Upcoming Railroading Events

Monthly: 3rd Saturday, 7PM-10PM. Open Crew Call-Ohio Northern Railroad, Hambden, OH. For more information and address please contact Brad White at valleyln55@gmail.com

March 20th-22nd 31st Annual Narrow Gauge Show Salem, OH

March 21st and 22nd 2025 RPM-East returns to the Westmoreland County Community College in Youngwood, PA. Registration link RPM EAST

May 2025 MCR Convention Buckeye Express Dublin, Ohio. May 15-18 2025 https://buckeyeexpress.div6-mcr-nmra.org/Main.html

July 14-19, 2025 2025 NMRA National Convention, Novi, MI

https://www.nmra.org/conventions/2025-nmra-national-convention-novi-mi

 

NMRA Partnership Program

The NMRA Partnership Program is a member benefit that truly has a tangible payback. The NMRA has partnered with model railroad manufacturers of all sizes, giving them exposure on The NMRA website in return for receiving generous discounts for NMRA members all year long. Some provide members with special codes, others prefer a phone or email order, but all appreciate the additional business from our members. And of course, our members appreciate the extra savings…savings that can actually pay the cost of NMRA membership!

For complete descriptions of the partners, the discount they offer, and instructions on applying the discount on your order visit the NMRA Partnership Program web page. If you are not signed in as a member, you will only see a list of the partners offering the discounts. To see the instructions on how to apply the discounts you need to register or log in as a registered member. If you have not registered, here is a FAQ with instructions for how to register at the NMRA website.

 

June Membership Meeting: Between the Rails

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Division 12’s June Membership Meeting will be followed by a picnic lunch, meeting other railroaders, and train watching.

A short membership meeting will be held on June 14th 2025 at 11:00 AM at the North Gale Street picnic area in Westfield, NY. After the meeting, we will sponsor a picnic and train watching, joining with other railroad groups in our division’s area:

We look forward to meeting with new folks who are not yet part of the Alleghany Western Division, but who share an interest in model or prototype railroads.

Food service will be at 12:30 PM. Hamburgers, hot dogs, buns, and condiments will be provided. Please bring a dish to share, table service and drinks for yourself and guests, and outdoor chairs if you have them. Please consider carpooling.

Please RSVP to Superintendent@div12mcr.org by June 7th 2025 with the number of people attending, so we can estimate the food purchases.

Membership Meeting: April 14, 2018

Membership Meeting at the Trolley Station

Division 12 held a membership meeting on Saturday, April 14th at the Cambridge Springs Trolley Station. The minutes of the meeting are available on the Documents page.

During the business segment of the meeting, the three appointed officers were elected by an election of acclimation, keeping us in alignment with our even-year election cycle. Also, a motion to amend the Regulations put forth by the clerk and recommended by the board of directors passed unanimously. The amended Regulations and the minutes explaining the rationale for the amendments are both available on the Documents page.

One of the ongoing features of our membership meetings is the Bring and Brag segment. Five members (including a brand new member) shared a variety of structures, rolling stock, and plans that they have been working on recently:

  • Doug Sandmeyer shared an On30 queen post bridge built from an S scale Hunterline kit.
  • Brad White shared a Lasercut kit of an elevator and a cement hopper.
  • New member, Ray Goetz shared a heavily kit bashed box cab HO locomotive as an example of the crazy things he builds in his basement.
  • Dave Ellis shared a hand drawn, 1″=1′ track plan of an addition to his attic layout.
  • Mike Hauk shared several really nicely weathered Bowser F-30 flat cars with Owl Mountain lumber loads.

Photographs of the Bring and Brag projects are on our Facebook page.

Blaine Hays

Our presentation, by Blaine Hays, got us off to a great start for having interesting and informative presentations at our membership meetings. He presented information, great photographs, and even some personal stories of his researching trolleys and interurban systems of the Erie area over the years.  Despite our having to troubleshoot dimming the light in the trolley station for our presentations, the topic and quality of his presentation couldn’t have been more appropriate.

Division 12 at Railfest 2018

Division 12 will have an information table at Railfest, an NMRA sponsored show presented by Division 5 of the Mid Central Region. It is one of the largest train shows in Ohio including dealers, operating layouts, and displays. Railfest is held at Lakeland Community College, 7700 Clocktower Drive, Kirtland, Ohio 44094. It is open on both Saturday the 17th of March and Sunday the 18th of March from 10 AM until 4 PM.

Meeting and Event Schedule 2018

  • February: First Membership meeting on Saturday, February 10, 2018 at the Quality Inn and Suites in Erie, PA.
  • March: Board of Directors meeting Saturday, March 10 at the Cambridge Springs Trolley Station. Planning for 2018 meetings and activities.
  • April: Membership meeting: Saturday, April 14th at 1:00 PM at the Cambridge Springs Trolley Station. Presentation: Blaine Hays on Erie Interurban transit.
  • May: Membership meeting: Saturday, May 12th at 1:00 PM at the Cambridge Springs Trolley Station. Presentation: Dick Bradley on short lines of the 1960s.
  • June: Membership meeting and Event: Saturday, June 9th Picnic and train watching at Gale Street in Westfield NY. Membership meeting at 11:00 AM and picnic beginning at 12:30 PM.
  • July: Membership meeting: Saturday, July 14th at 10:00 AM at the Cambridge Springs Trolley Station. Presentation: Dave Ellis on model railroad backdrops.
  • July: Event: Division 12 Information Table and T-Trak Layout at the Jefferson Historical Society’s Train Show on Saturday, July 21st from 10:00 AM-3:00 PM.
  • August: Membership meeting: Saturday, August 11th at 10:00 AM at the Cambridge Springs Trolley Station. Presentation: Brad White on model railroad operations on the Chautauqua Branch.
  • September: Membership meeting: Saturday, September 8th at 1:00 PM at the Salamanca Railroad Museum. Details to be confirmed
  • September: Board of Directors meeting: Saturday, September 29th, at the Cambridge Springs Trolley Station. Planning for November Division 12 events: Erie Train Show, T-Trak Displays, NMRA Layout tours.
  • October: Membership meeting: Tentatively, Erie area meeting with presentation on operations on a model railroad and then operating on the railroad after the meeting. Details to be confirmed.
  • November: Public Event(s): Erie Train Show and possible other public demonstrations of Division 12 T-Trak layout. NMRA only event: Layout tours.
  • December: Break and holidays.

Erie Train Show

Division 12 had a table at the March 4th, Erie Train show displaying our new signs and banner. Several visitors with interest in the NMRA, or our local division, stopped by and took hand-outs such as brochures and applications. The regular NMRA application and the RailPass (9 month discount application) are always available online at the NMRA website. 

As several members gaining an interest in T-Trak were gathered together, we started discussion on “guidelines” for our modules. Members of the I-80 group visited our table to share their insights into building and operating T-Trak. Having some trains running on T-Trak modules could add another layer of interest for visitors at future events.