A History of the Central Suffolk Operations Group

Transcription

1 Volume 46, Number 1 Spring 2016 Official publication of the Sunrise Trail Division of the National Model Railroad Association, Inc. Winter Meet February 2016 Photos/ Ray Muntz A History of the Central Suffolk Operations Group By Byron Lane It started innocently enough five years ago in the backroom of the Three Guys Hobby store in Smithtown, NY, (Betty Michaels, proprietor). Three model railroaders who happened to frequent the store on Saturday mornings got to talking. And the talking slowly evolved into the idea of creating a model railroad operations group. The idea caught on and grew to the point where there are now five large layouts involved and sessions are held on a rotating basis. Now proudly calling itself the Central Suffolk Operations Group or CSOG there are now about 13 operators who have been holding almost weekly operating sessions for the past five years, All five of these layouts are impressive and one in particular, the Island Central, was featured in the May 2012 issue of Model Railroader. These roads include the Jerome Central Rail Road, Owner/operator - Michael J. Ryan, Centereach, NY; the Great Northern Rail Road, Owner/operator - Ron Engel, Saint James, NY; the Island Central Rail Road, Owner/ operator - Howard Dwyer, Farmingville, NY; the New York Connecting Railroad, Owner/operator John Jaklitsch, Selden, NY; and the Stone Canyon Rail Road, Owner/operator John Feraca, Shirley, NY. The group meets once a week for three hours in the evening. There are currently thirteen operators in the group and a session could have anywhere from four to nine operators Continued on Page 3 Sunrise Trail Spring Meet April 30 10:00AM 4:00PM St. David s Lutheran Church, 20 Clark Boulevard, Massapequa Park *Live Clinics* Operating Modular Layouts* Model Contest Photo Contest* White Elephant Table*Bargains* For questions or more information, visit our website: or contact: Steve Perry (631) , seperry@optonline.net

2 perspective / DENNIS DEANGELIS president s corner 2 EDITOR & PUBLISHER Daniel Shepard th Street Bayside NY (718) djshep@verizon.net CIRCULATION Steven Perry sperry@optonline.net THE CANNON BALL is published quarterly by the Sunrise Trail Division of the National Model Railroad Association, Inc. for the benefit of the model railroading community. SUBSCRIPTIONS U.S. and possessions: $7.00 per year. Please make check or money order payable to Sunrise Trail Division. Send requests for new subscriptions, renewals or address changes to Walter Wohleking 5 Howard Drive Huntington NY (631) wgw5hd@gmail.com CONTRIBUTIONS Articles, photographs and artwork are welcome in either hardcopy or as computer files. Copy is due by the 1st of February, May, August, and November and should be sent to the Editor at the above address. Submitted material will be returned upon request. OFFICERS Dennis DeAngelis, President rs31556@yahoo.com Walter Wohleking, Vice President wgw5hd@gmail.com Michael Bowler, Secretary bowlerm26@yahoo.om Steven Perry, Treasurer seperry@optonline.net DIRECTORS Richard Mazzola (2017) rpm253@gmail.com David Metal (2017) dmetal@juno.com Michael Siegel (2017) viamdlr@hotmail.com Joseph Bux (2018) buxjoe@aol.com Kevin Katta (2018) boxcarny@yahoo.com Mary Rogers (2018) mary@thelocusgroup.com ACHIEVEMENT PROGRAM Michael Siegel CONTESTS Howard Dwyer dhdwyer@optonline.net MEMBERSHIP Steven Perry PUBLICITY Michael Siegel WEBSITE Richard Mazzola Representative on NER BoD Kevin Katta We had our Winter Meet and business meeting on February 13. Thanks to Ed Koehler for his presentation on the Railroads of the East End of Long Island and Mike Sigel for a look at Operation Lifesaver. James Soberman gave an unexpected presentation giving us an inside look at what goes into manufacturing a model engine. We also had our elections. Thanks to Walter Wohleking for agreeing to return to the Board as Vice President; to Mike Bowler for agreeing to serve as Secretary; and to Steve Perry for continuing on as Treasurer. Steve has been of invaluable assistance to me. Thanks to Joe Bux and Kevin Katta who agreed to return as Directors. New to the Board is Mary Rogers. Many of us knew her father. Check out her website: Like many of us, I made my annual pilgrimage to the Amherst Train Show in Springfield, MA. If you have never made the trip, I highly recommend it. In the past I scouted for bargains, but this is less the case now. The principle reason I go is to see all the products commentary / DAN SHEPARD Interesting articles arrived for this issue, again reflecting a wide array of interests of Sunrise Trail Division members. East River ferries, a layout phone system, easy ballasting instructions, and a group that operates, round-robin style, in Suffolk. In addition, there are two articles reflecting on what attracts new blood to the hobby, and both seem