Elkhart Model Railroad Club Announcements
The Elkhart Model Railroad Club meets Friday Evenings at 2703 Hawthorne Street in Elkhart, Indiana.
Visitors and guests are welcome every Friday from 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm. The Third Friday of Every Month is EMRRC's Business Meeting. We Do Not Open to the Public Until 8:00 PM.
Here's the Monthly Schedule
1st Friday of the month EMRRC Train Clinic 7:00 to 8:00 PM. Open Running 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM. The public is invited to clinics.
2nd Friday of the month Open Running, Public is invited 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
3rd Friday of the month Business Meeting, 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM. Open to the Public 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM
4th Friday of the Month Formal Operations, Open to the Public 7:00 PM to 9:00 P
NEWS for June 2022
June 24, 2022
June 17th was EMRRC's monthly business meeting. One item of note that came out of the meeting was the club decided to buy a 3D printer.
Ben who is an experienced user of 3D printers recommended a Photon Mono X 64 and we will be installing the printer in the near future. If you are a member Ben will be running classes on the printer and its software soon. Watch for more news on this as we get closer to getting EMRRC's 3D Printer online.
There was a small visitor hopping along the right-of-way courtesy of Ben's 3D printer, check it out.
We had mentioned the installation of security lights around the property. All of the external lights are installed and operational. Of course, nothing is ever as simple as you hope. The main security light out front would not work. After several tries it was discovered there was a break in the wire behind the building's sign.
Ken demoed the front of the building to get to the wiring. After many times on a tall stepladder, it all worked. Thanks to Ken and all of the guys who helped out on this.
June 24th was the Elkhart Model Railroad Club's Operations night. The year was 1981 and several members were on hand to move trains and freight along EMRRC's tracks. Thanks to Dispatcher Zach and Road Foreman Ron for making everything run smooth for the session. CLICK HERE if you would like to watch locomotive #8704 switch the Elkhart Industrial area on our "Friday Running at the Club" video. If you would like to visit the club we are open every Friday from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm to the public. Check out the top of this page for a more concise schedule. We will be open on July 1st for open running. There will be no clinic due to the July Fourth holiday.
CLICK HERE for the latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. CLICK HERE If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. CLICK HERE to see the latest regional train show listing. Have some fun with Model Railroading and have a Happy Fourth.
June 10, 2022
June is moving through quickly. Spring is almost over and we are moving into the Dog Days of Summer. But here at the Elkhart Model Railroad Club we are staying cool in the AC running hot with a lot of trains on the tracks. Let's catch up on the last 2 weeks. EMRRC posted our latest EMRRC Clinic; Scenery with Paul Ewing. Paul covers building up ground cover and static grass applications in a succinct video with a lot of good information on the basics of scenery. CLICK HERE to check out this clinic and many more on our Tech Files page. There will be no clinic for July due to the July Fourth holiday.
Also thanks to members Ken Prager, Steve Storey, and Jim Ford for installing a new water heater for the Flushing area, and adding security lights to the outside of the building. Ken with his experience as a remodeler did most of the hard work from low to high, crawling under sinks and climbing tall ladders to get these projects finished.
Upcoming Friday, June 17th will be our monthly business meeting. I'm sure it will be an interesting agenda with many items to cover. Members check our Groups.io page later this week for an agenda and minutes from last month's meeting. We will be closed to the public until 8:30 pm due to the business meeting.
After the business meeting, EMRRC will set up for operations and be open for informal running. CLICK HERE for the latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. CLICK HERE If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. CLICK HERE to see the latest regional train show listing. Have some fun with Model Railroading.
NEWS for May 2022
May 27, 2022
Operations night was the last Friday in May. Several members and guests enjoyed the beginning of the Memorial Day weekend at The Elkhart Model Railroad Club operating a variety of trains over EMRRC trackage as it was operating with what you brung.
We followed Ben Brubaker as he negotiated the ends and outs of switching the Downtown Elkhart area for the first time. Everyone had a great time and a special thanks to dispatcher Zach Maierle who finished his latest semester of college and made it in to dispatch. One very helpful addition is EMRRCs investment in more radios so everyone had a radio for the session. Thanks to Rich Farrough for spearheading this project.
Friday, June 3rd will start off with our monthly clinic featuring Paul Ewing presenting a clinic on scenery. The public is invited to the clinic. After the clinic, we will be open for running. CLICK HERE for the latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. CLICK HERE If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. CLICK HERE to see the latest regional train show listing. Have some fun with Model Railroading.
May 13, 2022
The Elkhart Model Railroad Club had its monthly business meeting on the 13th due to scheduling conflicts. Some of the items covered included; Members Ken Prager and Will Babcoke are researching 3D printers along with Ben Brubaker. EMRRC is buying 10 additional radios to go along with the 10 we use for operations. Our next EMRRC Clinic is with Paul Ewing on June 3rd who will cover working with scenery on the EMRRC layout. There will be no clinicFarrough in July due to the July 4th holiday. Jeff Lepird was voted in as a Regular Club Member and Michael Wenzelmaier was voted in as a new probation member. Congratulations fellows.
After the business meeting, we had our open running session for the members and the public. A couple of the visitors were from the Great Falls Model Railroad Club in Auburn, Maine They were in town working on a job and found the club through our website. Thanks for coming by fellows. Since we had some visitors from Maine CLICK HERE to check out The Trackside Photographer for some stories from the Grand Trunk in Maine Next week on Friday the 20th we will have our regular setup for EMRRC's Operation Session on May 27th. The era will be "Run What You Brung Modern". The club is open to the public After the meeting, the club will be open to the public.
CLICK HERE for the latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. CLICK HERE If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. CLICK HERE to see the latest regional train show listing. Have some fun with Model Railroading.
May 13, 2022
Friday, May 6th was EMRRC's Clinic for the month of May. Don't forget our clinics are always open to the public. John Banicki was our presenter and the topic was "Tuning Rolling Stock for Operation at EMRRC". All of the rolling stock at the Elkhart Model Railroad Club needs to meet the standards set in our by-laws, to run at EMRRC.
This gives everyone the best possible scenario when running several trains with a lot of operators. John did a great job and everyone should be watching for this clinic to show up on our Tech Files page here at www.emrrc.com as it will help you have a consistent fleet of rolling stock. One important piece of business was mentioned after the clinic. It was announced we will have the May business meeting on Friday, May 13th due to a scheduling problem. We will be open to the public at 8:00 pm on Friday. After the clinic, the club was open to the public for open running. As always we had a lot of members and guests running multiple trains at EMRRC.
Some interesting trains running were a Wabash passenger train from BLI, a diesel Rock Island consist, a modern NS, lots of steam, and lots of NYC just to name a few of the trains running.
Thanks to all the folks showing up on Tuesday nights for maintenance. With a layout this size and now we are also dealing with maintenance on a second layout, our new N-Scale layout it takes some dedicated people to keep up with it. CLICK HERE for the latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. CLICK HERE If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. CLICK HERE to see the latest regional train show listing. Have some fun with Model Railroading.
NEWS for April 2022
April 22, 2022
We start out with EMRRC's monthly Business Meeting which was held on April 15th. Highlights included a recap of our successful 2022 Train Show. The show had over 500 attendees and was one of our smoothest running shows. Robert Smith one of our show vendors has donated a copy of all his depot drawings to the club. These are pencil sketches of depots throughout Indiana. The volume is in the library for members to take a look at. EMRRC has decided to buy a 3D printer. We have a member who is very experienced in their use and the club feels it will be an asset to members.
EMRRC's website and YouTube channel are doing very well for the club. We have more visitors each month to both mediums and the Elkhart Model Railroad Club's Facebook has become a great tool for the members and visitors. Operations will be on April 22nd. The era will be 1975. Operations was a great time this past Friday. Several trains running on EMRRC trackage with 2 dispatchers and 2 yardmasters. We added a yardmaster at Schult yard for this run session as the volume keeps stacking up at the yard.
We also added a helper engine for the long hill coming out of Elkhart. Be sure to check out this week's "Friday Night Running at the Club" for a look at this week's operations. You will see a Doodlebug making a stop at Wood Creek in the video. For a look at EMC's first Doodlebug CLICK HERE. The first clinic for operating EMRRC's N-Scale layout was put up last week. Now the second part N-Scale Operation Part 2 is up. Check it out on the website and YouTube by CLICKING HERE. The videos give members a comprehensive look at running the new N-Scale layout. CLICK HERE for the latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. CLICK HERE If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. CLICK HERE to see the latest regional train show listing. Have some fun with Model Railroading.
April 8, 2022
The second week of April brings EMRRC a night of open running with over 20 members and several visitors in attendance. We had several unique passenger and freight trains running so be sure to check out this week's "Friday Night Running at the Club for highlights. Along with running, we had members working on layout maintenance, testing & programming their own engines, rolling stock, and socializing with good fellowship.
The latest clinic for EMRRC is up and running, N-Scale Operation Part 1. The video gives members a comprehensive look at running the new N-Scale layout. If you are not a member and want to learn about interfacing a Raspberry Pi to a model railroad layout the video gives a comprehensive look at how to hook up and install the Raspberry Pi to a layout. CLICK HERE to take a look at the EMRRC Clinic.
Member Matt Glassman brought in a new engine he is building. It is a Lima LS-1000. The LS-1000 came about due to the mishmash of mergers, the end of steam, and the need for Lima to get into the diesel/electric locomotive field in the late 1940s. A merger between Lima and Hamilton Diesel brought a former ALCO engineer F. J. Geittman to develop a new prime mover, as the current Hamilton diesel engine was not suited for locomotive applications. Hamilton engineers proved to be worthy counterparts to their Lima brethren. They realized from the start that high power-to-weight ratios yield no advantages for locomotives since locomotives are traditionally weighted with ballast to obtain optimal adhesion. This allowed them to incorporate heavier crankshafts, bearings, connecting rods, and other parts. The competition was experiencing road failures with their engines because they followed traditional design methods and used lightweight components. On May 13, 1949, Lima-Hamilton unveiled its first diesel, A-3080 #1000, which had a similar look to the Alco S4 switcher. After demos 38 of the LS-1000s were sold to various railroads including New York Central, Wabash, and the Nickle Plate. In September 1951, Lima-Hamilton merged with Baldwin Locomotive Works forming Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton. Baldwin's primary interest was Lima's shovel and crane business which was expected to do well with the upcoming highway building boom. That move was pretty much the end of Lima-Hamilton's locomotive business. Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton's locomotive fortunes declined as the rush by railroads to replace steam power subsided. B-L-H exited the new locomotive market in May 1956.
But at EMRRC thanks to creative members we get to look at locomotives and trains from the past. The LS-1000 Matt is building has a resin body from Pacific Northwest Resins and a chassis from a Bowser BO-1000. The finished unit will be equipped with DCC and carry NYC colors.
Friday, April 15th will be EMRRCs monthly Business Meeting. There will be a lot of items on the agenda so be sure to take a look at the agenda when it is posted on EMRRCs groups.io page. Also check out EMRRCs groups.io page for some performance numbers for the website. Have you ever wrongly inserted a battery into a model railroad device? Microsoft solved this problem years ago with a simple invention but you can't have it. CLICK HERE for this simple solution to a nagging problem that no one can have.
CLICK HERE for the latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. CLICK HERE If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. CLICK HERE to see the latest regional train show listing. Have some fun with Model Railroading.
April 1, 2022
No April Fooling at the Elkhart Model Railroad Club. We started the month of April with lots of members and visitors watching President Chuck Hart deliver a comprehensive look at operating our new N-Scale layout for our latest EMRRC Clinic. Chuck has done the majority of work on the N-Scale up to this point and deserves a major thank you from the club for bringing the layout to fruition while dealing with the Pandemic, club president duties, and a major role in our annual train show.
The layout is an L-shaped around-the-wall layout open underneath with a skyboard constructed of a single piece of aluminum and a technically designed front facia board that will make operation a breeze.
The layout runs on a Raspberry Pi which controls the layout separately from our HO-Scale Layout. The Raspberry Pi allows us to control the N-Scale layout with either Digitrax throttles, smartphones, or tablets all with its built-in computer capabilities. The furthest layout turnouts can be thrown from either the controls on the facia board or from your smartphone. The N-Scale layout has turned out to be a bulletproof running system that will give the club many years of enjoyment. We are in the process of starting scenery on the layout so if you have an interest in N-Scale stop by on a Friday night and we will put you to work. Be sure to check out the upcoming N-Scale Operating Clinic that will be appearing soon on our Tech Files page along with the many other EMRRC Clinics on the page.
Our next EMRRC Clinic will be Friday May 6th at 7:00 pm with John Banicki discussing EMRRC Regulations for Rolling Stock. John and Ben Brubaker are charged with making sure all of the club cars and engines meet the requirements for running on the layout and John will discuss what it takes to get the equipment running at EMRRC.
