Newsletter | October 2023

Hello ,

Apologies for the delay getting this October Manhattan Modelers Newsletter out to you. You may know that this weekend was the “Cannonball Express” the 2023 North East Regional NMRA Convention which was held at the Long Island Marriot in Uniondale New York out on Long Island. It was put on by the Sunrise Trail Division of the NMRA.

Full disclosure, I am on the BOD of the Sunrise Trail division of the NMRA and had a small hand in organizing it although I am a relatively new member and have never attended one of these so did not know what to expect from it. There were many meetings and lots of calls to manufacturers and other groups.

See Article below on my (Andy's) experience at the event.

Survey of Interest

The idea of trying to get space on Governors Island is still a possibility. The RFP period is open, and they are accepting applications into mid-November. A wrinkle that has come up is a requirement for groups applying for space are now required to have 501c3 status. Another twist is that they now also require insurance coverage.

We do not have that status. Because of the insurance requirement, something we had not really considered has been unexpectedly injected into the mix. I have found a few solutions, a possible way it could still work is to become an “NMRA only” club. That would mean the NMRA would use their 501c3 status and insurance to cover us. It would mean that all the members of the group would need to join the NMRA. Sunrise Trail Div. does offer a first time 9-month membership for $9 but the regular rate is $69 a year.

I realize this is a lot to think about. A few Manhattan Modelers people are members of the NMRA, and a few are not. Some people are members of Sunrise Trail Div. on paper but do not go to any division events for various reasons. This could be a solution that would bring those people back into an amended group.

Over the Convention I was looking for any possible solutions to these issues and I spoke to National leadership level NMRA people as well as Sunrise Trail Division leadership level people and the idea of a Manhattan Division of the NMRA is a possibility they all offered support if that was a route we chose. The National level people are very interested in the idea of a group on Governors Island to have a visible public presence. They claimed that the Garden State Division encompassing northern New Jersey and Staten Island as well as other nearby Divisions would also be interested in participating. The larger the pool of people to draw from the more likely people would be able to fulfill the need to be open to the public at least one day a weekend in the summer season.

I need to make a choice soon if we are going to go forward on this. This year’s application for a possible space is the beginning of November. Another option would be to establish 501c3 status on our own and try it next year. Being directly associated with the NMRA however would grant us insurance coverage.

The space on Governors Island would be a free space for meetings (a real challenge for us in the city) and a way to display our models to the public. A functioning two rail O scale layout has been donated for our use to have something that can move and appeal to the public at opening. A modular layout could be built to demonstrate what is involved in the hobby.

As I see the options now,

1-Wait until next year

2-Apply for the space as a part of the NMRA Sunrise Trail Division

3-Apply for the space as a fully NMRA club. This would be parallel and separate from the existing Sunrise Trail Division and provide space for meetings as well as showing models in the NYC area.

Any of the NMRA options would require Manhattan Modeler members to join the NMRA. I realize that not everyone here may want to do that. So I am opening the conversation to hear what you think

What are your thoughts? I would welcome and answer any emails at estepandyprojects@gmail.com. Also the Manhattan Modelers Discord channel would be a great place for further open discussion.

NYSME/METCA joint Swap Meet

Saturday November 4th

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

An all-scales sale and swap meet. The NYSME layouts will also be open and operating for this event. The

show is near the Jane St stop on the 163 NJT bus from the Port Authority

Greenberg’s Train and Toy Show

November 25-26th

Edison, New Jersey

All Scales train show with operating model railroad displays

Empire State Plaza Concourse “Under the Egg”

December 3rd 10am-4pm (not so local)

Empire State Plaza Concourse Level, Albany, NY 12220

Multi Scale train sale and operating model railroad displays

$7 admission

Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show

January 27th and 28th 2024 (again not so local)

Held at the Eastern States Exposition fairgrounds (The Big E), this is the largest train show in the north-east.

We are always open to sharing model events in the area. If you are aware of an event that you think others here would be interested, please share it with us and we will include it in future newsletters.

by Andy Estep 

Report from the Long Island NMRA North-East Regional Convention

Many Manhattan Modelers were involved in this convention either by attending, opening their homes and layouts to visitors to view or operate, putting models into the arena for being judged or giving lectures and clinics.