to conclude that the sight of operating trains hits a nerve that kindles a renewed interest in our hobby. It has been an interesting winter. I too ventured up to Springfield, where I pick up plenty of ideas and items for the pike. It s a good place to talk to the manufacturers about present and future products. And every tourist line from the manufacturers. All the major manufacturers are there and you have the opportunity to see what they are planning and speak directly to them. Happy 90 th Birthday to long-time member Bob Spohn. Bob had been very active in the Division for years. He was one of the founders of the HOTrack group and is still active with them today. We need to recognize the passing of Charlie Lehman. He was the owner of Crown Custom Products that brought us so many great brass models. Plans are underway for the Spring Meet. Check our website and look for our messages for more information. Remember, this is your organization. All of us on the Board want to make it better for you but we cannot do so if we do not know what you want. Please reach out to any of us with your thoughts on how we can improve the Division. Dennis in the Northeast is there too, looking for support and patronage. You can also see what may be the future Bluetooth control, Layout Command Control, Dead Rail Control. These things will take time to get to N Scale, but still the future looks interesting. And our own Winter Meet also showcases some very fine modeling and ideas. John Feraca s models took first and second prize in the contest. Joe Bux brought his outstanding ferry diorama, and clinics by Mike Siegel on Operation Lifesaver and Ed Koehler on the railroads of East Long Island. There is a wealth of railroading knowledge in our division please share with the Cannoball. THE CANNON BALL

3 Hobby Shop Conversations Lead to Organized Operating Sessions in Suffolk Continued from page 1 in attendance on any given night--depending on which layout is involved, and of course, other human factors. Recently the ROG (Retired Operations Group), a sub-division of the CSOG made up of the retired operators, was formed. This group meets once a week in the morning for three hours. The layouts are all HO scale wireless DCC and sessions are conducted as close to prototypical operation as possible. The Dispatcher and Yard Master control most of the activity. The Dispatcher oversees the train movements around the layout from his dispatcher board. Radios are used and the form of control probably most closely resembles prototypical DTC (Direct Traffic Control). The Yard Master operates the main freight yard making all the necessary switching assignments to break down incoming trains and construct outgoing trains. An Assistant Yard Master is employed occasionally when heavy volume dictates. The car routing system for a train includes car cards, waybills and a write-up which describes the overall train assignment. These items are provided by the layout Superintendent and are used by the conductors in the conduct of business operations. The engineers operate the locomotives as directed by the conductor. On some runs, one person handles the conductor and engineer jobs. Five to six different trains could be in operation at the same time and approximately twelve trains could be run during a session. Some trains, a local freight, a turn or a transfer for example, might take the entire session to complete its assignment because of main line traffic. All of the owners are NMRA members. Three of the layouts participated in the recent April 2015 IslandOps operating sessions and photographs of the layouts can be viewed online at islandops.org/ and at the Suffolk County Operations Group website, There could be others out there, masters to novices, that may be alone and interested in joining with others to more fully enjoy this hobby. This article describes the creation and growth of the Central Suffolk Operations Group. It demonstrates that the possibility exists that they might be able to connect with others to organize, or join, an operations group like that which has occurred with the Central Suffolk Operations Group, bringing together both experts and novices in the enjoyment of the hobby. SPRING