After the clinic of course it was time to run some trains. We had a lot of passenger trains running along with a night run enjoyed by all.
While trains are running maintenance is always happening. From programming engines to a quick teardown of an engine with problems it is ongoing when operating a large layout with lots of people running and testing trains. Members get the benefit of some very talented people taking a look at their trains and making them run better than ever.
CLICK HERE for the latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. CLICK HERE If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. CLICK HERE to see the latest regional train show listing. Have some fun with Model Railroading.
NEWS for March 2022
March 25, 2022
The last Friday in March 2022 was the Elkhart Model Railroad Club's Operations Night. We had over 20 members and 5 guests show up on a cold night in March for running over 12 trains on the EMRRC trackage. Watched over by 2 dispatchers everything ran smoothly and a great time was had by all. We are getting enough members and guests coming in that we are very close to opening up another day for open running. Check back for more information on this new development for EMRRC.
All of the members are still recovering from our successful 17th Annual Nappanee Train Show last weekend. It's official we had over 500 paid visitors and that doesn't count all of the kids who are welcomed in for free.
I ran an unofficial count at over 200 kids who enjoyed the show, especially the operating layouts and a special thanks to the Kalamazoo Model Railroad Historical Society who brought their 4 by 8 foot children's layout. Two children may each run a train independently using the controllers supplied.
A couple of interesting things to check out. John Prophet III was a prolific railroad film shooter starting in the 1930s through the 1970s. You see a lot of his footage on Herron Rail Video Productions. Prophet set down with Aaron Heverin in the 90s and narrated over an hour of his 16mm films. It's mostly PRR but there are several shots of NYC and other railroads. There's a really long look at and discussion of water pans or scoops. Also, Prophet shot a tremendous amount of footage and slides of Horseshoe Curve and the film devotes an entire section to this. CLICK HERE to enjoy this film. Members don't forget the new electronic lock is on the door at the club. If you want access to the club you must email Chuck your 6 digit passcode. Friday, April 1st Chuck Hart will present a clinic on operating the N-Scale layout. Make sure you are there before 7 pm. If you are a visitor or guest you are welcome to the clinic. We will not be open for running trains until 8:00 pm.
Click Here for the latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Have some fun with Model Railroading.
March 18, 2022
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The Elkhart Model Railroad Club held its 17th Annual Nappanee Train Show over the weekend. Even though the weather outside was rainy, windy, and cold, inside there was warmth, good food., and great deals. We had a tremendous show with lots of attendees (I estimate over 500), loads of vendors selling lots of merchandise, and lots of fun for all.
It was a pretty nasty day in northern Indiana but inside the Claywood Event Center, we had over 14000 square feet of railroad memorabilia, locomotives, cars, accessories, scenery, and electronics, most of it moving out the doors.
I saw several people make 3 or 4 trips to carry all their bounty out. Thanks to all the vendors, attendees, and club members who worked to make this a successful show. Our next show is already booked for Saturday, March 18, 2023, at that same great venue, The Claywood Event Center in Nappanee, Indiana.
Here is the show from set up to tear down in under a minute using stop motion.
Click Here for the latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Have some fun with Model Railroading.
March 11, 2022
EMRRC moved our regularly scheduled Business Meeting for March to the 11th due to our upcoming 17th Annual Nappanee Train Show on March 19th. Items covered during the meeting included; Vendor tables at the Train Show are sold out.
The show is on Saturday, March 19th at the Claywood Event Center will be from 10:00, am to 3:00 pm EDT. This is the same excellent event center we just held the 2021 show at. It's approximately 3 miles southwest of Nappanee, Indiana at 13924 N. 1100 W (County Line Road). The building has all the amenities and we will take up about 14,000 sq. ft.
There will be plenty of direction signs to find your way there. If you are a hobbyist don't miss this show. All scales will be well represented with plenty of used and new items. If you want to bring the family, kids under 12 are free and it's just $5 for adults. There will be a restaurant on-site with hot Amish sandwiches, desserts, sides, and soft drinks. Be sure to join us on Saturday, March 19th at the Claywood Event Center. We will have the same great show we always put on, you won't be disappointed.
We also installed several new members to the club. Zach Maierle Student Member, Rich Farrough, Mike Miller, and Bill Trail were installed as regular members of EMRRC. President Chuck Hart was welcomed as a Lifetime Member of the club. Congratulations to all the new members.
Several members traveled during the week to Tom Zurek’s Santa Fe inspired railroad. He has built a large (about 4000 Sq Ft) railroad in a separate building on his property. All of the members had a great time operating on this beautiful scenic railroad depicting the midwest, mountains, and desert areas with a fully operational signaling system. Thanks for the invite, Tom.
We will be open Friday, March 18th for limited running as we are in the middle of setup for the show Saturday. On Friday, March 25th we have our monthly Operations Session. The era will be 1968, so break out your classic diesel, steam is pretty much gone.
We had over 20 members at the club with 5 guests. so after the meeting was socializing and running trains. Click Here for the latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with Model Railroading.
March 4, 2022
We start out on the 1st Friday of March 2022 at the Elkhart Model Railroad Club with a clinic on 3D Printing by member Ben Brubaker. Ben brought in his personal 3D printer and spoke about several topics based on his experience teaching an engineering class at a local high school which includes 3D printing and his own personal experience learning 3D printing over several months. While he led the discussion Ben had a printer set to print out lumber pallets for the members & guests who attended. Ben covered several areas from what type of printers and their accessories are available to software & computer requirements & safety requirements when working with a 3D printer. It was a great clinic, be sure to watch for EMRRC's upcoming video on 3D Printers. Because of the clinic, we had a full house of members and several guests at the club Friday night.
Other items discussed Friday night; The 2022 Nappanee Train Show on March 19th is sold out of vendor tables. If you are a vendor and we receive your application after 3/04/2022 you will be added to a waiting list for the show. Tuesday night maintenance & cleaning continues at the club. We have several members showing up on Tuesdays but we can always use more.
The Hammes Yard Car Barn has Lights. We are conducting a poll for members to decide if adding another afternoon or night for running would be viable. So far Saturday & Sunday are leading. Be sure to vote on EMRRC's groupsio page. EMRRC members are invited to an offsite operations session. Check our groupsio site for more information. EMRRC's MONTHLY BUSINESS MEETING WILL BE FRIDAY MARCH 11th DUE TO THE TRAIN SHOW THE FOLLOWING WEEKEND. Be sure to sign up for jobs at the Train Show either at the club or on groupsio.
After the clinic, several trains were running on the layout including member Matt Glassman's new ScaleTrains Museum Quality HO Scale EMD SDL39, with Wisconsin Central colors. The locomotive has 30 LEDs; frog clank and curve squeal sounds; and too many details to mention here that you would expect from the Museum Quality line. We did some night running at the beginning of "Friday Night Running at the Club" to let you see some of the lighting available on this locomotive. Click Here for the latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with Model Railroading.
February 25, 2022
We're going to catch up this week by covering 2 weeks of meetings. On March 18th EMRRC had its monthly business meeting. Items covered included the March 19th Train Show. The show is nearly sold out of vendor tables. We have less than 15 tables left at this point. If you are a vendor and interested please mail your registration form in ASAP. CLICK HERE for a link to the form if you don't have one. We are going to add an electronic lock to the front door. If you are a member please check our Groupsio area to watch the video on how the lock will work. While you're at Groupsio please vote on what day to consider opening the clubhouse for another day of running during the week.
Our next 2 clinics will be; On March 4th, Ben Brubaker, 3D Printer. And on April 1st, Chuck Hart, Running the New N-Scale Layout with a RaspberryPI.
After the meeting members started setup for Operations
On February 25th EMRRC had our monthly Formal "Operations" session. The era is 1956 and "Friday Night Running at the Club" followed member Jeff Rogers as he worked the Budweiser Brewery Complex along with the grain mill at Liberty.
Jeff's job was to take all the empties called for to Schult Yard where he would meet with HS41 the Hammes/Schult shuttle run by member Gary Pressnell. and exchange cars.
One of the operators running a road locomotive during the session was student member Nick. Nick has worked hard with his father Rich in order to master the intricacies of this role at the club. Nick is an individual with autism who has a love of trains and has a great time at the club. He is one of the regulars who show up on Tuesday nights for work and maintenance at the club.
We have a good group of members who are coming in on Tuesday and end up with a lot of the grunt work at the club. Everything from general cleaning to track maintenance is performed Tuesday nights. We can start to see the results more and more on Friday nights as everything runs smoother. Don't forget this Tuesday, March 1st we are stuffing and mailing vendor information for the upcoming train show. We can use the help if you are available. Click Here for the latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with Model Railroading.
February 11, 2022
The second Friday in February was Open Running at the Elkhart Model Railroad Club. Several members brought in projects they are working on. Member Ben Brubaker brought in several 3D items. You're looking at roof vents, air handlers, AC units, and side vents, all printed with a 3D printer. EMRRC will have a 3D Clinic on March 4th to further explore this technology.
Ben has also been working on more interior items for the switch tower at Hammes Yard. You can see the switch levers setting in the middle of the room. They have yet to be set in place. A lot of detail in this small room. If you are interested in researching 3D printing for model railroads there are a ton of Facebook Groups dedicated to it. CLICK HERE to see one of them.
Also here are some more pics of Member Matt Glassman's Car House with lights added and cranes lifting.
Our clinic schedule keeps evolving. Here is the latest schedule. March 4th, Ben Brubaker, 3D Printing. April 1st, Chuck Hart, Raspberry PI on the New N-Scale Layout. May 6th OPEN. June 3rd Ken Prager Freight Car Tuning. July 1st No Clinic, this is the July 4th weekend. August 5th, Steve Storey, Building a Realistic Tree.
Don't forget we are getting close to the 2022 Elkhart Model Railroad Club's 17th Annual Nappanee Train Show which is Saturday, March 19, 2022. We are down to under 30 tables available, so vendors get your application in. This coming Friday, February 18 2022 is EMRRC's monthly business meeting. We will not be open to the public until 8:30 pm. During Open Running last week, we saw a lot of steam, everything from a T1 to a UP Big Boy. Click Here for the latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with Model Railroading.
February 4, 2022
Here we are at the beginning of February in a warm Elkhart Model Railroad Clubhouse and it's a mixed bag night. We started with maintenance, moved on to a clinic, and then finished off the night with open running. Member
Gary Pressnell did a nice clinic detailing freight cars simply by using flat black paint. Be sure to check out this clinic coming in the next couple of weeks along with several other clinics we have posted here at EMRRC. Just CLICK HERE. Several members were working on scenery, track work, operations, and cleaning.
Matt Glassman set in place the new Car House at Hammes Yard. The Car House features inside cranes along with an outside crane jib. The floor is showing some weathering and up above there is plenty of light from the green-tinted windows and LED light throughout including lights on the overhead cranes. There is not enough room here to cover this intricate model. You will have to come by EMRRC to take a look at it. Our next meeting is Friday, February 11th and we will have open running. The public is welcome starting at 7:00 pm.
Member Nathan Overmeyer spent some time during open running working on a locomotive for his personal railroad the Blackhawk Eagle River & Eastern. Nate is taking a BLI ex Erie 2-8-2 and adding a new feedwater heater, trailing truck, pilot, and sand dome.
During Open Running we saw a couple of nice Fairbanks Morse, NYC trains, a South Shore car making a station stop, and lots of British and American steam. Click Here for the latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with Model Railroading.
January 28, 2022
The last Friday of January 2022 is of course Operations Night at the Elkhart Model Railroad Club. Chief Dispatcher Ron Breniser got everyone together, reminded them it was 1947 so steam and early diesel were the only things allowed on the track, and then Ron assigned who was running what train. 20 members were in attendance and we had 2 guests for the evening, Gregg a conductor for NS, and Brandon a fireman from Michigan. After assignments were distributed everyone mounted up and got down to business.
We had a great night of operations with 10 or more trains running at EMRRC. After formal operations ended the track was opened up for run what you brung.
During the night we took a look at the new old switch tower at Hammes Yard. Member Ben Brubaker has weathered the tower and printed several 3D printed items for the interior.
Also, we took a look at the Grand Trunk Interchange on the North Wall which Member Ken Prager is ballasting.
Have you ever heard of an Alco C415? It was a failed Alco center cab switcher that never made it past the demonstrator stage. Click Here for a ClassicTrains magazine article on the 415. The Track Photographer had an interesting analysis of a taconite pellet train that had a brake failure on a downhill pass. Click Here for an interesting read about what brought about the brake failure.
