Seacoast Division Spring Event Report
April 9, 2019
The Seacoast Division Spring Event was held on April 6, 2019 at the Newington Old Town Hall, 334 Nimble Hill Rd., Newington New Hampshire. The Seacoast Division would like to thank John Newick for providing the venue. This was the first time the Seacoast Division held a meeting at the Newington Old Town Hall. The second floor meeting room was the ideal size for the event and was well equipped for our needs. Overall a great location for the Spring Event
The Board of Directors Meeting was held at 8:30. Acting Secretary Chip Faulter submitted a separate report for BOD meeting.
Glenn Mitchell kicked off the Event at 10:00 AM. 39 people attended and 37 were NMRA members. After welcoming everyone and giving opening remarks, he introduced President Tage Erickson.
Tage welcomed the attendees and thanked everyone for coming to the event. His main topic was the need for division members to step up and volunteer for positions. Currently the Division Secretary and Maine Activity Coordinator positions are vacant and need to be filled. The upcoming National NMRA Convention in Salt Lake City Utah and the North East Region Convention in Syracuse New York were briefly discussed. These conventions offer great opportunities to see and operate on outstanding layouts that we have all read about. It was also noted that several Seacoast members will be giving clinics at the NWER convention.
There were no AP awards presented by Larry Cannon, MMR, Maine AP Chairman or Tom Oxnard, MMR, New Hampshire AP Chairman
The first presentation was given by Tom Oxnard, MMR and was titled How to Scratch Build a Locomotive. “ Once again, Tom did an outstanding job presenting his great work. He began by reviewing the AP requirements for scratch building a locomotive including what can be purchased and what must be scratch built. Next, he discussing how to choose a candidate locomotive, in his case the Boston and Maine GE-IR 1100 and how he researched and found data on the rare one-of-a-kind specimen. He was able to get copies of several photos and one dimensioned scale drawing. From there, he walked the audience through the construction, painting, and decaling. We were rewarded by seeing and hearing outstanding Tom’s creation operate on the test track. Great work Tom! (If you didn’t get a chance to attend this presentation, Tom will be giving it again and the NER Convention in Syracuse.)
Tom Nelson was the second presenter and his topic was “An Introduction to LCC”. Tom is on the committee that has developed the NMRA standards for LCC. He talked about what LCC is and what it isn’t and compared and contrasted LCC to DCC. Tom discussed how the LCC standard is a high-level framework that can be implemented with different communication methods. Currently, hardware is being developed by manufacturers using the CAN (Controlled Area Network) bus. LCC offers model railroaders a standard method for performing block detection, signal control, and turnout control without data messages competing for bandwidth with locomotive control messages (DCC). During lunch Tom demonstrated LCC with his portable layout. Tom gave a great talk about very current topic. Thanks Tom!
After lunch Larry Cannon, ran the Seacoast Division event raffle. Thanks Larry for running the raffle.
The third and last presenter was Mike Pedersen. Mike presented “Uncle Bob’s Trains”. The presentation was sample of the great collection of photos taken by his uncle Robert L. Wilkerson. Mike’s Uncle Bob who lived in the Chicago area, traveled extensively to capture photo’s, primarily of steam locomotives, in the mid-west and eastern states. Most of the steam locomotives were shot in their final days of service. Most of the locomotives are now gone, as well as most of the railroads that operated them. We thank Mike for giving us this great look back at the glory days of railroading.
Certificates of Appreciation were presented to Tom Oxnard, MMR, Tom Nelson, and Mike Pederson. The Seacoast Division offers these tokens of appreciation for the time and effort they put into preparing for and giving three great talks. We thank you all for your contributions.
