Zoom Hangout Friday at 7pm

 There will be a Hangout on Friday at 7pm. Check your emails for links and login information.  

McGilvary Obituary and Memorial Information

On August 228, 2023 (Monday) at 11:00 am, there will be a secular remembrance meeting for former JRD Paymaster and long-time member, Bill McGilvary, (and three other relatives) at Blandford Church and Cemetery, 111 Rochelle Lane, Petersburg, Virginia. Interment will follow immediately after the meeting.

Parking is available in the adjacent Reception Center.

Blandford Church is a historic church structure dating back to 1735. Deconsecrated as a church, It is now a Confederate memorial building, with reproduction church furnishings and all of the 15 windows created in "stain glass" by Louis Comfort Tiffany. More at: www.petersburgva.gov/303/Blandford-Cemetery

The main entrance has a short staircase from the street, and the brick sidewalk to the church is uneven in spots.  There is a separate handicap entrance - please contact Blandford Church Reception Center (tel. 804-691-7947 or email: ebetts@petersburg.va.org Thursday through Sunday ) for more information if you plan to use the handicap access.

Please let Ken Montero (va661midlo@comcast.net) know if you may be attending so that the set-up in the building will be appropriate for the number of attendees.

Here is a short obituary for Bill McGilvary:

Bill “Mack” McGilvary was born and raised in Colonial Heights, VA in 1942 and passed away on August 15, 2017.

From an early age he was mesmerized by trains.  His first Lionel O gauge train set was his prized possession as a child and he kept it until he had to move from his home in 2013.  He collected everything from maps and schedules to matchbooks from every railroad line.

After serving four years in the Air Force, he returned to the Petersburg area, where he resided until 2013. Ever the Southern gentleman with a traditional Virginia accent that bespoke his upbringing, Bill was kind and caring for his entire life.

Bill was a lifetime employee in the telephone industry, starting with the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company of Virginia, from which (after being renamed Bell Atlantic) he retired, only to go to work for other independent companies in the telephone industry. One only had to peek at the immaculate wiring (using telephone industry standard practices) on Bill’s layout to see the lifelong influence that the telephone industry had on Bill.

His personal layout modeled the Norfolk & Western Railroad and his own Blue Ridge & Western line (as Bill stated, “It was the subsidiary that the Norfolk and Western did not know that it owned”).  It consumed his entire garage and utility room and, like most layouts, was a lifetime “work in progress”.  It was a sad day indeed when he had to liquidate his collection of over 1,000 engines and cars of every variety to move to an assisted living facility in Georgia.

Trains were his first love and although confined to a wheelchair he lived for the occasional chance to “ride the rails” once more.

Bill was a member of the James River Division of the National Model Railroad Association since 1976 until his passing. Bill participated regularly in the Division’s meets until 2013, and regularly attended the region and national conventions (traveling by train whenever possible).

In 2015, Bill was awarded the Division’s Bill McMillan Award (the second recipient), awarded for distinguished public service to the model railroad hobby, for his consistent participation in the Division’s activities, including making numerous presentations as a clinician and serving as the Division’s Paymaster (Treasurer) for many years, and for having so generously benefitted the Division with his extraordinary donation of books and other printed material. Although he had moved to Marietta by the time of the award, a Division member presented the award to him in Marietta, and he kept in touch with the Division and his friends as best he could.

After Bill moved to Marietta, Georgia, Bill’s niece, Kathy Miller, her husband Dan Miller, and his nephew and namesake, Bill McGilvary, tended to his needs in his final journey, first in assisted living, then in skilled nursing care.

He is survived by his nieces Kathy Miller and Susan Abernathy and nephews Art Carter and Bill McGilvary.

NMRAx this weekend

 NMRAx this weekend.  Please search for the feed on Facebook or YouTube

Passing of another milestone author

 It was just posted by Charlie Getz that Malcom Furlow passed away.  Post quoted below

Just got notice from Jennifer Furlow that Malcolm passed away today from the effects of long Covid. Malcolm was known for his art and modeling including the seminal San Juan Central HOn3 project layout for MR back in the 1980’s, now part of the NMRA exhibit on Scale Model Railroading at the CSRM in Sacramento..

Sad news. He was a character but an inspiration to many with a distinct modeling style.
Charlie Getz

Crossties for February is Out

 Have you read the latest issue of Crossties - The James River Divisions free bi-monthly magazine

Crossties February 2023

You may obtain your copy using the link above 

Wayland Slim Down Event

Earlier today an email went out with more items from Waylands slim down event. Lists D, E, H and K were updated with even more items at 5 pm. Please check the bottom of those lists.

 Next Meet is Virtual Zoom Meeting on February 10th.  Login details will be sent via Email the week before to members and regular attenders.

1. Whats on the Workbench

2. Phil Taylor - Initial Thoughts on IVAR Benchwork from IKEA

3.  Your thoughts on the hobby

January Meeting was a Blast

 Yesterday we a great meeting that for me was a blast.  Thank you to Ken Montero for securing the building and along with Bob Minnis and others for dealing with the Donuts and Coffee.  Tom Patterson with assistance of his son took care of broadcasting our meeting on the new NRMA Interchange.  

Chris Chapin stepped up at the last minute to give us a valuable comparison of a Rapido E8 with the original speaker and one with an upgraded speaker from Scale Sound Systems.  The difference was quite astounding and a real ear opener. Thanks Chris for helping us with another path to make our miniature worlds to sound better

Mike Bonner and Keith Pritchard gave us an overview of JMRI Operations Pro as used to enhance our miniature worlds to resemble real railroad operations.  The workshop gave us an overview of this module of JMRI and how a basic implementation might work. The power of the program is immense and Mike Bonner kept reminding us that we should start with the basics and not get “into the weeds” too soon.  It is good advice and I look forward to exploring the program further. 

The handouts and slide decks are now available for your review at our Handouts Page

The afternoon afforded us the chance to see two fine home layouts.  It was good to see the progress that Keith Prichard has made on his Great Plains layout.  His layout has under gone refinement since the last time I saw it.  Sometimes the best changes are smaller ones that make it more pleasurable to see and operate for owners and visitors. Bob Stringer was the second layout opened to the JRD.  His switching layout has operations with C&O in Newport News, PRR in Cape Charles and a Proto freelance version of the NPBL.  We look forward to seeing the progress they will continue to make on their layouts.