Member Jeff Cain brought in an interesting train set from the 1980s. It is a Rivarossi model of the 1926 Cardinal's Train. "The Peace of Christ in the Reign of Christ" was the theme of the 28th International Eucharistic Congress, and for the first time ever the Congress was being held in the United States in Chicago, Illinois. Papal Legate Cardinal Bonzano, the Pope's personal representative, (this was before any Pope traveled internationally) was to travel from Italy to Chicago to address the faithful. In order to transport Cardinals, Bishops and Clergy from New York to Chicago the New York Central Railroad and the Pullman Company teamed up to operate a special train along most of the route of New York Central's 20th Century Limited from New York's Grand Central Terminal to Chicago's Park Row Station (a special detour onto the Illinois Central Railroad). Seven Pullman cars were repainted in cardinal red and gold for the special train -- pulled by a repainted in red New York Central Hudson. The train after its special appearance was disbanded, repainted, and put back into regular service. Rivarossi decided to bring out an HO model in the late 1970s. Jeff bought the model in 1980 from Dave's Hobby Shop in Pierre Moran Mall both of which are long gone. We put the train on the track and behold, maybe because it was nicknamed the Pope's Train it ran after 20 years in the box. We will have some footage of the train and more information about the HO-Scale set in the future.
Here's the latest Clinic Schedule. Note there have been changes. February 4 – Gary Pressnell, Freight Car Detailing. March 4 – Chuck Hart, Rasberry Pi operations on the new N-Scale Layout. April 1st– Ben Brubaker, 3D Printer Demo. May 6 - Steve Storey, Building Realistic Trees. June 3 - Ken Prager, Tuning Freight & Passenger Cars. Also, we will be taping Will Babcoke's clinic on British Locomotives and Trains during March on the layout.
"Friday Night Running at the Club" features operations on the North Wall. Click Here for the latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Unfortunately, our friend Ken Scoop has resigned as Train Show Coordinator for the Grand River Valley Railroad Club. He will no longer be updating and publishing the Train Show List. Ken did a great job of keeping the list updated for over 8 years. I am going to leave the link to the Train Show List until we find an alternative or it becomes totally outdated. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with Model Railroading.
January 21, 2022
Friday night was our January business meeting for EMRRC. Lots of members, lots to discuss. Some of the items covered included; The 2022 Train Show is under 60 days away. Marketing efforts continue by all members. The new (old) club officers were welcomed for 19 2 more years. A new club work area with a 3D printer and paint spray booth was discussed intently. The image below is a 3D-printed stack of pallets by Ben Brubaker.
We are trying to schedule Ben for a clinic with his 3D printer in April. The proposal was tabled until April, after the train show. Outdoor security lighting was discussed. More info was needed and the proposal was tabled until the February meeting. An electronic lock was voted on and approved. Matt Miller is acquiring the lock.
The Rolling Stock Standards Committee reported that they are inspecting and changing all club rolling stock to metal wheels and entering them in a database. the new N-Scale layout turnouts are all powered and working. Jeff Leppard has volunteered to work on the buildings.
Randy Robbins has volunteered to take over the Wood Creek area. The Hammas Roundhouse area upgrades continue with track and turnout replacements. The GT interchange is being ballasted. Ben is going to go ahead and make a memorial plaque for past members who are deceased. A formal welcome to new probation member Bryan Good.
Our next meeting will be EMRRC's "Operations Session and the era will be 1947. After the meeting, several members set up for operations next Friday the 28th.
Future EMRRC Clinics include; February 4 – Gary Pressnell Freight Car Detailing. March 4 – Chuck Hart Rasberry Pi operations on the new N-Scale Layout. - April 1st– Steve Storey on the pending sale of the club to the NYC Museum. ( It's April Fool Steve's clinic is actually on trees). Also, we will be taping Will Babcoke's clinic on British Locomotives and Trains during March on the layout. The clinic schedule may change as we are trying to schedule a 3D printer clinic during this time period.
And then? We did get to running trains. Be sure to check out Nathan Overmyers beautiful Broadway Limited Northern Pacific A-3 4-8-4 Brass Hybrid in "Friday Night Running at the Club" Click Here for the latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with Model Railroading.
January 14, 2022
Over 20 members and one guest came out in the cold to the warmth of the Elkhart Model Railroad Club Friday night. As you can see from the picture we were hard at it running trains. Our club solves a lot of the world problems besides running trains and with the hot air being generated it saves on utilities during the winter. Seriously a club environment is not only trains, but there is also a lot of social interaction and you can see from the picture it includes young and old. The club is big enough to allow both interactions with people and trains. We did end up running classic diesel and steam for most of the night.
We took a look at several of member Ben Brubaker's creations. He is working on a switch tower for the Hammes Yard and Roundhouse area. When done it will feature a finished interior including 3D printed interlocking levers.
Also, we took a look at some of Ben's 3D printed shelving and crates inside the new warehouse in the Elkhart Industrial area.
I also ran into a neat 3D-printed item on Thingiverse. They are simply addons to Digitrax signals to dress them up.
Member Matt Glassman is also working on a car house for the Hammes Roundhouse area. Take a look at the detail in this thing.
Do you want to buy a caboose? I do. Read this article at Trains magazine to see what you're getting into.
Members, please visit EMRRC's groupsio page for articles on track cleaning and more than you'll ever want to know about glue.
Friday, January 21 will be EMRRC's first Business Meeting of the new year. Matt Glassman VP will chair the meeting as President Chuck Hart will be away. The public will be welcome after 8:00 pm for open running. A shout out to member Joseph Cipolla who is under the weather. Get well soon Joesph.
Click Here for the "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with Model Railroading.
January 7, 2022
Our first gathering for the year was Friday, January 7th. We usually start the month with a clinic but we made some moves to the schedule. Gary Pressnell will present the February clinic on "Highlighting Details on Rolling Stock".
EMRRC will also produce a clinic on "British Locomotives" in the upcoming weeks. All of our clinics are available on this website at our Tech Files page or on the Elkhart Model Railroad Club Youtube channel.
Some changes to the Flushing area as member Ben Brubaker and new member Bryan Good are working on cleaning up the area and their first project was the installation of new shelving on the walls to hold rolling stock. Tuesday nights have included Ben & Bryan cleaning track and Chuck Hart and Ron Breiniser making scenery progress on the new N-Scale Layout.
Take a look at this interior photo. It's a great example of what can be accomplished easily as everything in it was 3D printed. Ben is starting to populate some of the layout with accessories being printed on his personal 3D printer. We'll follow up in the coming weeks with more benefits and examples of 3D printing.
The Trackside Photographer highlights a new anthology on railroading. The book from the Center for Railroad Photography & Art is a collection of photographs by contemporary and historical photographers along with essays by Kevin P. Keefe, former editor of Trains, noted transportation historian Alexander B. Craghead, industrial historian Matt Kierstead, and the late author Michael Flanagan, the book takes a look at the influence of railroads and the changes railroads make to the many areas it touches.
After all of this, yes we did run trains on Friday night. Click Here for the "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with Model Railroading.
NEWS for December 2021
December 17, 2021
Pizza, trains, and good fellowship. What could be a better way to spend a Friday night for a bunch of train nuts. Friday the 17th of December EMRRC had our annual Christmas Party.
Lots of pizza, 3 24" pizzas, and not a slice was left. Free soft drinks and desserts were provided. Lots of talk and socializing and a good time was had by all. Thanks to President, Chuck Hart for setting up the party and all the hard work he put into it to make a fun time for everyone.
After the party, everyone waddled over to the layout for running trains. Several Christmas trains were running including Gary Pressnell's NYC Boxcab with holiday decorations and Ken Prager's holiday train with Santa and his reindeer including Rudolph. Matt Glassman had his Big Boy and UP diesel running along with members Milwaukee Road passenger, NS and SP freight, Norfolk and Western Steam, and Will's British steam trains. All in all several members and a few guests had a great time. Click Here for the "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop.
Next Friday is Christmas Eve. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone. We won't be back till 2022. (that sounds weird). Have some fun with model railroading.
December 10, 2021
Friday Night we had a lot of members show up and one very interesting guest. Dr. Jeff Cain brought his friend and fellow SFS operating crew member Ron Stallman. Ron owns the Sante Fe Shortline (SFS) a shortline made for operations. Ron wrote an article about the SFS which was featured in the October 2021 Model Railroader. Ron built the 7'x8' island layout after retiring. It's nice to have a little bit of Texas in Indiana.
Although we are a few months away from the Elkhart Model Railroad Club's 2022 Train Show the work is ongoing. Tuesday night members stuffed envelopes going out to all the vendors. Thanks to the 5 members who were there for maintenance and Train Show work.
Member Ken Prager is getting close to finishing the North Wall interchange with the Grand Elk. The trackwork is wired and finished and Thomas decided to try out the bridge.
A track cleaning train ran on the mainline while other members were working on switches and general cleaning.
Friday, December 17, EMRRC will have its annual Christmas Party for the members until 8:30 pm. The public is welcome after 8:30 pm. Click Here for the "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading.
December 3, 2021
Here we are steaming towards the holidays and the end of 2021. Friday Night started with maintenance including the stand we use for our membership, guests, and visitors' attendance book. Thanks to member Ken Prager for fixing it.
We then joined Ken for a clinic on how to apply Grafitti to freight cars, buildings and structures. . It may not be something everyone likes but if you are modeling a modern era tagging and graffiti are a part of it. The clinic will be coming up soon on the Elkhart Model Railroad's website and our YouTube channel,
Several files have been uploaded on groupsio highlighting the proposed work area and 3D printer. If you are a member check out the messages and files area. We hope to bring this proposal to a vote at our January Business Meeting. Take a look at Lance Minheim's latest newsletter. He covers several areas including the use of bump/outs on layouts to increase space. We had a proposal at the November Business Meeting to take a look at adding LED lights to the exterior of the building. Kevin Pisani of KP Electric will be coming by Tuesday to take a look at the outside lighting. Last Tuesday evening we had 4 people show up for work night. Quite a bit got accomplished including tack maintenance, scenery painting, and general clean up.
After the Grafitti Clinic, we got down to the main business of the evening running trains. We had some really long trains running including a 47 tank car train pulled by 4 Great Northern E units. Switching at Giuseppe's Salvage was busy as new loads of scrap were rolling in. Also, Indiana trains Indiana Harbor Belt, Monon, and Indiana Rail were making run-throughs on the EMRRC layout. Click Here for the "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading.
November 26, 2021
On the Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend, we had Operations Night for Black Friday at the Elkhart Model Railroad Club. First, a big thank you to Members Paul Ewing and Matt Glassman who came in early and spent a lot of time sorting out our layout problems. The Loconet had a short in the wiring and the JMRI system had communications problems. After the problems were sorted out Operations proceeded full steam ahead. (Sorry no steam, it was the modern era for Operations Night). Everybody had a great time. Lots of joking around, problems to solve and Ron Breniser Chief Dispatcher had to come out in the van several times to get things moving.
The club is looking for ideas to promote our Tuesday Night work sessions to the members. If you have an idea to get more members out on Tuesday Nights post it on our Groupsio page. We need to start the New Year with a better handle on maintenance for the facility and the layouts so let's end the year with more folks coming in to work on Tuesday Nights. There is one last Tuesday in November for maintenance let's get a good turnout. Some items we need to attend to include;
- General Cleaning
- Ballasting
- Track Cleaning
- Scenery
- Work on the Area You Started Rebuilding
- General Maintenance
The board has been looking at ideas but you may have the idea that moves things along. POST IT. We also took a look at Member Ben Brubakers latest 3D printing of HO-scale appliances and shelving units. EMRRC is looking at a proposal to buy a 3D printer and add space for a work area.
Coming up in December the 1st meeting on the 3rd will include; General Maintenace and then a clinic by member Ken Prager at 7 pm on "Using Decals for Grafitti". Afterward will be open running. Tuesday the 7th (National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day 80 Years ago the raid on Pearl Harbor) will be a maintenance day. Friday, December 10th will be Open Running. Tuesday, December 14th Maintenance Day. Friday, December 17th will be the Club's Annual Christmas Dinner for the members. Tuesday, December 21st Maintenance Day. Friday, December 24th Christmas Eve we will be open for informal running. Tuesday, December 28th General Maintenance. Friday, December 31st New Year's Eve we are open for informal running. Click Here for the "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading.
November 19, 2021
Friday was EMRRC's November Business Meeting. Items covered included; Project Reports.
The N-Scale layout is progressing. The facia is 95% complete along with a see-through plastic guard on top. The final phases of wiring switches are underway.
The club is looking for a project manager to take over the Wood Creek area and finish the remaining projects in the Chateau Paper Products area. Gary Pressnell has procured several items for the Hammes Roundhouse area and is installing them. The most important item on the agenda was the reelection of the current board for another 2 years. Board Members are Chuck Hart President, Matt Glassman Vice President, Steve Storey Treasurer, and last but not least John Banicki, Secretary.