The “Show, Tell and Ask” session had the largest number of participants in recent history. Rich Breton led off with his explanation of how to created stained glass windows in model railroad structures. First time attendee and guest, 10 year old Namo Lomax presented three HO scale freight cars that he built. Namo did a great job modeling and presenting and we hope to see him at future events. Paul Lessard presented two boxcars and a covered hopper and described the many weathering techniques that he used. Tom Oxnard showed his York Industries and Olympia Tool and Die buildings made from ITLA brand modular building kits that are fabricated from laser cut MDF (medium density fiberboard). Dave Emery presented his 3D-printed automobile and several City Classics company houses. Lastly, Jim Wiggins showed the audience his N-scale super detailed locomotives. Also, earlier in the program, Chris Oliver presented several of his structures. We would like to thank all of the presenters for taking the time to show their work to all the members.
The meeting was closed with comments from Tage Erickson and Glenn Mitchell. It is important to reiterate that the Seacoast Division needs members to volunteer for open officer positions and be presenters/clinicians for the summer and fall events.
During the event many model railroad sale items were available for purchase by members.
Fall Event was adjourned around 2:00
Following the Event, many of the attendees visited John Newick’s Central Main and Aroostook Railroad and Dick Fralick’s New Haven and Connecticut Central Railroad. We all greatly appreciate that John and Dick opened their layouts in support of the Spring Event.
Upcoming events:
Seacoast Division Summer Event – July 20, 2019
Great Falls Model Railroad Club
144 Mill St., Auburn, ME
Seacoast Division Fall Event – October 12, 2019
Stratham Fire House
2 Winnicutt Rd., Stratham NH.
Respectfully Submitted,
Glenn Mitchell
Seacoast Division Vice President, Director, and NH Event Coordinator
Early Spring President's Message
Hello Model Railroaders!
I hope that as many of you as possible have been diligently working on your own model railroads this Winter, and that much progress has been made. On my own layout, I am just about ready to begin laying down some track. This is all very good, but I have some research and then decisions to make, before I can begin dealing with the track. So, Spring will be here in just a few more days and I have more information to pass on to all of you.
But first, I just wanted to let each of you know that Chip Faulter was released from the hospital, yesterday, following successful surgery for removal of a tumor on his pancreas. He is at home resting and recuperating from his surgery. This was a difficult but very successful operation. He has about a 10 inch incision that extends from the middle of his chest down towards the right side of his waist, with approximately 50 staples holding it all together. It’s very painful for him to move. The surgeon said the tumor was able to be removed cleanly and there were no rough edges. There is no evidence that the cancer had spread to any other tissue or part of his body. Aside from the temporary pain, this is extremely good news! There is a possibility of follow on chemo-therapy that has yet to be decided. He has some dietary restrictions, but will slowly get back to eating normal food. Chip would like to rest up and try to relax as much as possible for the remainder of this week. I am sure he will try to answer any emails or text messages to the best of his ability.
Regarding the Model Train stuff, this is what I have for you:
Division Secretary
Our Seacoast Division is still in need of a Division Secretary. We need your help. There has to be someone out there that is willing to become our Division Secretary. I am looking for someone who is willing to spend a little extra time doing a very valuable service for all of us. We simply can’t function without someone stepping up and doing this. I have included the description of the duties of the Secretary from our Division By-Laws, below:
"The Secretary will maintain the Division's files and records, take minutes at Board Meetings and Meetings of Members (Annual or Special) and see that Division events and activities are publicized. At the request of the President, or in the absence of the President, the Secretary shall provide notices of meetings consistent with the provision of these Bylaws. The Secretary shall distribute copies of the unaccepted minutes of all Annual and Special Meetings of the Members and Board meetings to the Directors, Officers, Division webmaster and newsletter editor within 30 days following each meeting, or if sooner, at least five days prior to the next Board Meeting or Meeting of the Members. The Secretary shall also perform all of the duties and assume all of the power normally associated with such an office not in violation of or inconsistent with these Bylaws and other recognized lawful authorities, including the NMRA.”
Please note that there is no requirement to be on the Board of Directors for this assignment. I am hoping that one of you will be willing to volunteer to take on these responsibilities and duties. Please consider getting a bit more involved with the Division. We have a very vibrant and active Division and we could use your help with this assignment. If you have any interest and you think you can do this, please contact me. Thank you.
