NCR Black Swamp Division (Div 1) Officers
Superintendent - Marshall Stull Assistant Superintendent - Brian Burr Chief Clerk - Ray Huber Treasurer - Randy Bosscher Trainmaster for Services - Steve Glass Director At Large - David McMullian Director At Large - Tony Kukwa
Appointments and Helpers
AP Program - Ron Gilbert Editor/Webmaster - Marshall Stull AV/Computer Support - Steve Glass AV/Computer Support - Steve Richwine New Member Outreach - Steve Kapela
We Need Help!
We need stuff for the Train Order! Please submit any article/photo/information/news to the editor. any kind of information is great, please tell us what you are up to!! Even if it's just a photo of your layout, something you saw, or what's on your worktable we would love to see it.
Sharing is the best way to spread the hobby and ideas.
Train OrderOur mission is to promote education and fellowship through the sharing of information and the promotion of the world's greatest hobby. - Model Railroading.
From the Editor
Here we are starting another season for 2025-2026! Please keep those articles coming! We had a very good run last year but we need to keep it up for the coming year. In this month's newsletter we have some recaps from the National Convention in Novi, Michigan and some stories from the traveling circus which is Free-mo. We also have a How To Article by Jim Treadaway.
So grab a favorite beverage, sit back and enjoy! I hope to see you Friday September 12th at the first meeting of the season.
WANTED! - Photos, Articles, News for the Train Order!! I have seen some of you with layouts at the spring train shows. Why not send a few photos of the layouts and tell others what fun you had! Send a photo and a small paragraph. It does not need to be professional, just jot it down in an email and fire away. Any content is welcome. Email any content, ideas or news to the editor at blackswampdiv@div1.ncrnmra.org.
View from the Cab
Welcome back from the Summer Break! As always, I am looking forward to what people have been doing over the summer as we do our annual What I did Over the Summer Show and Tell event. Lets not have a short meeting! Please bring something to share. It can be anything - something you built, bought, researched, photographed, a trip you took, as long as it is train or modeling related. The more the better!
2026 Build Challenge - The Board met last week and there were some very good ideas tossed around for new projects, events and clinics for the coming year. It's all very exciting and we will be discussing some of them at the meeting on September 12th. Remember how last year we did the Bar Mills Build Challenge? Well this year we are looking at doing another challenge. This will be discussed at the meeting to get feedback and thoughts from the membership.
Summer Outing - If you think you missed it, you did not. Unfortunately with some key people involved in the National Convention and a lack of volunteers, we just did not have time to put one together. We will try again in 2026 and I am asking now if we have any volunteers who would be willing to help scout and plan an outing.
NMRA Vision 2035 - If you have not seen the Sept/Oct 2025 eBulletin article "Update from the NMRA Summer Board Meeting", I suggest you check it out. The NMRA board has adopted "a comprehensive new strategy to guide our organization toward its centenary in 2035". Some aspects of the changes will trickle down to our division and the individual members. The Division 1 board would like to get member feedback on the plan and we will have some topics for discussion at our September Meeting.
I look forward to seeing everyone at the meeting!
Marshall Stull,
mstull@marshallstull.com
Superintendent
Clinic Corner
What I Did Over the Summer
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!
See you there,
Brian Burr,
Assistant Superintendent
September 12th Meeting Agenda
Here is a quick breakdown of what to expect at the meeting:- Rip Track Table - Have items you want to sell or just give away? Put them on the table
- Business
- Q&A - Ask our members about anything
- Show and Tell - What I did over the summer
- Break
- Door Prizes
- Show and Tell - What I did over the summer
- Closing Remarks - Announcements and Open Discussion Points
The lighter side of the hobby
April Meeting Highlights
The following items were brought for Show and Tell in April;
Larry Hickman displayed a building he scratch built strictly from his old part & pieces box. Nicely done and a very creditable building model.
Paul Kemner brought back the O scale brass kit he showed us in March to show the progress he had made. The kit is an old (1972) O scale 1916 Cab Motor locomotive.
Mike Finkler displayed a package of large pipe cleaners he uses to make scenery. Twist and shape, dip in glue and added foliage. He also displayed an Interlocking tower he built while on vacation in Florida - nice!
Tony Kukwa displayed some more rescued freight cars. Nice Job!
How to Turn a Closet into a Model Railroad Work Area - by Jim Treadaway
Because of health reasons Harriett and I sold our house. (The one with the 14' x 47' train layout) and moved into an independent leaving condominium. There will never be room to build a layout. But I intend to continue building models.
This is how I changed a closet into a work shop.
Our condo has bifold doors on the closets like in this picture
I removed the doors & made some accurate measurements. I moved in this metal cabinet.
Then I went into the basement of my building which has complete wood working shop and made these shelves.
Wedged them into the space, and filled it with my model building stuff, added bright lights, and a power strip. My old work bench had lots of drawers for tools. I compensated my lack of space by hanging tools on the wall with magnets. This is how it looks now, ready to start build.
Jim Treadaway
Division Happenings
The "BIG" event this past summer was the National Convention and the National Train Show. As a participating member of the Free-mo community, we had one of the largest setups for Free-mo in North America at the show. We had modules from as far west as St. Louis and as far east as Washington DC. The layout was 80 feet long and 50 feet deep. The outer main line was all double track allowing crowd pleasing continuous trains to run while inside, we had three industrial laden branch lines which hosted live operations each day of the show. Below are some photos from the event, I hope you enjoy!
Unloading before the show.
Every module had to be level!
I found help putting all the details on the module.
Setup is full swing!
Big double track on the outside for constant running.
We had some big industries to keep operations happy.
Most modules were very highly detailed.
Can you spot all the details?
Our crew keeps getting younger each year. Who says we are all old men?
Lots of room for power!
More of the engine facilities.
A special module for duck-under was added to the setup this year.
Tall bridges are always crowd pleasers.
An intercity viaduct on one of the modules.
The layout included an exact scale replica of an eastern viaduct.
Steam through the countryside.
Operations at the freight houses.
Huge ore trains were run.
A wide shot attempt to get the whole layout.
Passenger equipment of all types could be seen.
The whole Free-mo crew! We had representatives from several states across the Midwest and eastern seaboard.
The final track plan.