CROSSTIES - JUNE 2015 JAMES RIVER DIVISION, NATIONAL MODEL RAILROAD ASSOCIATION “All the News that Fits, We Print”

-- From North: From US-29, cross under US-250 bypass (becomes Emmett Street), turn left onto Barracks Road. Continue on Barracks Road (changes names to Rugby Road, then Preston Avenue). Turn Left onto Forest Avenue, proceed across Dale Avenue (store is in back of building facing Dale Avenue), turn Right into parking lot behind building. Rail Tales is in middle of ground floor.

NEXT MEET – JULY 11, 2015, 9:30 AM IN CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA AT: RAIL TALES HOBBY SHOP, 705-C DALE AVENUE (Read directions carefully). Directions: -- From East: From I-64: take 5th Street exit, go north on 5th Street to Preston Avenue (at bottom of hill McDonalds is on your left). Turn Left onto Preston Avenue, proceed to Forest Avenue. Turn Right onto Forest Avenue, proceed across Dale Avenue (store is in back of building facing Dale Avenue), turn Right into parking lot behind building. Rail Tales is in middle of ground floor.

For a small map showing the immediate surroundings of Rail Tales, go to the Rail Tales website: www.railtalesva.com Details about this meet from Superintendent Phil Taylor Clinic – How to Weather Freight Cars and Diesel Locomotives (Hands-on by participants)

-- From South: From US-29, proceed north to I-64, take I-64 East, take 5th Street exit, go north on 5th Street to Preston Avenue (at bottom of hill - McDonalds is on your left). Turn Left onto Preston Avenue, proceed to Forest Avenue. Turn Right onto Forest Avenue, proceed across Dale Avenue (store is in back of building facing Dale Avenue), turn Right into parking lot behind building. Rail Tales is in middle of ground floor.

Clinician - Bret Jones, JRD Member and owner of Rail Tales, will conduct a hands on workshop teaching members how to weather freight cars and diesel locomotives. The primary means of weathering will be powders, washes and dry brushing. Members will be able to weather a car they bring to the meet. Estimated cost is $2 to $5 per member. There may be some variance based on scale of the freight car or diesel locomotive along with the number of participants. In the second part of the meeting Bret will demonstrate weathering using the new Badger airbrush designed specifically for acrylic paints.

-- From West: From I-64: take 5th Street exit, go north on 5th Street to Preston Avenue (at bottom of hill McDonalds is on your left). Turn Left onto Preston Avenue, proceed to Forest Avenue. Turn Right onto Forest Avenue, proceed across Dale Avenue (store is in back of building facing Dale Avenue), turn Right into parking lot behind building. Rail Tales is in middle of ground floor.

BONUS - Rail Tales gives a 10% discount on most purchases by attendees on the meet day. 1

CROSSTIES - JUNE 2015 JAMES RIVER DIVISION, NATIONAL MODEL RAILROAD ASSOCIATION “All the News that Fits, We Print”

A few shots of Bob’s layout…..

Modeling Theme - Passenger/Freight Station (must have both sections in one building). It is a popular vote contest – not an NMRA judged contest. Please bring any models fitting this theme to share. You might just win a prize!! Display Only (show and tell) - If you have something you wish to share with the members please bring it and share how you made the model. The JRD encourages not just finished craftsman level models be brought to the meet but models that are works in progress or need improvement. Members are happy to share ideas to help you improve your modeling while you share with others what you have done that will improve their modeling Other On-Site Activities – Door prizes, 50-50 raffle, coffee and donuts. No white elephant table. Lunch will be on your own with several fast food places (McDonalds, Wendy’s, Subway, Hardees, Burger King) nearby, Bodoâ’s Bagels, sit down restaurants along with the always-great Wild Wings with the deck overlooking JC Cabin where the Buckingham Branch and Norfolk Southern railroads cross in Charlottesville. Layout Tour - The afternoon layout tour will be of Bob Macionis very large home layout. This multi-deck HO layout includes a mainline railroad, a short line and a narrow gauge railroad. A small crew along with Bob will be running trains and answering questions as you tour. Open from 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm. Directions will be provided at the meet. Look forward to seeing you there. 2

CROSSTIES - JUNE 2015 JAMES RIVER DIVISION, NATIONAL MODEL RAILROAD ASSOCIATION “All the News that Fits, We Print”

Railroading in Orange County The Colorado Midland: Prototype, Design and Layout by Andrew Dodge. Modeling Theme: Caboose • •

