Elkhart Model Railroad Club Announcements
The Elkhart Model Railroad Club meets Friday Evenings at 2703 Hawthorne Street in Elkhart, Indiana.
NEWS for February 2021News for February 28, 2021
Several members were at the Elkhart Model Railroad Club Friday night and we saw a lot of trains on the tracks. So many that we actually had more footage than we could use for "Friday Night Running at the Club" One of the unique trains was a New York Central Hudson Dreyfuss that member Randy Roberts has owned for several years and has run as a DC engine on our Digitrax DCC layout. Randy remotored the engine added a DCC decoder and new led lights and it made its DCC debut Friday night. 
Also, our "I'm gonna rebuild everything" member Matt Glassman has an Alco C-415. The body is from Pacific Northwest Resins. Trucks and drivetrain are out of a Proto 2000 Alco locomotive. The front driveshaft has been cut about in half to get it to fit. Great start and job as always Matt. The C415 was a large switcher or small road unit equipped with a raised cab mounted slightly off-center, with a lower, narrower hood on either side. Only 26 of these locomotives were made. 
Another unusual locomotive coming soon from Piko is the Whitcomb type 65 center cab Here's the picture of Piko's test model of the Whitcomb in H0. They plan to release two versions during the second half of this year. The version of the Dutch state railways (they bought 20 after the war) and the version of the USATC. This is the USATC version. Piko America hinted there will also be a US version after these. Up till this point, there has only been a brass version of this engine. 
During Friday nights session the committee for the 2021 Train Show met. John Banicki will serve as the chairman of the committee and Nathan Overmyer will serve as the vendor liaison. Both John and Nathan will be assisted by several other members to make this the best train show in Northern Indiana. 
Also some good news for Elkhart County concerning the Covid Virus. Elkhart County has fallien into the Blue Advisory Level for a week. A county must remain at a lower Weekly Two-Metric Score for two consecutive weeks to move down to a lower advisory level. so we are still in the Yellow Catagory at this point, but it sure looks like the count will be blue in a couple of weeks. Hopefully we will be opening the club for visitors after the March business meeting. 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 Grand River Valley Railroad Club. Have some fun with model railroading. News for February 21, 2021
A lot of snow in the Elkhart area but over 15 intrepid club members made it out for the Elkhart Model Railroad Club's February meeting. You can see from the picture the amount of snow piled by the building. Items covered at the meeting included, when the club will reopen for visitors, the 2021 Train Show, and club car sales. Covid rates are coming down in Elkhart County at this point the county is in orange while next door St. Joseph County is in red. What does this mean. Well Elkhart County is at a risk of outbreak. The county needs to reach yellow or green before the club can consider reopening to the public. There is still too much liability for the club to have visitors at this time. Our 16th annual Train Show will become a Fall show for 2021. The show will be held on October 16, 2021. There is a menu area open on the site with lots of information and downloads for the vendors. Our club car sales were successful even in a pandemic. We have no cars left at the club for sale. John Hall True Value may also be sold out of the cars he had in stock. 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 Grand River Valley Railroad Club. Have some fun with model railroading.News for February 12, 2021
Well here we are in the middle of a winter cold snap in Elkhart. The good news is the Covid rates are coming down in Elkhart County. All of the metrics are on a downward trend and the county has dropped from red (extreme) to orange (critical} and it looks like we're on the way to yellow (high). What does this mean to the Elkhart Model Railroad Club? Maybe we can start moving things back to normal if the current rates keep holding. I'm sure this will be discussed at the next meeting along with our Annual Train Show which has been moved to October 16, 2021. mean to the Elkhart Model Railroad Club? Maybe we can start moving things back to normal if the current rates keep holding. I'm sure this will be discussed at the next meeting along with our Annual Train Show which has been moved to October 16, 2021. Train shows are slowly coming back and we wanted to again start running Ken Skopp's Train Show List. Ken keeps this list going with a lot of hard work and is a member of Grand River Valley Railroad Club in Wyoming, MI. The club's website address is http://GRVRRC.ORG and is near Grand Rapids, MI. One other item of interest is a newsletter I ran on called "The Trackside Photographer". It's free to subscribe to their blog which highlights photos and articles about the railroad environment both past and present. They produce an article every Thursday and last week's article "Fire and Steel" gives a look at a hidden gem Warwood Tool a maker of forged hand tools for the railroads. Their web address is http://thetracksidephotographer.com/ to sign up for their weekly blog. 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 Grand River Valley Railroad Club. Have some fun with model railroading. NEWS for January 2021News for January 22, 2021
There are several areas to the Elkhart Model Railroad Club's website including the tech files area which includes helpful links to articles, files, tips, tricks and general information gathered by members of EMRRC. Some new links include files from the Hindsight 2020 groups.io group. Hindsight 20/20 is a virtual RPM, held online and via Zoom. They hold all-day events featuring ten 30-minute clinicians on a Saturday every 6 to 8 weeks. They also hold Wednesday Night Hindsight events featuring a single clinician, every 3-5 weeks.The links are for the handdouts members use for their online meetings. One example is "Gon for Broke" a PowerPoint presentation about taking a simple kit that you can find cheaply, and making it into a worthy addition to a fleet of detailed models. So be sure to check out some of the other valuable areas on our website. Don't forget to look for the link to YouTube on this page. The YouTube channel has every "Friday Night Running at the Club" video ever posted for the club. over a 100. 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. Have some fun with model railroading. News for January 15, 2021
The Elkhart Model Railroad Club held our January business meeting and exciting news about the 2021 Train Show was decided at the meeting. Our Annual Train Show of course was derailed by the pandemic in 2020 The train show is usually in March but in 2021 the show will be moved to October 16, 2021. Of course, there will be changes to the show due to the virus but we still plan on this being the biggest train show in northern Indiana with plenty of vendors and operating safely under the health rules that will be in place for large venues. The show will be held at the Claywood Event Center in Nappanee, Indiana the same venue we held the 2019 show at. The Elkhart Model Railroad Club is just beginning the process of putting together the 2021 Train Show so there is plenty of decisions and work still to be done. As we put together the show more information will be forthcoming on this website and on our FaceBook page. Other items discussed at the meeting included opening the club up for visitors. The club will be closed for visitors until our next meeting in February where the item will be discussed again. 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. Have some fun with model railroading. NEWS for December 2020News for December 11, 2020
The Elkhart Model Railroad Club is sad to announce the passing of our good friend and long time member Charlie Yoakam. Charlie was involved in model railroading nearly all of his life and had a great knowledge of railroading in Northern Indiana and Ohio where Charle was from. Charlie retired from Miles Labs several years ago and luckily for EMRRC this left Charlie with the time to work on every aspect of our HO layout including, the scenery in the pond area under our 2 major trestles, the North Wall area, downtown Elkhart and a complete rebuild of the quarry area. There is probably no area of the layout Charlie has not had a hand in working on. Charlie had been a member since the 1980s and had some great memories and knowledge of the club and prior members. Charlie is survived by his wife Linda, his daughter Kathy Yoakam Mangona and husband Rick, of Goshen, Indiana, as well as granddaughter Sophia and grandson Nicholas who is a student member of EMRRC. RIP Charlie. The Elkhart Model Railroad Club extends its condolences to Charlie's family and friends and will always miss Charlie. 
