Amherst Railway Society P. O. Box 2351 Amherst, MA Bitten by the Bug By George & Kathy Melvin

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1 Amherst Railway Society P. O. Box 2351 Amherst, MA The next meeting of the Amherst Railway Society will be 7:30 pm EDT Tuesday, April 15, 2014, at the Amherst Regional Middle School Auditorium. Meetings are canceled if Amherst Regional Schools are canceled, if meetings are canceled, the notice will be posted at and at Bitten by the Bug By George & Kathy Melvin "Bitten by the Bug" will detail the influences and activities that led George, as a preteen watching trains through the events that led to a 41-year career with the rail industry and many years later, how Kathy was, too, bitten by the bug and has become passionate about rail photography and model railroading. George and Kathy Melvin live in Readfield, Maine and operate a publishing business under the name of Melvin Photos. George has authored many magazine articles and eight books for two different publishers, with the first one New England Diesels published in He retired from a 41-year career as a professional railroader in Kathy is accomplished in the medium of watercolor and has training in art and digital photography. She has had her work published in several publications. She works full time as the Administrative Manager for Phoenix House of Maine. In 2009, they launched their publishing business, co-authoring and publishing Tehachapi Today! This is a contemporary look at that world-class rail fan location in southern California. Since then, they have also coauthored and published Boston and Maine Memories Featuring the Photography of Preston Johnson and Bangor and Aroostook Stations and Structures. They are currently developing a product line of DVDs each containing 100 high-resolution images from photos in their extensive collection. From the Treasurer All donations to the Amherst Railway Society may be tax deductible. As Amherst Railway Society Inc. is a 501 C(3) tax exempt organization, your donations (of either cash and/or property) may be deducted on your Schedule A, Form 1040 of your Federal income tax. Consider the Amherst Railway Society in your estate planning. Your gifts can be restricted or non-restricted (you can pre-determine how you want your donation used). Upon request, and proper documentation of course, the Treasurer will issue you a letter to be used as justification for your tax deductions Page 1 of 6

2 Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Modeling Clinics January 22-23, 2015 Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show West Springfield, MA January 24-25, 2015 Message from the President: A couple of things at the March 22nd BOD meeting that the membership should be aware of... After postponing a needed dues increase for several years the BOD has voted to increase the dues for future years. Effective July 1, 2014 the membership dues for non-students will be: 1 year $28 3 year $70 5 year $112 Renewals or new memberships prior to July 1 will be at the current rates. Full time students will remain free. [Related to the above... The Show Committee has increased the ticket price for the Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show from $10 to $14 per day with a discount for two day attendance.] Members of the Board toured the Moses Auditorium on the grounds of the ESE in West Springfield on Friday, March 28th. The goal is moving the Amherst Railway Society monthly meetings from Amherst to West Springfield. The BOD met briefly after the tour and formed a subcommittee of the Board to negotiate a written agreement between the ARS and ESE regarding use of the facility. This month I will be appointing the nominating committee. If you would like to serve on that committee or if you are interested in "running for office" please let me know. {The committee has to present the slate of officers to the Board of Directors a month before the June annual meeting.} As you should be aware... I have indicated my desire to not run for President again... The NMRA-NER Fall Convention, Sep 11-15, is in Palmer at the Steaming Tender... Several days devoted to Model Railroading, but also Prototype excursions... [Flyers at the meeting] I have received a nice thank you note from the Central Vermont Railway Historical Society for our donation to them. For those who might be interested... The 2015 Awards and Grant cycle will be announced on or shortly after July 1, The submission period will be from Sept 1, 2014 to Oct 31, The Awards and Grants will be publicly announced at the 2015 Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show in West Springfield, MA on Sunday, January 25th at 1PM... Steamtown [in Scranton, PA] will be offering free entrance days in 2014: The ones that are left are: Apr 19-20: Opening weekend of National Park Week Aug 25: National Park Service's 98th birthday Sep 27: National Public Lands Day Nov 11: Veteran's Day Tickets now on sale for Mass Bay RRE's 'Nautilus Extra' on Saturday, May 10 The flyer is enclosed in this newsletter. If you are interested, CALL the MBRRE at the number on the flyer. Be sure to ask for the ARS member discount.

