MER 2013

The following message is from the MER 2013 Convention Host Division:

Be there! MER Convention: 2013

Tony Koester. Marty McGuirk. Monroe Stewart. Howard Zane. Tally ‘em up and put ‘em down for the MER Convention in Rockville, MD on Columbus Day weekend, 2013. Tony Koester, chronicler of Trains of Thought, his extraordinary sagas of modeling, will present a clinic and serve as Banquet speaker. Marty McGuirk, developing his new Central Vermont-Winooski Division, will conduct a clinic and illustrate his progress in fine scale modeling. Monroe Stewart, builder of Hootch Junction, will open his layout for N and HO enthusiasts. And Howard Zane, legendry builder of the Piermont Division, will host a layout open house in nearby Columbia. With those talents alone, modelers are signing for Rockville now. Watch our webpage for further developments!  http://home.comcast.net/~candp2013/  Send email to CandP2013@comcast.net .

Marshall Abrams, Co-Chair, C&P Junction
Kurt Thompson, Co-Chair, C&P Junction

Save the Date of April 6th

The next meeting of the JRD will be in Lynchburg on April 6th.   Remember the contest is still set to be fire equipment either rubber or steel wheeled.  More details on location and time to follow

NMRA Sigs

There are many Special Interest Groups that allow those who share like interests to share thoughts and passions about facets of the hobby.  They are usually referred to as SIGs for short.  These are different than the typical RR historical society that focuses on one specific line.  Some include topics such as operations, layout design, early rail, and the Civil War.  

In future posts some of the SIGs will be explored in more detail and maybe one will appeal to you enough to join that group.

JRDs own Radical Flats mentioned in Blog

The JRD's own Radical Flats was prominently mentioned in a blog by Lance Mindheim on how to build a great simple layout by New Years.  The idea is that you could in the last two weeks of the year build a very basic switching layout using some code 70 track and the Radical Flats building fronts.  Great idea and one worth considering if you are a beginner or never seem to get a layout built.  Add a couple cars, dcc/sound switcher and a basic DCC system and you have an operating layout that can fit on a bookshelf.

Podcast worth your time

If you are like many of us who commute long distances and want to listen to something other than the same song for the 5th time or the same news story rehashed from yesterday then take a look at The Model Railway Show. Each show is about 30 minutes and is available from iTunes or other subscription sources.   For example, Episode 45 had Doug Gurin of LDSIG and Charlie Getz of the NMRA. Take a listen and see what you think.

Pictures of Rail Destruction from Sandy

The following link shows some of the rail damage from Sandy

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nj_transit/sets/72157631895879101/

More On C&O Clinic

MER Election Results

Thank you to everyone that ran for office this year. 463 valid ballots were received.
The results (excluding write-ins) are: 

President:
Chuck Hladik - 193
John Janosko - 270

Vice President:
PJ Mattson - 446 

Secretary:
Mike White - 448

Treasurer:
Tom Buckingham - 449 

......................................................

Bob Price
MER BOD / Archivist 

MER Convention in Suffolk

The next major event in the area for the NMRA is the MER Convention coming October 18th to 21st.  It is nearby and should provide a good time for all.  Use this link to go to the convention website.

Two Clinics for November

 Clinics for November

There are two clinics for November.  More details will follow.

DCC by Don Wells

Going to War With the Railroad you Have:
Designing and Operating the Chesapeake and Ohio's Olby Branch in 1944
by Gerard Fitzgerald

Geographic Membership Distribuiton

The results from plotting the geographic distribution of the membership was a little different than expected.  There are a few folks in the Valley, Farmville, Danville, Warrenton, Culpepper but the big concentrations are in Richmond, Charlottesville/Fluvanna, Lynchburg and Fredericksburg.  Of the top 4 Richmond has half of that group with each of the other three having about an equal amount.  The unexpected result was the Division having the same membership in Fredericksburg as Charlottesville/Fluvanna or Lynchburg.