NEWS for October 2020News for October 23, 2020
The Elkhart Model Railroad Club met for our monthly business meeting on ZOOM Saturday 10/24/2020. Topics covered included: Guests and non-members visiting the club. Unfortunately, we decided to hold off on visitors until the beginning of 2021. The Elkhart area is still trending upwards with COVID cases and the liability with our older members is too great. Decisions for our 2021 Train Show will be made at our November meeting. Some preliminary work has started but we start making main decisions in November. For Friday Night Running we had about 13 members running all steam with a couple of diesels passing through. 
An update to last week's story on the AMTRAK RTG Turboliner. Member Gary Pressnell shot 2 pictures of the prototype in Niles, Michigan 6 years apart. 
The one in the rain is from July 1975 and the one in the snow is from February 1981. 
Not only did we have a lot of steam running Friday night but Member Will Babcoke had some help from his dad Gary and Steve Story remotoring a Hornby locomotive. It was successful and we'll see some footage next week. 
Member Matt Glassman brought in a Broadway Limited 2-10-4 with a new Loksound decoder and newly decaled with Kentucky Steam decals. Also Matt added a wheel light and firebox lights. 
To see the 2-10-4 and several other steam locomotives including a brass B&O. 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. Have some fun with model railroading. News for October 16, 2020
The Elkhart Model Railroad Club usually has our monthly business meeting on the 3rd Friday of every month but we had to postpone the meeting till Friday, October 23rd. So we still have not made a decision on when the club will open to visitors. Over the past few meetings, we had an impromptu clinic on weathering with Gary Pressnell. Members weathered the side frames, couplers, fronts, and backs, using airbrushes, and powders.
Also members have been busy on various personal projects, (fixing and programming engines) and a couple of members have been busy realigning track around the roundhouse area. We have always had problems with the main running around the roundhouse. The curve is too sharp and to enter the yard you are running through a complex switch The curve is going to have a larger radius and a double slip switch is being replaced. A
fterwards we had several members running trains including an AMTRAK RTG Turboliner. The RTG Turboliner trainsets were based on the French ANF gas-turbine T 2000 RTG "Turbotrain" trainsets. Capable of reaching speeds up to 125 mph, they were initially introduced on the Chicago-St. Louis route in late 1973. Over the next few years, they spread to other routes emanating from the Chicago hub including Michigan. Rapido is now accepting orders for a new HO Scale version of the RTG. Gary Pressnell bought this RTG in the 1980s. He has remotored it and it is running on DC but he has plans for changing it to DCC. Do you want to see more pictures and videos of happenings at EMRRC? 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. Have some fun with model railroading. NEWS for September 2020News for September 18, 2020
The Elkhart Model Railroad Club had its September business meeting outside, enjoying the weather while social distancing. At the meeting we welcomed 2 new mwmbers to the club after their probation period, Ryan Hernandez and Eden Marshall. Congratulations guys. 
Other items discussed included sending some our club cars to John Hall True Value Hardware Store in Goshen, Indiana. If you are interested in obtaining an Elkhart Model Railroad Club car be sure to check at Halls in the near future. Also a reminder for members to keep following our Covid-19 policies. The club has done very well following these policies and so far everyone is staying away from anv covid problems. Unfortunately we are still not having visitors come to visit us. We are still of the opinion there is too much liability and we operate in a small areas that do not allow for social distancing with large groups of people. Speaking of operations, our monthly operations session was brought up but Chief Dsipatcher Ron Breniser still feels we need to wait to 
begin operations due to the close quarters involved in operations. Some day the club will be back to normal and welcome guests and have our monthly operations sessions. The members miss having guests in to see the historic layout that has been operating in the City of Elkhart since 1950. On other note member Charlie Yoakam is at home not feeling well. It's not Covid related. We wish Charlie the best and hope he returns soon. Also thanks to member Gabe Smith for continuing to work on crossing signals at highway crossings. Right now he is working on minor crossings around the layout. 