Maine Activities Coordinator
We are still without a new Maine Activities Coordinator. It is not possible for me to continue as your President and also perform the duties of the Maine Activities Coordinator. There is simply not enough time in the day for me to perform both jobs. We have a wonderful organization, but it depends on members like you to step up and assume some responsibility. This position requires the coordinator to organize both of the Division quarterly events that take place in the State of Maine. This involves soliciting presenters/clinicians,
I can tell you from personal experience, that this position is a great way to get to know people in the organization. I have met some wonderful model railroaders doing this job and have been able to better myself and my modeling because of it. It is not necessary to be a member of the Board of Directors, to have this position. I can promise you that you will have plenty of help if you choose to volunteer to do this. Please consider getting involved. Thank you.
2019 Summer Event Clinics
Your Division is in need of clinicians who are willing to do presentations for our upcoming 2019 Summer Event, scheduled for Saturday, July 20, 2019. As in the past, we like to have clinics that show our members how to improve their modeling efforts. If you have an area of expertise and are willing to share your knowledge with the members, please contact me as soon as possible, so I can put you on our schedule for the day. We have a lot of very talented modelers in our Division and we greatly appreciate it when you can share this knowledge with us. Thanks very much!
2019 NER-NMRA Convention
Registration is now open for the 2019 NER Convention “Empire Junction,” to be held in Syracuse, New York from September 19-22, 2019. This convention is hosted by the Central New York Division. We would love to have as many Seacoast members as possible attend the convention. You can get all the details by going on line to the CNY convention website www.empirejunction.org
2019 NMRA Convention, Salt Lake City
Registration is also open for the annual NMRA Convention, being held in Salt Lake City, Utah from July 7 to July 13, 2019. Please consider attending the convention. The NMRA has never had a convention in Salt Lake City, before. So this should be a good one. You can get all the information by going to www.nmra2019slc.org.
2019 Spring Event
Our Seacoast Division 2019 Spring Event will be held on Saturday, April 6, 2019 at the Old Town Hall in Newington, New Hampshire. The Old Town Hall is located at 336 Nimble Hill Rd. in Newington, NH. A Board of Directors meeting will commence at 0830 followed by the Division Event, which starts at 1000. We have 3 great clinics for you to enjoy along with the customary Show & Tell & Ask, plus the raffle and the “for sale” table. You will have to bring your own lunch if you desire. We will have 2 layouts that will be open for touring after the event concludes at around 1400. The first meeting notice was sent out last week and I hope you have all marked your calendars appropriately and are planning to attend. Please come join us for some fun!
Best regards,
Tage Erickson
President
Seacoast Division, NER-NMRA
The Empire Junction 2019 NER Convention is in Syracuse, NY hosted by the Central New York Division. The Convention will be at the Liverpool Holiday Inn, site of prior conventions in 2008 and 2012. Conveniently located at NYS Thruway exit 37, this is a modern, full-service hotel with on-site restaurant and lounge, and indoor pool. Room rate for single or double occupancy is only $115.00 per night. Note that this rate is in effect Wednesday night through Sunday night should you wish to extend your stay and enjoy more of what Central New York in the Fall has to offer.
Empire Junction takes its name from the fact that Syracuse is the crossroads of New York State. In the 1830’s the Oswego Canal met the Erie Canal in downtown Syracuse, connecting Lake Ontario and Lake Erie with the Hudson River. Later, the New York Central, the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western, the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg, the West Shore, and the O & W all passed through Central New York. New York Central and DL&W had extensive yard and engine service facilities. Until 1938 the Central ran down Washington Street through the center of the city. Today CSX, the Susquehanna, and Fingerlakes Railway intersect here, as do Interstate 90 and 81. Train- watching sites abound here, with plenty of mixed freight, intermodal and Amtrak trains.
Digital University features the Seacoast Division's Erich Whitney:
http://www.empirejunction.org/