Members Chuck Hart, Jim Ford, and Ben Brubaker discussed adding a new work area to the club along with a paint booth and 3D printer. Ben who uses 3D printers at work and owns one did a great presentation on buying and using a 3D printer. I feel a clinic coming up for 3D Printing. A lot of information and questions were left for the members to digest.
We will not have another Business Meeting until January as December's Business Meeting date the 17th will be our annual Christmas Party. Also in December, our clinic will be Ken Prager and how he adds graffiti to freight cars. on December 3rd. Next week on Friday, November 26th will be EMRRC's Formal Operations Night. The era will be modern 1997. This week's Trackside Photographer this week looks takes a look back at the Bloomington Illinois Union Depot. The Depot started life at the junction of a multitude of railroads in 1873 and ended life as an AMTRAK station. Click Here to take a look. After the meeting, it was locomotive, train, freight car passenger car running time. NOT. We had problems with the DCS 200s working and JMRI didn't like the logic it was seeing from the system. So no trains were running Friday night at EMRRC. Of course, we had enough unseen footage from prior weeks to produce a "Friday Night Running at the Club". Click Here for the "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading.
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November 12, 2021
Don't forget Friday, November 19, 2021, will be EMRRC's November Business Meeting and we will not be open to the public until 8:00 pm. November 12th was the Elkhart Model Railroad Club's open running night. We had about 20 members and several visitors on a cold, rainy, snowy November night running trains and having a good time.
Here's a look at a BLI 2-6-0 Paragon 2 chassis that member Matt Gassman had stripped down trying to figure out why it was noisy,
Several modern diesels were moving over EMRRC trackage but the main show was PRR diesel and steam passenger trains, along with NYC, Norfolk and Western, and Virginian, and Southern Coal Trains were just a few of the classic engines running.
Speaking of classic types of diesel Bachmann announced the release of their new Alco RS-3 in 5 different road names with or without TCS DCC Sound Valuer decoder and keep alive. Each model features user-controlled horn options, directional LED lights, bell, and prime mover effects.
Christmas will be here before you know it and Member Ken Prager is getting ready by weathering his Christmas Train part of an old Bachmann Christmas Train from years ago. It still runs and he is planning on running it at the club and around his Christmas tree at home.
The Trackside Photographer this week looks at "Steel Echos", expressing the spirit of photographs looking at areas in the West Virginia area. Click Here to take a look. Click Here for the "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading.
November 5, 2021
And here we are steaming toward the end of 2021. EMRRC's November began with a 24" deluxe pizza and a clinic by Jay Freet on Background Painting. How much better can a Friday night be? Oh yeah, we ran trains after the clinic. Jay is a race photographer and a former member of EMRRC. Jay has a home N-Scale layout that has been featured in the Walthers Catalog many times. While at the club Jay had a hand in many aspects of the scenery you see in our videos. Friday Jay did a succinct presentation on painting trees, brush, and clouds on your model railroad backdrops. Look for this clinic soon on EMRRC's Tech Files page. In other club news.
Member Ken Prager has been working on the North Wall interchange with the Grand Elk. The area is coming along nicely with the bridge almost finished. The N-Scale layout is almost finished with the track, electronics, and the facia looking good. Look for an upcoming report on the progress with the new N-Scale layout.
The Trackside Photographer has an interesting article on trackside industries and photography. Click Here to take a look. We had a lot of members show up to watch the clinic and to run trains. Several Indiana trains were on the layout including, Indiana Rail, South Shore Line, and British Railways (kidding). Click Here for the "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading
NEWS for October 2021
October 29, 2021
The last Friday in October ended up being EMRRC's Formal Operation Session for October. The era was 1986. Yardmaster Matt Glassman is featured in this week's "Friday Night Running at the Club." Hammes Yard runs so smoothly no one realizes how many trains are arriving and departing the yard. In the few moments, I was shooting the yard I counted 3 incoming and 2 departing trains. In a typical operations night, 2-4 road engines passenger or freight from Chicago or Toledo will arrive and depart. A shuttle will depart Hammes yard and run to Schult Yard with full cars for Wood Creek, Budwiser, and the North Wall (Oceola, Mishawaka area) and then return to Hammes Yard with empties. Also, the coal train for Van Lear Coal Mine and the power station will depart. Meanwhile, switchers from the Elkhart Industrial area and Elkhart Downtown will be arriving and departing. Matt makes it look easy while also shuttling cars around the yard tonight with NS 3204 originally built as a Class SD40-2, in December 1972, #72652-4, FN 72652-4, as Southern 3204. It became NS 3204, Class SD40-2.
Our Dispatcher Zach Maierle came dressed in full engineering regalia for Halloween. Zach is one of our student members and is attending college at Grace College in Warsaw, Indiana.
Halloween made a strange appearance at EMRRC. BN 7140 was sitting on the mainline and fell over on its own. No one around, no trains or cars close to it. Maybe one of the EMRRC ghosts doesn't like BN.
We never get to see our Treasurer run trains because of too many transactions. Members, please conduct any financials with Steve on the 1st and third Mondays of the month.
This month's Trackside Photographer has an interesting article about a 1955 visit to a Canadian Pacific Roundhouse in Maine. Click Here to take a look at the roundhouse and some of the steam giants being serviced. Lance Mindheims monthly newsletter had a great article dealing with gaps and seams when creating neatly assembled structures. Click Here to go to Lance's website and subscribe to his website. A retail outlet Streamlined Backshop products have a wide selection of products available and a great tutorial, tips, and tricks section. Click Here to take a look at their tips.. Click Here for the "Friday Night Running at the Club" video that we ran at the show. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading
October 22, 2021
Friday was the Elkhart Model Railroad Club's monthly business meeting. Items discussed included the 16th Annual Train Show and the upcoming 17th Annual Train Show. The 16th was a success for the club with over 400 paid attendees. After having to skip a year due to the pandemic the show was one of the smoothest we've done and club members all looked great in their new EMRRC club shirts. The smooth running of the show was due to the hard work of the Train Show Committee chaired by Member John Banicki, members of the Elkhart Model Railroad Club, and the Claywood Event Center staff. Our 17th annual show is scheduled for March 19, 2021. We've already started receiving vendor applications for tables. Click Here for the application and more info on the show. Congratulations to Jeff Lipird as he was voted in as a probationary member of the club. Jeff is an NS fan and has a Youtube channel ‘NSfan3001 Productions’.
A new clinic is up from EMRRC. Ben Brubaker's clinic on "Cheap Freight Car Loads" is on our Youtube Channel. Click Here to take a look. Our next clinic will be on November 5, 2021, with photographer and artist Jay Freet giving lessons on background painting. After seeing this clinic anyone will be able to add trees, and clouds to a layout background.
Looking for a copy of the new EMRRC Brochure? It is on the website. Click Here to download a copy. The Trackside Photographer takes a look at railroading in the west. The trains may look different but a lot of the area they run through has not changed since the railroad's made their push through the region. Click Here to take a look at this article.
After the meeting setup was done for the upcoming Formal Operations run on October 29th. The era will be 1984. If you are new to operations and would like to run operations with one of our experienced operators be at the club before 7:00 pm. After setup trains were run and to see the latest Click Here for "Friday Night Running at the Club" video that we ran at the show. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading
October 17, 2021
The Elkhart Model Railroad Club's 16th Annual Train Show is in the books. The official numbers aren't in yet but from this unofficial observer, we had a great show. I'm estimating somewhere over 450 attendees and all of the vendors I spoke with had good sales for the show. I saw most of the attendees leaving with lots of bags and several making multiple trips back into the show to pick up more.
There were several operating layouts and exhibitors at the show. Of course, we ran the "Friday Night Running at the Club" video made especially for the show.
Other interesting areas included an Inglenook Puzzle layout by member Nathan Overmyer. What is an Inglenook Puzzle? In the 1950s Alan Wright came up with a classic British shunting (switching) layout that was small and simple to setup, had easy rules, and is ready to play in seconds. At first look, the Inglenook doesn't look like much, but first impressions can be misleading, and it is precisely the simplicity of the "Inglenook formula" which makes it work so well and makes operating it so highly addictive.
The Michiana T-Trackers came to the show with over 15 N-Scale T-Modules. The layout saw a lot of action all day with several trains running on the layout all controlled by member Matt Glassman's Portable DCC Prog. Station. Matt showed how he built the station during an EMRRC Clinic. Click Here to see the video.
So the 2021 show is a wrap but the 17th annual show will be coming up in March of 2022. Thanks to the Train Show Committee for their hard work and all of the members, vendors, exhibitors, and visitors who made this year's show a success.
MEMBERS DON'T FORGET FRIDAY OCTOBER 22, 2021 WILL BE THE OCTOBER BUSINESS MEETING FOR THE CLUB. WE WILL BE CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC UNTIL 8 PM THIS FRIDAY EVENING. The last Friday in October will be the Formal Operating Session for the month of October.
Click Here to see the "Friday Night Running at the Club" video that we ran at the show. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading
October 8, 2021
Mid-October is already here which means next Saturday will be the Elkhart Model Railroad Club's 16th Annual Train Show in Nappanee, Indiana. The show is all set to go, and all of the planning, details, and hard work come together next weekend at the Claywood Event Center in Nappanee. This will be the largest train show in Northern Indiana for 2021. There will be plenty of vendors, lots of trains and accessories from all scales, food, free parking, and EMRRC members to help you find your way around.
Friday night was open running at EMRRC. A lot of members were on hand for a good evening of fellowship at EMRRC. This week instead of the normal "Friday Night Running at the Club" we will be running the video that will be played at the train show.
The video starts with 2 gorgeous Big Boys waiting to cross the trestles into Liberty. From there you will see plenty of action with over 25 trains and locomotives running on the layout at EMRRC. So if you want to see a lot of action with steam and diesel check out this week's "Friday Night Running at the Club".
EMRRCs latest clinic with Randy Robbins discussing "Military Flatcar Loads" is on Youtube and here on this website. Click Here to see the video on our Tech Files page or click the icon in the upper right of this page to go directly to Youtube. We have nearly 30 tips on our Tech Files page gathered from members and around the internet.
The Trackside Photographer had an interesting article titled "The Laboratory and the Outhouse". No, it's not what you think. Click Here to check it out and see what you think after reading the article.
I'm sure you know who Lance Mindham is. If you haven't signed up for his newsletter please do. This month Lance covers a quick and dirty way to quickly and effectively paint and weather roofing. Click Here to go to Lance's webpage. The webpage has a lot of great ideas and articles and you can sign up for his free newsletter.
The Elkhart Model Railroad Club was started over 73 years ago. During that time a tremendous amount of talented people have passed through the club doors and made a lasting impression on the club. Every year the club has made advancements and improvements and we have started a memorial page to remember and honor as many members as possible who came to EMRRC and made a difference that helped the club's legacy. Click Here for the Memorial Page and if you have a memory of a former club member please pass it along.
That's it for this week. Click Here to see the latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading and see you at the train show.
October 1, 2021
The first day of October 2021 at Elkhart Model Railroad Club saw a new clinic presentation by Randy Robbins on Military Freight Car Loads. Randy being a U.S. Army tanker vet mixes his military interest with trains and we get a great clinic out of his interests. Look for the finished clinic on Youtube and this website soon. The next clinic coming up on November 5th is painting trees, grass, clouds, and brush on backdrops with Jay Freet.
Don't forget the 16th Annual Elkhart Model Railroad Club's Train Show is coming up in less than 2 weeks. Members make sure you are signed up for show duties as it's all hands on deck for the show.
Ben Brubaker was working on a diorama over the last couple of weeks and we added in old number 10 to complete the scene.
The Yoakam Junkyard has changed owners. There is a new sign announcing Giuseppe's Salvage. There were rumors about an East Coast entity with questionable ties to concrete and boot companies.
After the clinic, some general maintenance on the railroad, and socializing we had a ton of members and guests for the night. I'm guessing somewhere around 35 people enjoyed running and watching several trains running at EMRRC. Click Here to see the latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading.
The Elkhart Model Railroad Club is in the final days of September well on our way into Fall and more indoor time to spend on model railroading. Friday was our Formal Operations night and we had a good group of members and over 10 trains running through their paces.
Member, Mike Miller brought in his Digitrax DT602D throttle along with a Digitrax UR93 Duplex Transceiver.
At EMRRC we are running a Digitrax simplex system. The UR93 gives us the added duplex system for the DT602D throttle to work. The UR93 is extremely easy to hook up. Just plug in the included PS14 Universal power supply, hook up the included loconet cable into any handy transceiver and it was there for the DT602D to recognize.