A new project came up for discussion in as members Matt Glassman and Jim Ford discussed installing a Magnorail™ invisible chain system with magnets to move anything down the street from a bicycle to a car. We have the system it's just a matter of getting it installed. Here's a link to the system on our Facebook page and on Youtube. CLICK HERE. We'll see how it goes and try to give as much information as possible. Some of the members were discussing our Youtube page. Every video that has been produced is on the page. Last month we had 9 new subscribers, 1106 views, and 3800 minutes watched. Tne small box with a triagle in it at the very top of our page takes you to the Youtube channel or CLICK HERE to go instantly to the Elkhart Model Railroad Club's Youtube channell. Of course after the meeting we got down to the business of running trains. 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. Have some fun with model railroading. News for September 4, 2020
EMRRC had several members show up for "Friday Night Running at the Club" as we moved into September and the Labor Day weekend. www.emrrc.com has several areas that you may not be aware of. There's the Tech Files area which contains several files with tips, tricks, and general information about model railroading gathered by the members of EMRRC. The latest files include a video of Jay Freet discussing painting backgrounds.This video is probably over 10 years old but if you are not an artist. Jay makes it easy for you to paint trees and clouds on backdrops. Also, there is a link to an article on Trussrod End Boxcars. If you are modeling the beginning of the 20th century this is valuable information on the freight cars you need. There is an area on the site that delves into the history of the Elkhart Model Railroad Club. We received a letter from former member Martin Biemer. Martin was a member in the 60s & 70s before moving out of state. Martin had fond memories of the club and members Paul Withers (who ran the hobby department at Berman's sporting goods department store downtown). Merritt "Mike" Miller, Charlie Hammes, Porter Bechtel, Bob Mangum, Carl Schult, Warren Van Ness, and Dick Hess. In September 1964 the club hosted the North Central and Midwest Region National Model Railroad Association Convention and Martin was at the club for this event. 
William K. Walthers and Linn Westcott were both at the club for the convention. The big attraction was the club's "progressive block system." 
There were nervous moments as the system did not cooperate weeks befoe the convention. but after many hours of troubleshooting the system was back to working perfectly the day before the convention opened. Another highlight of the convention was member Mike Millers Fall River Logging Company home layout. Linn Westcott was so impressed by the layout, pictures and an article about the layout were featured in the October 1964 Model Railroader. Martin had many more memories of the club and we'll get a file up with those memories soon. Explore the other areas of the EMRRC webpages. You might find something unexpected. 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. Have some fun with model railroading. NEWS for August 2020News for August 21, 2020
As we approach the Indy 500 weekend in August (only time I'll get to write that) the Elkhart Model Railroad Club held its August business meeting outside on the lawn. It was a nice evening in the shade as the board and members discussed the club's operations. The top topic was allowing guests into the club. All the members agreed to table the request. Member Dr. Jeff Cain spoke about the problems opening could bring about. At this point, the Friday night members in attendance have the system down for our Covid-19 policies and members showing up on other nights or alone are all handling the policies as well. 
After the meeting members went in to run some trains. We had plenty of consists pulling long trains along with steam and classic diesel. 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. Have some fun with model railroading. News for August 7, 2020
The Elkhart Model Railroad Club was open for members on the first Friday of August 2020. All members who attended wore masks and followed all protocols for the club's COVID-19 protocols. Click here for a copy of the current Covid-19 Policy. Unfortunately, we are still closed to the public until further notice. 
Chuck Hart did some remodeling during the week. All of the Digitrax throttles and the radios for operations are now conveniently mounted on the wall under the bulletin board in the computer room. The throttles are in their own charger/holders while the batteries and accessories are in the red bins. 
We had a good mix of diesels and steam running Friday night. 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. Have some fun with model railroading. NEWS for July 2020News for July 24, 2020
EMRRC's AC was fixed during the week. Thanks to member Steve Storey and Greg Longbrake from Advanced Heating for coming out and getting the AC going again. Also member Charlie Yoakam came by for a few minutes and is doing well after his hospital stay. We had several trains show for "Friday Night Running at the Club". A couple of the more interesting ones were a Kansas City Southern GE ES44AC Southern Bell. The Southern Belle was a named passenger train service offered by Kansas City Southern Railway (KCS) from the 1940s through the 1960s, running between Kansas City, Missouri, and New Orleans, Louisiana. 
A New York Ontario & Western F3-A which has appeared in our videos before was also running Friday night. One of the interesting stories about the NYO&W is pieced together from a Trains magazine story about the "Flying Diesel Corps." 
Photo courtesy Hamilton Public Library On September 27, 1955, a 50-car O&W train in Hamilton, New York, traveling on a mainline approached a switch set for a siding which led to a coal trestle. Although the engineer fully applied the brakes, the train continued up the siding at more than 30 miles per hour (48 km/h) and through the trestle. It was learned that the 213-ton EMD FT diesel locomotive at the head of the train "flew" a distance of 150 feet (46 m) beyond the coal trestle from an elevation of 15 feet (4.6 m); total time of "flight" was later estimated to be between six and seven seconds. Two of the crew were seriously injured, but no crewmen were killed in the wreck. An investigation by New York state police as to why the switch had been thrown resulted in no arrests. A dinner was later given in honor of the crew who each received a plaque proclaiming them to be members of the O&W's new "Flying Diesel Corps." Each plaque was topped with a cast presentation model of their F-unit locomotive; the castings were provided by EMD.
Another engine making its debut new out of the box was 2-6-0 #46521. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) Ivatt Class 2 2-6-0 is a class of steam locomotive designed for light mixed traffic. A total of 128 were built between 1946 and 1953, The 38 members of the Darlington-built batch (46465 to 46502) were allocated to the Eastern and North Eastern Regions of British Railways. The final 25 (46503 to 46527) were built at Swindon Works and, being allocated to the Western Region. Seven of the class have been preserved but only six engines have run in preservation. #46521 was one of the lucky 7 and operated on the mainline in the 1990s. #46521 also appeared in the movie "The-Seven-Percent-Solution." Well, enough history 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. Have some fun with model railroading. News for July 17, 2020,
Friday evening the members of EMRRC were greeted by a lot of hot air (well more than usual) in the clubhouse. Our air conditioning unit had failed and in Northern Indiana, we are having some of the most humid and hot days of the year. Several of the members are pretty handy and took s look st the unit but it's something that will take a pro so we have to wait till Monday for a professional to come out and take a look. Meanwhile, several members decided to tough it out and run some trains. 
