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Seacoast Summer 2024 Event News

Greetings Seacoast Members,

We are a week from the Seacoast Summer 2024 Event which will be held on July 13, 2024 at 10:00 at the Great Falls Model Railroad Club, 114 Mill St., Auburn Maine. Jay Ehlen has put together a great event and we hope to see you there live or on Zoom. I have attached the Summer 2024 Event Notice which has details.

Geoff Anthony has just released the July 2024 issue of the Switch Tower, the on-line Seacoast Division magazine. Please take a look at it on the Seacoast Division Web site - www.seacoastnmra.org. Press the Resources link and the Switch Tower Publications list is on the right side. Thanks to Geoff and all of the contributors for putting together a great July Issue.

While you are on the www.seacoastnmra.org page, click on the NER Convention 2025 banner. You will be connected to the Concord Flyer 2025 page where you can get all of the latest information and status on the Concord Flyer 2025 convention preparation and progress. The convention Committee will continuously update the page with the latest progress. We also hope that Seacoast members will volunteer to work the convention. Use the Contact button to sign up to volunteer. I would like to thank Dave Delorey, Jim Seroskie, Peter McKenney, and members of the Publication Committee for putting this page together.

Finally, I need to talk to all of the members about The Coupler - the NER magazine that is available on-line or printed (by subscription). We have been notified that those receiving a paper copy of The Coupler will no longer be able to pay for it when you pay your annual dues to the NMRA National. This was a decision of the NMRA National, not the NER or the Seacoast Division. The NER Board of Directors is working to deal with this situation. We are looking for your inputs:

  • First the cost of the printed Coupler is expected to rise from $12/year to $18/year based on the increasing publications costs.
  • How many of you receive the printed Coupler? Would you be willing to pay the increased cost to continue receiving the printed Coupler or would you drop the printed subscription and read it on-line for free?
  • The ultimate question is: Should the NER continue to make the printer version of The Coupler available to members who chose to pay for it?
  • The NER will need additional help with the collection of the subscription fee and managing the distribution process for the printed Coupler. Would you be willing to help?

Please get back to me with your inputs and comments concerning the Coupler in the next few days. I will be consolidating the response data and presenting results at the next NER BOD meeting on July 14.

I look forward to hearing from many of you and seeing many of you at the Summer 2024 Event next Saturday.

Respectfully Submitted,
Glenn Mitchell
Seacoast Division NMRA President & Director