Current News

12/8/06

The member's news section has been updated.

12/4/06

Just a reminder that the second Saturday meeting scheduled for December 9 th has been moved to the Essex and Lakeside!

11/24/06

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

The second Saturday meeting for December scheduled for December 9, 2006 has been moved to the Essex and Lakeside! Carl will be at a Christmas concert that evening.

11/8/06

Jason Merrill is currently having a very difficult time battling his illness. His weekly emails to Jere indicate that he is fighting very hard but gets discouraged at times. A phone call or email from you guys would be much appreciated. News about the club and your latest modeling project or rail fan event etc. would be great.

Carl

11/8/06

Well RailRun is getting ever closer and it's time to give some thought to who should be nominated for the Borrelli award this year. Remember this award is to someone who promotes the hobby. Also we need a Sunday activity. Send your thoughts

to Carl, shoalsrr@hotmail.com.

10/24/06

At Altoona; Plenty of trains, but cold and rain showers, Railroaders museum is fantastic! Cold (32 deg,) and SNOW at both Horseshoe curve and Gallitzin (40's at Altoona.

Heading south tomorrow am... Forecast near 70 and clear in NC.

Ray & Jack

10/23/06

Please give Ace Cutter a warm welcome to the Tuesday night operating group. Ace has been on the waiting list for two years.

Welcome aboard Ace.

9/7/06

The first "split" operating session held at Bob Pierces' Sagebrush and Southwestern was a resounding success. Jim, Carl, and Paul, were in attendance, unfortunately Ed had a late departure from work and didn't make it. . Bob had three excellent pilots to help us, Ace Jerry, and Bob, and everyone had a great time. Bob Pierce overran his authority several times because of acting as trainmaster and running the road! Harassment was freely given.

This layout is a little different from what we are used to, Bob runs may road freights with BIG power and the layout is located in the year 2006! High horsepower and long trains rule. The aisles are adequate and the amenities are just fine. We look forward to many years of operation on the Sagebrush.

Thanks Bob.

8/14/06

On behalf of both the Tuesday and Saturday groups, a big thanks to Jere for hosting the cookouts at his camp!

7/18/06

Member's new updated.

6/21/06

Please note schedule change!!

6/2/06

The B&M Operators are changing radios. The new radio is the Motorola "Walkabout" available at "BJs" for $39.95. You get two radios but only one charger. If you prefer a boom mike and headset instead of the ear "bud" (included with the radios) you can get one at the Product Wizard at http://www.productwizard.com/motorolafv500.html. It's item # 53725 for $12.50 plus shipping, or maybe get lucky at Office Max or Staples. MAKE SURE YOU GET A MOTOROLA product, all others have a short plug and will not work.

5-24-06

Member's new section updated.

