Elkhart Model Railroad Club Announcements
The 14th Annual Train Show will be presented March 16, 2019 by EMRRC in Nappanee, Indiana at the Claywood Event Center. Don't Miss It.
Click Here for a link for general information and vendor registration.
News for February 15, 2019
A quick move into mid-February and we're into our second business meeting of the year. 
Several projects were reported on including a new switch panel installed by member Matt Glassman. This will give approaching and departing trains from Chicago and Toledo running through the Flushing division an easier path through the EMRRC system. Members Charlie Yoakam and Jerry Piatt charged with upgrading the waterways on the layout are building a dam along the Elkhart River with help from Ron Breniser. Probationary member Jerri Cardella was voted into full membership after her probationary period ended. Also, next week is operations at the club and Chief Dispatcher Ron Breniser was making plans for that. On a sad note, it was announced Charlie Yoakum's brother Raymond Yoakum passed away in Texas. Raymond was a member of the club till he moved to Texas where he was a member of the Plano Texas Model Railroad Club. Thoughts and prayers from all the club members for Charlie and his family. 
We had several interesting engines show up for running after the business meeting. A UP Gas Turbine made its initial run at the club. In late 1948 Alco-Ge built a 4500 h.p gas turbine electric locomotive. The dual cab, 84-foot long locomotive burned cheap Bunker C fuel that usually powered oil-burning steam locomotives. The 2019 Spring Issue of Classic Trains has a great article on Gas Turbine Electrics. To see this engine and many more just Click Here to see all the action for our latest video in 2019. If you want to see more pictures of trains and members from Friday night Click Here. Vendor Tables are going fast for the EMRRC 2019 Train Show, we have over 110 tables spoken for so far. CLICK HERE for general and vendor information. For a schedule on train shows and swap meets in the area Click Here (this is the latest list) courtesy of the Grand River Valley Railroad Club in Wyoming, MI. For 2018 Past Announcements at EMRRC Click Here. Have some fun with model railroading.
News for February 8, 2019
January ran into February with record-breaking cold in the midwest. Actual temperatures were in the -20 degree range with wind chills in the -50 degree range. By the first week of February, temperatures were in the plus 50s settling to 8 degrees by February 8th. Several members and visitors had cabin fever and made our February 8th meeting. But before we get to our meeting a couple of items on members. We lost our lifetime model craftsman Stan Shatto on December 31, 2018. The club and all our members will miss Stan. Please see the remembrance below. Also, member Jeffrey Cain slipped and fell on the ice at the end of January ending up in the hospital for several weeks with some serious injuries. Get well soon Jeff the members miss seeing those beautiful passenger engines of yours on the layout.
As you can see from the picture people were bundled up from the cold Friday Night but the coats came off as people started running trains. We had several interesting trains running through Elkhart on EMRRC trackage including 
Nickel Plate, P&LE, Peabody, Clinchfield, NYC and Virginian. Just Click Here to see all the action for our latest video in 2019. If you want to see more pictures of trains and members from Friday night Click Here. Vendor Tables are going fast for the EMRRC 2019 Train Show, we have over a 100 tables spoken for so far. CLICK HERE for general and vendor information. For a schedule on train shows and swap meets in the area Click Here (this is the latest list) courtesy of the Grand River Valley Railroad Club in Wyoming, MI. For 2018 Past Announcements at EMRRC Click Here. Have some fun with model railroading.
Stan Shatto September 18, 1951/December 31, 2018
Stanley (Butch) Stephen Shatto, 67, passed away December 31, 2018 at the Lutheran Life Villages Nursing Home in Kendallville, Indiana. Stan was raised, went to and graduated from schools, in Lagrange Indiana. Stan, when he was younger, his parents ran, what was previously known as the Brick House Restaurant, on Detroit Street in Lagrange. Stan grew up around his parent’s restaurant. Stan had a lifetime love of anything Mopar, Race Cars and especially Model Trains. Stan was a lifetime member and master model designer at the Elkhart Model Railroad Club. Stan was preceded in death by his parents Clyde Shatto and Lillian (Runion) Shatto. He is also preceded in death by half-brothers, Robert Shatto, William Shatto & James Shatto and half-sister Anita Jean (Shatto) McNeal. He is survived by his children, Stephanie Shatto-Dennis of Maxwell CA., Tonya Shatto of Aurora Co., Michael Shatto of Long Beach CA. and Michelle Shatto of West Sacramento, CA., step-children, Chad Stahl and Toni Stahl-Brigman, both of Kendallville, IN. He is survived by his 7 grandchildren; Cassandra Vanessa, Nickolas, Matthew, Amber, Ellie and Trevor. Arrangements were made by his 3rd ex-wife, Patricia Shatto, without the knowledge of his children, family or friends. So Stan’s final resting place is unknown. Any memorial donations may be made in his memory to the Elkhart Model Railroad Club, 2703 Hawthorne Street, Elkhart IN 46517 Rest In Peace Dad! We love you and will miss you always- Your kids and grandkids
Stan was a lifetime member of the Elkhart Model Railroad Club. Older Club members remember Stan joining the club in the 1970s. Stan was an excellent modeler. Many of the areas on the club layout had Stan’s touch and this made for a better more scenic layout.