4 4 A Model Railroad Phone System By David Metal Having just spent a bunch of time trouble shooting and fixing the telephone system on Al Sohl s Western Bay RR Club after it failed, I decided it was time to create a telephone system for Gramps Railroad. The Gramps Railroad needed a system that has a DISPATCHER CONTROL PANEL with the ability to signal and talk to one of the ten TRAIN ORDER telephones in use. Each of the train order positions needs to be able to signal the dispatcher and the dispatcher needs to be able to signal the train order station. I decided that a manual switchboard system will do this with the dispatcher as the switchboard operator. I have ten TRAIN ORDER locations that need to have a telephone so I decided to design the DISPATCHER CONTROL PANEL with eleven (one spare model railroads grow) identical circuits. Each of these circuits has a Light Emitting Diode that blinks when the dispatcher is called, a talk/listen switch to service the train order circuit that turns off the LED when the talk circuit is activated, and a call Button to signal the Train Order Station when the dispatcher wants to talk to the Train Order Station operator. There is a jack for the dispatcher Headset/Microphone and a 12volt and a 5volt system power supply with an on/off main power switch and power on LED that complete the dispatcher control panel equipment. The eleven circuits are arranged in columns that consist of (from top down) a red LED that will blink when the TRAIN ORDER STATION calls, and a two position Switch that is in the NORMAL position when the circuit is not in use and in the TALK position to talk to the dispatcher. There is a CALL BUTTON to signal the TRAIN ORDER STATION to pick-up the phone. When a call is made from a Train Order Station the LED on the dispatcher panel will blink until the dispatcher moves the Switch to the talk position. The dispatcher location has a jack to receive the HEADSET/MICROPHONE plug or any other device in use. The headset/microphone provides hands free operation. The system power supply is used for signaling (+5 volts) and the talk battery power supply (+12 volts). TRAIN ORDER STATIONS - There are ten train order locations that will need to be able to call and talk to the dispatcher. They are: 1. West Staging, 2. East Staging, 3. Big Bend, 4. Coal Dump area, 5. Small Town, 6. City West, 7. City East, 8. Small Town, 9. Industry City Yard, 10. Staging/Coal Plant area. I plan for a possible additional location and built a system with 11 train order locations plus the dispatcher location. Each of the 11 train order locations needs a panel with a LED (red), a Piezo alarm, a CALL/OFF/TALK switch (SPDT-CO), a Phone network and a telephone handset. The red LED and the Piezo alarm are activated by the call station switch on the dispatcher panel, the alarm sounds and the LED lights while the button is pressed. The operator at the train order station calls the dispatcher by moving the switch from the OFF position to the CALL position for a second, and then by placing it in the TALK position, when the dispatcher responds conversation may begin. When conversation is completed the switch is placed in the OFF position. To avoid some of the problems of mis-wiring I designed the system to be plug and play. Each of the train order stations requires four wires for operation, the first six positions on the dispatcher s panel are wired to one of the DB25S connectors (J1) and the remaining five position are wired to the second DB25S connector (J2). Fifty-foot prewired cables that have a DB25P connector at one end and a DB25S connector at the other end were purchased and are connected from the two dispatcher position connectors (J1 and J2) to each of the two junction boxes located under the layout. To extend the cable reach, two cables can be connected in series to provide 100 feet of reach. Each of these junction boxes has a DB25P connector and three DB9S connectors. The DB9S connectors have pins 1 to 8 wired with pin 9 unused. The first DB9S connector is wired pin to pin, pin 1 thru pin 8 of the DB25P connector. The second DB9S connector, pins 1 thru 8, is wired to the next eight pins of the DB25P connector starting with pin 9 and ending with pin 16. The third DB9S connector, pins 1 thru 8, is wired to the next eight pins of the DB25P connector starting with pin 17 and ending with pin 24, pin 25 is not used. I purchased prewired 25 foot cables with DB9P connectors on both ends to run between the junction boxes and the breakout boxes. The three DB9P cables are connected to each of the three the DB9S connectors on the junction box. The other end of the DB9P cable is connected to one of the six break-out boxes that have one DB9S connector on them. The DB9S connector is wired to two four conductor cables. Cable A is wired to the first four pins and cable B is wired to the next four pins with pin 9 unused. Each of THE CANNON BALL