4-4-06

Evening,
Just a short note to thank you and your crews for another great session.. (Just wish you'd find a decent O scale layout to add to your reportore)
And geeze ya even had O scale prizes to give away....Damn, I didn't win one, maybe next yr...O well, can't win 'em all...
Thanks again..

~~~~~~~~~~
John A. Young
Superintendent
Cheshire Branch B&M RR
O Scale

2-27-06

Reminder: If you have received a RailRun letter, please fill it out and send it back!

2-22-06

Members new section updated.

2-10-06

February 11 New England Northern ***DUE TO POSSIBLE STORM THIS HAS BEEN CANCELLED***

1-6-06

Happy New Year everyone!

The members only news has been updated.

12-18-05

Well another Christmas party is history. We had 14 members and as usual too much food. The swap was fun but Jere got two calls and had to leave in the middle of it. The slides by Dave West and Gary Munsey were as usual great. We missed those who couldn't come because of work and travel. Thanks Jere for the use of your home.

Merry Christmas to All

12-1-05

Chris Tirone has asked that those going to the Christmas party please send him an email regarding what kind of soda they like.

Thank you

11-16-05

**Attention members: Please see the "Members Only" news section for an important topic.**

10-26-05

Please note that within the next week the website will be down for maintenance. I will be upgrading the current hardware and reloading the operating system.

10-22-05

**Please see Tuesday night schedule for a last minute swap**

Carl will host Oct 25th and Don will host Nov 1st.

9-27-05

Please note Oct 4th's and Oct 18th's swap!

9-25-05

A couple pictures from the 2005 picnic have been posted! (Thanks Dave)

9-6-05

Please note that the 4th Saturday has been swapped. September's will be at Don's and October's will be at Carl's.

8-25-05

Please note that the session on Tuesday, Aug 30th has been cancelled

Member's only news has been updated.

8-18-05

These web sites are really good, I listen to Harrisburg frequently and also Fostoria, Carlos. (Links have been fixed 8-19-05)

http://www.railroadradio.net/index.php

http://www.logisticsplus.net/RailCam/RailCam.htm (this one has sound!)

8-15-05

Members Only News Updated

7-28-05

ALERT

Due to the shortening daylight, (ug) Jere wants to start the cookout between three and three thirty PM so we can all have enough time before the mosquitoes come out.

7-25-05

Ray Palleschi just got home from 4 days in hospital with Pancreatitis. He was pretty sick is doing better now but will not be able to go to the Nationals for roller skating and he had a chance to win. Please say that all the club members wish him well and a speedy recovery.

7-18-05

THE FIRST ANNUAL SECOND AND FOURTH SATURDAY COOKOUT

That's right folks we're having a cookout on August 13, at Jere's Camp For Wayward Old Farts.

Starting time is 5 PM (members only no kids or wives), finish time whenever. See the members only news for directions. Included is a guided boat tour of the lake on a luxurious ship, registry, State of New Hampshire. Jere will cook all evening and will supply the kielbasa.

We need to know if you plan to attend and what you will bring for food and drink so PLEASE email Carl as soon as possible. Carl will bring hotdogs and rolls. We will need hamburgers and rolls, green salad, potato salad, pasta salad, ice, plates cups and napkins, and sweets. DO NOT BRING SODA we have a ton. No alcohol!

This is really a good time in a beautiful setting and will surely beat operating in Jere's attic pulling the trains around with string in summer weather or stepping over Bailey in Carl's cellar and pushing his trains with sticks!

7-6-05

Jere was elected President of the Lawrence Exchange Club for the year of 2005-2006. Also, I finished my term of President of the Holy Family Hospital Men's Guild in Methuen in May 2005.

**Directions to Jere's camp is listed on the "members only news" above***

**Carl will host the fourth Saturday session on July 23rd, if enough folks want to have a session, email him if you plan to come.**

6-29-05

Congrats to Ray:

After 21 years of trying, I finally succeeded in winning my first regional championship in roller skating this weekend, I placed first in Masters Mens Figures at the Northeast Regional Championship in Fairhaven, MA Sunday.

This qualifies me to skate at the National Championships in Pensacola, Florida the first week in August.

Ray Palleschi

6-27-05

Last Saturday's road trip to Cape Cod was a resounding success. Eight members went and we split up upon arrival with four going to Gerry's layout and the other four to Randy's. Unfortunately at around noon Gerry had a family emergency and had to cancel the afternoon session. Thankfully the family emergency was not as serious as originally reported and he rejoined us for dinner. Gerry's wife provided a great lunch.