Here are the features for the DT602D
Features:
Works with compatible LocoNet systems
Color 2.4” LCD Display Screen
Full Duplex radio when paired with a UR92 or compatible Duplex Transceiver (sold separately)
Advanced menu system and displays
Built-in scrolling help and prompting
Soft ON/OFF switch, with zero OFF power-drain
Advanced display Power Saving for longer wireless battery operation
Throttles are now powered in wireless modes by 3 AA cells! No more 9V batteries to remove!
Can use recharged AA batteries
Works in standard tethered, IR, or Radio Duplex modes
Duplex Scan for available Networks and radio signal strength. Run without cords!
All throttles come with a LocoNet cord that can be unplugged and is replaceable
Dual throttle controls let you control two locos simultaneously
Run locomotives with “encoder click” knobs for both speed and direction control
Full numeric keypad makes loco selection simple
Control light and sound effects functions with the press of a button
Control 29 functions (F0-F28).
Function active/inactive indicators
Convenient step-by-step throttle option set up
Supports simplified decoder programming
Simplified 2 or 4 digit addressing setup
Over 9,000 locomotive decoder addresses
Supports turnout and stationary decoder control
Over 2000 turnout decoder addresses
Fast clock display
Recall feature
Advanced Route editor
While operations were in progress on the HO-Scale layout members also enjoyed trying out the new N-Scale layout. The electronics are just about finished and the scenery is up next. Click Here to see the latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading.
EMMRC has had over 800 business meetings over the years as the club was formally founded in 1950 and records of business meetings start then. September 17th was the Elkhart Model Railroad Club's monthly business meeting. Items discussed included; The October business meeting will be delayed one week to October 22nd due to the October train show. The new club shirts order is in and shirts will be on the way to the club soon. Member Paul Ewing presented a mock-up of the new club brochure. Paul worked very hard on the brochure with some assistance from Jim Ford and it looks great. Printing will begin soon and you will be able to download a copy here on the website.
Chief Dispatcher Ron Breiser announced the era for next week's Formal Operations Session,1976. Steam, unfortunately, is gone except for some excursion locomotives and the 1976 American Freedom Train. In case you weren't around or don't remember the American Freedom Train featured twelve display cars, ten that visitors would go aboard and pass through and two to hold large objects that would be viewed from the ground through huge "showcase" windows. The display cars were filled with over 500 precious treasures of Americana. Included in these diverse artifacts were George Washington's copy of the Constitution, the original Louisiana Purchase, Judy Garland's dress from The Wizard of OZ, Joe Frazier's boxing trunks, Martin Luther King's pulpit, and robes, and even a rock from the moon. The American Freedom Train was a 26-car train led by one of three steam engines restored just for the occasion. Over 21 months from April 1, 1975, to December 31, 1976, more than 7 million Americans visited the train during its tour of all 48 contiguous states. Tens of millions more stood trackside to see it go by. It was by far the greatest event on rails since the end of the steam era, and the uniquely magnificent vehicle that brought America's Bicentennial celebration to the people. If we're lucky we may see the AFT pass through next Friday night.
Randy Robbins is our next EMRRC Clinic presenter on October 1st. Randy is a veteran of the U.S. Army, Armour Branch and has an interest in military trains. Randy will discuss tanks and moving them on the railroads. The main item for discussion was the upcoming 16th Annual Train Show. We are under 30 days till the show opens and all preparations are moving along smoothly. The vendor tables are all sold out and there is a waiting list. The final details are ironed out, and members are signing up for volunteer work at the show. A really interesting motion was brought before the members. EMRRC has a chance to move the show back to a Spring date. It looks like the 17th Annual Train Show will happen in March 2022. It's a quick turnaround for the club but after 16 years of shows, the membership is up to the task. More news to come on this development as we move forward.
After the business meeting, setup started for next week's Formal Operations Session. Several members set the cars and locomotives for their upcoming journeys to and from various businesses and industries on the railroad.
One other item for this week is another article from The Trackside Photographer. The article chronicles the author's travels mainly around Indiana tracking Illinois Central's number 101 through the years from his childhood to adulthood. CLICK HERE and check the story out, you'll enjoy it.
A couple of Big Boys strutted their stuff around the layout Friday night. Nathan and Matt brought their Athearn Genesis #s 4002 and 4017.Twenty-five Big Boys were built exclusively for the Union Pacific Railroad, the first of which was delivered in 1941. The locomotives were 132 feet long and weighed 1.2 million pounds. Because of their great length, the frames of the Big Boys were “hinged,” or articulated, to allow them to negotiate curves.
They had a 4-8-8-4 wheel arrangement, which meant they had four wheels on the leading set of “pilot” wheels which guided the engine, eight drivers, another set of eight drivers, and four wheels following which supported the rear of the locomotive. The massive engines normally operated between Ogden, Utah, and Cheyenne, Wyo.
There are seven Big Boys on public display in cities around the country. They can be found in St. Louis, MS; Dallas, TX; Omaha, NE; Denver, CO; Scranton, PA; Green Bay, WI; & Cheyenne, WY. 2017 is on display at the National Rail Museum in Green Bay Wisconsin along with a Pennsylvania Railroad GG1, The Dwight D. Eisenhower Locomotive & Command Cars, and several other permanent railroad displays. Be sure to Click Here to see the Big Boys in the latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading.
September 10, 2021
On September 10 at the Elkhart Model Railroad Club, we had several members and visitors in for our informal running session. We started with a clinic on freight carloads with Ben Brubaker.
Ben showed several inexpensive options to add loads to flatcars. Ben did a great job and, you can see this clinic soon on this web page or on the Elkhart Model Railroad Club's YouTube channel. We had another great month on YouTube. We gained 51 new subscribers and had over 340 hours of watch time with nearly 7000 views.
President Chuck Hart informally spoke about EMRRC's new N-Scale layout. The layout is operational and, a train was run with a phone throttle through a Raspberry Pi totally separate from the EMRRC system controlling the HO-Scale layout.
There are still a few electronics to sort out, turnouts that are out of reach will be controlled on the operator's phone through JMRI. The electronics should be finished up by next week and then on to scenery. The Elkhart Model Railroad Club is always looking for new members. If you are an N-Scaler there is now a new layout for you.
We are interested in members with an interest or expertise in computers, apps, artwork, construction, electrical, model buildering, or just want to see and work on a piece of history in the Elkhart area. We ran onto one interesting statistic. The Elkhart Model Railroad Club has around 30 members. Of those members, only 3 are from Elkhart. All of the rest live in an area from Southwest Michigan to Warsaw and Marshall County. It may be the Elkhart Model Railroad Club but we serve and draw from a large area.
We are just over 30 days from The 2021 Elkhart Model Railroad Club's 16th Annual Nappanee Train Show. The 2021 Train Show will be at the Claywood Event Center on October 16, 2021, from 10:00, am to 3:00 pm EDT. This is the same excellent event center we held the tremendous 2019 show at. It's approximately 3 miles southwest of Nappanee, Indiana at 13924 N. 1100 W (County Line Road). The building has all the amenities and we will take up about 14,000 sq. ft with 150 vendor tables. There will be plenty of direction signs to find your way there. If you are a hobbyist don't miss this show. All scales will be well represented with plenty of used and new items. If you want to bring the family, kids under 12 are free and it's just $5 for adults. There will be a restaurant on-site with hot Amish sandwiches, desserts, sides, and soft drinks. Be sure to join us on Saturday, October 16th at the Claywood Event Center. You won't be disappointed. The Elkhart Model Railroad Club and Claywood Event Center will be following all Corona Virus protocols in effect for the month of October 2021 provided by the City of Nappanee, Indiana, Kosciusko County, and the state of Indiana.
Members don't forget we are in the final days to order a club shirt. Sign up now if you are interested. Click Here to see our latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading.
September 3, 2021
Labor Day weekend at the Elkhart Model Railroad Club saw 20 members and several guests come in for our usual social gathering and to run trains. There are many benefits to being a member of the club. Friday night we sorted and priced donations we receive during the year for the upcoming 16th Annual Train Show. Afterward, members were allowed to buy any item they wanted at a great price. Treasurer Steve Storey could barely keep up with all of the transactions. Speaking of the upcoming Train Show we are sold out of vendor tables. Any vendor application received will be added to a waiting list. This means 150 tables of vendors will be at the show.
EMRRCs first two clinics of the year are up on YouTube. You can go to our Tech Files page and hit a direct link to each clinic from there. The clinics are "Building a Portable DCC Programming Unit", and Track Ballasting". Each clinic has nearly 100 views with 8 Likes each. Our next clinic "Freight Car Loads" will be debuting in the month of September. The Elkhart Model Railroad Club's YouTube channel has had a growth spurt this year with 175 new subscribers so far.
We had a lot of trains and locomotives running Friday night. One of these was a Rapido Trains EMD SW1200. General Motors Diesel (GMD) began production of the first example of the 1,200-hp SW1200 switcher model in January 1954. Built through until May 1966, over 700 examples of this versatile road switcher were built by EMD. This unit was painted as a Rock Island unit and had Rapido's normal attention to detail.
Designed from original blueprints and field measurements
Heavy diecast frame, chassis, and gearboxes for superior pulling power
Rapido’s renowned silky smooth-running drive system
Working cab interior light and inspection lights
Fully detailed Type A or Flexicoil trucks, as appropriate
Full cab interior with working cab interior light and non-working fire extinguisher and fridge (where appropriate)
Working headlights and illuminated number boards at both ends
Some models have a rotary beacon or flasher/strobe as appropriate
Separate handrails, including crash bars inside the cab
Multiple exhaust stack and battery box door styles
With or without working drop steps, as appropriate
Incredible underbody piping and conduit detail - a Rapido hallmark
DC/Silent or DC/DCC/Sound versions featuring an ESU Loksound decoder with accurate recordings from a 567 prime mover
Be sure to watch for this engine and a pair of Scale Trains Rio Grande Tunnel Motors on our latest "Friday Night Running at the Club video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading.
NEWS for August 2021
August 27, 2021
The last Friday of August was the Elkhart Model Railroad Club's Monthly Operations Session. The era was 1968 and we had a lot of classic diesel show up as steam was pretty much over with.
The Friday Night Running at the Club" video takes a look at member Gary Pressnell switching the Wood Creek area and Chateau Paper Products. Click Here to see the switching at Wood Creek. Dispatcher Zach Maierie did a nice job of steering us through the night and didn't have to come out of the Dispatcher Office too often. Zach is a student at Grace College and has just started classes.
Marketing and preparation continue for the 16th Annual Train Show on October 16, 2021. Announcements & flyers are out to tons of venues.
Part of the preparation involves sorting the donation items we have to sell at the EMRRC Train Show. We are looking for members to volunteer to come in on Tuesdays to sort the items. We have 4 members signed up, but we could use more as there is a lot of stuff to go through. Please signup at EMRRC's groups.io page to help the club get these items ready to sell.
The Elkhart Model Railroad Club's first two clinics are posted up on Youtube. Matt Glassman did a great job talking about how and why he created a portable programming box to use during T-Track sessions and at the club or at home. Take a close look at Matt's photo and you'll see something as rare as Jim Ford or Steve Storey running a train on the layout, Matt smiling.
Speaking of Steve Storey he did our 2nd clinic of the year on Ballasting. Steve looks really happy while he's working away on ballasting and does a very good job of showing the intricacies of How to Ballast Track. Click Here to watch the clinic on the Portable Programming Unit. Click Here to watch the clinic on Ballasting. Thanks, guys for the great job and time you put in on these important videos for the club. Our next clinic is September 10th with Ben Brubaker discussing how to make loads for freight cars.
On a technical note have you ever wondered if that sweet running locomotive with a Keep-Alive device will begin to degrade, resulting in worsening performance over time. Charging efficiency, as well as total capacity will begin to decrease as the capacitor(s) begin to reach their end-of-life. Click Here for an article on why electrolytic capacitors degrade, as well as some factors which can expedite this process of reaching EOL.
Click Here to see our latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading.
August 20, 2021
August 20th was the Elkhart Model Railroad Club's monthly business meeting. At the meeting items discussed included the club's 16th Annual Train Show coming up less than 60 days away on October 16, 2021. We are going to have 150 vendors at the show and vendor tables are sold out. Any vendor application received after August 19th will go to a waiting list. Also, there are several jobs still to be done before and during the show. Members please check out the jobs and signup sheets on EMRRC's groups.io page or on the bulletin board at the club and sign up. In the upcoming weeks, more detailed preparations and assignments will need to be finalized.
EMRRC also welcomed 4 new probationary members, Zach Maierie, Bill Trail, Mike Miller, and Rich Farrough. Congratulations gentlemen. We are always looking for new members who have an interest in computers, apps, artwork, construction, electrical, model buildering, or just want to see and work on a 72-year piece of history in the Elkhart area. Do you like Arduino or have experience with Raspberry Pi? We would love to talk to you about various projects upcoming. If you enjoy puzzles we run the biggest electronically interfaced 3D puzzle in the area when we run operations every 4th Friday of the month. Stop by on a Friday and say hi. The AC is on, the parking is free and it's a great social environment. We just had 6 guys from Ohio looking to set up their own club and looking for information on how successful clubs operate.