5 these four-wire cables goes to a Train Order Station location where the wires are connected to a screw terminal strip in the TRAIN ORDER STATION panel. I have been buying Trim Line style telephone sets from thrift shops for use at the TRAIN ORDER STATIONS, so far these phones have cost an average of $1.50 each with a few bad ones. Each phone is mounted on a board that can be attached to the fascia of the layout either in either the vertically or horizontal position (I will mount the phones that are in the area where there is a second level of track in the horizontal position). Each phone is plugged into a TRAIN ORDER STATION panel that is also mounted to the fascia of the layout. I have not modified the phones, just plugged them into the system after testing that they work. By the time you are reading this my railroad will have a working dispatcher phone system. And Boy Did I Hear About It! By Jamie Soberman For many years I have set up a seasonal train display in the front bay window of my home. Planning the display takes time and effort. We think about the theme and structures during our summer vacation, giving me time to assemble and build the necessary parts and equipment. The track sits on a custom-built platform that slides into place within the confines of the window. It is a simple layout consisting of three concentric loops. One loop is for a short freight train; the second for a passenger train; and the third for a trolley car. The scenery starts with a white felt cloth that covers the table and the theme is changed annually. There is always some animated scene just to keep it interesting. The trains are all S. The accessories are American Flyer, Lionel, O, and HO. This all runs on timers and requires minimal maintenance and attention. I usually set it up during the Thanksgiving weekend. Friends come to visit and always comment on the display. Neighbors stop by to look in the window. I have seen many a child and adult staring in watching the trains. Last year was a difficult period. I just could not get myself motivated to plan and set up the railroad. I just could not do it. The week before Christmas the comments started coming in. Aren t you going to set up the trains? No trains this year? My friends whom I ride in with on the LIRR asked when they should bring their grandchild by to see the trains and noted that the children will be disappointed not coming to see the trains. I didn t know that they even came by. My own family questioned my lack of enthusiasm. No trains! Boy did I hear about it. Throughout the twentieth century electric trains have been made part of the tradition of the holiday season. Lionel, American Flyer, and Coca-Cola have used trains in their marketing for over one hundred years. Electric trains and Christmas go together. I guess that is why people love to go on train rides, see display layouts such as the New York Transit Museum railroad in Grand Central Terminal and the railroad display at the New York Botanical Gardens. I have seen many similar seasonal displays in my travels around the country. I was amazed that so many of my friends, family, and neighbors missed my little set up. Thinking about it, many years ago, there was a family that put up a huge, televisioncoverage worthy display every year. I helped them repair the G gauge train display. They asked for donations to be given to a well-known research organization. One year they announced that they would no longer set up their display. The entire community was disappointed. (I am sure the electric company was too.) I guess I understand my neighbors feelings and sometimes things come to an end. Our organization bemoans the lack of growth in our hobby. Think about this: how hard would it be for us as experienced model railroaders to build a small display railroad to share with our communities? Maybe we could stimulate some interest in the hobby. I suggest that anyone you meet who even hints at an interest in getting started in the hobby should be given a little guidance. The NMRA beginner s website gives a lot of basic information about setting up a model railroad. Last December I was on my usual 8:08 PM Babylon train. Sitting across from me was a family with three young children. Dad was pointing out Sunnyside Yard, the Amtrak equipment, and the lit signals along the road. I just watched them and enjoyed listening to the conversation. It was the same with my Dad in the 1950 s, and with my children in the 1990 s. When it was time to get off I saw that we were getting off at the same station. We talked for a minute or two. I told the Dad that there was a train swap meet that weekend in town that would have a few operating layouts. I scribbled a few notes for them on the margin of my newspaper. The following Sunday there he was, one child on his shoulders and one by his side at the show. We talked again. Maybe this is the seed for another generation of model railroaders. For the sake of the hobby, I truly hope so. In the end it all came down to this. I better get started planning the 2016 display while I am thinking about it. How many times can I disappoint these potential model railroaders in the rough? December is only a few months away. SPRING

