From the Editor

It is September already and so we send out this issue of the Train Order. The summer has been busy and short with drought and flood, hot and cool spells, we have had it all. Before long we will be saying goodbye to the leaves and hello to the snows of winter. Some dislike the change to cold but I welcome it. In this area, we get just the right mix. 3 cold, 3 hot, and 3 mild in between each of those.

Variety is good and it reflects in my modeling. I do a little HO modern'ish 1970-80s, then some HOn30 narrow gauge of 1910-1920 vintage and when I really want a challenge, I do some 1863 civil war era stuff. We also have great variety with our members and the different scales and subjects we all model. We have a couple people who model in Z-scale all the way up to Jim Wolsiffer's 1/8 scale outdoor AI railroad. Variety is the spice of life and with our variety of interests we are a pretty special group.

We need layout photos! Please send them to share in the Train Order and help keep the website updated and looking fresh. Email any images to the editor at blackswampdiv@div1.ncrnmra.org.

View from the Cab

Welcome to our 2023-24 season! Our first meeting will be on September 15th. This a bit early in the month but we want to avoid competing with the Fostoria Rail Festival the following week.

I hope everyone had a great summer with lots of model railroading adventures. I know I have! There was a trip to Maine and a visit to the Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway Museum. In August I was involved in arranging a large Free-mo setup at Crossroads village in Flint. I started a new micro layout. I even started building up supplies for a new switching layout I have been planning for some time. As is our tradition, our first meeting back will be all about what you all did over the summer. I will save a few things I did for the meeting but down below you will find some "extras" from my trip to the East Coast and Maine.

I look forward to seeing everyone at the meeting and don't let me be the only one bringing things to show at the September 15th meeting!!!!

Marshall Stull,
mstull@marshallstull.com
Superintendent

Clinic Corner

Hello from the Clinic Corner.

ALL OUR MEMBERS ARE THE CLINIC THIS MONTH!

Welcome back to the modeling season everyone! I hope everyone had a great summer. I'm interested to hear what everyone did over the break. So bring some models, pictures, or presentation of some sort and share what projects you've been working on. Even a good story is entertaining, and that's what we're all here for, sharing and fun. See you all soon!

Brian Burr,
Assistant Superintendent

September 15th Meeting Agenda

• Rip Track Table - Have items you want to sell or just give away? Put them on the table
• Business
• What I did over the summer - Part I
• Break
• What I did over the summer - Part II
• Closing Remarks - Announcements and Open Discussion Points

Doors open at 6:00PM, Meeting Starts at 7:00PM
Proclaim FM Community Center
7112 Angola Road,
Holland, OH 43528.

The lighter side of the hobby

2023 Summer Outing

On Sunday, August 27th we descended upon the Midwest Railway Preservation Society's (https://midwestrailway.org/) historic B&O Roundhouse. If you missed it, do not fret as the museum is open most weekends to the public. The roundhouse is a working engine service/overhaul facility. We were given a full tour and explanations of what locomotives were being worked on and what was out on lease (yes, they have more than just what is in the roundhouse and on the grounds).Below are some images with captions explaining some of the highlights of the tour.

Our tour started in the Roundhouse with a detailed look at Reading T1 2100 4-8-4 which was undergoing a complete rebuild/restoration. The 2100 was constructed in 1945 for use by the Reading Company. It was built from an earlier 2-8-0 "Consolidation" locomotive built in 1923. The 2100 handled heavy coal train traffic for the Reading until being retired from revenue service in 1956. The American Steam Railroad Preservation Association acquired 2100 in 2015 and moved it to their roundhouse for restoration. The locomotive is currently on its way going back together and is in the process of having all new fire tubes installed.

The shop cat was less than impressed with our group. For a shop cat, she appeared to be pretty well fed and happy in her environment.

The next locomotive being actively restored was the Grand Trunk Western 4070. The 4070 had just finished a series of boiler tests and was pretty stripped down.