As soon as the meeting ended, Steve Storey, ( Steve wears several hats at the club, he is also the Club Treasurer) conducted a clinic on ballasting. Ballasting is a tough job as it is tedious but exacting and EMRRC has over 1000 feet of mainline and another 750' of spurs, yards, and connecting railroads, and members have to keep up with ballasting. The clinic was recorded and will appear on EMRRC's YouTube page and on this website in the Tech Files area.
After the meeting and clinic, it was time to set up for next Friday's Operations Session which will cover the pre1968 era. Operations take some time to set up when you are dealing with a large layout, several members, and lots of cars and locomotives to get in place. It is an enjoyable experience as members, visitors and guests set up the pieces to a large puzzle and that puzzle will be solved on Friday, August 27th during EMRRC's formal Operations Session. Click Here to see our latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading.
August 6, 2021
The Elkhart Model Railroad Club held its first clinic in a long time. Matt Glassman spoke about building a portable programming station. Matt is also interested in N-Scale T-Track Modules and needed a quick way to set up power and control for T-Track modules. This brought about Version I of his portable programming station. Matt is now on Version II of his programming station. The clinic delved into how Matt built the programming station and how it operates.
We are going to post the video of the clinic on the EMRRC YouTube channel and on our Tech Files page soon. We will have a mini-clinic on ballasting Friday, August 13th. If you are interested see Steve Storey and be at EMRRC by 7 pm. Our next clinic will be on September 3, 2021, with Ben Brubaker. Ben will speak on "Freight Car Loads" and how to inexpensively build them. Look at the cost of buying premade freight carloads. You can get into more money than you spent on the flat car very easily.
EMRRC is also going to have club shirts made for the members. The Polo shirts are forest green with the club logo. All of the options are listed on the signup sheet is on the bulletin board at the club. Please signup by the August Business Meeting as the order will be turned in by the end of August.
We deal in running trains friend so after the clinic, lots of steam, diesel, MOW, club members, and guests had a great time at EMRRC. It's airconditioned and the parking is free.
If you want to see a great railroad museum don't forget the Michiana NMRA Division will have an August outing at the National New York Central Museum in Elkhart on August 21st. Please be at the front entrance at noon.
Click Here to see our latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading.
July 23, 2021
The last Friday of July 2021 was the Elkhart Model Railroad Club's Formal Operations Session for July. It was a smooth session as up to 10 trains were operating under the direction of Chief Dispatcher Ron Breniser. Ron also took the time to start breaking in a new dispatcher Zach Maierle who did a great job the first time out of the chute. CLICK HERE to check out this week's "Friday Night Running at the Club" as it's all Operations.
Our next meeting on August 6, 2021, will feature our first clinic in over a YEAR AND A HALF. Matt Glassman will provide information on building a portable programming station. The clinic will start at 7:00 pm after the club maintenance. There is no informal train running until after the clinic.
We're going clinic crazy all of a sudden. We will have a mini-clinic on Friday, August 13th (what can go wrong) @ 7 PM Steve Storey will present a clinic on track ballasting. Yep, there's an art to it if it's done right and Steve is the guy to make sure you get it right. It will be a quick demo and participants will be turned loose on the EMRRC tracks afterward. Also one last reminder we are just about sold out of vendor tables for our 16th Annual Train Show in Nappanee. If you are a vendor and don't want to be on the waiting list for a table you need to get your application in now. Click Here for more information.
A couple of more items to take a look at. Ron has finished the TLC to Stan's Wood Creek Roller Press Building and it is on the layout in place with a full interior. Ron did a great job as it was in sad shape inside & out when the club got ahold of it.
Also, Ken Prager is working on the North Wall rebuild based on Nathan Overmyer's plan. This is a major rebuilt which got stuck in the middle of the pandemic shut down and we are just now starting to see the results. Take a look when you get a chance. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading.
July 23, 2021
Friday, July 23rd was EMRRC's July Business Meeting. Items discussed included our 16th Annual Train Show in Nappanee. 140 out of 150 tables have been sold. If you are a vendor we're getting close to closing table sales. Please get your application in now. Click Here for more information. Club members will be able to buy an Elkhart Model Railroad Club Polo style shirt in dark green. Members, please check EMRRCs groups.io page for pricing sizes, etc. Orders and money will be collected at the August Business Meeting. EMRRCs Bad Order for Freight Cars and Locos will move from the library shelf to its own roll-around cart soon. Our July Formal Operations Session will be Friday, July 30. 2021 starting promptly at 7:00 pm. The era is pre1956.
August 6, 2021, will be our first clinic in a long time. Matt Glassman will provide information on building a portable programming station. The clinic will start at 7:00 pm after the club maintenance. There is no informal train running until after the clinic. The Michiana NMRA Division will have an August outing at the National New York Central Museum in Elkhart on August 21st. Please be at the front entrance at noon. Steve Storey will be conducting a mini-clinic at one of the meetings on ballasting. This will be scheduled soon as we need folks to ballast club track. If you want to learn how to ballast track please see Steve. After the meeting members set up for the upcoming Formal Ops Session.
Every Tuesday is a Maintenance Night at the clubhouse. Members are encouraged to come by and lend a hand. Chores include general cleaning in and outside the clubhouse and maintenance on the layout. Thanks to Ken for the general club clean-up and work on the north wall. Paul and Jim for trimming outside bushes, Will & Gary for lawn maintenance, Chuck for his continuing work on the new N-Scale layout, and Gary for track maintenance.
Piko is releasing their HO-Scale Whitcomb 65-Ton (65-DE-19A) Diesel Locomotive this fall. The engine comes DCC ready or equipped with Piko's DCC decoder. James Wright did a review on YouTube on the engine and was impressed. Not only was the decoder superb but the engine is a brute. Click Here for the review. Some highlights include an impressive array of sounds including dual-engine and a real-sounding bell. The engine ran so slow it errored out his speedometer on slow-speed steps. It has 3.3 ounces of pull which is approximately 50 HO freight cars. Great detail, and a die-cast chassis. The only downside for the American market is it comes with European couplers and buffers. There is a separate kit to change these and later versions will be made for the American markets.
After all this the club members got down to our main business, running trains. We had a lot of great-looking Nickel Plate, PRR, South Shore, and Great Northern. We did have one problem while trying to set a club record. Be sure to check the end of "Friday Night Running at the Club". Click Here to see our latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading.
July 16, 2021
Due to scheduling problems, EMRRC moved our July Business Meeting to Friday, July 23, 2021. We will be closed to the public next Friday the 23rd until our Business Meeting ends usually around 8 pm.
Upcoming events at the Elkhart Model Railroad Club include; Friday, July 30, 2021, Formal Operations starting at 7:00 pm. The era will be pre1956. The Operations Session will start promptly at 7:00 pm. If you are late there is no guarantee a position will still be available. Visitors and guests will be paired with an experienced operator. On August 6, 2021 member Matt Glassman will have a clinic on building a portable test/programming station. As always please give the presenter the attention they deserve during the clinic whether you are a member or a guest. After the clinic is maintenance night. Members and guests are expected to pull maintenance on the building, grounds, and layouts. If time allows informal running can take place after maintenance.
Gary Pressnell got a head start on maintenance working on a finicky switch near the entrance to Shult yard.
Do you have an interest in Michigan railroads? The Elkhart Model Railroad Club would like to pass along a good resource for you. www.michiganrailroads.com provides contemporary and historical information about railroads in and near the State of Michigan. They have sections on contemporary and historical Michigan railroads including old railroad maps, station information, and photographs. Take a look at a valuable resource on Michigan railroads. EMRRC's 2021 Train Show is coming soon and vendor tables are almost sold out. The 16th annual Train show in Nappanee, Indiana will be on Saturday, October 16th. If you are a vendor and interested please get your vendor information and a check to us as soon as possible. Here's a link to the application if you need it. On Friday we had an Informal Run Session with several unusual trains and locomotives, along with some of our longtime engines making their appearance at EMRRC. We had a chance to revisit with some guests and members we hadn't seen since before the Pandemic and some new potential members that have an interest in the club. If you have an interest in Model Railroading be sure to visit us on Friday nights from 7:00 pm till 9:00 pm. The Elkhart Model Railroad has been in the same building since 1950 and the layout you see today was started in 1952. There are a couple of sections of hand-laid track still on the layout from the 1950s.
Click Here to see our latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading.
July 9, 2021
The Elkhart Model Railroad had a great informal run session on Friday the 9th. We had a lot of locomotives show up.
Watch the latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video and you'll see a Broadway Limited Great Northern Boxcab, (we're using the latest 5G invisible catenary system). The PRRs class P5 comprised 92 mixed-traffic electric locomotives constructed 19311935 by the PRR, Westinghouse, and General Electric. Although the original intention was that they work passenger trains, the success of the GG1 meant that the P5 class was mostly used on freight. A single survivor, prototype #4700, is at the Museum of Transportation in St Louis, Missouri. The first P5s were built with box cabs. A grade crossing accident in which the crew was killed led to the substitution of a streamlined steeple type cab in later production, a design that was also applied to the GG1. Orders were placed for 90 production locomotives classified P5a due to minor changes from the prototypes. Production was split between General Electric and Westinghouse. The GE examples were assembled at GE's Erie, Pennsylvania facility, still a locomotive assembly plant today--while final assembly for the Westinghouse order was subcontracted to the Baldwin Locomotive Works.
A Rapido AMTRAK with a doppler horn ( I could actually hear it as it went by), pulling an AMTRAK passenger train made a stop at the Elkhart station on the EMRRC layout. The engine is an Amtrak F40PH. It is a phase 1 version, which means it is an accurate representation of the first order of F40 locomotives delivered in 1976. These 30 locomotives worked across the country until the very last days of F40PH operation, and many survive today as NPCU or “Cabbages." Phase 1 F40 locomotives operated all over the United States right until retirement.
Following that, we saw a couple of New York Central RS2s with lots of extras added (handrails, lift hooks, etc.) pulling a nice-looking coal train with a variety of weathered classic coal cars.
Don't forget the ScaleTrains "Big Blow" UP Turbine an aptly named locomotive that the model duplicates unbelievably look and soundwise. These are the hallmarks of the Union Pacific Railroad’s unique GTEL 8500 Horsepower Turbine locomotives. Often called “Big Blows” because of their deafening noise, they roamed the less populated landscape between Council Bluffs, IA and Ogden, UT. 30 three-unit sets were built between 1958 and 1961, and all were retired by the early 1970s.
Here are some important changes coming to the club for July 2021 only. Friday, July 16th will be a normal crazy informal run session, and guests and visitors will be welcome.We are moving the business meeting out one week for the month of July due to scheduling problems. The July business meeting will be on Friday, July 23, 2021, starting promptly at 7:00 pm. We will be closed to the public till after the business meeting concludes, usually at 8:00 pm. July 2021 has 5 Fridays so this will allow us to still have a formal operations session on Friday, July 30, 2021. The era will be pre1956. This is the year President Eisenhower's Interstate System was authorized, so no giant highways were connecting cities. Maybe there was a 4 lane highway with lots of intersections and stoplights. More than likely you were traveling on a 2 lane highway between minor cities. Indianapolis had one major 4 lane highway in 1956, US 40. Airplanes were not the great passenger carriers of today and airports were small and infrequent. So dust off your classic diesel, your passenger trains, and get your big steam, midsize steam, little steam, all your steam because the railroads and steam ruled transportation with diesel coming on strong The operations session will start promptly at 7:00 pm. If you are late there is no guarantee a position will still be available. Visitors and guests will be paired with an experienced operator. We will have our first clinic in over a year and a half on Friday, August 6, 2021. Member Matt Glassman will have a presentation on building a portable test/programming station. Matt has put together a tool that many will find useful and interesting. As always please give the presenter the attention they deserve during the clinic whether you are a member or a guest. The members put a lot of effort into their presentations and we will be taping the presentation for posting on our YouTube channel and our website Tech Files Page. Click Here to see our latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading.
July 2, 2021
It's been a busy two weeks for the Elkhart Model Railroad Club. We started last Friday, June 25th with our first Operations Session in over a year. Members had a great time and the session went pretty smooth.
For the first Friday in July, along with 3 guests, we started with general maintenance of the club, and member Matt Glassman finished putting in a curved switch near the roundhouse.