Randy has a medium to large size HO layout about one half scenic with a very long main line run and lots of local switching. He uses "ship it" software and we found it interesting. The layout ran flawlessly.

Gerry has a smaller HO layout with DCC by Lenz that includes a continuous run and a point to point scheme, it also ran flawlessly. Gerry uses car cards like our club and his switching puzzle was a great challenge for Don Virtue and me. His sound locomotives are great.

After the two sessions we retired to the Beehive restaurant for a great meal with much story swapping and bantering. Waldo Powell who acted as a pilot all day at Randy's offered much insight into model railroading on the Cape.

Thank you Randy, Gerry, and Waldo.

Hopefully we can do some more of this in the future, it's always fun visiting new layouts, Carl.

6-1-05

Attention B&M Operators:

Visit to Don Virtues "Essex Jct. & Manadnock" - Saturday August 6th from 10am to 4pm!

Please contact Harvey or Mike for the address and phone number.

5-17-05

More from Don:

Another tidbit on another subject.

At the convention, I sat with Glenn Glasstetter at the banquet. He was a first-timer at Railrun XVII. I asked how he enjoyed himself. He told me he had a blast and is planning on coming next year. I believe Mike Evans came with him, but I didn't get a chance to talk to him.

Glenn operated on Dividing Creek, Atlantic Shoals and Sagebrush & Southwestern.

5-17-05

Some news from Don:

I attended the NMRA Northeastern Region Spring Convention Friday, May 13 and Saturday, May 14.The convention was held at the Marriott in Nashua, NH. It's been some time since I've been to a convention and it was really a good time.

I've been involved with the NER in some capacity for about 40 years and it was great to see some of the friends I've made over those years.

After registration Friday afternoon, I went to Bruce Robinson's Valley Junction RR for an operating session from 7PM to 11PM. I think there were six others from the convention and three or four of Bruce's regular operators. I ran one of the RDC sets and a Valley Junction to South Royalton local. It was a great time. There was one young man who was operating for the first time, and gave every indication that he really enjoyed himself.

Operating sessions are becoming a standard part of the Region conventions and the available spaces are usually filled quickly.

Saturday was spent mostly catching up with old friends and for about 30 minutes I gave a "show and tell" about milk cars. Sort of a mini, informal clinic. Bob Hamm, the model contest chairman, asked if I would help him judge the model contest in the afternoon and, as usual, I was more than happy to do it. Unfortunately, the number of models was underwhelming, but very good quality anyway. The "Best in Show" was a Delaware & Hudson RS3 done by Mike Evans. He used an Atlas locomotive and cast new pilots, made other improvements, painted and decaled it. It was a beautiful job. Mike did it in the old all black with yellow nose stripes scheme.

Bob Hamm usually models the D&RGW in HOn3. I saw his railroad in his old home in Saratoga Springs, NY. It was exquisite. Anyhow, he moved to a new home about five years ago and although he did save his railroad ( he actually cut a hole in his basement wall to move the layout, but that's another story.), he has been dabbling in 1:20 scale. He brought a D&RGW refrigerato made in China that is uncanny. The doors actually open with the latch bars and the uncoupling levers open the couplers. The model needs to be seen to be believed.

Saturday night after the banquet, the Bedford Boomers held an operating session on their modular display layout. They just (that afternoon) converted to DCC and invited a limited number of the attendees to try their hand at operations. I watched until about 1030 pm and then called it a night.

Sunday, Cathy and I went to Lilac Sunday at the Arnold Arboretum in Boston.

5-5-05

Reminder: Please note the Memorial Day schedule change under the schedules.

5-2-05

Jeri and Carl returned from Prorail in the twin cities last week. While it was sometimes enjoyable, and certainly meeting old friends is fun, the stress factor during operations was high. The first layout was much like all of ours with verbal authority via train dispatcher and was the best of the week. Two other layouts they operated on used timetable and train order systems and although most visitors seemed to be enjoying themselves Jeri and Carl were intimidated and uneasy about occupying the main line. On one layout Carl was killed twice and almost killed a third time. All three were caused by the so-called movers and shakers. They will go again if invited but have more fun operating the B&B operators own layouts.