FUTURE MEET DATES (2ND SATURDAY OF ODD NUMBER MONTHS): September 12, 2015 - Lynchburg, Virginia Location: Fort Hill United Methodist Church, Lynchburg Modeling theme: Modern Freight Car – must have graffiti

January 9, 2016 – Fredericksburg, Virginia All details TBA For more details and updates, go to: http://jrdnmra.blogspot.com/p/meetings.html

November 14, 2015 – Orange, Virginia Location: Southern Railway Depot, Orange Clinics:

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CROSSTIES - JUNE 2015 JAMES RIVER DIVISION, NATIONAL MODEL RAILROAD ASSOCIATION “All the News that Fits, We Print”

SUPERINTENDENT’S COLUMN by Phil Taylor

agreement that covers the JRD and that is the impact on us.

NMRA Visitor Policy.

The third question is how do we implement this policy? JRD officers will bring up a policy for approval at the 2016 annual meeting. The Clerk will have to log any visitors at meetings and after their name appears three times they will have to be told to either join or leave, as they are no longer welcome. It is harsh and not the most welcoming approach to the problem, but one we will have to adapt to in the future. Exceptions to logging visitors will be have to made at any joint event where we are not the host or where the venue specifically requires the event to be open to all members of the public. Our most recent meet at the Hull St Station would be such an example. Any event where we charge admission to all attendees is not covered by this policy. An example of this last exception would be a train show. At these types of events no log for the purpose of exclusion will be kept, but we will still try to encourage folks to join our group.

Recently the Board of Directors for the NMRA passed a visitor policy that now will need to be adopted by divisions. Several members have inquired what does this mean for the James River Division? The reality is not much. The new required policy is three lifetime attendances at NMRA events without joining the NMRA. There are several questions raised by this new policy. The first question is why did they the NMRA Board Of Directors pass such a policy? In other division there are problems where leadership is allowing folks to attend, participate and hold division positions who are not members. This is not a once in a while occurrence but it occurs continuously over years and even decades.

The JRD encourages visitors and will continue to encourage visitors to our meets. We hope that any who come would see the value those meets bring and want to join the NMRA.

The second question is how does it impact the JRD? The lack of paying dues to National does not directly impact local programs or local finances. Since National does not pay for local programs or contribute any money towards them this really hurts NMRA National finances and membership numbers not the division finances and programs. Where it impacts the division is in the insurance coverage. If you have permanent visitors then it is a violation of the NMRA National insurance

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CROSSTIES - JUNE 2015 JAMES RIVER DIVISION, NATIONAL MODEL RAILROAD ASSOCIATION “All the News that Fits, We Print”

Which leads me to: Once you operate, you are automatically engaged with the models and you are now an active participant in the art.

ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT’S COLUMN by Rick Lull Operations

Let’s step back for a quick minute and think – just what is model railroading?

“Howdy” to all in the JRD from your assistant superintendent. I’ve been asked to write a (somewhat regular) column about model railroad operations. As somebody whose views of the hobby have radically changed in the last ten years, and as a person who has embraced the idea of operations whole heartedly, I was not in a position to say no.

I think the quickest way to describe operations, and I’m stealing this phrase from another modeler who is an experienced operator, is that it is a form of ‘kinetic art’. In other words, it is art that can move and engage with those experiencing it at a level exceeding what a painting or a statue can since those objects are static – they don’t move.

Let me start our discussion around what just exactly ‘ops’ are, maybe not an exact definition, but more specifically a dialog about this fascinating facet of our hobby and how I see it being able to provide a very interesting ‘in’ to pull people into the community at large.

And certainly we can have a long discussion that model railroading is a combination of engineering, materials science, history, capitalism, business, economics, and a tiny bit of art and romance from our world, miniaturized into something that you can put into your pocket, in most cases. (Though you’d probably break off those tiny little lifting eyelet details, but let’s not get too picky here, okay?)

Two main points: 1. Operations on a model railroad, or just operations or “ops,” for short can actually be as simple, or as complicated, as you’d like it to be. 2. Simply running trains around and around a loop, even around the Christmas tree, is operating. The latter statement may be shocking to some, and I might be cast out as a heretic, unworthy to worship on the mighty altar of time table and train order, but I think it is actually as obvious as the leaves falling off the trees come fall and frost.

Let’s circle back to my central topic – operating your trains. You have options galore; remember my first statement – you can make it simple, or complicated, or anything in between.

