Mid- Eastern Region of the NMRA
| DATE |
TOPIC |
CLINICIAN |
| ***December
9, 2023 |
"Using
JMRI DecoderPro to program decoders" |
George
Meyrick and Ernie Little, MMR |
| **
January 20, 2024 |
"Using
TinkerCAD" |
Kurt
Thompson, MMR |
| ***February
10, 2024 |
"Using
JMRI DecoderPro to program decoders" |
George
Meyrick and Ernie Little, MMR |
| DATE |
TOPIC |
CLINICIAN |
| December 17, 2023 |
"Locomotive Build for AP
Motive Power" |
Kurt Thompson, MMR |
| January
21, 2024 |
"Portrait
of a Railroad" |
Jonathon
Jones |
| February
18, 2024 |
"Modeling
Railroad Marine Car Rail car Barge/Ferry
Operations" |
John
Gray |
Bernie Kempinski is having an open house of his U.S. Military Railroad Aquia Branch on Sunday, December 3, 2023 from 1:00 PM until 4:00 PM. If you want to attend please RSVP Bernie at Bkempins@yahoo.com. A notice with full information about his layout and address was sent to Potomac Division members via email.
Visit the Northern Virginia Model Railroaders
whose layout's HO scale trains depict the Western
North Carolina Railroad during the steam to diesel
transition. Traction fans will enjoy watching our
trolleys running under overhead wire. The layout
also features award winning structures and
operations conducted on a permanent 20 foot by 50
foot layout controlled by DCC. Bring the kids to see
Thomas the tank engine and his friends who will be
running too. The Club is located in the historic,
circa 1859, Vienna Depot of the former Washington
& Old Dominion Railroad (W&OD), 231 Dominion
Road, N.E., Vienna, VA. History buffs will enjoy the
museum in the waiting room with its displays of the
history of the W&OD. Hours are 1-5 P.M. with
FREE ADMISSION (donations accepted)and masks are
optional. Virtual tour: click
here.
Did you know that the NMRA has a partnership program where NMRA members can receive discounts as an NMRA member? See the information below:
POTOMAC DIVISION NEWS
DECEMBER
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
The
Board of Directors meeting will be
Tuesday, December 19,2023 at 7:30
PM. The meeting will be held using
the Zoom platform and can be
accessed by the clicking here.
POTOMAC/JAMES
RIVER DIVISION'S HOLD JOINT MEET
The
Potomac and James River Divisions
held a joint meet at the
Battlefield Baptist Church in
Warrenton, VA on Saturday,
November 4, 2023. There were seven
clinics, a popular vote contest,
White Elephant sale, Achievement
Program evaluations, and three
model train layouts open for a
layout tour. Some fifty members
attended and participated in the
event. To see a write up of the
meet click here.
NOMINATION
FOR 2024 ABRAMS AWARD
The
Board of Directors is seeking
nominations for the 2024
Marshall Abrams Award to
recognize a Potomac Division
member who has demonstrated
outstanding service to the
Division.
The following guidelines will be used in determining the recipient:
1. The recipient must be a member in good standing of the Division.
2. The recipient must have shown a level of service above and beyond that expected by other members of the Division.
3. In addition to service to the Division, service to the Mid-Eastern Region and national model train efforts may also be considered.
Nominations should be sent by January 1, 2024 to Superintendent Ernie Little at super@potomac-nmra.org. The email should cite reasons why the nominee should be considered for the award.
The Marshall Abrams Award was created by the Potomac Board of Directors in the Spring of 2021 in honor of the late Marshall Abrams who served the Division in several positions including Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent, Potomac Flyer Publisher, and Division webmaster.
The selection process will take place in January, 2024. A committee, appointed by the Division Superintendent, will review the nominations and select the individual(s) to receive the award. The committee is authorized to select two individuals if it sees fit. Although the committee will determine the recipient(s) of the award by February 1, 2024, the announcement of the individual(s) will not be made until the Division's Annual Meeting.
If you are interested in serving on the selection committee please email Ernie Little.
Previous
recipients of the award are Mat
Thompson, MMR, and Jerry Stanley.
