Thursday, January 28, 2010

February newsletter

Delmarva Timetable
Website: http://delmarvamodelrailroadclub.org
Blog: http://dmrrc-delmarvarailroadclub.blogspot.com
News of the Delmarva Model Railroad Club
February 2010
Matt Schramm, Editor



Next Meeting

The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, Feburay 6, 2009 in the Club meeting room.


Mail vs E-mail

With the cost of postage going up 2 cents on the 11th of May, I would like to make a plea to all the snail-mailers that if you can get an e-mail account, it would definitely help the club. Right now it costs roughly $250.00 per year for postage, ink, and paper to get the snail mail editions out. If any of you can get the newsletter emailed to you, it would cut down on these costs.

Jeff


Timetable Special Edition

Matt Schramm, Editor
With 2009 being the 25th anniversary of the club, we are planning on a special edition of the newsletter for March. It will contain ONLY club history items. If anyone has any pictures or stories of the last 25 years, please send them to me at Tcccnentego20@yahoo.com.


Layout News

O scale – is in the planning stages of putting there layout on a separate circuit breaker

Ho- we are ready for our Operating session for this month

N scale – scenery is getting done

tin plate – no report


Open house

for our second half of open house the attendence was not the greatest
for the weekend of the 9-10 it was saterday and 299 the sunday
also for the 16-17 it was265 on saturday and 355 on sunday
if you would like to know how much we made please come to the meeting,
or the numbers will be posted on the board.


License Plate Frames

These fit over an automobile license plate. Available in Black or Chrome.
The top has “Delmar,Delaware” engraved on it,
the bottom has“Delmarva Model Railroad Club”.
Price for members $15.00,
non-members $20.00.
Custom orders are accepted.


Club Shirts

Bill Shehan is accepting orders for club shirts. Two styles are available and come in sizes Small to 4XL.
Styles, Sizes and Prices are:

Golf Shirts (Short Sleeve Only)
S, M, L, XL $22.75
2XL $26.25
3XL $28.75
4XL $31.25

Broad Cloth (Long and Short Sleeve)
S, M, L, XL $25.00
2XL $27.50
3XL $30.00
4XL $32.50


News From the Rails



Museum director climbs aboard

For Charles Fox, his assignment as the new director of the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania is "like being "a kid in a candy shop."
"It's a phenomenal facility and I'm very excited at the prospect," the 45-year-old Bucks County native said.
Fox's love of trains dates back to his youth.
"I got my interest in trains from riding the Reading Railroad in and out of Philadelphia," he said. "Some of those trains are here in this collection today, which is pretty neat."
He also collects Lionel trains from the 1940s and 1950s
Fox, who has worked for the Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission for 12 years, took over at the railroad museum in mid-December. His last job was as the site administrator of the Somerset Historical Center in Somerset County.
While there, he also was involved in the development of the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, commemorating the Americans who died on the plane while fighting terrorists on 9/11.
Fox replaces David Dunn, who is now a section chief in the Harrisburg offices of PHMC.
Coming to the Strasburg museum poses both opportunities and challenges, Fox said. It gives him the opportunity to "learn even more about trains, and try to take this museum to the next level."
The challenge is to move the museum forward in light of budget cuts and recent staff reductions.
"The challenges that this museum faces are similar to those faced by all museums, especially in this economic climate," he said. "There's not as much money allocated for cultural heritage history, so we have to look to alternative sources to raise the funds we need to maintain our level of programming."
Alternative sources of funding must be found to help maintain the "level and quality" of the museum's programs, not to mention its vigorous and costly restoration program for the cars and locomotives in its extensive collection.
Fox hopes the museum's active Friends of the Railroad Museum group will step in to help fill the void.
"We have a wonderful Friends group here, who have done tremendous things for this museum in terms of staffing and helping us to increase the level of professionalism, and expand the spectrum of programs and exhibits we can offer to the public," Fox said. "Their role may have to increase as a result of some of the reductions in the state budget."
Fox sees no changes in the museum's current programs, but is concerned about the museum's ability to care for the pieces in its collection after they go through the lengthy and costly restoration process.
"Right now, they're out in the open air, exposed to the sun, the rain, the wind and the snow," he said. "That's a major problem. It doesn't do any good to restore them if we can't take care of them."
Above all, Fox wants to provide the best experience possible for "our visitors who come through the door."
"Museums often get the reputation of being static, and we can't be, particularly in this case," he said. "Railroad history hasn't ended. It didn't end when the steam locomotives went away. It's still alive, so we need to be nimble and adapt to our audience and to changing circumstances in order to stay on top of our game."
Despite the current recession, Fox believes the future is bright for the PHMC overall, and the railroad museum in particular.
"Yes, there are challenges, but they're not insurmountable," he said. "I think you'll see great things happening here in the next few years."


Touring railroad exhibit coming to Huntington

HUNTINGTON — The Collis P. Huntington Railroad Society’s indoor museum at 1323 8th Ave. is will be housing a touring railroad exhibit on loan from the West Virginia Division of Culture.
The Historical Society will have an opening reception at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 20. The exhibit will be on display through Feb. 17.
The exhibit, “Riding the Rails:  Connecting West Virginia,” will have text panels detailing railroad development in West Virginia.  
The exhibit will contain artifacts from the West Virginia State Museum collection including tongs for holding odd-shaped pieces of iron forged on the anvil, side shears used to cut hot, soft iron, nippers used to trim horses’ hooves while shoeing them, claw hammers, a coal drill sharpener stake used to place an anvil to sharpen coal drills, rail spike pullers, a coal shovel, a C&O Adlake lantern, a C&O Yellow Dog Lamp which burned on waste oil, and a B&O Railroad compartment plate, cup and saucer for use in the dining car, among others.
There also will be a photograph display courtesy of the Huntington museum collection and railroad videos for the children and adults played during the visitation hours.
The hours the exhibit will be open are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and 6 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday evenings.
For more information about the exhibit, call 866-639-7487 or 304-523-0364.  


Amtrak wifi

Amtrak's Acela Express trains, which run from Washington to Boston, will soon be getting wireless Internet access.
Amtrak said that its installation of wireless Internet access on the high-speed trains would be complete in March and initially free to passengers. Amtrak made the announcement as part of a 2010 preview of its activities.
This year is the 10th anniversary of the Acela Express train service, which began operating in 2000. The trains make the trip from Washington to Boston in about six and a half hours, about an hour and a half faster than regional trains. Also in 2010 Amtrak will complete upgrades on the interiors of the Acela trains, including leather seats and improved tray tables and power outlets.
Last year Acela had some 3 million riders.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Our 2009-2010 Open House is now over. This years Open House days were a big success. This year was the first year that we were open for Thanksgiving weekend and we had a big crowd. We also found some things that need to be fixed, and we found out that some things we had fixed were operating well.

Now it is time that we move forward and continue to have fun working(?) on our layouts and enjoying our hobby of Model Railroading. Good things are happening.

In case you haven't noticed, we have posted some videos on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/user/DelMarVaRRClub