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CROSSTIES - JUNE 2015 JAMES RIVER DIVISION, NATIONAL MODEL RAILROAD ASSOCIATION “All the News that Fits, We Print”

•

•

•

At the end of it, you’ll have something pretty priceless – a new and unique experience. You might also come to see model railroading in a different light. You might decide that you’d like to further develop your scratch building skills. You might decide that you want to change the track arrangement on your own pike. You might reflect on how hard a crew worked getting a train over the railroad. You’ve had a chance to engage with other modelers and have some fellowship, stoking the fires of motivation. When I got back into this hobby after I bought my first basement, I wasn’t sure what I would do once I had the layout built. I had read about operating in the model press, and it sounded like a lot of work without much payback at all. I knew I liked building and creating things, whether it was Lego, or those snap-tite car model kits (you’d think somebody would have sued for false advertising on those things.) or virtual cities, but the model railroad – that was different. Every layout I had built or played with to that point in my life, once it was mostly complete, it stopped being engaging and I let it languish.

If you strive for prototype fidelity and you wear the rivet counter badge with pride, then wouldn’t you aim for realism when you spotted that specific boxcar at the depot, just as the crew on that 2-8-4 did back in 1949? Or if you lean more towards the fanciful, then what about a neat excursion train with gondolas of waving railfans behind that very shiny steam locomotive trailed by gleaming Amtrak coaches? Or if you (or the grandchildren) just want to see Thomas race around, you engaging with the art and hence operating.

This is what it all boils down to, doing with your trains what you want. I’ve heard the stammering around the fact that trying to operate is intimidating and you don’t know where to start. There is fear about doing something wrong, or possibly being criticized about your modeling, but I think that is only the case when you are on the outside looking in. Once you are inside that bubble, you meet the reality: that the positives greatly outweigh the negatives. From my own experience, and the experience of other ‘rookies’ when talking to them after an op session, once you finish up you realize how enjoyable the experience really was. I’ve heard this sentiment from the standpoint as a visitor to other layouts and from hosting on my own pike, so I’d think the results speak for themselves. Just think of all those Nike commercials and “Just Do It.”

With my eyes opened to operations, this layout is different. I’m continuously building, upgrading and improving, having a goal set by operations to strive for, and also giving me a measuring stick against my progress. Next time, I will talk about the history of operations in the hobby (hint, it is probably older than you think) and how I think it is driving.

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CROSSTIES - JUNE 2015 JAMES RIVER DIVISION, NATIONAL MODEL RAILROAD ASSOCIATION “All the News that Fits, We Print”

At 1045 A.M., my head count was 25, and the signup sheet had 27 check marks, so the total attendance for the record is 27. The signup sheet did not distinguish members from guests, so I cannot say more. I will fix that deficiency next time.

PAYMASTER'S REPORT by Jerry Ritter, Paymaster Our last meeting was January 10. 2015, in Fredericksburg, VA Figures as of January 10. 2015, the last Paymaster's Report:

We had two clinics. The first one was a two-part clinic by Kurt Weisweber from Norfolk about railroads / railfanning in Tidewater Virginia. The second clinic was a presentation on interpreting signal lights by Larry Hudson, a retired RF&P/CSX employee who started as a brakeman and retired as an Assistant Superintendent.

Checking Account: $1582.13 Cash-on-hand $ 51.20 TOTAL ASSETS AS OF 12/31/14: $1,633.33 Since 12/31/14: Deposits: $137.07 Payouts: -$18.00 Checking Account balance as of April 30, 2015: $1,701.20 Cash-on-hand $25.00 TOTAL ASSETS AS OF 4/30/15: $1,726.20

The contest results are: Steam Locomotive: • 1st Place – Gerard Fitzgerald – Seaboard Air Line engine • 2nd Place – Ken Montero – freelance switcher • 3rd Place – Ron Gareis – Pennsylvania engine Diesel engine • 1st Place – Ron Gareis – Pennsylvania GP-30

CLERK’S REPORT by Don Wells, Clerk

At the annual meeting, a business item was that it was moved and seconded to sell the library, and the members present (a quorum) agreed unanimously. Phil reported that Chuck Hladik resigned as division AP Chair, and that the Division needs a volunteer for the role. A third business item was that we discussed the possibility of adding Augusta and Franklin Counties to the James River Division.