I felt like since I was attending as an organizer, I should really stay close to the convention hotel and help troubleshoot any issues that came up. I helped where I could but some issues I missed because I couldn’t be everywhere at once. I am not much of a technologically capable person, my go-to maneuver is to turn the projector off and on, plug and unplug cables and methodically scroll though menus. Usually, I was able to get things running again. I helped lug things around (very capable at this task) and gave directions as needed as well as tried to soothe any sore feelings.

On Thursday as the Convention was getting started and people were coming in, I thought that I could take a bit of time and signed up to operate on Vince Lee’s layout based on the Erie 28th Street Manhattan rail marine Terminal. I took the LIRR to the station near his home and walked. This layout follows the prototype very faithfully. The yard was limited to a one block area bound by 10th and 11th Ave between 28th and 29th St. Cars enter the terminal via a car float barge on the Hudson River across 11th Ave. I operated this small layout of about 30inches by 10 feet plus a 4-foot barge extension with a modeler named Bill from Putnam Co. for over 4 hours and the time flew by. We were able to switch one and ¾ car floats of cars in the time the real guys could have done 4 barges. I had a lot of fun and could not believe how challenging and engaging such a small layout could be. I would love to have Vince talk about this layout to our group sometime. It clearly fits the “Small Space Solution” category.

Thursday evening when the operations wrapped up, I took an Uber to the convention hotel. I was there to help give directions and trouble-shoot any issues that came up in the clinic areas. I was able to attend quite a few clinics on prototype railroads as well as how-to modeling focused ones. Andreas Werder gave a great overview of using laser cutters in modeling structures in N scale. The slide advancer was not working with his computer, so I became the manual PowerPoint slide advancer. I’m not complaining, I have seen the presentation before and enjoyed it again. He brought along examples of his modeling techniques and seeing what a laser is capable of is really eye opening. Andreas later was the acting human slide advancer for Dan Shepard’s great clinic on the NY Central West Side Freight line (AKA High Line).

There was a Free-Mo HO scale group that attended, and they set their modules up in one of the display rooms. Attendees could sign up for operation sessions. I liked this addition to the convention because I didn’t have to leave the convention to operate a train for an hour. They had trains set up in a small yard at one end with an engine, a cut of cars and a switch list telling where the cars were to go. If there were cars already in the locations your cars were to go, that same number of cars was to be picked up and brought back to the yard at the end of the switch session. The way the layout was set up, each iteration is different, there were two main towns to be switched and a few sidings along the way. They were running two trains at a time. One would go out one to the far end and the other to a town in the middle that had a passing siding. Coordinating the passing of the two trains in the middle was a fun challenge. I ended up operating it twice. I see this as a very interesting way for a group to create a model railroad that is both individual and modular and still can be operationally interesting.

I met many people I have only corresponded with online. The president of the NMRA, Gordy Robinson was in attendance as were many others who are responsible for the NMRAx YouTube presentations. Seeing an NMRAx over the COVID lockdown is what convinced me to join the group. Near the end of the convention, Saturday afternoon I gave a clinic on an Adirondack logging railroad that I have both done a lot of research on and have close ties to.

I was mostly contained to the convention hotel for the 4-day duration of the convention. Heath Hurwitz had a very different experience and spent his days operating on various layouts throughout the NYC and Long Island area.

Modelers from our group were well recognized in the convention. Andreas Werder won several awards and recognitions for his models of the 3rd Ave Bridge going into the Bronx which included part of the CNJ yard. Heath Hurwitz was recognized for his demonstration of clear understanding of electronics. Phil Monat whose amazing layout we visited in the Bronx achieved the status of Master Model Railroader.

At the end of the convention there was another round of layout tours and operations. Andreas and I visited Dan Shepard’s Wayward Railroad Layout. Dan’s layout is an N scale freelance layout based on several favorite sections of the New York Central incorporating favorite memorable scenes from the city, the towns along the Hudson River, and the Adirondacks. The fall scenery of the layout really stands out. Dan says he is trying to organize some layout operation days sometime soon.

This is a track shed in Dan’s 30th Street Yard with a part of the high line made of Subway Metro cards. Impressively in N scale all Dans track is hand laid.

It was a very nice visit to Dan Shepard’s Wayward Railway. Speed gave me a ride to the Subway on his way to the airport to catch his flight back to Texas. The end to a very model train heavy weekend.

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