Feb 2009 Newsletter
| THE FIRST STATE MODEL RAILROAD CLUB, INC. NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2009 NEXT MEETING: The next meeting of The First State Model Railroad Club, Inc. will be held at the home of David and Carol McWethy, 82 McBry Drive, Dover, DE. From Route 13 at Carrolls Corner, go south on South State Street. Travel one-half mile and turn left onto Highview Avenue. Go one-half mile and turn left onto McBry Drive. David’s house is the third house on the left. Look for Cross Bucks and park in driveway and roadway, but not on the grass. Please use the garage entrance. Emergency lost phone number is 302-736-0709. PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: Last month’s meeting at Ed and Maddie Kline’s was outstanding with Ed’s great layout and Maddie’s fabulous food and drinks. The main subject of the meeting was to present Jerry Jarrell with photos of the York, PA TCA Show. He was presented with two 8 x 10 photos of the complete layout in the Black Hall at the PA TCA Convention. I hope they show up in a reception room so everyone can see the good deeds and know there is an on-going model railroad club in Delaware. The second presentation was by Club Vice President, Les Souder, who presented Jerry with a Club jacket which he put on and wore the rest of the night. I heard he was so proud of the jacket he wore it to work the next day. Thanks to Les Souder for a great idea and thanks to our members for supporting great ideas. The meeting was short with the main focus on the Springfield Trip. The last- minute details and bugs were worked out and we just had to wait for Friday. SPRINGFIELD TRIP: Friday, January 23, 2009 arrived and six couples, Paul and Paula Buckley, Paul and Lena Roy, Bill and Kathleen Schrodel, Les and Ann Souder, Jim and Myrna Valle and Jim and Carolyn Thompson, and four individuals, Gary Bryant, John Gray, Kevin Herrmann and Dick Lush, were to meet at Les Souder’s for final instructions for Springfield on Friday morning at 7:00 A.M. Jim and Myrna set out for Massey with packets to meet Bill and Kathleen. They were to meet the group at the first rest stop on the Jersey Turnpike. Gary Bryant with Dick Lush and John Gray were to pick up Kevin Herrmann and proceed to the first rest stop on the Turnpike. Everyone arrived at the rest stop at about the same time. We took a short break, stopped once more to stretch our legs and arrived at Springfield Sheraton Monarch in Springfield, MA at about 2:00 P. M. All rooms were prearranged and check-in went well. We took a short break or nap and headed out to the North Holyoke Cracker Barrel for dinner. All sixteen of us had dinner and headed back to the hotel for sleep and an early day tomorrow. Saturday, January 24, all ten guys met in the lobby and headed to IHOP for breakfast at 7:00 A. M. We were greeted by Bob Evans and the arrangements were all set for all of us to sit together. Everything was great, but we missed Richard Stockslager and Pete Nickerson. We arrived at the Amherst Train Show at 8:30 A.M. and sat in the cars and waited ‘til the doors opened. It was cold, but bearable. The six ladies, Paula Buckley, Lena Roy, Kathleen Schrodel, Myrna Valle, Ann Souder and Carolyn Thompson, left for their standard trip to Yankee Candle for shopping and lunch. Bill and Kathleen had just purchased a new vehicle which accommodated six passengers which worked out perfectly. The main show was from 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. in four buildings, The Better Living Center, Young Building, Stroh Building and the Mallary Complex. Armbands had been purchased in advance, so all we had to do was go door to door and show our armbands. Every manufacturer was present. Tons of dealers and 35 operating layouts were on display. We all picked up a few things and most had a list of items to hunt for. One person I know had a list and went home with 5 or 6 engines, all DCC equipped. I found a home for two old brass Sperry Cars. I only took a few photos, and they will be at the next meeting. At about 5:00 P.M., we were all tired and returned to the Hotel which is about 3 or 4 miles away. We were scheduled for dinner at Pete’s Grill in the Hotel at 7:00 P.M. However, the ladies had moved the dinner hour up to 6:30 PM. They had a separate room set aside for us in the dining room with one very long table. Our meals were pre-ordered, so all they needed to know was our drink orders and our sides. The meals are so big, some couples only got one meal and split it. Good idea since there was nowhere to store leftovers. After the meal, we all adjourned to a meeting place for wine and cheese. Well, in the past, they don’t like us not ordering their wine and cheese, so this year we made different arrangements. This year, I ordered a suite, so we all had a place to retire to that was comfortable and our own space for gathering. We told the usual jokes and had a lot of fun and most hung around the room until 11:00 or midnight before retiring for the night. Sunday, the guys usually have breakfast at IHOP, but this year the ladies wanted to join us. Great idea, ladies. So, I called IHOP and Bob Evans said no problem. Sunday morning all sixteen of us met in the lobby and departed for breakfast at IHOP at 8:00 A. M. IHOP had the entire forward section set up for us when we arrived. After breakfast the men departed for the show and the ladies departed for their projects. At the Show we decided to wrap things up by noon and get back to the Hotel and head for Delaware. We left Springfield about 1:00 P.M. with Paul Roy leading point. All cars were filled at the gas station across from IHOP at about $1.71 per gallon. All went well on the trip home, with the first stop at the Garden State Parkway first rest area. The second stop was at the Jersey Turnpike rest stop. We planned to stop at Chesdel Restaurant for dinner. However, right after the Wilmington exit Paul Buckley called and said they had to stop at Arners Restaurant. I thought we would all stop, but second in line was Gary Bryant and he whizzed by Arners. Les and I were following Gary and we whizzed by Arners. I called Jim Valle and he whizzed by Arners. We ended up having dinner at ChesDel at the usual long table minus the Buckleys and Roys. Everything was great and we ate, laughed and departed for Dover. We arrived at Dover about 9: 00 P.M. All in all, it was a great trip with a lot of contact with manufacturers, new displays and dealers. Some are talking about next year already. Thanks to all who participated. Everything went as smooth as clockwork. Well, you would think we had enough of trains for one month, but the next Sunday, February 1, ten of us departed for the Great Scale Model Train Show in Timonium, MD. Leaving from Les’ was Richard Stockslager, John Gray, Jim Valle, Gary Bryant, Ed Mace, Les Souder, Paul Roy and Jim Thompson. We were to pick up Dave Erli and Kevin Herrmann. We had breakfast in Elkton. We arrived at the Show at 9:50 A.M. and checked everything out. We made a few purchases and headed back to Dover by 2:00 P.M. We stopped in Elkton for dinner, then headed back home for Super Bowl Sunday. See you at the meeting, Jim Thompson, FSMRRC President UPCOMING SHOWS: February 14, 2009 Northern Virginia Model Railroaders. Call 703-938-5157 or www.nvmr.org February 21-22, 2009 Spring Thaw Allentown, PA. POC: www.allentowntrainmeet.com March 1, 2009 Brick Elks Lodge, Brick, NJ POC: John 732-845-5966. March 7, 2009 Arcadia VFD Exposition Grounds, Arcadia, MD. Dave: 410-857-0344. March 14, 2009 Hartly Fire Co., Hartly, DE. POC: Allen 302-492-3755. |
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