Division 12, Mid Central Region, NMRA, Inc., also known as the Alleghany Western Division, is a recently formed division of the National Model Railroad Association, located in Northwestern Pennsylvania and Southwestern New York.
For the most up-to-date information about our organization, membership meetings, or public events please use the News/Events page or search button at the bottom of this page.
Next Membership Meeting Event:
“LakeshoresX23”: Joint Virtual meeting via Zoom hosted by Lakeshores Division, NER. Saturday, February 11th, 2023, at 10 AM. Program: Brad White (Div12)–”Developing Operations for the PRR Chautauqua Branch”; Dave Ellis (MER)–”Expand Your Horizons with Backdrops”; Dave Durr (LSD)–”Scratch-building with Styrene…mostly”. RSVP to Superintendent@div12mcr.org or clerk@div12mcr.org by February 7th 2023. Link will be sent out by February 9th, 2023.
Superintendent’s Letter for January 2023
Whether or not Mr. Groundhog sees his shadow, I hope everyone is taking advantage of the winter weather to work on some railroad projects!
I want to use this opportunity to pass on two main items from our recent Board of Director’s meeting:
- The BoD, after some deliberation, decided that Division 12 would NOT host a Mini-Meet this September. The main reason for this decision is the number of railroad-related events in our general area over the next 6-7 months. These events are noted in our “Upcoming events” sections, but I’ll mention them again here:
- RPM East, Friday and Saturday, March 24th and 25th,
- Rails to Pittsburgh, 2023 Mid Central Region NMRA regional convention. May 4th-7th
- Round the Curve to Altoona 2023. NMRA Mid-Eastern Region Convention, October 19-22, 2023
- The NKP Historical Society is also in the early planning phases of possibly holding their annual convention in Erie this Fall as well.
All these events will compete, more or less, for the same pool of clinicians, attendees, and attendee expenses as our event. Correspondingly, we felt it best to wait at least a year before attempting another Mini-Meet.
That said, I would encourage all of our Division members to attend one or more of the above events, both to support our fellow model railroaders and for your own personal enjoyment and growth in the hobby. Personally, I plan to attend all the above, if possible.
The Division officers and BoD are working on a business continuity plan for our Division. The recommendation for such a plan originates from the Mid Central Region Technology Committee, and is part of “best practices” for any organization. The plan strongly recommends having at least two individuals (a main person and an emergency back-up) with access to the major business functions of the organization, such as the bank accounts, website and webhosting, mailing lists, newsletter, company store etc. There is a fair bit of “business-y” stuff behind the scenes of our Division, and we will be looking for volunteers to serve as emergency back-up people for these slots as we work through the plan. Please consider volunteering for these positions as we develop them.
Mike Hauk
Superintendent, Division 12, MCR
Current Builder’s Plate newsletter available here.
Current Mid-Central Region Kingpin newsletter available here.
Know of any train shows in Western Pennsylvania, Western New York, or North East Ohio? Please send them to me at webeditor@div12mcr.org
Allegheny Western Facebook Page or Facebook Group
National Model Railroad Association
Mid Central Region