Member Matt Glassman brought his new NS GE C44-9W from ScaleTrains. With nearly 1,000 units built since 2012, the GE Tier 4 GEVo is owned by nearly every Class I railroad in the U.S. and Canada. Take a look at the picture. Is it N-scale or HO-Scale? ScaleTrains did there usual quality job with this Rivet Counter N-scale locomotive. Thanks to members Paul Ewing, Gabe Smith, and Jerry Piatt for trimming and cleaning up outside earlier in the week. Also a hello to member Charlie Yoakam who is home from the hospital. 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. Have some fun with model railroading. NEWS for June 2020News for June 26, 2020,b 
Members of EMRRC met on Friday, June 26th for our weekly open run session. Plenty of hand sanitizers, social distancing, and masks were in use. Unfortunately due to the recent uptick in virus cases in Elkhart County the club has decided to hold off on opening the club to visitors. Hopefully, things will turn around in the near future and we will revisit opening the club at that point. We have to make sure that members and guests are in a safe environment . 
Several locomotives and trains were on hand Friday for "Friday Night Running at the club. Member Matt Glassman brought a couple of locomotives he is working on. They include CSX #3256 which is basically a Frankenstein locomotive that Matt is putting together out of spare parts. But I gotta admit it is a good looking engine. 
The other engine is a GE BQ23-7. The Q stands for crew quarters. Mechanically it's identical to B23-7 but was equipped with a larger cab for up to 4 crew members. This was produced during the era railroads were stopping the use of cabooses. Since they were eliminating the job in the caboose the crewman rode in the cab. As of 2001 all of these engines were scrapped. Matt got the body from Pacific Northwest Resins and fit it to an Atlas chassis. He plans to paint it in the Seaboard Coastline colors. 
On the layout, we had the usual suspects running NYC. NS, CN and the Rock. Keep an eye out for a OO Scale tank engine on loan from London North Eastern Railway. It goes through fast. Also watch for Gary Pressnell's NYC caboose #21500, a newly built kit. 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. Have some fun with model railroading. News for June 19, 2020,
Several members of EMRRC attended our first in person club meeting since March of 2020. The meeting was held outside comfortably in the shade under a large oak tree. A limited amount of items were covered. Member Ben Brubaker presented a list of safety guidelines that will be posted inside the clubhouse. The club is planning to open to the public on Friday, July 10, 2020. Please follow this webpage or our Facebook page as we move closer to this date for changes or updates. Also, congratulations to Ben as he has completed his probationary period and is now a full member. 
While we were still outside Matt Glassman lei us take a look at his new drone as he took a couple of shots of the club from the air. Afterward, several members went inside for the AC and to run trains. 
We had a lot of modern diesel running along with a B&O passenger train pulled by steam. 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 Member, Gary Pressnell has been working hard on his new NYC caboose. He just finished painting and is moving on to adding decals. Gary posts his project on our Facebook page so be sure to look at this great project he is meticulously building. Have some fun with model railroading.
News for June 5, 2020, Members showed up for some running for the first Friday in June 2020. EMRRC. The Elkhart Model Railroad Club is still closed to all but members. Member Gary Babcoke ran a Zoom Clinic on the ESU Programmer and Sound Customization. We probably will repeat this clinic in the fall to give members more hands-on experience with the programmer. member Gary Pressnell has been working on his new club cars and they are looking good. The cars are all numbered 1950 but Accurail supplied alternate decal numbers with a background that matches the car's color. Here's Gary's process for attaching the decals." I left the decal to soak pretty well. Then lift it out with an artist brush. And move it around with an artist brush. Sometimes you have to bump the bristles against the edge to move the decal. And after that use Solvaset by Walters,. When you apply the Solvaset it should be just a tiny bit to not cause the decal to float. Just to tack it down. Like at one corner. Let it dry. And apply more at another location. And finally, do the whole thing. You can have it dry more quickly if you siphon away some of the decal setting solution at the edge with a napkin or paper towel. 
Trains running Friday night included Wabash, Union Pacific, New York Central, Pennsylvania Rail Road, and The Rock. The Rock Island started in 1847 and since then has had many names starting with the Rock Island and La Salle Railroad Company, and shortly after the familiar Chicago and Rock Island Railroad. After several acquisitions and name changes including ownership by Union Pacific and Maytag Appliances, the railroad in 2017 became a new startup company that owns the rights to the Rock Island name has been operating in the southern United States. The new Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad LLC is primarily a shortline holding company, while also providing numerous other railroad services, such as switching, railroad management, railcar fleet management, railcar storage, and locomotive maintenance. The company acquired its first railroad in early 2019 with the acquisition of the Mississippi Delta Railroad. The company rosters 8 locomotives. On April 18, 2020, work completed on painting one of their GP38 locomotives, RILX 4310, into the famous "The Rock" paint scheme. On May 23, 2020
, (Here's where the locomotive that ran on our EMRRC trackage shows up) another of their GP38 locomotives, RILX 4373, completed being painted in the same scheme. In late May 2020, the company acquired Canadian National 2127 a GE Dash 8-40C, and repainted it into the same Rock Island livery, to become RILX 2127. 2127 was modified and painted by member Matt Glassman. As a quick side note, a spur of the Rock Island Railroad that ran beside a small hotel in Eldon, Missouri owned by the grandmother of Mrs. Paul (Ruth) Henning also inspired the popular television show "Petticoat Junction" in the early 1960s. Ruth Henning is listed as a co-creator of the show, along with her husband Paul, who also created "The Beverly Hillbillies" and "Green Acres." 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 Have some fun with model railroading. NEWS for May 2020News for May 29, 2020,
The Elkhart Model Railroad Club is slowly moving back towards a normal presence after being closed for about 70 days due to the pandemic. We started on Thursday, May 14th with a Zoom meeting in which 19 members participated. On Saturday, May 23rd the club had a get together outside the clubhouse for members to catch up on dues and buy club cars. 
