Seacoast Division 2019 Winter Event Report
January 6, 2019
The Seacoast Division Winter Event was held on January 5, 2019 at the Westbrook Community Center in the Spruce Room, 426 Bridge St., Westbrook, ME. The Seacoast Division would like to thank Chuck Hastings and Tage Erickson for providing the venue. This was the first time the Seacoast Division held a meeting at the Westbrook Community Center. The Spruce room was the ideal size for the event and the community center staff was friendly and very responsive to our requests for additional tables, projection screen, etc. Overall a great location for the Winter Event
The regular Board of Directors Meeting was held at 8:30. Secretary Rick Mills submitted a separate report for that meeting.
Prior to the general meeting Chuck Hastings and several members of the Southern Maine Model Railroad Club set up a small modular layout in the back of the room. Meeting attendees were able to view and operate the layout during lunch and after the meeting. Thank you SMMRC for supporting the Seacoast Division and the Winter Event.
Glenn Mitchell kicked off the Event at 10:00 AM. 39 people attended and 37 were Seacoast Division members. The number of new attendees was not determined. After welcoming everyone and giving opening remarks, he introduced President Tage Erickson.
Tage reported that he had recently visited with Chip Faulter and that Chip`s health continues to improve. We all wish Chip the best as he recovers.
Tage then called the Annual Meeting to order. It was determined that the 37 Seacoast Division members in attendance constituted a quorum. (Ten percent of the 183 Seacoast members are required for a quorum.) He briefly reviewed his 2018 President`s Message dated December 30, 2018 that had been sent to all members prior to the meeting. Treasurer Dave Kotsonis and Membership Chairman Lou Champagne gave brief financial and membership reports respectively. Tage continued on and discussed the process for the election of Directors by the membership. The election of 3 Directors began with the request for nominations from the floor. There were no nominations from the floor. The nomination committee, led by Bruce Robinson, had found three candidates: incumbent director Tage Erickson and two new candidates Dave Kotsonis and Mike Pedersen. All three candidates were unanimously elected by the members present. Congratulations to Tage, Dave, and Mike
Next, Larry Cannon, Maine AP Chairman, presented the Model Railroad Engineer - Civil AP Award to John McHugh (not in attendance) and Master Builder - Structures AP Award to Paul Lessard. We congratulate John and Paul for their hard work and dedication. Great Job!
The first presentation was by Chuck Hastings and was titled Modelling the Paper Industry. Chuck, who works in the paper industry, presented several overhead photos of several New England paper mill complexes of different sizes. He used the photos to explain how paper is made. The Pulp Mill converts pulp wood to pulp. Paper Mill converts pulp into finished paper. Some integrated Paper Mill Complexes contain both the Pulp Mill and the Paper Mill along with other supporting functions such as power plants. Some smaller non-integrated mills may only preform one of the processes. Chuck also described what types of rail cars are used by the various mill and support functions. Chucks outstanding presentation hit the mark with many Seacoast members who model New England railroads which all serviced many paper mills. Chuck also provided a copy of his presentation for posting on the Seacoast Division website.
Dave Delorey was the second presenter. Dave brought in a table top demonstration hardware which used a Smartphone to talk to a Raspberry Pi 3 computer which controlled two locomotives on the test tracks. This low cost approach to DCC control offers an easy way to expand the number of operators on a layout since almost everyone has a smart phone. Dave also described how the Smartphone operation offers a way of interesting younger people in model railroad operation. Great job Dave.
The third and last presenter was Jack Lutz. "Jack`s into the Woods" presentation was both informative and humorous. Jack taught the audience about the trees of New England and how we can correctly add tree detail to our layouts. He described which tree species grew here, how tall various species grew, and how the appearance of the trees (where the leaves or needles showed) varied with location and environment. Everyone had a great time at this presentation thanks Jack. Jack also provided a copy of his presentation for the Seacoast Division website.
Rick Mills ran the "Show, Tell & Ask" part of the Event. Rich Breton described the work he is doing to help catalog Neil Falby`s extra motive power and rolling stock and provided a list of items for sale. Paul Lessard brought in a couple of heavily weathered cars that looked incredibly realistic. Paul taught us all a new technique rust and weathering decals applied to his covered hopper. Larry Cannon showed painting and weather techniques for small items which can be used as car loads or scenery details. Thanks to all for participating in the Show, Tell, and Ask.
Finally, closing remarks included thanks and Certificates of Appreciation for Chuck Hastings, Dave Delorey, Jack Lutz and the SMMRRC crew.
We would like to thank Stan Jordan for brining in the coffee and donut holes. Thanks Stan everyone appreciated it.
During the event a table of model railroad sale items were available for purchase by members and Larry Cannon held the raffle of 5 items.
The Fall Event was adjourned around 1:30
Following the Event, a Supplemental Board of Directors Meeting was held. Tage Erickson was elected President of the Seacoast Division and Glenn Mitchell was elected Vice President of the Seacoast Division
Upcoming events are:
Seacoast Division Spring Event April 6, 2019
Newington Old Town Hall
336 Nimble Hill Rd., Newington NH
Seacoast Division Summer Event TBD, 2019
Great Falls Model Railroad Club
144 Mill St., Auburn, ME
Following the conclusion of the Fall Event, Rob Selberg and Lou Champagne held open houses for their layouts. Rob and Lou thank you for supporting the Seacoast Division.
Respectfully Submitted,
Glenn Mitchell
Vice President, Director, and NH Event Coordinator