The Division met on May 9, 2015 at Hull Street Station in Richmond, Virginia. A $50.00 donation in lieu of meeting fee was made to the Old Dominion Chapter, National Railway Historical Society, which owns the building. The members got to tour the Central Virginia Model Railroad Club layout as well as the museum part of the building (where the meet was held).

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CROSSTIES - JUNE 2015 JAMES RIVER DIVISION, NATIONAL MODEL RAILROAD ASSOCIATION “All the News that Fits, We Print”

PHOTOGRAPHS – May 9, 2015 Meet

Thanks go to Gerard Fitzgerald, Wayland Moore (a/k/a O. M. Link) and Bobby Spiers for sharing these photographs. Regrettably, no photographs of the contest entries were made. Please feel free to send your photographs at future meets to Crossties. Contact me at: [email protected] with what you have.

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CROSSTIES - JUNE 2015 JAMES RIVER DIVISION, NATIONAL MODEL RAILROAD ASSOCIATION “All the News that Fits, We Print”

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CROSSTIES - JUNE 2015 JAMES RIVER DIVISION, NATIONAL MODEL RAILROAD ASSOCIATION “All the News that Fits, We Print”

EDITOR’S COLUMN by Ken Montero New Editor and New Programs Many of you know me from my prior service as Superintendent of this Division. I have volunteered to take this position to help Superintendent Phil Taylor and the current officers and other volunteers to provide the Division with a quality Division program. These folks are in the process of reviewing and revising existing programs and developing new ones. Because the Division members are a diverse group, different things will appeal to different people. As the year progresses,

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CROSSTIES - JUNE 2015 JAMES RIVER DIVISION, NATIONAL MODEL RAILROAD ASSOCIATION “All the News that Fits, We Print”

Crossties and other Division communications methods will bring you more information about them. Please take the time to examine them and to partake of them.

Library Liquidation Plan by Ken Montero Due to extremely low book circulation and the lack of a member willing to serve as Librarian, the members at the annual meeting on May 9 voted to dissolve the Division’s library and liquidate the collection, with members being given the first opportunity to purchase individual books. Proceeds would go into the Division’s coffers to support Division activities – a necessity as the Division gets miniscule financial support from the National and Regional offices.

What We Publish The Crossties newsletter is part of that changing scene. Being an electronic publication, I intend to be faithful to the motto: “All the news that fits, we print”. We can fit a lot into this newsletter. Please send us any articles and photographs related to model railroading, and to prototype railroading in the Division. Also,
Got a modeling tip?
Have pictures of a unique carload on the prototype?
Holding a Railroad Day in your locality?
Looking for others to join you in an operating session?
Trying to sell a few kits that you no longer wish to build?
Want to set up a carpool to the next meet? Contact me at: [email protected] with what you have.

Currently, that collection of over 300 items is being indexed and cataloged into an Excel spreadsheet, and prices for each book are being researched. It is hoped that this pricing effort will be ready to be sent to the members with the August 2015 issue of Crossties (probably being emailed around the second Saturday in August). As was done with the McGilvary model railroad items sale, that spreadsheet will be accompanied by a sales request form for purchases by email, with confirmation of sale also by email, and sales will be first come – first served.

Don’t worry about how well you write or don’t write – my job is to take what you provide and help make it more readable. If it will help for you to talk with me before you start writing, call me at: 804-794-5704 – or email me with your phone number and I will call you at my own expense.

No mailing of items purchased will be made – delivery will be made much as we did for the McGilvary sale.:
Lynchburg - At the Lynchburg meet on September 12, 11

CROSSTIES - JUNE 2015 JAMES RIVER DIVISION, NATIONAL MODEL RAILROAD ASSOCIATION “All the News that Fits, We Print”


Charlottesville - Arrangements will be made for a mass delivery in Charlottesville afterwards,
Fredericksburg - Arrangements will be made for a mass delivery in Fredericksburg afterwards, and
Richmond - Local pickup in Midlothian will be arranged for Richmond area sales

Model Railroad Websites by Phil Taylor Below are links to several model railroad publication websites. Two of them (Model Railroader and Railroad Model Craftsman) are linked to paid-subscription magazines. The others are FREE online magazines:

Payment will be by cash or check – no credit or debit cards, as the Division has no way to handle them. Any additional details will be provided with the sales materials.