Also, Chuck Hart and Ron Benheiser were working on the new N-Scale Layout. The roadbed is very close to being finished and the scenery is starting to pop up around the layout. The N-Scale layout will be autonomous from the HO-Scale layout and will run on a Raspberry Pi. Running with JMRI the Raspberry Pi will generate its own wireless signal allowing the use of phones and wireless throttles separate from the HO-Scale system. On August 20th after the business meeting, Chuck Hart will host a clinic on the N-Scale Layout and its capabilities.
Everyone was excited to get the informal running session going as we had two Big Boys running along with a PRR T1 and a UP DD40AX, a 6600 hp locomotive. The most powerful diesel-electric locomotive model ever built on a single frame, having two prime movers. The Big Boys are Athearn Genesis models and did a great job running on the layout. The Union Pacific's Overland Route, the eastern portion of the Transcontinental Railroad, was built west from Omaha, across Nebraska and Wyoming, and on into Utah. The steepest grade was the eastbound climb on the Echo Canyon line through the Wahsatch Mountains just east of Ogden, Utah. Forty 4-6-6-4 Challenger locomotives were acquired in 1936 and 1937 to move
fast freight over the grades in Utah and Wyoming. They were rated at 4,290 tons across Wyoming, but were limited to 3,100 tons eastbound through Echo Canyon. Union Pacific wanted something that could make the same speeds as the Challengers but could carry the entire 4,290-ton train over the Wahsatch Mountains without a helper. The easiest solution was to scale up the successful Challenger design by adding another pair of drivers to each half of the locomotive thus making a 4-8-8-4. In 1941 UP placed an order for twenty 4-8-8-4's, numbered 4000 through 4019, with the American Locomotive Works. Each engine cost $265,174.
According to legend an unidentified machinist at the ALCO plant is responsible for the name "Big Boy", having scrawled the name in chalk on a partially completed locomotive. The Big Boys were exactly what the railroad wanted. They were coal burners with 68-inch drivers, 135,375 pounds of tractive effort and 6,000 horsepower. They started service on the line from Ogden to Green River, Wyoming and their operating range soon increased to cover the line all the way to
Cheyenne. Traffic during WWII resulted in 5 more Big Boys, numbered 4020 through 4024, being built in 1944. These versions were slightly heavier than the original order due to wartime materials restrictions.Despite the influx of diesel locomotives following WWII, the Big Boys and Challengers remained the prime power on the Overland Route. They also saw service as helpers, leading gas turbines and diesels over Sherman Hill. They remained active through the 1950's and weren't retired until the early
1960's. By then the first twenty units had been run well over one million miles. Eight of the twenty-five Big Boys have been preserved in the following locations:
#4004 in Cheyenne
#4005 in Denver
#4006 in St. Louis
#4012 in Scranton
#4014 in Pamona
#4017 in Green Bay
#4018 in Dallas
#4023 in Omaha
Have a Great Fourth of July.
Click Here to see our latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading.
NEWS for June 2021June 18, 2021
The Elkhart Model Railroad Club held our June business meeting Friday night. We had a small turnout for the meeting. Some highlights from the meeting included a review of the guidelines for informal running. We are trying to make sure everyone, members, and visitors have a chance to enjoy running during informal running.
We discussed club shirts for members. If you are interested be sure to check EMRRC's groups.io page for more info.
Clinics will restart on the 1st Friday in August. The plan is to video some of the clinics over the next few months and load them onto the Club's Youtube channel. After the meeting, it was set up for operations. We are going to have our first operations session in over a year on Friday, June 25th. Members and visitors must be at the club by 7:00 pm on Friday in order to be assigned by the dispatcher. Visitors will be paired with an experienced operator for the session. The era is steam in the year 1943 and before. After the meeting and set up there was still time for running trains.
We saw a massive PRR T1, a nice NYC F7, and a couple of steamers running through.
One of the steamers was pulling a flatcar with a USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) prop being moved to Chicago studios. The model was built by Stan Shatto. Be sure to take a look at this week's "Friday Night Running at the Club" as we take a look at former and current members and some sections of the layout from years ago. Click Here to see our latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading.
EMRRC had open running Friday night at the clubhouse. We had several members and visitors enjoy socializing, operating, and just taking a look at the many trains running on our 30' x 50' HO-Scale layout.
Member Matt Glassman brought out his beautiful Norfolk & Western Class J locomotive. Only one class J locomotive, No. 611, survives. Its survival was in part due to its excellent condition after its 1956 derailment and subsequent repair, and also in part to the efforts of attorney and railfan, W. Graham Claytor Jr. who offered to preserve the 611 rather than seeing it scrapped. The locomotive was donated to the Roanoke Transportation Museum in 1962, where it sat dormant for two decades. Since then, it has had two excursion careers: from 1982 to 1994, after Norfolk Southern Railway restored the locomotive, and in 2015 (by Norfolk Southern) and afterward by the VMT.
Also, Friday night Wood Creek's locomotive was running along with an Elkhart & Western making a caboose transfer, lots of NS, NKP, and NYC.
Be sure to take a look at the UP caboose in the "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. It is a Hallmark Brass custom-painted unit. The Elkhart Model Railroad Club is fortunate to be surrounded by railroad treasures. The club has been around for 71 years and is a great place to visit. Also in Elkhart is The National New York Central Railroad Museum. Across the tracks is the current Amtrak station constructed in 1900 by the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad. Later it became part of the New York Central System. Of course, the tracks are Norfolk Southern's mainline running to Chicago and NS's 2nd largest classification yard Elkhart Yard. Each day, more than 100 trains pass through Elkhart Yard. Also the Grand Elk Railroad and the Elkhart and Western Railroad interchange with NS in Elkhart. You can still see an NS engine with a caboose interchanging with the E&W. Just to the west of Elkhart is South Bend and there you will see NS, CN, and The South Shore an electric commuter railroad that runs to Chicago.
The third Friday of every month is our business meeting. This Friday, June 18th is our business meeting night. Visitors are welcome after 8:00 pm. Don't forget our 16th Annual Train Show in Nappanee. We are receiving reservations for tables weekly. Please check our Train Show page for more information and set the date October 16, 2021, on your calendar. Click Here to see our latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading.
June 4, 2021
The first Friday in June had several operators and one tracklayer at the Elkhart Model Railroad Club. Member Matt Glassman was busy laying new track and switches in the Hammes Roundhouse area. This area is being converted into better access to Hammes Yards. Also on the HO-Scale layout member, Ron Breniser is working on several buildings in the Chateau Paper complex. The buildings were originally started by Stan Shatto but he never had the chance to finish them. Ron had a setback as he ended up in the hospital for a few days but he is doing well.
Rumors are that scenery in the roundhouse area is starting and the powerhouse area may have a new building in place soon. The new N-Scale layout is coming along nicely. More roadbed has been installed around the edges and backdrops at each end of the layout have been installed. Don't forget we are open for visitors Friday nights from 7:00 pm till 9:00 pm. The third Friday of each month is 8:00 pm till 9:00 pm due to our business meeting. The fourth Friday is our operations night visitors are welcome and you will be paired with an experienced operator for the evening.
Here's a project for someone. Do you have some flatcars laying around? This bridge is 6 flatcars welded together, off-site, in pairs. This is a county road that used to just run through the creek. You see this in some rural counties but not this elaborate.
As you have gotten older have you gotten the wobbles? A lot of boxcars end up with this problem sometimes right out of the box. RTR can mean Ready To Repair. Here are some ideas to help you correct this problem.
Check the kingpin. The kingpin can stand up a little bit higher than the inside of the truck. The solution to that is to file it down. Some kingpins are so thick that even when the truck mounting screw is tight the trucks wobble. Gently file it so that you can tighten the screw to the point that the truck barely swivels and rocks, then back off the screw about 1/4 turn. Don't take too much off, you don't want to file the bolster completely off.
One thing you might try is leaving one truck relatively loose, and tightening the other so that it just swivels without any up and down motion. You want to adjust the tightness of the truck screws carefully. Tighten the screws down until the truck won't swivel and then back off a quarter of a turn or thereabouts.
One truck ought to be as tight as possible to eliminate side to side rocking of the truck. The other truck ought to be a little bit looser to let the track follow rises and dips in the track. Make sure the tops of the wheels don't hit anything on the bottom of the car. Both trucks should be parallel to the car bottom, not cocked to one side or the other.
The car can have a bad wheelset, warped, etc. Plastic wheels tend to add wobble. Replace with metal.
Click Here to see our latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading.
NEWS for May 2021May 28, 2021
EMRRC had some trains on the tracks that we don't see every Friday night. We had several switchers, British locomotives with passenger trains, On3. We took a look at the switchers on this week's Friday Night at the Club", click here to see the latest video. Since the pandemic has slowed significantly in Elkhart County the club is again open for visitors and guests from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm Friday nights. If you have an interest in model railroading stop by say hello and take a look at the large HO-Scale club layout that was started in the 1950s.
If you like N-Scale work has begun again on our new N-scale layout and we are looking for people with an interest in N-Scale. Watch out we may put you to work. We are always looking for new members who have an interest in computers, apps, artwork, construction, electrical, model buildering, or just want to see and work on a piece of history in the Elkhart area. Do you like Arduino? We would love to talk to you about various projects upcoming. Train shows are up and running and were are getting past the cancellations due to the pandemic. Even though were are at the beginning of June we are working on our upcoming 16th Annual Train Show in Nappanee. It takes a lot of planning and coordination with lots of different people to have a successful show. Tables are selling fast please check out our Train Show page for more information and get the date October 16, 2021, on your calendar. Tempus Fugit.
We had a distinguished visitor stop by the courthouse in Elkhart at EMRRC. Take a look and see if you figure out who it is. Here's a hint the number 45 is associated with him.
Do you know what a distributed air car is? They are containers or boxcars that have air compressors and diesel fuel tanks installed to maintain air pressure in long trains during the winter months. Here's a link to a discussion http://cs.trains.com/trn/f/111/t/146747.aspx CN and BNSF are the main users. Click Here. if you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Everyone have a great Memorial Day weekend, take a minute to remember the men and women who sacrificed their lives in the military service of this country to preserve the freedoms we enjoy as Americans.
May 21, 2021
Friday night was the monthly business meeting for EMRRC and several members were at the Elkhart Model Railroad Club. Items covered included; the club is open to visitors again from 7:00 pm till 9:00 pm Fridays except when there is a business meeting. The Elkhart County Mask Mandate ended May 14.
We have sold over 100 vendor tables for the October 16, 2021, 16th Annual Train Show in Nappanee, Indiana. We are trying out a few new rules on Friday nights to relieve congestion on the mainline at EMRRC. Train lengths are limited, and don't leave your train are a couple of the rules. Members can access the entire list on EMRRC's groups.io file area.
EMRRC is looking into club shirts for the members. Joe Cipalla is checking into the shirt project for us. The Elkhart Model Railroad Club formed a committee to look into electronic CTC signaling. Matt Glassman, Ron Benheiser, and Jim Ford will look into electronic signaling and report back to the club. EMRRC is going to start formal operations again. Friday, June 25th will be our first operations session in 14 months. It will be the year 1943 so pretty much all steam will be running.
Speaking of steam after the meeting a nice-looking MTH Pere Marquette just back from rehab made an appearance Friday night at EMRRC along with several NS trains, the Rio Grande Zephyr, and a long oil train.
Did you know the Southern Railway extended into Indiana? The Southern operated through Louisville via the Kentucky & Indiana Terminal, which connected with the LE&StL to St. Louis. From 1900 until 1981, K&IT was owned equally by Southern, B&O, and the Monon; SR bought the whole thing in 1981 as B&O and Monon moved into the CSX camp. Here's an article http://cs.trains.com/ctr/b/mileposts/archive/2021/05/11/southern-where-i-least-expected-it.aspx. Southern’s St. Louis line had at least one other notable feature: Duncan Tunnel, a surprisingly long (4,295 feet) bore that pierces what is known as the Knobstone Escarpment, a formation of limestone spread out across southern Indiana. Located just six miles west of New Albany near Edwardsville, the tunnel is fairly well hidden, barely visible to motorists passing right over it on Interstate 64.
Click Here to see our latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading.
May 14, 2021
The Elkhart Model Railroad Club definitely had a British feel to its meeting Friday night. A Camouflage WWI Boche Buster Rail Gun and ROD 2330 Dean Goods 0-6-0 Steam Locomotive ran through along with an Irish Railways 2-6-0 passenger train. The BL 18-inch railway howitzer was a British railway gun developed during World War I. The Railway Operating Division (ROD) ROD 2-8-0 was the standard heavy freight steam locomotive operated in Europe by the ROD during the First World War. There were three batches of orders for the 2-8-0. The first batch of orders was placed between February and June 1917 for 223 locomotives. Later orders brought the total up to 521 locomotives. Three ROD 2-8-0s and one pre-war 8K have been preserved.