Then on Friday, the 29th members showed up for our main business, running trains. We had several trains show up including Penn Central, New York Central, Norfolk Southern, B&O, and Union Pacific. 
We had a Norfolk Southern coal train run through (looks like the cars have never been used). A Penn Central with a New York Central pulling a long freight. A couple of steamers pulling passenger cars, and a Union Pacific pulling an unusual car that none of the members had ever seen before, except one. We have so many members with years of experience stretching back into their teens and some of these guys are in their seventies now with pretty good memories. Don't get on the wrong side of them.
One unusual car that showed caught member Gary Pressnell's eye is member Eden Marshall's Alturas and Lone Pine boxcar that promoted Whit Tower's iconic railroad "The Lonesome Pine Route". Mr. Towers was the longtime editor of the NMRA Bulletin and died in 1999. Parts of his layout are supposedly in storage at the NMRA Museum. We are opening slowly and will be open June 2nd for members only for cleanup and maintenance. On Thursday, June 4th at 7:00 pm we will have a Zoom meeting with a clinic by Gary Babcook on the ESU Programmer and Sound Customization. When will the club open for members and guests? I'm guessing after the July 4th holiday. More information on this will be on the website as that decision is made. In the meantime 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 Have some fun with model railroading. 
As a PS I had a run-in with an old friend, NS caboose 555005 running on the Grand Elk line I see this caboose about once a week in The Elkhart area. 
News for May 22, 2020
It's been a crazy year for the club so far but there are some constants that will never change. One of those is the Memorial Day weekend, a time to remember those who've given their lives for our country. Also this year please remember the front line people who held things together. On Memorial Day you hear a tune.that is dear to the heart of many service members and Americans in general. Captain John C. Tidball, West Point Class of 1848, started the custom of playing "Taps" at military funerals. In early July 1862 at Harrison's Landing, a corporal of Tidball's Battery A, 2nd U.S. Artillery, died. He was, Tidball recalled later, "a most excellent man". Tidball wished to bury him with full military honors, but, for military reasons, he was refused permission to fire 7 rifles three times (21-shot salute) over the grave. Tidball later wrote, "The thought suggested itself to me to sound taps instead, which I did. The idea was taken up by others until it was adopted by the entire army and is now looked upon as the most appropriate and touching part of a military funeral." As Tidball proudly proclaimed, "Battery A has the honor of having introduced this custom into the service, and it is worthy of historical note."It became a standard component to U.S. military funerals in 1891. "Taps" is sounded during each of the military wreath ceremonies conducted at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier every year, including the ones held on Memorial Day.News for May 14, 2020 
The Elkhart Model Railroad Club had its first monthly meeting since February. We are still closed and held the meeting over ZOOM and had 19 members in attendance. Items discussed at the meeting included: EMRRC will not be open to the public until at least after July 4th. The liability risk to a small organization like ours is too great. We will have a clinic on the ESU programmer on Thursday, June 4, 2020, at 7 pm. Gary Babcoke will handle the clinic and discussion using ZOOM. Our treasurer Steve Storey will be at the club on a future date to accept money to cover dues and for purchase of the EMRRC club car. Steve will decide on a date and time and post that on our groups.io page for the members. Ben Brubaker is going to come up with procedures for the cleaning and maintenance inside the club before our next meeting. We will have our June meeting at the clubhouse outside (weather permitting) on June 19, 2020. More information will be coming from Chuck and the board on when the members will gather for cleaning and maintenance. The Babcoke family has been providing lawn maintenance outside and the lawn is looking good. Now that the club members are getting back together information will start flowing again on the web page. EMRRC wants to thank everyone for their patience and understanding during this trying time for the country as a whole and our club. The Elkhart Model Railroad Club has been in business for 70 years. We will welcome back guests every Friday night starting this summer and look forward to the time when we are fully operational again. 3/23/2020Governor Eric J. Holcomb delivered a statewide address Monday 3/Ben Brubaker 23/2020 to order that Hoosiers remain in their homes except when they are at work or for permitted activities, such as taking care of others, obtaining necessary supplies, and for health and safety. The Stay-At-Home Order takes effect Tuesday, March 24 at 11:59 p.m. ET.The order ends on Thursday, April 30, at 11:59 p.m. ET, but could be extended if the outbreak warrants it. This order is mandatory. For the safety of all Hoosiers, people must stay home and prevent the spread of COVID-19. EFFECTIVE 3/16/2020 THE ELKHART MODEL RAILROAD CLUB WILL NOT BE OPEN FOR VISITORS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. PLEASE WATCH THE FACEBOOK GROUP OR THIS WEBSITE FOR FURTHER INFORMATION. NEWS for March 2020News for March 13, 2020
News for March 6, 2020
We are only 2 weeks away from the 2020 Elkhart Model Railroad Club's 15th Annual Nappanee Train Show. The 2020 EMRRC Train Show will be at the Claywood Event Center on March 21, 2020, from 10:00, am to 3:00 pm est. This is the same great 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). CLICK HERE for more information and a map. 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. Several operating layouts will be running to keep the kids' attention. There will be a restaurant on-site with hot Amish sandwiches, desserts, sides, and soft drinks. Be sure to join us on Saturday afternoon March 21st. You won't be disappointed.
EMRRC had a full house for the first meeting in March. Member Paul Ewing presented an interesting clinic using the Cricut for model railroading. He showed several examples of buildings he had constructed using card stock and cutting them out on the Cricut.
There is a learning curve to the Cricut but for the cost and precision, it's hard to beat. Paul estimates it costs about $2 or less in materials to construct a medium-size building HO-Scale.