Model Railroader - www.modelrairoader.com Railroad Model Craftsman - www.rrmodelcraftsman.com Model Railroad Hobbyist - www.mrhmag.com

AP Chair Resigns – New Team Leader Needed by Phil Taylor

S Scale Resource - www.sscaleresource.com Chuck Hladik is giving up his position as Achievement Program (AP) Chair to focus on his Mid-Eastern Region Vice-President position and other endeavors. The Division officers would like to thank Chuck for his many years of service in this position.

O Scale Resource - www.oscaleresource.com Trackside Model Railroading www.tracksidemodelrailroading.com

The James River Division is looking for someone to take up Chuck’s work as a Team Leader for the AP Program. The basic requirements of the position is to promote the AP program in the Division, work with the Mid-Eastern Region AP Coordinator, learn the AP requirements and submit the paperwork for AP participants. The AP Team Leader will recruit 2-3 others spread around the Division who will be willing to become part of the AP team and review submissions for compliance to AP standards. If interested, contact Superintendent Phil Taylor at: [email protected] - see Help Wanted

(Editor’s Note: Check the James River Division blog and click on Resources and Links for this and other similar model railroading information: http://jrdnmra.blogspot.com/p/resources-and-links.html ) Classified Ads: Carpool from Midlothian to Charlottesville meet on July 11 – I can take up to 3 passengers. Contact Ken Montero at: [email protected]

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CROSSTIES - JUNE 2015 JAMES RIVER DIVISION, NATIONAL MODEL RAILROAD ASSOCIATION “All the News that Fits, We Print”

the AP requirements, helping members complete the paperwork for a Certificate, helping get clarification of Achievement Program requirements if so needed, arranging for judging of applicants’ efforts where needed. Team Leader also will work with the Mid-Eastern Region AP Coordinator, and submit the paperwork for AP participants. If interested, contact Superintendent Phil Taylor at: [email protected]

Weaver Models Closing by Phil Taylor It was announced that Weaver Models is closing June 29, 2015. The owner is retiring and was unable to find a buyer for the business. This is a huge loss to the O scale community and a big loss for the Model Railroading community in general. Weaver Models started making hopper cars for the two-rail O market and expanded into 3-rail. They made many affordable and reliable locomotives that are the mainstay of many O Scale layouts. The average model railroader probably knows of Weaver Models through their Scalecoat Paint line, which was an affordable, and quality paint sold good size bottles at reasonable prices. Our thanks to Weaver for 50 years of service to the hobby.

Newsletter Compositor. The Editor needs some assistance in inserting material into a publication format like Illustrator (and selecting software to do so) to improve the looks of this newsletter. No writing required (that’s the Editor’s job). If you can provide assistance, please contact me at: [email protected] Hospitality Team Leader and Team Members. – The Superintendent is seeking one or more volunteers to help provide coffee and donuts at the various meets, and help with setting up chairs and tables as needed. One person is needed to serve as Chair, and others are needed to help in the locality where they live when meets are held there (Charlottesville, Fredericksburg, Lynchburg, and Richmond). If you can provide assistance, please contact Superintendent Phil Taylor at: [email protected]

(Editor’s Note: Scalecoat Paint will probably start to disappear quickly from retailers’ shelves if what happened to Floquil and Poly-Scale paints is any guide.) Help Wanted by the Division (Each volunteer earns points towards the Volunteer Certificate in the Achievement Program) Achievement Program (AP) Team Leader and Team Members. The Superintendent is seeking a volunteer to lead the Achievement Program and recruit team members to assist Division members in successfully acquiring Achievement Certificates and Master Model Railroader status. Team member duties include learning 13

CROSSTIES - JUNE 2015 JAMES RIVER DIVISION, NATIONAL MODEL RAILROAD ASSOCIATION “All the News that Fits, We Print”

JAMES RIVER DIVISION OFFICERS: Superintendent – Phil Taylor, [email protected] Assistant Superintendent – Rick Lull – [email protected] Paymaster – Jerry Ritter – [email protected] Clerk – Don Wells –[email protected] WEBSITE - http://www.jrdnmra.org/ BLOG - http://jrdnmra.blogspot.com/ JRD Members Yahoo Group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JRD_Members/ MEMBERS YAHOO GROUP – contact Phil Taylor NEXT TIME IN CROSSTIES: Charlottesville Meet Reports and Photos How to fix a Divot in your almost completed model. Updated information on future meets. More about Operations from Asst. Super. Rick Lull. And more! Don’t miss it, or better still, come to the Charlottesville Meet and see for yourself!!

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