VIRGINIA
STATE PARK LECTURE FEATURING BERNIE KEMPINSKI
Well
known model railroader, civil war historian, and Potomac
Division member Bernie Kempinski will be giving a
lecture on Saturday, December 2, 2023 starting at 10:00
AM about railroads during the civil war. The lecture
will be presented at the Leesylvania State Park in their
Park's Visitor Center as part of their coffee talk
series. Admission to the park is $7.00 and the visitor
center is located just past the marina at 2001 Daniel K.
Ludwig Drive, Woodbridge, VA 22191, and you follow the
signs to get to it. Complementary coffee and light
refreshments will be available.
NICKEL CITY LINE CONDUCTS 200th OPERATIONS SESSION
On
Saturday, September 30, 2023 the Bob Rodriguez held the
200th Operations Session of his Nickel City Line model
railroad since the first session was held on November
30, 2002. The operations were conducted in two shifts
with a total of sixteen participants on site, one
virtual, and two visitors. Click here to see more information
on this historic event.
MID-EASTERN
REGION CONVENTION HELD
The NMRA Mid-Eastern Convention was held in Altoona, Pennsylvania, from October 19th through October 22nd with 202 NMRA members in attendance. The Potomac Division had several members present and involved in the presentation of clinics, participating in the model contest, or just attending clinics and other events. Among them were Gil Fuchs, Bill Mosteller, Ken Wilson, Alex Belida, Ernie Little, Brian Sheron, Bob Minnis, and others. The photo on the left of the modeling contest First Place Steam award presented to Alex Belida, MMR for his scratch built Vertical Boiler Engine. The photo on the right is of the Mid-Eastern Region Superintendent's meeting held on Saturday morning with Gordy Robinson MMR, NMRA President (on the left) and Ernie Little, MMR, Potomac Division's Superintendent (next to Gordy) in attendance.
WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS OF THE DIVISION
Please
join the Board of Directors in welcoming new
members to the Potomac Division by reaching
out to them and helping them settle in to
their new Division.
| JANUARY - 2023 | |
| Alan Lander -
Huntington, MD |
Jeff Lodge -
Alexandria, VA |
| Frank Mallison -
Alexandria, VA |
Christopher Thayer -
Vienna, VA |
| APRIL - 2023 | |
| Carter Murray- Silver
Spring, MD |
Scott Vakerics -
Kensington, MD |
| MAY- 2023 | |
| Earl
Boatman - Herndon, VA |
Sean Hoyden - Broad
Run, VA |
| Thomas Kane -
Purcellville, VA |
Mark McGowan - Round
Hill, VA |
| JUNE - 2023 | |
| Christopher Petrone - Alexandria, VA | |
| JULY - 2023 | |
| Stuart Sutton - Silver Spring, MD | |
| AUGUST - 2023 | |
| Ethan Rogers - Alexandria, VA | |
| SEPTEMBER-
2023 |
|
| Ty Bateman - Great
Falls, VA |
Chris Ruegger -
Lansdowne, VA |
| Greg Tate - Woodbridge,
VA |
|
| OCTOBER - 2023 | |
| Brendan Harrington -
McLean, VA |
Jeffrey Jordan - Fort
Valley, VA |
| Michael Byle -
Colonial Beach, VA |
William Hooks -
Colonial Beach, VA |
The
Challenge for the February - March 2024
Flyer will be for your favorite
model railroad station, passenger or
freight, or combo.
So get out your camera, take a picture,
and make up a short description of your
favorite train
station,
passenger or
freight (or
combined).
Let's see what you have to offer! Send
your submissions to: Potomac-Flyer@potomac-nmra.org.
The deadline for entries is
January 10, 2024.
The
staff of the Potomac Flyer thanks everyone
who submitted Favorite Motive Power entries
for our previous Challenge. (And heads up on
the April - May Challenge: it will be for
your original photos and descriptions of
real engines - not models. Let me repeat
that these must be you original photos, not
someone else's or an image plucked off of
the web.
PRIOR POTOMAC DIVISION CHALLENGES
To see the prior Potomac Division Challenges Click here to see the submissions.
Congratulations to
MIke Byle on his
receipt of the
Golden Spike
award.