Also, the club car arrived from Accurail and several members were able to get a look at it. Later in the evening, we had several trains running on the layout including the SP cab-forward, C&O steam, a long Peabody coal train plus GN, and BN. Upcoming clinics include; Friday, April 4, 7:00 pm till 8:00 pm – Weathering Buildings – Ken Prager- Friday, May 2, 7:00 pm till 8:00 pm – Circus Trains - David Menges- Friday, June 6, 7:00 pm till 8:00 pm – Raspberry PI and Arduino on the N-Scale - Chuck Hart. 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. For a schedule of train shows and swap meets in the area. This is the latest list courtesy of the Grand River Valley Railroad Club in Wyoming, MI. For 2018 Past Announcements at EMRRC Click Here For information on the 2020 Train Show click here. Have some fun with model railroading.
Operations were on the schedule for the last Friday in February 2020. We had 20 members and 10 guests show up to run or watch formal operations with dispatcher Nathan Overmyer and chief dispatcher Ron Breniser. The session was the first with the dispatchers moved to their own area and it worked well. 
The new dispatcher's board hanging above the dispatcher and a lot less noise and chaos all contributed to a successful evening. 
The front room area reverted to its normal crew lounge area where visitors and crews waiting on their trains could enjoy refreshments and talk about trains and railroading.
Some announcements during the evening include. EMRRC's club car is being finished up at Accurail and delivery is expected this month. As noted earlier the EMRRC Nappanee Train Show on Saturday, March 21st is sold out of vendor tables. Tuesday night was spent sending out information packs to all the vendors.
Thanks to the envelope stuffing, data input, and letter folding members who 
showed up for the job. Upcoming clinics include; Friday, March 7, 7:00 pm till 8:00 pm – Using the Cricut Machine - Paul Ewing - Friday, April 4, 7:00 pm till 8:00 pm – Weathering Buildings – Ken Prager- Friday, May 2, 7:00 pm till 8:00 pm – Circus Trains - David Menges- Friday, June 6, 7:00 pm till 8:00 pm – Raspberry PI and Arduino on the N-Scale - Chuck Hart. Friday, March 6th starts with maintenance and work night and continues with open running starting around 7:30 pm. 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. For a schedule of train shows and swap meets in the area. This is the latest list courtesy of the Grand River Valley Railroad Club in Wyoming, MI. For 2018 Past Announcements at EMRRC Click Here For information on the 2020 Train Show click here. Have some fun with model railroading.
Friday, February 21st was the EMRRC monthly business meeting. Two new probationary members were voted into the club, Ryan and Aaron. Congratulations to both and we're sure they will be valuable club members. Final preparations were discussed for the March 21st Nappanee Train Show and as mentioned before vendor tables are sold out. Chuck Hart has been working on a Raspberry PI interface for the N-Scale layout and has it working along with automating the switches from members' phones.
Chief Dispatcher Ron Breniser is moving the dispatchers' office to the computer room which will be more convenient for everyone involved. Ron and helpers put up the dispatcher's board and it's looking good.
Jerry Piatt has added 2 new buildings to the Chateau Wood Products area and is busily rebuilding bridges and highways. Other areas under construction include the Hammes Yard Roundhouse area and the new interchange with the Grand Elk railroad. Gary Pressnell is adjusting the track leading to the turntable, alignment is critical, and has laid the track for the new interchange. Ken Prager is starting to lay track in the North Wall and the interchange with the Grand Trunk.
Paul Ewing & Jim Ford are working on the EMRRC brochure and we should have delivery before the March 21st Train Show. Also, Paul is working on the EMRRC Club Car and is expecting delivery on March 10th. The Elkhart Model Railroad Open House and 70th Anniversary Celebration will be May 16th and more information will be coming on that event. Also, the Anniversary will be promoted at the Nappanee Train Show. The West Wall area backdrop is finished and looks great.
Upcoming clinics include; Friday, March 7, 7:00 pm till 8:00 pm – Using the Cricut Machine - Paul Ewing - Friday, April 4, 7:00 pm till 8:00 pm – Weathering Buildings – Ken Prager- Friday, May 2, 7:00 pm till 8:00 pm – Circus Trains - David Menges- Friday, June 6, 7:00 pm till 8:00 pm – Raspberry PI and Arduino on the N-Scale - Chuck Hart. And finally, Formal Operations will be next Friday, February, 28th at 7:00 pm. The era will be modern, sorry no steam. Please be on time and if you are new to operations we will put you with an experienced operator.
After all of that, it was time to run a few trains. Plenty of members, plenty of guests all were either watching or running trains. Some of the unique trains showing up were a beautiful SP Cab Forward. In the 1920s, the Southern Pacific needed powerful locomotives but found that the new articulated 2-8-8-2's did not work well for them. They were a hazard to the crews when traveling through the long tunnels and snow sheds on their system. The exhaust fumes were capable of blinding and suffocating crew members, so to resolve this problem, the Southern Pacific decided to run in reverse. The next articulated engines from Baldwin were built with the cabs in the forward position. The SP went on to build many classes of these "Cab-Forwards". The first 9 AC-4 class engines were built in 1928 and the last one in 1929 by Baldwin. These had a boiler pressure of 235lbs, a weight of 614,600lbs, and a tractive effort of 116,900lbs. According to a note on the SP lettering drawing dated 12/30/49 all AC class engines assigned to Sacramento, Shasta, Portland, and San Joaquin Divisions shall omit the large SOUTHERN PACIFIC on the tender sides, also F class engines on Shasta Division. Photo evidence shows that this was often but not always the case. Unfortunately, they were all scrapped by 1955.
Other engines making an appearance included an NS Virginian Heritage Unit, another beautiful locomotive that performed flawlessly.