6 An Interest in East River Ferry Boats from Early On By Joe Bux Some of you may have seen my HO scale East River ferryboat diorama at the recent Sunrise Trail Division Winter Meet. Although ferries are not rail oriented, they were and still are people movers here in the Metropolitan NYC area. I became interested in the NYC Department of Marine & Aviation ferries fleet because as a child I rode between College Point in Queens, to Classon Point in the Bronx. That particular service was abandoned in April 1939 when the Bronx Whitestone Bridge was opened to allow vehicular traffic, a direct route to the 39/40 Worlds Fair in Flushing Meadows. John Red Mike Hylan, Mayor of New York ( ) was dedicated to eliminating all private transit companies that operated in the City, including ferry boat operators. During his administration 16 boats, the largest class of ferries built to a single design for any New York operator, were ordered by NYC and delivered between 1925 and This effectively municipalized all East River ferry operations. The boats were known as the 151-footer Class. As newly constructed vehicular bridges were built, ferry service to those areas was abandoned and the boats were retired. Originally, the boats were named after city councilmen. Some years later, they were renamed for the various areas they served. The last 151 footer, sold to and operated in Department of Army Governors Island service ran until I started my research at the South Street Seaport Museum where I was able to acquire a set of elevation drawings once published in the February 1926 issue of Marine Engineering & Shipping Age. This allowed an accurate model to be constructed. While on a rail marine cruise of NY Harbor, I observed and quickly photographed the remaining ferry slip bridge towers on the Bronx shoreline at Mott Haven. I then drove to the land side and took more pictures. That left only the float bridge to be researched. I noticed from a video on You Tube that the recently renovated South Street Governors Island ferry terminal still had the original 1899 bent wood float bridges. After sending a copy of my passport to the proper authorities, I was allowed to take photographs and measurements. The model diorama followed. The entire project took a few years to complete but it was a lot of fun and quite educational. 6 THE CANNON BALL

7 Long-time Sunrise Trail Division Member Bob Spohn, left, with son Rich at the February 20 HOTrack show. Right, Mike Bowler at the Westbury Train Show with the Sunrise Booth. Photos by Dennis DeAngelis and Ray Muntz. CONTEST RESULTS OF THE 2016 WINTER MEET The STDiv Winter Meet of 2016 was held in Westbury, NY, on February 13. There were three entries in the model contest category. For his model of Bob s Mercantile, John Feraca earned First Place, with points, and a Merit Certificate. And John also placed Second for his model of Brody Engineering,, with 94 points, and also earned a Merit Certificate. The two buildings are pictured below. For his model of Standard Freight Reefer, James Soberman earned 82 points in the prototype car category. The Sunrise Trail Division will hold it s next Spring Meet on April 30. The date of the Annual Fall Convention will be set soon. We hope to see more models entered for judging at this event. See wwwsunrisetraildiv.com for details Photo Howard Dwyer SPRING

8 The Preferred Way to Ballast your Tracks and Keep the Turnouts Functioning After the Gandy Dancers Leave Town By Rob Elliott, Member of the Western Bay Model Railroad Club, Port Saint Lucie, FL via Al Sohl, former Sunrise member 1. On our PSL Western Bay Club Railroad (please see our website listed below), I always rust our rails after laying the track but prior to ballasting. I never use the bright orange rust; the stuff that was once be sold by Floquil. The weathering on the sides of (most) aged rails is a dark brown and/or black (oil and dirt) color which is easily replicated using Rail Brown; again, once sold by Floquil. 2. Before I even think of coming near our turnouts with glue, dirt, ballast or whatever, I always lubricate all moving parts of the turnouts with a few drops of plasticcompatible light oil. The idea is to get the oil into the point rails, the point rail joiners, the ties (the area the point rails slide over) and the area by the throw bar. 3. Now on to ballasting. I like to sprinkle the ballast (we use cooked dirt here as the WBRR is modeled after the RGS and DRGW Narrow Gauge circa 1939) down between the rails first. Sometimes I use a teaspoon and other times just add a pinch with my fingers. Once I have enough down, I push the ballast along with my fingers to level it along the ties. In industrial sidings and worn sections of most mainlines, the ties are usually completely buried. You can always come back and lightly sprinkle on a bit more ballast or push less aggressively as you level the ballast between the rails. 