President`s Award

Published:06 September 2022

Summer President's Message 2022

Hello Seacoast Members.,

The summer has flown by and once again I am late getting this letter out to you. I recently thought back to last winter, when I had planned several model railroad tasks that needed to be done in the warmer weather. Most involved rolling the table saw out on the driveway and slicing up sheets of plywood or Masonite. Fortunately I bought most of my stockpile before the prices jumped due to Covid. Unfortunately, that also tells you how far behind I am with construction. Regardless, I have not had the saw out yet. Before I begin I need to create my master “cut list.” Once I know what I need, I can usually roll through it – the key is to not over think it. I’m guilty of doing that a lot. So the message here regarding building your railroad is – don’t over think it – just do it!

As my layout progresses, I find that mixing up the tasks is helpful. After a lot of layout structure work, track-work, and wiring, I needed a change. Time for some scenery. I really admire the scenery created by Pelle SØeborg and Lance Mindheim. I think one of the reasons I like their styles is that they both model “modern” eras. I think most of their scenery style would fit in my 1975 era layout with the correct vintage of motive power, rolling stock, and vehicles. I chose a section of the layout to begin scenicing that is 16 ft. long and one foot in depth with a backdrop. Just a double track mainline with a slight grade going through Illinois corn fields. I started the “landscaping” with Styrofoam insulation. I purchased a Woodland Scenics hot wire foam cutter which makes shaping foam so much easier and neater that using a knife and a rasp. Just make sure you have proper ventilation. I’ll post some pictures as things progress.

Summer is not usually the time for train shows, however, the Concord Model Railroad Club puts on their show every year on the second Sunday of August (Aug. 14) at the Everett Arena in Concord, NH. This show is the best show in New Hampshire and the Seacoast Division will be represented. Stop by at our table and say hello. I look forward to seeing you there.

Eleven years ago, in 2011, I went to my first North East Region Convention – the Roger Williams Express – in Warwick Rhode Island. I was able to sign up for multiple operating sessions. Model railroad operations is one of my favorite aspects of the hobby. First, I was able to operate on a club layout (I don’t remember the name.) on the way to the convention. I got to experience the dynamics of a club layout, which has to meet the needs of the many members. The second layout I toured was Don Irace’s Providence & Worcester Railroad. Every aspect of the layout – multi-level benchwork, track, scenery, and prototype modeling- was very well executed. It was also the first layout that I have encountered to use JMRI Panelpro signaling and dispatching. Don’s layout provided a lot of inspiration for my own layout design. I was lucky enough to operate on it again at the 2017 NER convention. Unfortunately, this layout was dismantled a few years ago when Don moved. Ever since that first convention, I have been signing up for as many operation sessions as possible at successive NER conventions. Seeing how other modelers have constructed and operate their layouts always provides me with new ideas.

This year I signed up for two layout tours at the Connecticut Yankee NER Convention in Windsor, Connecticut. I expect additional operating positions to become available prior to the start of the convention. Clinics are another big part of any convention. The Connecticut Yankee has 51 clinics available from Thursday thru Saturday. There are a lot more activities than I want to mention here. More information is available at ner-conventions.org/connecticut-yankee. I encourage every Seacoast member to attend the Connecticut Yankee Convention which runs from Sept. 15 thru Sept. 18. Enrollment is open!

Lastly, the Seacoast Division Fall Event is scheduled for October 8, 2022 at the Stratham Volunteer Fire Department. I want to thank Mike Grahame for providing the venue. Vice President Jay Ehlen will be organizing and running this even. Watch for the event notice.

That’s all I have for now. Enjoy the rest of the summer and I hope to see you at the CMRRC Show or the Connecticut Yankee NER Convention.

Take care,

Glenn Mitchell, Seacoast Division NMRA President and Director

Published:02 August 2022

Spring President's Message 2022

Greetings Seacoast Members,

It`s hard to believe that it`s been a month since I was elected by the Board of Directors to the office of President. It`s an honor to serve the members of the Seacoast Division. I hope I can perform up to your expectations. It`s time for me to reach out and speak to you, the Seacoast Membership. I`ll talk a little about myself and then discuss where we`re going as a division.

But first, I want to thank Tage Erickson and Mike Pedersen who have completed their 3 year terms as Directors and have chosen to step down. Tage served as a Director for 5 years and as the Seacoast President for 3½ years. Mike served 3 years as Director. We all greatly appreciate all of the good work and support to the division that Tage and Mike have given. We also know that they will both continue to support the Seacoast Division in the future. Tage has already stepped up to manage the Chip Faulter Fund. Mike has volunteered to organize and run the silent auction at the Seacoast Division Spring Event.

A Brief Introduction

While I know many of you from the Events over the past years, I also know there are many more of you that I have not met. I look forward to the opportunity to meet with all -of you in the future. I have been an NMRA member since 2008 and a Director for 5 years. I have served as Vice President and Event coordinator for 3½ years prior to becoming President.