Also an interesting Penn Central C636. The ALCO Century 636 was the most powerful single-engine diesel-electric locomotive constructed by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO). It used the ALCO 251 prime mover. The locomotive had a C-C wheel arrangement and 3,600 horsepower (2,700 kW). The locomotive rested on a pair of trucks of all-new design, known as the Hi-Ad, standing for 'high adhesion'. Numbers 6330–6344
were ordered by Pennsylvania Railroad before the Penn Central merger and were delivered in PC black. You can still find these locomotives hard at work in regular service on shortlines Delaware-Lackawanna and Livonia, Avon & Lakeville. To see more locomotives and trains join us Friday night February 28th at 7 pm at EMRRC's clubhouse on Hawthorne Street in Elkhart, Indiana for formal operations. 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. For a schedule of train shows and swap meets in the area. This is the latest list courtesy of the Grand River Valley Railroad Club in Wyoming, MI. For 2018 Past Announcements at EMRRC Click Here For information on the 2020 Train Show click here. Some announcements to cover from the meeting. As mentioned vendors tables are sold out for our 2020 Nappanee Train Show on March 21st. Have some fun with model railroading.
News for February 14, 2020
For Valentine's Day 2020 members & guests bribed their significant others with chocolates, flowers, money, and wine to make it to the Elkhart Model Railroad Club to run trains Friday night. One member brought his wife after she told him to take her where they have expensive things for Valentine's night. The funeral is next week.
Several unique trains showed up including the Scale Trains GTEL 8500 HP Turbine locomotives. Often called “Big Blows” because of their deafening noise, a 40 car tank car train, a lot of CN, NS, and some leased locomotives. All of them were running Friday night at EMRRC and if you would like to see more locomotives and trains join us Friday night February 21st starting at 8 pm at EMRRC's clubhouse on Hawthorne Street in Elkhart, Indiana. 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. For a schedule of train shows and swap meets in the area. This is the latest list courtesy of the Grand River Valley Railroad Club in Wyoming, MI. For 2018 Past Announcements at EMRRC Click Here For information on the 2020 Train Show click here. Some announcements to cover from the meeting. Vendors tables are sold out for our 2020 Nappanee Train Show on March 21st. That means we will have at least 150 vendors plus many operating layouts at our show. Member, Chuck Hart has got a Raspberry Pi operating and running the N Scale layout with JMRI. More info to come. Operations on February 28th will be interesting as Chief Dispatcher Ron Breniser announced the dispatchers are moving to the back room. That means the front area will be used as a crew longe giving the dispatchers and crew members some room and opening up an area for crews to wait between stops. Don't forget members-only till 8 pm due to our monthly business meeting. Have some fun with model railroading.
The Elkhart Model Railroad Club started a cool evening at the club with a clinic by member Paul Ewing. We had plenty of members and guests watch a slide presentation that covered TrainFest Milwaukee, The Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis, and several clubs around the Milwaukee Wisconsin area.
Paul, Chuck Hart, Gary, and Will Babcoke usually attend the TrainFest every year. TrainFest is billed as "Americas Largest Operating Model Railroad Show" and with 200,000 sq. ft. (nearly four football fields) of exhibit space featuring more than 70 railroads, it is worth a visit.
TheEiteljorg Museum is an eclectic collection of Native American art. Every year the "Jingle Rails" exhibit is opened for the holiday season. A G-Scale car on the layout was put together by Paul in memory of Charlie Hammes a notable member of EMRRC for years.
One of the clubs Paul & Chuck visited in Milwaukee was the Model Railroad Club of Milwaukee. The club is located in a concrete building at 215 E. National Ave. They have been in the same building since 1936 and that makes the club the oldest club running out of a single location in the United States, the building is a former train station. Built-in 1916 underneath the Milwaukee Road mainline, the station was known as Allis Station for the nearby employer that was a source of many passengers. Allis-Chalmers Corp. had a substantial operation in today’s Harbor District before moving west to its new home in today’s West Allis. The Milwaukee Road shuttered the station by 1926 and an upstart model railroad club founded by future mayor Frank Zeidler, Al Kalmbach, and William Walthers moved in. Much of the train station’s architectural detailing remains, including subway tiles that frame the ticket counter and waiting room.
That was the beginning of our meeting. An announcement was made that we have sold 145 tables for the EMRRC 2020 Train Show in Nappanee. That means only 5 vendor tables remain for the show on March 21, 2020. After the meeting, it was time to run some trains. Everything from AMTRAK to the Freedom Train passenger train was running Friday night. 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. For a schedule of train shows and swap meets in the area. This is the latest list courtesy of the Grand River Valley Railroad Club in Wyoming, MI. For 2018 Past Announcements at EMRRC Click Here For information on the 2020 Train Show click here. One item from Model Train Stuff. They are having a 10% off sale on wheelsets, couplers, and trucks. Use the promo code 10COUPLER at checkout. This ends on 2/16. Have some fun with model railroading.
News for January 31, 2020
EMRRC had over 25 people running trains during our end of the month open running on Friday, January 31st, 2020.
We had several steam engines running including a UP Challenger pulling a beautiful UP passenger train.
Of course, we had plenty of NS running as we are just south of Norfolk Southern's second-largest yard. One of the NS units was the GoRail locomotive that commemorates the 10th anniversary of GoRail, an organization that promotes the benefits of moving more freight by rail. 
Make sure you take a look at NS 1625. Built by Matt Glassman it's an SD40-2 built from a Scale Trains CSX SD40-3 parts kit and it has a rattle can paint job. The kit was featured a few weeks ago on our video from 12/20/2019.
Member Randy Robbins found a Model Die Casting/ Roundhouse metal caboose kit. MDC was bought by Horizon Hobby and integrated into Athearn years ago. We'll get some more pictures as Randy completes this kit.
Member Paul Ewing brought in some digital mockups of our new club car and it looks great. It's a 3 bay coal hopper by Accurail in E&W reporting marks. The 2020 Train Show is coming up in under 60 days and we only have 10 tables out of 150 left. So if you're interested in a vendor table, be sure to go to the 2020 Train Show page for more information. The show is on March 21, 2020, from 10:00, am till 3:00 pm at the Claywood Event Center in Napanee, Indiana. 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. For a schedule of train shows and swap meets in the area. This is the latest list courtesy of the Grand River Valley Railroad Club in Wyoming, MI. For 2018 Past Announcements at EMRRC Click Here For information on the 2020 Train Show click here. Have some fun with model railroading.
