Newsletter | August 2023

Hello

I hope everyone is enjoying the nice summer weather and maybe getting a chance to visit some prototype sites or take a train trip. Earlier this summer I took a trip on Amtrak’s Adirondack up to Albany and then had to rent a car to go further up into the actual Adirondacks because of heat and speed restrictions on the former D&H (now CPKS) north of Albany. I had been excited to take this train because it had only recently been reopened running all the way to Montreal after closure over COVID. Oh well, best made plans. At least I got to enjoy the great scenery of the former New York Central trackage along the Hudson River.

Big Opportunities for the Manhattan Modelers

The Manhattan Modelers have a lot to discuss over our next meeting. We have worked up a set of bylaws to adopt. We have revised the bylaws with some input from membership and we want to move forward with them if we can. The bylaws will help us establish ourselves as a Special Interest Group (SIG) under the NMRA rules. SIG status will help us advocate more for our members as well as offer us a degree of protection as well as be a source of possible funding for meetings. The Bylaws and SIG status would also help us advocate for getting a meeting and public display space on Governor’s Island. 

Governor’s Island is an Island in New York Harbor. It had been a military base for 200 years. The city purchased the island from the US Government about 20 years ago and it has been slowly being changed into a public park. At one point in the steam era there was even a Governors Island Railroad that moved military ordinance around the island. Much of the south side of the island is made up of the fill from digging the subway lines. Here is a link to a blurb about it with a track plan and some pictures.

https://www.govisland.com/blog/governors-island-archives-unearthed

There are Ferries from the Ferry terminal daily in Manhattan as well as a Ferry on weekends from Brooklyn. The historic officer housing has been restored for use of non-profit groups for public displays. Many smaller arts groups, specialty museums and other advocacy groups like the NY Audubon have space. Because there is a built-in public audience already on the island and looking for an activity or something to do. I really think our group could become very popular. Any display would get a lot of public attention. A big reason that I can see as why go forward on this idea is that we would have a space to meet and also a public facing presence. Setting up any meeting space has been a challenge because of the expense in the city.

 I have been interested in this idea for some time and have already secured a few ready-made things we could use to start with. I have been offered the Atlas O scale layout that they used to bring to trade shows. It is a 2 O scale rail layout that can be altered to our needs but would be a good starting point for something to have up and running quickly. There is a 3 foot by 9 foot N scale diorama of the Brooklyn Bridge with trolleys running over the bridge built by a modeler who was living in Manhattan that the New York Society of Model Engineers has offered as well. 

As far as things that we need to be aware of there is the need to transport everything to the island either by hand via the ferries or set up vehicle transit in advance via the ferry from Manhattan. Vehicles on the island are very limited. Getting this space is not a sure thing. We would have to apply in advance. The RFP is due in the fall so upcoming soon should we choose to go forward with the idea. As things are currently set up on the island the spaces are applied for on a yearly basis so that may be a limiting factor as well. That said several once temporary groups have been made permanent. My feeling is that if we want to do this and do it correctly, we can become a more permanent resident. I am sure the model train display will be very appealing to Island visitors. The San Diego Model Railroad Museum in Balboa Park, San Diego has a very similar arrangement for their home in city owned park buildings. At this point anything built for display really needs to have be modular or transportable because there is no real permanence at this time. There is a requirement that the display space should be open to the public on a regular basis on most weekends. We would need to have enough interest to cover that. With that in mind I have also spoken with the New York Metropolitan Area Free-Mo group and they are possibly also interested in a partnership to having modules in operation so that could be another group we could count on to have a presence to keep things open. 

If there is interest in pursuing this idea by the group, I would happily welcome any help from the membership. Feel free to reach out to me on our Discord channel or my email.

-Andy Estep

estepandyprojects@gmail.com

August Meeting Monday the 14th

We have a location for the August Manhattan Modelers meeting thanks to one of our members. We will be meeting Monday August 14th lets plan for starting between 7 and 7:30 PM at Lavelle’s Bar at 45-15 Broadway in Astoria, Queens near the 46St Station on the R/M (E at Night) Subway line. The bar owner said we could use the private basement space for our meeting. It is an old school bar so they don’t offer food but he is fine with people bringing food. I’ll bring some snacks and cookies. I am happy to talk about any of the things brought up in this newsletter. Please bring some pictures of what you are working on to share. 