The Irish Railways ran a 2-6-0 steam engine with 3 passenger cars. The passenger cars are Gordon's Express Coach recolors and the engine seems to be one of the Bachmann UK engines in the Irish Green and Cream. The range of British models offered by Bachmann in Britain is easily adaptable to Thomas the Tank items. That being the case these items are modeled in OO scale (4mm = 1ft) and not HO scale. Note that traditionally British OO is designed to run on HO track.
The Elkhart Model Railroad Club after much thought has decided to reopen to the public on Friday 5/21/2021. Visitors and guests will be welcomed to the club from 8:00 pm till 9:00 pm because this is a business meeting night. NO VISITORS before 8:00 pm. If you have not been vaccinated please wear a mask. If you are a visitor or a guest please wear a mask. Children must be accompanied by adults. Please come by and enjoy a large layout that has been running since the early 1950s. This is the first meeting with visitors since March of 2020.
EMRRC's 2021 Train Show has over 100 vendor tables sold. The 16th annual Train show in Nappanee, Indiana will be on Saturday, October 16th. If you are a vendor and interested please get your vendor information and a check to us as soon as possible. Here's a link to the application if you need it. Click Here to see our latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading.
May 9, 2021Several members showed up for the first Friday in May to run trains and share some fellowship. We saw a lot of steam, classic diesel and, Ken's apocalypse train looking like it was on its way to the scrappers, but being pulled by 2 beautiful GN F3s.
Yes, we are getting close to reopening the EMRRC clubhouse to the public. Elkhart County keeps bouncing around between orange and yellow but the latest stats show the cases going down and the vaccinations going up.
EMRRC's 2021 Train Show has over 100 vendor tables sold. The 16th annual Train show in Nappanee, Indiana will be on Saturday, October 16th. If you are a vendor and interested please get your vendor information and a check to us as soon as possible. Here's a link to the application if you need it. There is a train show within driving distance of our area coming up this weekend. The Franklin Train Show will be on Saturday & Sunday, May 15-16. 94 vendors along with clinics will be at 250 Fairgrounds St, Franklin, IN 46131. Franklin is about 20 miles south of Indy. If you go be sure to check the times as they vary by day. Admission is free.
There seems to be some renewed interest in using graphite for improved conductivity and cleaning on tracks. I posted some notes on our Tech Files page. Several people with large layouts say this process solves problems and means less track cleaning. Model Railroad Hobbyist has done extensive research on the process. EMRRC has the perfect area to try this out as we have 2 extremely long tunnels from our Flushing Branch. ( You have run through kind of a waterfall area to get to this hidden gem on the EMRRC layout).
I pass this underpass every day in Elkhart and have never noticed the "We The People" inscription. It's on the Grand Elk access to Norfolk Southern by the Elkhart and Western access to NS. Richmond Street runs under it and turns into Waterfall Drive. Elkhart Streets are crazy. Does anybody know anything about it? Click Here to see our latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading.
Members continue to look through the many items from Stan Shatto. Another engine that showed up is the ClownRail engine. Stan built this parody engine of Conrail in the early 2000s and it had not been seen at EMRRC for many years. Members are taking a look at the engine to see what needs to be done to get it back on the EMRRC tracks.
As the club gets closer to opening for guests and visitors (look for an announcement soon) remember if you are into
model railroading not only do we provide a massive HO scale railroad to run your trains on but we have members with years of experience to help you out. I decided to join a club years ago as I knew I would never complete a huge layout, so I joined EMRRC which has over 1200 feet of mainline another 1000 feet of secondary, branch line, and yards. We also need N-Scalers. We started a new N-Scale layout before the pandemic but construction has slowed down. If you like N-Scale and want to be involved in constructing a new N-Scale layout think about joining EMRRC.
Looking to see what's wrong with that favorite engine or car? Need help with programming that new DCC decoder? We may be able to help. Look for an announcement in the next couple of weeks for EMRRC opening to the public.
Here's an interesting article about the preservation of steam locomotives. This is the story of two locomotives that were preserved but still couldn't dodge the cutting torch. It's a two-part story so make sure to look for the second part. http://thetracksidephotographer.com/2021/03/18/a-passion-for-steam/
photo by railfan 44 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/129679309@N05/26046388862/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54427252
The 2021 EMRRC Train Show has now sold over 98 vendor tables out of 150. If you are a vendor and interested please get your vendor information and a check to us as soon as possible. Here's a link to the application if you need it.
Click Here to see our latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading.
April 16, 2021
We had a lot of members on site for the Elkhart Model Railroad Club's April business meeting. Several items were discussed including; opening the club for visitors and guests. At this time we are still closed except for members Due to the Covid regulations in Elkhart County we have decided to remain closed until May when it will be revisited. The 2021 EMRRC Train Show has sold over 80 vendor tables of 150. If you are a vendor and interested please get your vendor information and a check to us as soon as possible. Here's a link to the application if you need it.
Click Here to see our latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading.
We recently received the rest of Stan Shatto's model railroad equipment. Stan was a lifetime member and our craftsman when it came to anything in model railroading. The area Stan concentrated on was the Chateau Paper facility in Wood Creek.
Stan had several buildings still to complete and some of these buildings were in the material we received.
Also, the infamous Sana Flush engine was found after a long absence from the EMRRC tracks. RIP Stan and thanks for all your work and the many items you left the club. The EMRRC Club Car has sold beyond our expectations, At this time there are 3 cars left at John Hall True Value Hardware in Goshen.
Jay Freet had a post on Facebook about his use of old electronic boards for the interiors of buildings on his N-Scale layout. Who doesn't have a bunch of these lying around gathering dust? It's an easy way to easily put an interior in an industrial building. Another great idea, Jay had was to use drywall seam tape for the window frames that you see in the picture below. It adds a lot of detail to buildings.
One of our members Paul Ewing has used this technique for one of our HO-scale buildings. This is the Jacobson Wood Products building in Roda. The use of old boards adds a quick interior to industrial buildings. Click Here to see our latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading.
April 2, 2021
Rock Island center cab #423 lives. After a bit of LokSound programming, the decals have been added, the lights work and she moves on the Elkhart Model Railroad Club trackage. The 423 is a C415 road switcher. Matt Glassman has put together the engine from parts on hand and resin castings from Pacific Northwest Resins. Everyone enjoyed seeing a rare engine come to life. Since Matt brought in his Loksound programmer he worked with some of the other members to tune up their LokSound decoders.
We had several engines running on the tracks Friday night. Be sure to check out our latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video by Clicking Here and if you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. I ran across an interesting link to CRP&A, the Center for Railroad Photography & Art. They have a tremendous collection of black & white photos available for research and browsing. Also, there are interesting biographies of some of the great railroad photographers who spent their lives shooting railroads throughout the United States so we can enjoy them today. Be sure to take a look at this tremendous collection. The Elkhart Model Railroad Club's 16th Annual Train Show is selling vendor tables like hotcakes. If you are a vendor interested in the show be sure to get your application in as soon as possible. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading.
NEWS for March 2021 March 26, 2021
Everyone had a good time Friday night at the Elkhart Model Railroad Club. We had nearly 20 members and 6 had their Nickel Plate Road #765 Berkshire with them, so several shots of 765 appear in this week's "Friday Night Running at the Club". Member Paul Ewing took some great shots of the layout Friday night Please enjoy them on our Facebook page. Member Matt Glassman has been working on a Rock Island C415 road switcher. Matt has fabricated and cannibalizing parts for the engine while getting the frame, body, and side trucks from Pacific Northwest Resins. The C415 was a large switcher or small road switcher equipped with a raised cab mounted slightly off-center, with a lower, narrower hood on either side. The longer one contained the diesel engine, a 1,500 hp (1.1 MW) eight-cylinder turbocharged Alco 251-F, while the shorter contained auxiliaries.
The C415 could be ordered with three different cab heights; a low one for minimum clearances, a regular height one, and an extra-height one for maximum visibility. Only 26 of the engines were built as Alco was nearing the end of its run. Unbelievably 6 are still around with 1 working on a short line in Australia.
The 16th annual Train show in Nappanee, Indiana on October 16th is moving right along. Every week we are selling more tables.
There is a train show in our area on Saturday 4/3/2021. The show is the 2021 Miami County Train Show and Swap Meet in Peru, IN at the Miami County Fair Grounds. The show will be complying with whatever COVID guidelines are in effect at the time. All proceeds benefit the Light Up Peru Chrismas fund.
Click Here to see our latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading.
March 19, 2021

Several members were at the Elkhart Model Railroad Club for the monthly business meeting For March 2021. Member Matt Glassman was elected Vice President to finish Jerry Piatt's term. Congratulations Matt. Jerry retired from the club and will be missed by all. Other items on the agenda for March included a review of our Covid policies and unfortunately, Elkhart County has slipped back into the Yellow Catagory so we have to put off opening the club to visitors till we meet again in April. The 16th annual Train show in Nappanee, Indiana on October 16th is starting to look good. we have sold over 30 tables out of 150. Our Club Car sales did very well and we are sold out. After the meeting, several trains showed up on the EMRRC tracks.
A patched Conrail EMD NW2 showed for switching duties at EMRRC. The engine was originally Erie and was sold to Conrail who patched it with a small CR but left the Erie colors intact. Eventually, the engine was scrapped after many years of service for Conrail.
A beautiful Northern Pacific A2 4-8-4 pulling a fast passenger train came through EMRRC. In 1938, eight Class A-3s (road numbers 2660 through 2667) were delivered from Baldwin.
Another beautiful passenger train running Friday night was a PRR streamlined K4. In February 1936, locomotive #3768 was clad in a shroud designed by famed industrial designer Raymond Loewy. This highly concealing, enveloping streamlined casing hid most of the functionality of the steam locomotive, leading to its nickname of The Torpedo by train crews. At first, the locomotive was not painted in standard Dark Green Locomotive Enamel (DGLE) but instead in a bronze color. It was later refinished in DGLE. A matching tender ran on unusual six-wheel trucks. Like most streamlined steam locomotives, the shrouds impeded maintenance, and the covers over the wheels were later removed. For a time, the locomotive was the preferred engine for the Broadway Limited train.
The unusual white car pulled right behind the tender is Borden "Butter Dish" milk tanker. The Borden's butter dish cars could be found on trains running on the D&H, Rutland, Lehigh Valley, DL&W, NYO&W, Erie, and the NYC. I have yet to see a photo of a Borden's butter dish car on the PRR. The butter dish cars were rebuilt from Borden's wooden milk cars. It appears they may have picked the cars for rebuilding at random. Not all the wooden milk cars may have been rebuilt. One could see both the butter dish and wood sidecars through the years in the same consist. With this in mind, the butter dish numbering would not be in any particular series. It was reported that 35 cars saw conversions to the butter dish style. One butter dish car, #520 is preserved at the Illinois Railway, Museum in Union, Ill.
The butter dish cars originally had a top fin and two end fins. Later during the war, the top fin was removed for scrap metal purposes. The end fins on some cars also were removed at a later date. In the mid to late 1950's the butter dish milk cars changed usage. They went from hauling milk to glue ingredients while others just became storage.
Click Here to see our latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading.
March 12, 2021

Congratulations to member Gary Babcoke III, Penn State University Altoona, 2021 AREMA (American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association) scholarship winner. Gary will receive a Bachelors's Degree in 2022 in Railroad and Railway Transportation.
Slowly things are coming back to normal. There are train shows and swap meets scheduled in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio in March. Click Here to check Ken Scoops' latest Train Show List. Don't forget EMRRC's Train Show has moved from March till October 16. 2021.
Here's is member Matt Classman's latest ScaleTrains project. It is a GE Dash 9 with the following changes and parts to turn it into NS 4002
- Intermountain ES44 center section. I broke the Intermountain cab so I had to sacrifice a tier4 Shell that I got earlier in the year.
- Tru-Color Paint.
- Circus City Decals
- ScaleTrains tier 4 cab.
- Truck lights.
- Step lights.
- Walkway lights.
- Ditch lights.
- Number board lights.
- Headlights.
NS 4002 was Norfolk Southerns 3rd release in the "Mane Series". It shows a mane with a Tuscan Red stripe behind the cab to highlight the DC to AC conversion. GE originally built the locomotive as standard cab D9-40C No. 8789. Great Job as always Matt.
Photo Courtesy Stan Sienicki. 9/23/2016 NS 65K with recently rebuilt GE AC44C6M's 4002, 4004 Roll past the Elkhart Amtrak Depot in a scene that can not be duplicated today due to the track realignment that placed the 2 mains south about 60 feet along with a new passenger platform.
Click Here to see our latest "Friday Night Running at the Club" video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains. Click Here to see the latest Train Show List courtesy of Ken Scoop. Have some fun with model railroading.
News for March 5, 2021