4070 is a class "S-3-a" 2-8-2 type USRA Light Mikado steam locomotive, originally built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) in December 1918 for the Grand Trunk Railway. her original number was 474 then 3734 after GT was absorbed by Canadian National. In the late 1950s the locomotive received a larger tender from an S-3-c class locomotive and re-numbered to 4070. After pulling a number of excursion trains in the 70's and 80's, the locomotive was taken out of service in 1990 for an overhaul and disassembled. The 4070s tender is unfortunately beyond repair and the association will be building a new one from scratch.

After the steam locomotives, we toured the rest of the roundhouse. The shop is equipped with most of the equipment required to service a locomotive of almost any size. things were a bit messy as they were reorganizing the shop area during our visit.

From there we moved on to a tour of the yard and a ride in the Nickle Plate Road #90. We had the pleasure of being pulled by the associations RS3. The ride was short but informative allowing us to get a close look at the E-units and various passenger equipment stored in the yard. After our ride, we were allowed to climb up and tour the RS3 cab.

We continued around the facilities viewing and hearing the history of many of the cars and equipment around the yard. We concluded our visit to the roundhouse with a little supernatural story about "The Death Car". The #62 is a vintage Pullman heavyweight passenger car from the Nickel Plate Railroad. The story centers around a large number of passengers who were scalded to death in the car after an accident in 1943. Our host described a number of paranormal encounters he and the staff have had while in the car. You can read more about this at the societies website (https://midwestrailway.org/the-story-of-nkp-62-aka-the-death-car/).

Our adventure ended with lunch at the Berea Depot Bar & Restaurant. For those who have never been to the Berea Depot, it sits adjacent to the former Big Four and LS&MS main lines. Today, these are run by CSX and NS. It was pleasent to watch several trains pass by as we dined. Everyone agreed the day and the food was great!!

A Trip East

In May my wife and I decided to travel cross country to the east coast visiting New England. In exchange for visiting a few Yarn shops, I was able to indulge in some railroad exploration.

In Hamburg, New York, we went out for dinner and stumbled upon this little tourist railway called the Buffalo Cattaraugus & Jamestown Scenic Railway. The small yard had some very interesting equipment.

BUFFALO CREEK #43 is an ALCO Model HH660 High Hood Switching Locomotive that was originally built in March, 1940 for the Buffalo Creek Railroad. The #43 was restored to running condition in 2018 and is now stored at the BC&J.

The Buffalo Cattaraugus & Jamestown Scenic Railway had various equipment stored around the area. Some was in obvious need of some TLC. Local sources inbdicated that these locomotives may be scrapped in the near future.

Pennsylvania RR Decapod #4483 was built in May of 1923 by Baldwin for the Pennsylvania RR. This "Decapod" is the last one in existance of the "I-1s" class, of which 598 were built. The locomotive was located behind an old station converted into a hobby shop. The local sources within told me the fate of this locomotive is in question at this time. The location had new owners and had requested the locomotive be moved elsewhere or they would consider the #4483 abandoned.

A couple days later, a visit to the Wiscasset Waterville Farmington Museum in Maine turned out to be better than expected.

The "official" hours of the museum are weekends only but our schedule would not allow me to return then. I took a gamble and stopped in on Wednesday anyway to see if maybe some equipment and photo opportunties would be available. To my surprise, there were many cars there and a work session in progress. The custodians were more than happy we had stopped and my wife and I got a personal tour of the facilities and the equipment by a fellow named Brendon.

Needless to say, official schedules are not always a must follow. Our visit to the Wiscasset Waterville Farmington Museum was probably better than when its full of people on the weekend.

Article by Marshall Stull

Division Happenings

The National Convention Comes to the NCR!

The NCR has won the bid to host the 2025 National Convention in Novi Michigan. Things are already in full swing with big plans for the convention like lower costs and more value. The website already up along with advertsements at the Texas Express last month. Additional information will be in the September issue of the HotBox and on the website at www.nmra2025.com/.

Upcoming Events
(click to enlarge)

If you know about an event happening in our division, please let us know so we can make everyone aware. If a club is having an open house, setup, or other activities, we could help promote it!