 09 February, at Richard Benjamin’s home in Frederick, MD. AS usual, the meeting starts at 2:00PM.

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

Richard has provided the following information about his railroad.

The Bedford Division of the PRR ran from the yards at Hollidaysburg, PA to the state line at Maryland. The Western Maryland connected with the PRR at the state line to carry freight to Cumberland, MD. At Bedford, there was a connection with the Huntington and Broadtop to move coal from the west side of the Broadtop mining operations.

The current layout models from Brooksville to the State Line in the early fall of 1949. The Huntington and Broadtop is represented as a coal mine just south of Bedford. The B&O is modeled as a parallel line that diverted at Hyndman, PA that ran up Wills Creak toward Sand Patch.

The layout is a mushroom design, so named by John Armstrong when he saw the original layout at my house in Dallas, TX. I am not real happy with the layout and I am contemplating some major revisions to eliminate a low duck under and a 2 turn helix. Currently, there is a 47” duck under, so be warned.

Note that the Everitt Railway is still operating today on some of the trackage of this division.

A short presentation of the Mushroom concept will be given as a clinic following the business meeting.

From the Desk of the Superintendent

Robert “Bob” Johnson, Superintendent (2022-25)

I hope all of you had a good holiday season and survived the cold and snow we recently experienced.

Thanks to Steve King for hosting the January meeting. It is always enjoyable to see his large N scale railroad. The new SMD free standing “pull-up” promotional sign was displayed at the meeting and was well received by those attending.

We had a very productive discussion concerning membership recruitment and a number of very good ideas were presented. I was very pleased with the engagement of the members present. It was pointed out that there are a very large number of train shows held in our area every year. Now that we have the promotional sign it was suggested that we reach out to the groups hosting these shows and try to get permission to set up the sign and a small table to hold SMD brochures. The intention is to have one or more members of the Division work the table during each show.

A list of possible shows to consider is included in the meeting minutes, which can be found online at https://portal.smdnmra.org/2025/02/01/draft-meeting-minutes-12-january-2025/.

It was also suggested that we expand the distribution of brochure racks to a number of small hobby shops and possibly even public libraries in our area. This will require the printing of additional brochures. The membership voted to fund the printing of 400 additional brochures (around $200).

February Meeting:

The February meeting will be held on Sunday, 09 February, at Richard Benjamin’s home in Frederick, MD. AS usual, the meeting starts at 2:00PM.

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

Richard has provided the following information about his railroad.

The Bedford Division of the PRR ran from the yards at Hollidaysburg, PA to the state line at Maryland. The Western Maryland connected with the PRR at the state line to carry freight to Cumberland, MD. At Bedford, there was a connection with the Huntington and Broadtop to move coal from the west side of the Broadtop mining operations.

The current layout models from Brooksville to the State Line in the early fall of 1949. The Huntington and Broadtop is represented as a coal mine just south of Bedford. The B&O is modeled as a parallel line that diverted at Hyndman, PA that ran up Wills Creak toward Sand Patch.

The layout is a mushroom design, so named by John Armstrong when he saw the original layout at my house in Dallas, TX. I am not real happy with the layout and I am contemplating some major revisions to eliminate a low duck under and a 2 turn helix. Currently, there is a 47” duck under, so be warned.

Note that the Everitt Railway is still operating today on some of the trackage of this division.

A short presentation of the Mushroom concept will be given as a clinic following the business meeting.

Elections:

We will need to vote on our officers for the 2025 – 2026 program year at the March meeting. As of now we have one candidate for the position of Superintendent and one for Paymaster. We have a possible volunteer for the position of Clerk but it is not definite at this time. If you would like to be considered for any of these positions please let me know and/or attend the upcoming January meeting and volunteer there.

In addition, we need a number of volunteers to serve in appointed positions. A listing of the primary positions, along with a description of the associated duties, was published in the last Wheel Report and on our web site.

Thanks go out to Alex Polimeni for developing this information.

2025 Mini Con:

Grant Berry has agreed to take the lead on the Division Mini-Con again this coming spring (April) and Mainline Hobby Supply has again offered to support the event. It will be held on a Saturday in April but as of this writing we do not have a scheduled date from the fire company for room availability. As always, Grant will need help with registration, event set-up, and of course clinicians. Start thinking now as to what sort of table clinic you could present at the event.

Please email southmountaindiv@gmail.com and we will put you in contact with Grant.

The Susquehanna Division has expressed interest in participating in the event with us this coming spring but details have not been finalized. More to come on this development.

2027 MER Convention:

We are still looking for two or three volunteers to form an exploratory committee to get things started for the 2027 MER convention which we are scheduled to host. Since the MER handles most of the convention arrangements the committee’s responsibilities at this time will primarily be centered around locating a suitable host hotel, developing a list of potential layout tour hosts, and to identify some sort of rail related prototype tour. Again, if you are interested please let us know. Email southmountaindiv@gmail.com.

MA & PA Information:

SMD member Jay Beckham says that he has quite a bit of informational material about the MA & PA which he will give to anyone interested. Please email southmountaindiv@gmail.com and we will put you in contact with Jay.