News for January 24, 2020
It was 1975 at the Elkhart Model Railroad Club for operations night. The Freedom Train ran along with a lot of escapees from the 60s who were destined to be repainted into their new colors.
Nathan Overmyer was the dispatcher for the night and did a smooth job with the chief dis
patcher only jumping in the van once to go find an errant engineer. We had plenty of members and guests show up. If you would like to come out and take a look 
at EMRRC we are open Friday, January 31st for open running from 7:00 pm till 10:00 pm. The 2020 Train Show is shaping up for another great run. Be sure to join us on March 21, 2020, from 10:00 am till 3:00 Pm at the Claywood Event Center in Napanee, Indiana. Click Here to see our latest video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains Click Here. For a schedule of train shows and swap meets in the area. This is the latest list courtesy of the Grand River Valley Railroad Club in Wyoming, MI. For 2018 Past Announcements at EMRRC Click Here For information on the 2020 Train Show click here. Have some fun with model railroading.
News for January 17, 2020
Friday night was our monthly meeting at EMRRC. Items discussed included the upcoming Elkhart Model Railroad Club 15th Annual Train Show on March 21st. 130 vendor tables have been sold and the final few marketing items were settled. Other items discussed at the meeting were the possibility of another night of running, open to the public. A committee was formed to look into this. Also, EMRRC's 70th Anniversary is this year. A date of May 16th was set for our open house. Member Jim Ford was given a gift certificate for his contributions to the club in 2019. Also, the current board was re-upped to a life sentence.
Several projects were discussed including the update to the North Wall, Elkhart & Western trackage spearheaded by member Ken Prager. The continuation of the Chateau Wood Products area was headed up by member Jerry Piatt after the original builder Stan Shatto passed away. And the addition of a backdrop along the West Wall headed by member Charlie Yoakam with help from Jeff Rogers & Jim Ford. The progress of our club car was reported on by member Paul Ewing, which will be ready to sell at the Train Show and open house.
Afterward, several members set up for next Friday's operation session, and trains were brought out to run. Click Here to see our latest video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains Click Here. For a schedule of train shows and swap meets in the area. This is the latest list courtesy of the Grand River Valley Railroad Club in Wyoming, MI. For 2018 Past Announcements at EMRRC Click Here For information on the 2020 Train Show click here. Have some fun with model railroading.
News for January 10, 2020
Menard's has its 15% off all train stuff you can fit inside an in-store bag through Saturday, January 18th. The south store in South Bend has a good selection right now.
It was a lively open running session at the Elkhart Model Railroad Club on Friday the 10th. Plenty of members and guests were on hand as several large and small unique trains were running over E&W, EMRRC, and Grand Elk trackage. Looking for something to do on Friday nights? Come by and check out a model railroad that has been running since the 1950s. Guests are free, parking is free and soft drinks and candy are inexpensive. Take a look at the About Us page for more information. Don't forget EMRRC will not open to the public till 8:00 pm on January 17, 2020, as we have our monthly business meeting until 8:00 pm for members only.
Member Matt Glassman was busy programming a New York Central RS-2 with a LokSound decoder in it. Matt has his personal test track setup which includes a LokSound ESU programmer and a Digitrax Zepher tied to sections of N-Scale and HO-Scale track all on a portable cabinet. Matt's well-used laptop has all of the software to program just about any kind of decoder. Matt also belongs to an N-Scale modular group, Michiana T-Trakers, and uses his portable setup to run the modules when they are on location.
Plenty of diesel running this week but I promise next week there will be a lot of steam. Click Here to see our latest video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains Click Here. For a schedule of train shows and swap meets in the area/ This is the latest list) courtesy of the Grand River Valley Railroad Club in Wyoming, MI. For 2018 Past Announcements at EMRRC Click Here For information on the 2020 Train Show click here. Vendors we are selling tables quickly for the 2020 Train Show (we have more than 115 tables sold out of 150) so make sure you check as there are applications and information for vendors on the page. Have some fun with model railroading.
News for January 2020
The Elkhart Model Railroad Club starts a new year with lots of maintenance and course many trains running on our HO Scale layout. We started 2020 with a massive track cleaning session involving members and guests. We covered just about the entire layout in about an hour. There was an interesting article in Model Railroad Hobbyist about the differ
ent methods of cleaning track and the chemistry behind it. From their research, you can see kerosene, WD-40 Contact Cleaner, CRC Contact Cleaner, and Protectorate, Deoxit D5, Neverstall, and mineral spirits are all excellent solvents to use for cleaning track and wheels. Solvents to avoid include isopropyl, alcohol, MEK, acetone, and lacquer thinner. We used Bight Boys along with WD40 Contact Cleaner based on our experience and the article.
Also during cleaning, there was a track crew working on the Flushing branch cutoff and reverse loop. They rewired the reverse loop to lengthened it and worked on finessing the track to increase reliability in that area. After extensive testing with passenger cars running through this area, everything ran much better. We'll give it the acid test during our next scheduled operations session on January 24th. Do you enjoy solving problems and working as a team? Be sure to join us on the 24th for our operations session where it will be 1968 on the layout. Never run with us before? We'll put you with an experienced operator on the EMRRC layout. The session starts at 7:00 pm sharp so don't be late.
Plenty of diesel running this week including IHB so Click Here to see our latest video. Click Here. If you want to see more pictures of the members and their trains Click Here. For a schedule of train shows and swap meets in the area/ This is the latest list) courtesy of the Grand River Valley Railroad Club in Wyoming, MI. For 2018 Past Announcements at EMRRC Click Here For information on the 2020 Train Show click here. Vendors we are selling tables quickly for the 2020 Train Show so make sure you check as there are applications and information for vendors on the page. Have some fun with model railroading.