4. Next I apply the ballast (either with a spoon or fingers) along the shoulders (outside the rails) of the roadbed. The WBRR roadbed is usually a low profile roadbed (as was the prototype we model) so that it is almost level with the surrounding ground. But for a steep profile roadbed, you may need applications of glue/ ballast. Apply ballast along the ground level first and secure it with glue. Once dry, continue up the shoulder of the roadbed with ballast and then glue. 5. Be sure to push the ballast off the tops of the ties and shape it the way you want it prior to gluing. I run my fingernail or the back of a #11 Xacto blade on the inside of the rails prior to adding the glue. Now is a good time to shove a piece of rolling stock down the rails to make sure the ballast is not interfering in the flange ways. 6. Now let s talk about the turnouts. I take a pinch of ballast with two fingers and sprinkle a very small amount between the turnout rails to cover just the roadbed but keep it below the tops of the ties, especially near the moving point rail area. Once again I use either my finger nail or an Xacto blade (the back of the blade, please) to run down the flange ways of the rails, in between the guard rails as well as in the frog. Operate the turnout a few times to make sure you still have a nice working turnout Now it is time to secure the ballast. I use a spray bottle of plain water with a few drops of dish detergent. This is called wet water. I use a fine spray mister for this part, wetting the ballast. We found at the club that an empty bottle of men s hair spray or salad dressing works best to get a fine mist which will (usually) not disturb the newly applied dry ballast. You can use a standard (dollar store) spray bottle but this gives a much stronger stream. To avoid moving the dry ballast (in our case, dirt) you must spray above the track to allow the mist of wet water to rain down on the ballast. Once damp enough you can aim the spray nozzle directly at the roadbed to finish the soaking. You do want it wet. 8. We secure our wetted ballast (and our scenery) with 3- to-1 diluted white glue. In other words: dilute one part (Elmer s) white glue with 3 parts water and then add a couple of drops of detergent to help it settle in better 9. I always glue the turnout ballast with an eye dropper and try to keep the glue to a minimum. Avoid getting more than necessary near the working parts of the turnout, if you can. 10. Now I run the Xacto knife through all the flange ways, test the turnout a few times and let it dry overnight. 11. The next morning use your track cleaning block to clean the tops and insides of the rails, taking great care when cleaning the turnout rails of course. 12. To test the turnout operation, take a piece of rolling stock and run it along the tracks and through the turnout. You will probably have to use the (back of) your Xacto blade to clean a few errant pieces of glued ballast that have worked their way into the flange ways and parts of the turnout. If you did the Step 10 carefully, it should be a quick and easy clean up. Well, that s it for the (okay, my) basics of ballasting. It s easy and adds a nice finishing touch for a better looking model railroad. Please see for pictures of our ballasted track, or, better still, arrange for a visit! THE CANNON BALL

9 One Evening Railroad Projects BY Jamie Soberman Several months ago I went to the post office to mail a letter. While waiting on line, I saw a sign showing the stamps available for sale at that time. I noticed a plate of stamps called Circus. The sheet had 16 Forever stamps in four different designs. Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey, Sells Floto, Barnum and Bailey Greatest Show, A.C. Barns, Ringling Brothers Shows, and Hagerbeck Village Show are represented. The stamps are printed in two different sizes. The larger stamp measures 13 x10 and the smaller stamp measures 7 x10 in HO size. When I first saw them, I thought that they would make great circus posters for model railroads. You may have to get a little creative in how you apply them to a textured side of a structure but isn t problem solving a big part of our hobby? My suggestion is to place them on cardstock, cut them to size and cement them to the sides of buildings. If you want to follow the actual prototype you would need to plaster a lot of these posters all over town. Additionally you could use your computer to add date and by the Southern Gentleman Gaining New Members A New Perspective In a restored Southern Railway depot in Western North Carolina, you will find the Apple Valley Model Railroad Club that was featured in the March 2015 issue of Model Railroader. Owned by the city of Hendersonville, NC, the club is allowed to use the historic building on the condition that it is open to the public for several hours a week. To fulfill this obligation, the club s three model railroads are open to the public for two or more sessions each week. The historic train depot and club layouts are among the most popular tourist sites in town. Early club members restored the depot