FINALIZED PROPOSED BY-LAWS AND A PREVIEW OF FUTURE POTENTIAL

Vote for By-Laws of the Manhattan Modelers

All of the suggested changes to the by-laws proposed by the membership were good ones and have been added to the proposed by-laws, so we now are ready to put them up for adoption. The updated version can be found here: https://humancity.org/by-laws-of-the-manhattan-modelers/. In general, the changes involved adding language allowing for telephonic meetings if desired, adding a mechanism for moving forward on business issues if a quorum has not been obtained after 3 attempts, and including the assurance that meeting attendance was not a mandatory thing. Feel free to review them again if desired. You can voice your “Yea” or “Nay” by going to https://forms.gle/psZcivUpMhQviUv16 and casting your vote. Voting will be open for a period of one week and we encourage you all to vote in order to enable us to move on to more interesting endeavors, namely:

1. Without by-laws, we cannot obtain NMRA Special Interest Group (“SIG”) status. By having SIG status, we can gain NMRA recognition and support and with that, a bit more street cred that will help us in future efforts. The by-laws and SIG status are NOT intended to supplant or be a substitute for any existing NMRA group, but rather to be an “extra perk” for existing NMRA members, a gathering place for non-NMRA members and a vehicle that will allow us to deal as an actual entity. You do not have to be an NMRA member in order to be a member of any NMRA-recognized SIG, so there is no downside on that issue.
2. Over the course of the past few years we have been confronting and exploring the issue of what we could do to have a dedicated space in the city that would permit us to have any necessary business meetings, non-business get-togethers, and even possibly a permanent layout. Finding a meeting space in New York City is not as simple as it used to be. Our inquiries at city facilities, such as library meeting rooms, has made us realize that the days of such spaces being free to the public have long since passed. A one-time use of a library branch meeting room currently costs $140. Other options brought with them a similar result.
3. There is however one option: The city is currently making space available in the various vacant buildings on Governor’s Island as part of their development program, and the space can be had at no cost, if the applicant can pass the City’s application requirements. We anticipate that one of the requirements would be obtaining suitable insurance coverage, and that we might be able to obtain affordable coverage as a part of NMRA, if not under its umbrella, hence another reason for seeking SIG status. At the very least, it would make obtaining insurance easier than if we had no actual structure we could point to. For those of you who have not been to Governor’s Island, the space available is in the former officer’s/enlisted men’s housing. The utilities cost would be very low if at all, it is provided by the city parks dept.
4. One of the requirements to having a dedicated clubhouse space at Governor’s Island would be that we be open to the public and have a minimal staff of one person on hand at a minimum of one weekend day a week. While this would be a challenge initially, if we grow the membership through community outreach, the task would be less of a challenge as the membership grew.
5. The benefits of having our own clubhouse space for business meetings and informal get-togethers is pretty obvious – but there’s more: We have been offered two existing layouts on the condition that we obtain a suitable space for them. One is a completed (and very nicely done) model of the Brooklyn Bridge in N scale built by a modeler who lived in Manhattan. The other is the 2-rail O scale modular demonstration layout that Atlas O Scale used to take to train shows to exhibit it measures 10 by 14 feet. Having either -- or optimally both -- would provide a great jump-start to any exhibition/display we could provide if we attain city approval for a Governor’s Island location, and would be a great “community outreach” draw to find more modelers in the area.

This may or may not ultimately be attainable, but the benefit of having a dedicated clubhouse-type space is more than enough to make the possibility merit consideration. Having by-laws and becoming an NMRA-recognized SIG would be the first steps in that direction, if it proves feasible. At worse, having by-laws and SIG status would help us to grow under and within the NMRA framework, without further formalities. The clubhouse prospects are exciting, although not effortless. In the meantime, obtaining SIG status can only help grow our core group…. So please take the time to vote for adoption and if you have any questions as to the extent of the efforts that have already gone in to this exploration, contact Andy Estep in our Discord channel. With that said, how about raising some steam!?

-Dan Free

Vote for By-Laws of the Manhattan Modelers

Call for Modelers

I have been in contact with the Waterfront Museum in Red Hook Brooklyn for a possible upcoming event for Manhattan Modelers and they need some modelers to repair some of their display models that have been damaged. I hope to set up a weekend day for us to tour the 1909 Lehigh Valley Barge Museum. They would like to host a modelers day with us. They would like to have us display models and maybe demonstrate some model building on a moving boat to their public visitors on a Saturday 1-5PM. It could be a fun day. Please, if you are interested contact me. If you are interested in restoring some of their models, again contact me and I will put you in touch with them.

Also Stefan Dreisbach-Williams a public historian of New York Harbor is involved with the Seamans Museum. They also have damaged models in need of repair. 

Stefan.DW@forepeaksolutions.com is his contact information.

Monday August 14th 

Manhattan Modelers August Meeting

Lavelle’s Bar at 45-15 Broadway in Astoria, Queens near the 46 St Station on the R/M (E at Night) Subway line.

October 5th-8th

NMRA NER regional convention the Cannonball Express Uniondale, NY  

Put on by the Sunrise Trail Division of the NMRA on Long Island. Several Manhattan Modeler members will be giving clinics and presentations as well as layout tours for this convention.

https://ner-conventions.org/cannonball-express/htt

Saturday, November 4th

NYSME/METCA Swap meet

St. Joseph’s School 120 Hoboken Rd. East Rutherford, NJ 07073

Accessible near the Jane St stop on the 163 NJT bus from the Port Authority. NYSME also will have their HO and O scale layouts open for this event

Please consider sharing this newletter with your favorite modelers.