The railfaning was another story entirely. They had a blast and spent many hours watching and chasing trains. A trip to Duluth to see the Massabe Road and the ore docks was great, Dave Vos and Gary Freesman went with them. They would recommend the twin cities to any railfan. There are two hump yards, one CPR and one BNSF with very many trains. Amtrak shows off the Builder twice a day and CPR, Soo, BNSF, Minn. Transfer, Twin Cities & Western all showed up with frequency.

4-12-05

Second Saturday Group - May 14 was ASR and is now E&L
Fourth Saturday Group - May 21 was E&L and is now ASR

4-10-05

***4/19 and 4/23 operating sessions are cancelled***

4-9-05

New pictures have been added to the gallery. Dividing Creek and UP Northern are now update!

4-1-05

Schedule change alert! Tuesday March 29th was at Carl's Atlantic Shoals, Tuesday April 5th will be at Don's Dividing Creek.

3-22-05

Well RailRun XVII is history. Mike is adding pictures and comments as they arrive but from all accounts everyone had a great time. Congratulations to the Roslindale folks and welcome to our RailRun family. The B&M operators are also pleased that there is talk of duplicating RailRun in Southern New England and wish those folks the best. Carl.

3-8-05

Gremlins got into the final mailing for RailRun and Bob Pierce's telephone number was changed to a number in Mongolia. If you want the correct number email Carl.

2-28-05

Due to serious home reconstruction the second Saturday session on February 26 was held at Ace Cutter's Atlantic Coast and Eastern railroad in Wakefield. A large showing indicates what a great railroad Ace has. A good time was had by all and we appreciate Ace opening up for us on short notice. Thanks for the brownies Nancy.

2-25-05

The photo gallery has been updated! (Note: Not all sections are filled yet)

The "About" section has been updated!

2-22-05

Carl and Christine just returned from San Diego/L.A. and report the state is green (the first time Carl has seen it other then yellow).

The UP via Indio is still in trouble and most trains were parked on sidings. They saw only one on the hoof between Indio and El Centro!

Plaster City yielded two WP&Y three footers, one working the dumper the other outside the engine house.

San Diego station and the area around it is really great train country with Coaster, Surf Liners, BNSF freight, and trolleys all using the station. The station itself is a real gem.

Cajon Pass was snow covered and full of trains as usual. The road to summit was closed due to either snow or flooding but Sullivan's Curve and Cajon Jct. supplied great views.

The San Diego model railroad museum is still great and the new section including the actual loop is well under construction.

Oh yeah, they also did some non-railfanning stuff too!

2-20-05

The Sagebrush & Southwestern will have a new look for this years railrun. Bob is in the process of installing a new control panel, that was made at A&R engravers. This panel now includes all of the main line crossovers, yard leads and division leads. this means that all traffic will have to be initiated through the dispatcher without exception. Hopefully this will get everyone used to following directions and train orders. this panel was made with a state of the art laser printer and looks great! It should be ready for testing within a couple of weeks.

2-7-05

Carl mailed out 104 applications for RailRun on February 3. He expects over 80% of those sent will be returned. If we subtract the guests and pilots it's looking like we should have about 75 guests this year, but don't panic as not all guests come to all three sessions. Carl is departing for San Diego on Sunday Feb. 14 Th., and will be away for a week so the results will not be known until about the 25 Th.

Harvey made signs for the Roslindale club and Carl will get them over to them in the near future.

Jack told me that 100 pens have arrived and will cost about $3.00 each. Postage is going to be about $115.00, and supplies will cost about $35.00. The remainder of the money collected from the guests will go toward prizes and unexpected costs.

On Saturday Winnie held a surprise 80th Birthday party for Harvey. A great time was had by all and Harvey seemed to really enjoy himself.

Carl is stocking up on scenery supplies and plans to brighten up the Shoals for RailRun, we wonder what the other hosts are doing. Do you think Harvey will cut the E & L apart and move it? How about it guys!

What would all of you think about having a club social with all of our wives and partners when the weather gets better?

Lets get some more news posted on the web. Just send it to the webmaster!