My interest in model railroading began at an early age when my parents gave me an American Flyer S gauge trainset. Soon after that, I was at the throttle on my uncle Russ`s amazing HO layout which had hand laid track and many NMRA contest winning scratch built structures. It was my inspiration to model HO gauge.

I grew up in the small western suburb of Chicago named Berkeley. Berkeley`s northern border abutted the massive Chicago and North Western Proviso yard (the largest yard in the country until the mid-1950`s). The Chicago Great Western Railroad bisected the town. I remember counting the cars on the typical 100+ car CGW trains when I should have been paying attention in grade school. Needless to say, these two railroads would play a part of my future plans.

After college and starting a family, we moved to New Hampshire in 1981. I joined the Bedford Boomers Club in 1985 and spent many years building two modules which were part of the club show layouts for almost 30 years. Having moved several times since 1981, I never got that home layout built even though I started a couple of times.

Around 2008 after joining the NMRA, I got my first taste of serious operating and I have been hooked since. Besides operating regularly on several friends` home layouts in southern New Hampshire, I have attended several NER conventions and have always signed up for as many op sessions as I possible could.

After working for a major defense contractor for 34+ years, I retired in 2015. My fiancée and I both sold our houses and we bought one together in Concord, NH. One of the criteria was it had to have a useable basement. (I was going to say “large basement” but it will never be large enough).

The ambitious home layout that I am currently building models the C&NW in 1975. The Elgin & Joliet Eastern Railroad is modeled as well and interchanges traffic with the C&NW. The EJ&E gives me a connection to the steel mills in Gary, IN that will be modeled. The layout design is a two level around-the-room bookshelf style layout that is being designed for operations. I am designing it in XtrakCad, a free model railroad CAD tool available from JMRI.org. It will include a PanelPro computer based CTC panel, Block detection, and signals on the C&NW main line. (remember – I said it was AMBITIOUS!) So far, I am still working on the first phase of the layout and have a couple hundred feet of track and about 50 turn-outs installed. Stand by for updates and possibly a clinic as construction proceeds.

The Seacoast Division Going Forward

The major goal of the Seacoast Division is to serve the membership and promote the hobby. The quarterly Events have been our primary way of accomplishing this. We work to make the events educational as well as entertaining. They also provide a venue to meet and socialize with other members. We continue to look to the Seacoast membership for clinic and presentation ideas as well as for volunteers to give the clinics and presentations. We need your help. I have been the Seacoast Activities Coordinator for the past for 3½ years. I cannot continue in that position and be president. Besides, it is time for a new coordinator to bring in new ideas for the division events. One option that has been discussed is to have a member organize and run a single event. If anyone wants to give it a try, but is not sure how to do it, don`t worry, you will be supported. If you`re interested, please contact me.

An Election Update

Every year, 3 of the 9 Director positions are up for re-election. The voting is conducted prior to and the results are announced at the Annual Meeting held at the Winter Event held in January. This year we had 4 candidates for 3 Director positions. After the election was over it was discovered that one of the winners was not eligible to run for or hold the position of Director because that individual was not an active member in the NMRA. Article VI para. 1 of the Seacoast Division Bylaws states that a Director must be a member of the NMRA.

A Special BOD meeting was held via Zoom on Feb 11, 2022. The seven BOD members present unanimously certified that the remaining three eligible candidates Dave Kotsonis, Geoff Anthony, and Jim Seroskie won the three Director positions. Please join me in congratulating them.

An Election Update

I would like introduce the new Seacoast Division Leadership Team:

	Jay Ehlen		Director and Vice President
	Dave Kotsonis		Director and Treasurer
	Nelsen LeMay		Secretary
	Geoff Anthony		Director and The Switch Tower Editor
	Dave Delorey		Webmaster
	Tom Oxnard, MMR		Director and NH AP Chair
	Larry Cannon, MMR		ME AP Chair and ME Registered Agent
	Bob Kotsonis		Director
	Ralph Brown		Director
	Jack Lutz		Director & Clinic Historian
	Jim Seroskie		Director and NER Webmaster
	Bruce Campbell		Membership Chairman
	Tage Erickson		Faulter Fund Chairman
	Steve Russo		The Switch Tower Assistant Editor

As I stated earlier, the Activities Coordinator position is open. Please consider stepping up and taking on this role.

Spring Event April 23, 2022

As the number of covid cases in New Hampshire and Maine diminishes, the prospect for a live Spring 2022 Event is improving. At this time we are planning on the Spring event being live with Zoom at the Newington Old Town Hall on April 23, 2022 from 10:00 AM to 2:00 pm. We need 3 more clinics to round out the agenda. Again, I ask for your help to make the Spring Event a success. We will also be holding a silent auction as a fundraiser for the Seacoast Division. We are asking members to donate their un-needed model railroad items. Details will be announced soon. I hope to see many of you at the Spring Event in person or on Zoom.

Best regards,

Glenn Mitchell
Seacoast Division NMRA Director and President

Published:03 March 2022