Dave T reports that his location has heavy snow and ice that blocks the parking area at his house. No significant melting is expected this week and some long range forecasts are calling for more snow next Sunday. Therefore the February meeting has been canceled.
The next meeting will be at Jane and Pete Clarke’s East Broad Top railroad in Damascus, MD this coming March.
February Meeting:
The February SMD meeting will be hosted by Dave T in Winchester, VA. Contact southmountaindiv@gmail.com for his address and directions.
Dave’s 30’x15’ layout represents the Pennsylvania Railroad somewhere along the Middle Division during the steam/diesel transition era. Several distinguishing features of the PRR include a four-track mainline, stone-arch bridges, PRR towers, and a set of prototype signals. The unusual track plan includes a continuous-loop 4-track mainline running through a lower 10-track staging yard, two helixes within mountains, and a branch line.
The Wakanda Valley branch line runs in the foreground of the PRR mainline and features a yard/servicing facility, station connected to the PRR, two villages, several mines and industries, a coal processing plant, and an interchange with the locally famed Barneytown & Scupperville RR. The layout is about 63.5% sceniced.
Following the business portion Dave will present his recent investigation into using switch lists to control operations.
As usual, the meeting starts at 2:00 p.m.
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.
Meeting Hosts Needed:
As of this writing we do have a tentative meeting host signed up for 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.
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.
Draft Meeting Minutes – 11 JAN 2026
Division members met at the Western Maryland Historical Society museum in Union Bridge, MD. Superintendent Dan Mulhearn called the meeting to order at 2:23pm with 21 members in attendance. The Superintendent thanked Jeff A and the Museum staff for hosting the Division.
- December minutes were approved with a correction to old business (Pete and Jane Clark were incorrectly cited as hosting the January meeting rather than the March meeting).
- Paymaster provided his report on the treasury, but the amount was not recorded. No significant changes from December’s report, regardless.
Old Business
- Ron Polimeni makes a motion to formally elect Alex Polimeni as clerk for the remainder of the year. The motion is seconded and carried. SMD will still need to elect a new clerk before the 2026-2027 year begins, however.
- Bill M raised the issue of the 2027 MER convention, which SMD has been asked to host. Bill, Alex P, and Steve K had previously volunteered to scout possible venue locations. Bill provided a comprehensive report, citing a catch-22 that hotels require more information than we can provide before gathering enough information to vet a hotel.
- Bill asks if Gettysburg is too far outside of the Division, as Hagerstown is our center point. Discussion followed that Gettysburg is outside of SMD’s boundaries. Consensus appeared to be that the Convention should be in SMD territory. It was also discussed that Gettysburg is more than an hour’s commute from Hagerstown.
- Previous MER convention hotel in Hagerstown has been renovated and split into two hotels, and the convention center on the east side is in good shape.
- Discussion follows about parsing out what responsibilities lie with the Division and with MER. Gary Brown and Kirk Bateman(?) are cited as good points of contact with MER.
New Business
- Superintendent called upon AP Coordinator Jane Clark to provide a report. Jane reported that there has been chatter about an AP category for modules.
- SMD publisher Bob Johnson raised ideas for Wheel Report newsletter content. Suggestions included a “help line” with a single person responsible for sourcing answers from Division membership, as well as articles based on former Mini-Con clinics.
- It was also mentioned that articles can count toward AP certificate progress.
- Articles can be submitted to the Division email address.
- Discussion followed of what constitutes a good article, including prototype historical articles.
- Discussion of remaining SMD meetings and hosts concluded the meeting.
A motion to adjourn was made, seconded, and carried at 2:55. The Superintendent then yielded the floor to the museum for self-guided tours.