3 Amherst Railway Society Newsletter April 2014 Message from the Show Director: Our first formal meeting of the Show Committee for the 2014 calendar year took place on Saturday, March 22 nd. The agenda was short but important. The first item on the agenda was a recap of the 2014 Show. Once again, with over 21,000 people at the gate (total population of just over 25,000), we did well.btw, we measure how well we have done by attendance, of course, but more importantly, by how much grant money we can supply to that program each year. As many of you know, we were able to grant over40,000 dollars to various non-profit, train related organizations. Also, please note that the press release that was prepared regarding this info, was picked up in various national mags, including the most recent Model Railroader. The second item was a discussion of the increasing expenses that we incur every year. This includes the costs of tables to the cost of barriers, to the cost of signs, to the cost of the West Springfield Police and Fire Departments, to you name it the costs rise every year! If you think about the logic of it, we only have two choices, the first option would be to do nothing (which in turn means that we cut into our grant money), or offset expenses. We are looking into both options and will keep you posted as soon as a formal decision has been made. Our second agenda item was that of restructuring the Show with regard to departments, teams and volunteers. We have basically said that once all new jobs have descriptions, we will be looking for people that want to take a larger role in helping us with our Annual Railroad Hobby Show. As of this writing, all jobs are open and once descriptions/job duties are published, we will be interested in having any of you fill any of these positions. We will have those descriptions out to you before the May meeting so that we can hear back from you prior to the summer. We need only hear from you to have the discussions begin. Finally, we are only a few meetings away from our Annual Silent Auction. This year, however, we have a serious problem. We have accumulated so many collections, donations, pieces, that we do NOT have the space at the Middle School for the auction if we were to bring everything. In fact, we have been a bit tight and have not been able to bring everything that we have for the past 2 auctions. This year, we want it to be different. We have so many pieces, that we need a rather large place to host this.so, stay tuned and we will keep you posted as to the date, time and place of this year s auction. If we need to, we can always have a smaller auction as we have been doing in the past again, we will let you know ASAP. As always, I encourage anyone with any ideas, thoughts for the show, possible new vendors you name it; we would love to hear from you. John Sacerdote, Show Director Page 3 of 6

4 Message regarding the Ad Hoc Strategic Planning Committee: At the March 22, meeting of the ARS Board of Directors, the Ad Hoc Strategic Planning Committee reported on the results of their survey of the members. Following the report, the president declared that the work of the committee had concluded. Ad Hoc Strategic Planning Committee final report is as follows: Kind of organization The survey was reflective of the eclectic group of people we are * The Train Show is the major interest across the membership followed by ~ A. Meeting place of our own ~ B. An operating railroad * Current activity ~ Change in start time for our meetings - already in place * Real Estate ~ Possible site at the Big E in West Springfield, MA ~ If the above is completed it will take care of both the Library and the Store Doug Moore - co-chairman Dick Joyce - co-chairman Meeting attendance the past three years has averaged 80 people per monthly meeting April 16, 2013 (85) Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum's "Then and Now" by Sam Bartlett May 21, 2013 (64) Searching for Steam in China" by Jim Schweitzer June 18, 2013 (105) Annual Meeting, Silent Auction & Conrail SD80MAC and CSX SD70Ace by Patrick Hildreth September 17, 2013 (79) Effective Rail Advocacy by Christopher Parker October 15, 2013 (72) Valley Railroad by Bob Bell November 19, 2013 (76) Saratoga and North Creek Railroad " by Joe Kurland January 18, 2014 (to be rescheduled) Holyoke Street Railroad " by Jeremy Smith March 18, 2014 (85) From First to Worst:Metro North, plus High Speed Rail of Japan and China by Jim Cameron Upcoming presentations in this our 50 th year of monthly programs include: May 20, 2014 Mike Tylik on Model Railroading June 16, th Annual Meeting & Robert Frascella railroad artist. Message from the Clerk: Memberships expire on June 30 of the year listed. Student memberships require an update of year and expected graduation. Regular adult memberships are $20 for one year, $50 for three years, or $80 for five years. The five year membership renewal is equal to one free year. Please note the deadlines for the upcoming newsletters, and be sure to submit your articles before the deadline Upcoming ARS meeting Dates Newsletter Deadline May 20, 2014 May 3, 2014 June 17, 2014 May 31, 2014 (before the first of the month) ANNUAL REPORTS DUE AT THIS TIME

5 to Volunteer for the Amherst Railway Society 2015 Railroad Hobby Show We need volunteers who are serious about helping with the Largest Show in North America! Please sign up using the form below: Please complete this form and return to us ASAP (see reverse for contact info) NAME STREET ADDRESS (IF APPLICABLE) CITY, STATE, ZIP PHONE NUMBER ALTERNATE PHONE Check and list all that you are interested in: READ THE BACK OF THIS FORM TO LEARN MORE ABOUT JOBS AVAILABLE!!! Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday THE COMMITTEE WILL MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO ASSIGN YOU TO TASKS REQUESTED; YOU MAY BE ASKED TO FILL IN WHERE NEEDED Page 5 of 6