One of the premier areas on the club is the Chateau Paper factory complex serviced by the Wood Creek railroad.
This complex encompasses a 3’ x 8’ area that includes many lighted buildings and an industrial complex with detail that is hard to believe.
Yes, it’s a model and its 1/87th scale by Stan Shatto.
Several of the water towers and tanks on the layout were built by Stan along with a multitude of buildings scattered all over the layout.
Stan was a joker and liked to subtlety show his humor through playing with words. Chateau Papers is a play on his own name and who can forget famous engines like; Sano Flush, Utterly Pathetic and the infamous Norfolk & Weigh. Some members like to show how precise their modeling is by letting a car roll down a grade on the layout and brag about how smooth it was and how far it would go. One night Stan ran of his cars down the grade and it went further than anyone's. Members watched the freight roll uphill over the next grade. Stan had hidden a small motor in the freight car and had everyone going till he ran it up the hill.
Stan was a valuable member of the club and will be missed by all the club members. Keep Stan and his family members in your prayers. RIP Stan.
NEWS for January 2019End of January 2019 NewsNEWS for January 2019 weeks of January and I thought I would put up some interesting links till regular news from the meetings begins again. From Trains MagazineAn interesting article about the last piece of rolling stock that is left from the May 10, 1869 ceremony at Promontory Summit, Utah, that appeared in a Clint Eastwood movie.http://cs.trains.com/trn/b/sta
Double Header Souther Railway Steam for Ron.http://trn.trains.com/photos-v
The United States Railroad Administration (USRA) was the government agency that operated U.S. railroads during the First World War. During its tenure, the agency developed a dozen USRA standard steam locomotive designs for service nationwide. This massive 2-8-8-2 Mallet articulated was the largest of these USRA locomotives. It was 105'-2" long, stood 15'-9" tall, and weighed 531,000 pounds. Mallets were compound engines that used their steam twice: first in the rear high-pressure cylinders and then in the front low-pressure cylinders. American Locomotive Co. (Alco) and the Baldwin Locomotive Works built 80 USRA 2-8-8-2s in 1919 that were allocated to Appalachian coal-haulers. The USRA sent 50 to Norfolk & Western, 20 to the Virginian, and 10 to the Clinchfield. All three companies, plus the Denver & Rio Grande Western and the Northern Pacific purchased additional copies of these locomotives after the war. Many of these big 2-8-8-2s were used until the mid-1950s. 
Another train running through EMRRC trackage was the Empire Builder. The Great Northern Railway inaugurated the Empire Builder on June 10, 1929. It was named in honor of the company's founder, James J. Hill, who had reorganized several failing railroads into the only successful attempt at a privately-funded transcontinental railroad. It reached the Pacific Northwest in the late 19th century, and for this feat, he was nicknamed "The Empire Builder." Following World War II, Great Northern placed new streamlined and diesel-powered trains in service that cut the scheduled 2,211-mile-trip between Chicago and Seattle from 58.5 hours to 45 hours. The schedule allowed riders views of the Cascade Mountains and Glacier National Park, a park established through the lobbying efforts of the Great Northern. Re-equipped with domes in 1955, the Empire Builder offered passengers sweeping views of the route through three dome coaches and one full-length Great Dome car for first class passengers. Just Click Here to see all the action for our latest video in 2019. If you want to see more pictures of trains and members from Friday night Click Here. Vendor Tables are going fast for the EMRRC 2019 Train Show, we have over 85 tables spoken for so far. CLICK HERE for general and vendor information. For a schedule on train shows and swap meets in the area Click Here (this is the latest list) courtesy of the Grand River Valley Railroad Club in Wyoming, MI. For 2018 Past Announcements at EMRRC Click Here. Have some fun with model railroading.
January 4, 2019
Afterward, we had some interesting trains show up. Paul Ewing brought 2 Indiana Hi-Rail RSD15s. #443, was built by Alco in June 1960, #83579, as AT&SF 843, Class 800. It was renumbered 9843, Class 9800, in 1970, and sold to Precision National in 1975. They sold it to SCCCo as 9843 in 1975. It later became Peabody 9843 and then was sold to IHR as 9843 in 1988. It was soon renumbered 443. It became A&TC 443 in 2000 but is leased from a private owner. It was leased to Arkansas Railroad Museum and restored as ATSF 843. I have the engine painted as Squaw Valley 9843 when it was running for Peabody Coal. 
Another RSD-15, the high hood version Bessemer & Lake Erie 883 made a run through pulling a string of ore cars. As we saw all the final moves for 2018 just Click Here to see all the first moves for 2019. If you want to see more pictures of trains and members from Friday night Click Here. Vendor Tables are going fast for the EMRRC 2019 Train Show, we have over 85 tables spoken for so far. CLICK HERE for general and vendor information. For a schedule on train shows and swap meets in the area Click Here (this is the latest list) courtesy of the Grand River Valley Railroad Club in Wyoming, MI. For 2018 Past Announcements at EMRRC Click Here. Have some fun with model railroading.