in the 1990s. The former waiting room is used for greeting visitors and for club meetings. The baggage and freight rooms contain the indoor one-hundred by eighteen foot HO standard gauge DCC-controlled model railroad and a new elevated garden railroad train layout is located outside on the passenger platform. Club members serve at both the Wednesday, Saturday and special open house sessions where visitors continue to come in to see the layout. Visitors are welcomed by a member who tells them about the club and the history of the historic depot. The club s weekly program offers the opportunity to run trains on both the HO scale scenic indoor layout and the live planted G- Gauge outside layout. Young children can run the Thomas the Tank Engine layout. Another program allows local children to run location information as a separate add on as was prototype practice. I found another set of stamps that could be used around a farm stand or bulk market similar to Hunts Point Market in the Bronx. The Postal Service describes these stamps as Inspired by the labels found on produce crates during America s early industrial days. These stamps feature four seasonal favorites: watermelon, corn, cantaloupe, and tomatoes. These measure 7 x10 in HO. Welcome to the Sunrise Trail Division Donald Reed New York Ben Frisch Brooklyn Michael Maniscalo Ridgewood Thomas Mitchell Bayport Mitchell Sahagian Commack John Wachter Lindenhurst Byron Lane Saint James Michael Bayard Stony Brook model trains as junior engineers and learn about railroading. The Boy Scouts can work on their Model Railroad Merit Badge. Visitors are often surprised when they wave at the passing steam locomotive and then the engineer returns the wave with a blowing of his whistle. Most of the visitors are amazed at the moving trains as they move through the model scenery which resembles the local Blue Ridge Mountains and the many detailed mini-scenes. Often the visitors are given the opportunity to run a train and to sound the horns, the whistles, and the bells. Families enjoy visiting the Apple Valley Model Railroad in Hendersonville, NC, and the experience is helping to grow our hobby. Other clubs, such as FreeMo, Ntrak and HOtrack modular operating display layout groups can also do this at their open houses. Inviting guests to share operating the club layouts can be the birth of a new model railroader. Operating layouts help remind many of today s dads of their forgotten childhood experiences with model trains. Their model railroading was forgotten perhaps due to the interruptions of sports, girls and making a living. Also, many of today s boys and girls have never seen either prototype trains or model trains. Offering this experience of seeing and operating model railroad trains could be the renewal of our hobby as the dads may then enter the hobby and some years later on the boys and the girls remember today s happy experiences will want to join up too. Model railroads forever!? It could be up to you. SPRING

10 DOWN THE TRACK IN THIS ISSUE SUFFOLK OPERATING GROUP BALLASTING MADE EASY MODEL RAILROAD PHONE SYSTEM EAST RIVER FERRIES 6 BROOKHAVEN DRIVE ROCKY POINT NY FIRST CLASS MAIL PLACE STAMP HERE PLACE MAILING LABEL HERE LOCAL Apr 3 8:30AM-1PM Central Operating Lines swap meet Island Bingo Hall, 1055 Portion Rd, Farmingville (opposite church) $5.00 / under 12 free Apr , 2016 "Ops Til You Drop" Weekend (Utica/Syracuse NY Area) contact Bill Brown at LARC Products@yahoo.com Apr 17 10AM-4PM Central Operating Lines [hi-rail] open house 50A Carlough Rd, Bohemia $Free Apr , 2016 Island Ops (Long Island / NYC) Apr. 30, 2016 Sunrise Trail Division Spring Meet (St. David's Lutheran Church, Massapequa Park) May 19-22, 2016 Port City Rails 2016 Convention (Saint John, New Brunswick) May 22 10AM-4PM Central Operating Lines [hi-rail] open house 50A Carlough Rd, Bohemia $Free June 3-4, 2016 New England/Northeast Railroad Prototype Modelers Meet (Enfield, CT) July 3-10, NMRA National Convention & Train Show (Indianapolis, IN ) Sep , 2016 The Pacemaker NER Convention (Albany, NY) Oct , 2016 Tracks to the Triangle MER Convention (Durham, NC) Recurring: Long Island Live Steamers run days 2nd & last Sundays 10:30AM-3:00PM May thru Oct Southhaven County Park, between exits 57 & 58 off Route 27, Brookhaven lilivesteam.org National Railway Historical Society Long Island Sunrise Trail Chapter meets 3rd Friday of each month at 8:00PM, Christ Church, Carll Ave & Prospect St, Babylon SUBSCRIBE TO 1 year $ years $14.00 Sign up with Sunrise AND JOIN THE NMRA FOR FREE! Just phone or us and we'll do the rest Here's what we'll need to know: Name: Birthday: Address: City, State Zip: Name: Birthday: Address: City,State Zip: Phone: Scale(s): Phone: Scale(s): Walter Wohleking, 5 Howard Drive, Huntington NY (631) or seperry@optonline.net; or surface mail to: 6 Brookhaven Dr., Rocky Point, NY