6 All Volunteers are eligible for FREE PARKING!! Available Jobs Include: THURSDAY JOBS AVAILABLE (Show Set-up) - Signs, including table numbers (mostly in the am) - Tables and chair set-up and placement (all day long; coordinate with Boy Scouts in evening) - door monitor/traffic control (all day long, but in shifts) - Stanchions in Parking lot for bus and ARS Parking only; add appropriate signs to stanchions FRIDAY JOBS AVAILABLE (Vendors Arrive) - door monitor/traffic control (all day long, but in shifts) - barrier providers/set-up (all day long, but in shifts) - hands on volunteers - test tracks (if applicable) - time savers (if applicable) - reception center set up SATURDAY/SUNDAY (SHOW TIME) JOBS AVAILABLE - reception center (greetings) - reception center raffle ticket sales - door monitor/traffic control (extras on doors 3,5,7 in BLC) CLOSE JOBS AVAILABLE (Sunday afternoon and Sunday evening after the show is over) - door monitor/traffic control/door guard (no vehicles until notice; in shifts) - break down of reception center (late afternoon) - collection of signs, numbers, easels, homasote boards, AV equipment (late afternoon) - Boy Scouts assistance and coordination of table and chair breakdown (late afternoon) - Break down of children s play area (late afternoon) For more information or to return this form, contact: Show Office at ShowOffice@AmherstRail.org or call or send your form to: Amherst Railway Society P.O. Box 247 Monson, MA or just bring your completed form to the Next Meeting!!!

7 Don t miss Mass Bay RRE s exclusive train excursion THE NAUTILUS EXTRA on the Providence & Worcester Railroad (Boston) - Worcester - Putnam, CT - Groton, CT & Return Saturday, May 10, 2014 ONLY!! Mass Bay RRE s NAUTILUS EXTRA train excursion over the Providence & Worcester Railroad s Norwich Branch offers the public a rare opportunity to travel by train to the Submarine Force Museum in Groton, home of the USS Nautilus. The NAUTILUS EXTRA departs from the P&W s operating headquarters on Hammond Street in Worcester, MA at 8:30 AM. After picking up passengers at Worcester s restored Union Station (see box below) we ll travel down the P&W s Norwich route through Putnam (where passengers may also board), Plainfield and Norwich. We ll then travel southward along the banks of the Thames River to the Submarine Force Museum, the only submarine museum operated by the United States Navy. We ll make about a 21/2 hour stop at Museum, which features the world s finest collection of submarine artifacts. There you ll be able to take a self-guided tour through the USS Nautilus. Our excursion train will then return to Worcester, arriving around 6:00 PM. We ll make one or more photo stops along our return trip. Our train will consist of the P&W s fleet of refurbished former Amtrak passenger cars. In addition to standard coach seats, Deluxe Coach seating is available in the parlor car Massachusetts for a modest additional fare. First-class seating in swivel or lounge chairs is available in the Massachusetts and the observation car New Englander. The Deluxe and First-class fares include The Commuter Rail Direct Connection complimentary light snack Coach seating from Boston & western suburbs Deluxe Coach and beverage service throughout the trip. Box Make a direct connection to our Nautilus Extra train lunches are available for at Worcester Union Station! Take MBTA train 1501 advance purchase, or you from Boston & western suburbs to Worcester (departs may bring your own food. South Station 6:40 AM, arrives Worcester 8:10 AM); Also, the snack counter in the our hosts will guide you to an adjacent platform dining car of our train will where you ll board our special train. Return to offer freshly-cooked Boston on train 1512 departing Worcester at 6:30 Parlor Car seating Observation Car hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, PM. Note: Purchase MBTA train tickets individually. snacks and beverages. Train capacity is limited! All seats are reserved and will be assigned in advance. Passengers wishing to sit together should order tickets together as a group. The NAUTILUS EXTRA operates ONE DAY ONLY, rain or shine. All sales are final and tickets are not refundable. Tickets will be mailed to you in early June along with driving directions to the departure point in Worcester. Special discounted fares and preferred seating are available for Mass Bay RRE members only. For more information about this excursion or any other Mass Bay RRE event, visit our web site at call us at , or send to: trips@massbayrre.org. Mass Bay RRE is a Massachusetts non-profit tax-exempt [501(c)(3)] educational cor-poration. We have operated train excursions throughout New England since Mail your ticket order for the NAUTILUS EXTRA to: Mass Bay RRE, Box 4245, Andover, MA Please include a self-addressed, stamped business-size envelope with your order! Make checks payable to Mass Bay RRE Telephone orders accepted with Visa, MasterCard or Discover at (EM1) Please send tickets for Mass Bay RRE s NAUTILUS EXTRA on Saturday, May 10, 2014: Name: Additional Names (required): Address: City: State: ZIP: Telephone: G Check here if you are a member of Mass Bay RRE *Must be current Mass Bay RRE member for discounted fare RRE Use Only Adult MBRRE Member Coach Fare@ $74*... $ Adult Non-member Coach Fare@ $84... $ Child (Age 12 & under) Coach Fare@ $44... $ Box $12... $ Premium Seating (add to basic Coach fares above) Deluxe Coach +$25... $ First-class Parlor Car +$60... $ First-class Observation Car Seats@ +$75... $ TOTAL... $ Boarding Location: G Hammond St., Worcester (Dep. 8:30 AM) G Worcester Union Station (Dep. 8:45 AM) G Putnam, CT (Dep. 9:50 AM) Payment information: G Check enclosed G Please charge my credit card: G MasterCard G Visa G Discover Card Number : Card Expiration Date: / Signature: Card Security Code: (on back of card) Credit card billing address if different from above: ZIP: How or where did you first hear about this trip?